We were lucky to catch up with Corrine Panisi recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Corrine , thanks for joining us today. Can you talk to us about your team building process? How did you recruit and train your team and knowing what you know now would you have done anything differently?
I have a nonprofit organization, in the beginning it was only myself, my daughters, family, church members at the time, and a couple friends. It’s hard to tell people you need their help without being able to compensate them financially. Or at least I thought it was. The first year in 2010 we had over 2,500 toys donated and over 30 volunteers that came and helped. It was all word of mouth. I was overwhelmed and cried like a baby with the help I received. I don’t think I would have done anything different.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I started my nonprofit the year my mom passed away in 2010. She was always willing to help other people no matter what the circumstance was. I wanted to give back to our community in a way that was consistent and not just a one time thing. I reached out to a couple people and put in an application to receive toys not knowing if I was going to get approved or not. On the application it asked for how many children do I need toys for and I didn’t know because it was my first time and I wasn’t sure if anyone would even come to my Toy Giveaway. I left it blank and a week later, I received an email that I would be receiving over 2,500 toys. Fast forward to now 2025, it will be Project Face To Face’s 15th consecutive year hosting Toy Giveaways. We never missed a year, even through the pandemic, we had drive through giveaways with our masks and gloves on. Now families can count on us to receive toys from us during the holidays I’m most proud of our organization’s consistency and growth.
Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?
I built my audience on social media, believe it or not by attending events physically in the community and then exchanging information with other people of the like. My advice would be to let people know what it is you do, wether it be word of mouth, marketing, fliers, posts or commercials.
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
I’m a people person and other people like me. I treat people how I want to be treated. I try to support and go to as many events as possible, especially those of people who support me. Even things online, I try to tune in to podcasts, interviews and radio shows.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://projectface2face.wixsite.com/projectface2face?fbclid=PAY2xjawH2jNRleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABpgprZh-Yx0F4w1QOlmnFr9saPkcRYtOYHnfUuiTIxomHVoWhzOvPKer8Ig_aem_sPIP71vVFdG18yVSQjR6ow
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/projectfacetoface1874?igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/projectfacetoface2012?mibextid=ZbWKwL
Image Credits
Corrine Panisi