We recently connected with Bobbie James and have shared our conversation below.

Bobbie, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

I was inspired to start Jamsz Konnections because of my strong desire to serve. I had always known I wanted to help others, but it was not until I had a health issue of my own that I gained the courage to follow a dream that aligned with my heart.

Our organization supports both for-profit clients and 501c3 nonprofit beneficiaries. For clients, we help them plan their events to save them time, money, and allow them to simply enjoy their event. For nonprofit beneficiaries, we provide education with tips, tools and resources. We also manage events in the efforts to raise funds by donating the proceeds from the event.  We manage these events on behalf of the nonprofits along with create community awareness. Not only do we help them fundraise, but we also help educate them on how to function as a business. We are able to provide them support and help them navigate the difficulties that come with being a nonprofit at no direct cost to them.

We are passionate about community, and we have a vision of helping nonprofits build stronger communities by becoming efficient business entities. Overall, we aim to create social good and do so by amplifying those around us.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

As a teenager, I had dreams of becoming a coach and math teacher to follow in the footsteps of my high school head coach. She went above and beyond to make a difference in our lives, and I admired that. I wanted to make a positive difference just like her. However, things changed drastically in the education field, and I wasn’t sure that this was the right course of action for me anymore. As I explored my next steps, I started working and really was drawn to business.

20 years ago, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. As you can imagine that made me take inventory of my life. I started thinking about the big questions. Why am I here? What is my purpose? What legacy am I building?

Upon my 10-year anniversary of being cancer-free, I wanted to do something special to celebrate this amazing milestone. In honor of this milestone, I put together a benefit concert to benefit a local nonprofit. It is through this experience that it was delivered to me that this was my purpose and my calling. I began to explore this to determine the needs of other nonprofits and how I might be of service to our community heroes.

I remember when I first began this journey so many organizations didn’t see my vision and declined to help me. That feeling felt so bad and defeating. I wanted to do something that could create advocacy and collaboration. I wanted to be the “YES” to nonprofits in need. So based on my research and some other business models, I decided to create Jamsz Konnections to give people the opportunity to do the things that they already do and make a positive difference and impact at the same time. I also wanted to create an organization that provided support and services to nonprofits that I wished that I would have had when I began my journey.

What I came to realize is that I have always wanted to serve others and make a positive difference. This is the honor and opportunity that I have through Jamsz Konnections.

We work with for-profit and nonprofit organizations. Through partnership and collaboration, we can amplify the reach and funds of both organizations making an impact for the greater good of the community.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I realized my dream of founding a nonprofit about ten years ago. In the beginning, the amount of pushback and resistance I faced made me realize just how hard I was going to have to fight to make this dream a reality. I was able to persevered through challenges as I began the process of becoming an established 501 c3 nonprofit. It was a learning curve for me as well as I also started to realize not only was I starting a nonprofit, but this had to be a functioning business too.

Eventually three years after starting this process, I was able to establish Jamsz Konnections with funds of my own. But, the challenges did not stop, and I continue to be challenged with the task of connecting with the right people to find the funding that we need.

In spite of the financial challenges along with some of the challenges of being a nonprofit organization, we continue to do the work because of the positive difference we make for the under-served nonprofits.

How do you keep in touch with clients and foster brand loyalty?

Showing all of our supporters (clients, beneficiaries, sponsors, donors, volunteers, board members and event attendees), the value they hold in our community, and our organization, is paramount to us. We send letters of gratitude to show our thanks for their support. Often times we will even personalize these letters to show just how much we value the community we are cultivating and continuously growing.

We also like to make sure we are all on the same page by keeping our community informed through our monthly newsletter. We will provide information such as upcoming events, updates on our impact, and any new organizational updates.

One of the best ways we connect with our clients is through social media. Our team works hard to come up with intriguing and insightful posts. We love to encourage engagement and thoughtful reflection over all the information we share.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://jamszkonnections.org/about/
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/jamszkonnections?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jamszkonnections
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/jamsz-konnections/
• Twitter: twitter.com/jamsz0036?s=11&t=tumUC7Tz-m6jKIARjnfA-g
• Other: Medium- https://medium.com/@bobbie_78016/nonprofits-why-do-some-fail-and-how-can-they-succeed-a5164e1ab1c0

Image Credits
Some Photography by Eric Coleman