We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Melissa Lagowski a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Melissa, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

In 1999, I was serving as the Executive Director for a nonprofit that I dearly loved! I was responsible for 24 events, 12 newsletters, 8 committees and 225 members. What I was doing really lit me up, but as a staff of one, I got burned out, and in 2002, I left that position.

When I left that nonprofit, they hired a professional event company to manage their signature event which was also their largest fundraiser. The new service provider tripled the gross profit of the event, but they cut the proceeds to the nonprofit in half. I dove deeper in reviewing the accounting for the event, and I found a lot of gaps in the budget and the final financial reports.

It was at that time that I decided to launch Big Buzz Idea Group. I wanted nonprofit organizations to have an honest and trusting partner that they could work with. I wanted charitable organizations to have a partner that really cared about their success. In 2004, I launched Big Buzz Idea Group with the intention of being a solopreneur, but over time, we have grown to 14 employees and several contractors who help us serve a variety of nonprofits and associations.

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

In looking back over the years, I actually organized my first fundraiser when I was just 11 years old. I have always opted in to participate in a variety of fundraisers from my pre-teen days all the way through my college graduation, so it is really no surprise that I now devote my life to nonprofits and associations who want to grow and excel.

Many nonprofit executives lack the time, staff, skills and funding they need. Big Buzz Idea Group fills gaps in management, marketing and events so you can focus on the big picture and position your organization to thrive.

Big Buzz Idea Group is in the business of nonprofit business. We are an association management agency that offers a full suite of services that can be outsourced by any nonprofit organization that needs their busy work handled efficiently and effectively. While large associations or chapters may require the comprehensive services of an Executive Director and the umbrella of operations management to go with it, we provide an a la carte menu for other nonprofits with specific gaps. Our dedicated team of specialists assists with virtual back-office tasks to ensure nonprofits of any size will benefit by saving time and money.

We began in 2004 with a mission to stand behind nonprofits and an unwavering goal to maximize their impact. Big Buzz Idea Group was originally founded after witnessing neglect and mismanagement by a key service provider to the detriment of a Chicago NPO. Upon learning how this neighborhood organization incurred significant financial losses, we vowed to create an honest and ethical agency that would deliver nonprofit clients a viable partner, collaborating with integrity and one hundred percent transparency.

Our team of worker bees successfully deliver on our mission and our goal. Repeatedly. Over the past 15 years, we have raised more than $6 million for the worthy causes of a variety of nonprofits and associations. And we continue to buzz on their behalf with a high standard of ethics and transparency while delivering results, on budget and on time.

Nonprofits face many challenges, performing magic with diminishing dollars and few employees. The hours are long and the payoff can seem distant, but grinding through the endless days to keep the dream alive leads to the satisfaction of creating a better world…eventually. That is where Big Buzz Idea Group can help breathe new life into an organization.

Big Buzz Idea Group brings the whole team, a fresh perspective and proven strategies to keep the hive humming. We offer administrative and operational support so that executive directors, development directors and the board members can focus on the bigger picture to impact more lives and change the world. We are experts in providing nonprofits the time and energy to ignite, empower and foster their growth and success.

We exist to champion worthy causes and elevate the common good. We work to inspire and to be inspired in our partnerships and projects. Let’s leave this place better than we found it.

To date, we have raised more than $6 million for our clients and helped several nonprofits strengthen their operations to grow and sustain themselves well into the future. Our greatest joy is powering nonprofit organizations to fuel positive change in the world!

Alright – let’s talk about marketing or sales – do you have any fun stories about a risk you’ve taken or something else exciting on the sales and marketing side?

Early on in my business, I was not particularly savvy of understanding how to run a business. I undervalued myself and my services. This started to become clearer when I needed to hire other employees and grow the business, but I didn’t have the money to do so. I finally started to raise my prices, but I met pushback around every corner.

In the earliest days, everyone wanted me to share my services pro bono, but if I did that, how would I take care of me and my family? Then I entered a situation where I had the biggest negotiation of my life.

We had one large fundraising project for a large nonprofit institution in Chicago. We were honored and delighted to be part of this project, and we had a successful first year. But when we got to the end of the project, and I reviewed the time our team had invested for this event, we actually lost money. We hadn’t even made enough to cover the staffing costs, let alone for the project to contribute to other operational expenses or make a profit. It was an eye-opening experience for me!

So when it came time to negotiate the contract for year two, we asked for twice as much in our proposal. The organization was flabbergasted, and they stated that they have never “doubled a vendor’s fees in a single year.” It was a pivotal moment for me when I owned my value, and we threatened to walk away from the project. I explained to them over and over that I couldn’t work for them at a loss, or my business would not sustain itself. After a lot of really difficult discussions, I held my position, and our request was honored.

It really made clear for me that others will never see our value if we don’t see it ourselves.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

Since our founding, we have definitely seen our share of hurdles and struggles, and I am so proud that we are not only standing strong today, but thriving and growing!

We have survived the recession of 2008, the pandemic, and a few key client struggles that were really challenging for the business. My first real “oh, shit!” moment as a business owner came during the Christmas break when I was crunching numbers and doing my budgeting for the year ahead. At that time, there were three employees and myself, and I realized that I didn’t have enough money to pay them beyond January of the coming year.

I reached out to the employees with a really heartfelt explanation of the situation, and I was stunned that they all agreed to work part-time to get us through the financial crunch. That small change allowed us to weather the storm and see our way through that first recession.

Entering into 2020, we had grown to eight employees as we were planning for significant growth that year. Then came March, and the pandemic was upon us. Over the next 12 months we would dip to five employees as several team members pursued other paths, and through the government programs along with many city and state grants, Big Buzz Idea Group remained standing.

As we started to come out of the pandemic, we started building back our team again, and as many companies were shutting their doors, we secured many new clients. After losing almost 50% of our business (all of our 2020 events were cancelled), we secured additional funding at the end of 2021, and within 15 months, we grew our team to 14 employees and a handful of contractors. We achieved record-breaking sales in 2022, and we are poised for continued growth through 2023.

There have been so many challenges along this journey! Each one has made me a better person and strengthened our company. We have formulated five pillars that we believe in, and if a client or an employee do not align with these pillars, then we know that they are not the right fit for us. We remain devoted to the following values which drive our mindset and serve as the foundation of our company:

integrity at the highest level
teamwork/collaboration
growth
gratitude
profitability

In holding these values for our employees, our company and our clients, we have been able to weather many storms and come out stronger because we were clear about who we are.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://bigbuzzideagroup.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bigbuzzig/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BigBuzzIdeaGroup
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissaklinelagowski/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/BigBuzzIG