Meet Nancy Stern of N C Stern PR in Scottsdale

Today we’d like to introduce you to Nancy Stern.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Nancy. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
As a Washington, DC native, I began my career at an early age working summers from the time I was 16 through college for the United States Senator Vance Hartke (D-Ind). I learned the ins and outs of media relations from seasoned pros. I moved into public relations positions in a Labor Department program securing major media attention to program serving older, low-income seniors. My newspaper stint was with a daily paper in Manhattan, KS while my husband was stationed at Fort Riley. Returning to Washington, I began my 23 year career with what became Verizon, all in public relations. When in the domestic company I specialized in media relations and employee communications. The last five years of my tenure, there were in the International Company of Bell Atlantic handling public relations and corporate affairs working with our business partners and government agencies to help refine telecommunications policies and open markets overseas. Two years were spent living in Brussels, the highlight of which was working on a team to secure cellular contracts in then Czechoslovakia and in Italy.

After leaving telecommunications and to get my ticket punched as an officer of a company, I moved to a large financial institution as a Senior Vice President of Corporate Communications managing media relations, employee communications and speech writing for senior management. We had always wanted to live in Scottsdale, so when I received a job offer as a senior vice president for corporate affairs at a consumer products company headquartered in Scottsdale. I was responsible for government affairs and external communications. After about two years, I realized I wanted a big change… always having been a volunteer in Washington helping charities in whatever way was needed, I decided to take a huge leap into the nonprofit arena as a development officer. That was 1999 and since then, we have built a solid reputation as a stratforward, no nonsense fundraiser bringing the best business practices to the table based on my corporate career. I figured if I could build relations in foreign countries and also get front page articles in major newspapers, I could build relations with donors and ask for major gifts! Blending my corporate world with the nonprofit world is the perfect combination for the current fundraising environment in Arizona.

In 2008, on the urging of family and friends, I started N C Stern PR, LLC and have been blessed to have over the years many marvelous clients. We are a full-service development consultancy committed to providing nonprofit strategies and plans to help reach financial goals. We use a strong business background to help build the reputation of the nonprofit in the community while creating opportunities to build new donor relations, advance current relations with donors through strong stewardship, creating realistic strategic plans and fundraising models — all of which have paid off for my clients. We help to identify roadblocks to success, and in one case, have used a stakeholder management plan to remove roadblocks and help to gain new revenue sources. The best part is I love every minute of what I do!

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Has it been a smooth road? If anyone says it has been realistic. Of course, there are bumps along the way. One of the most prevalent in the corporate world is office/corporate politics. I learned the lessons of a lifetime and became a bit more adept at handling the internal politics but it took time, experience and finding good mentors. That’s my advice to others who enter the corporate world — find a good mentor to help you through the maze.

We’d love to hear more about your business.
I went into a lot of my business in the first question. To be more specific, by having a business background, I have learned that each situation and/or client is different. We specialize in tailoring plans to the needs and goals of each client. Another piece of the corporate world I learned is that external changes impact any company as well as a nonprofit so being flexible enough to change direction with planning is critical to success. We create frameworks in which a nonprofit can achieve their mission and be financially sound. As needed we will help to implement the plans and create measurements to determine success. Again, having been in the corporate arena, organizational development is a strong suit — helping nonprofits look at their programs and staffing to create a successful environment. We specialize in strategic planning — be it organizational or development and stakeholder management. We have analytical skills helping senior management and boards look at their financial needs to determine how best to achieve them using strong donor relations and stewardship. I think what sets us apart is our willingness to get our hands dirty — doing more than most agencies to help a nonprofit be successful.

What were you like growing up?
I grew up, born and raised, in Washington, DC, a native! Went to public schools there and was fortunate at the time to go to school with, at some times, the Vice President’s daughters; son and daughter of Secretary of State; embassy kids and others who added to the diversity of our schools. Because we were in Washington, we spent a lot of time at the fabulous museums. My family was also very politically involved so that became part of my life, too. They owned a public relations agency housed at the National Press Building so going to the Press Club was quite frequent. At the Press Club, I would be able to hear speeches and presentations by people from all over the world! I was active in the nonprofit world with my mother as well. During summers as a child (before I began working for Senator Hartke) I went to summer camp in Naples Maine — a glorious time for sure (8 or 9 weeks every summer from 6 to 16!). We lived in an innocent time and made friends for life at school.

Going to University of Wisconsin in Madison at the time I did open a new political adventure for me as well. Majored in Russian History and Philosophy. My grandparents immigrated to NYC from Odessa. Grandfather was a physician and Grandmother an ophthalmologist. They lived in Greenwich Village — and I spent a lot of weekends there as a kid, college student and later in life. Again, a very intellectually stimulating environment reading The Village Voice every week waiting for the next great writer to express opinions. My uncle was a surgeon and many of his patients were on Broadway, so we got to see a lot of fabulous productions from backstage. It was a varied background but surrounding it all was family.

Contact Info:

• Address: 11543 East Buckskin Trail
  Scottsdale, AZ 85255
• Phone: 480-577-5937
• Email: nancy@ncsternpr.com

Image Credit:
Marion Rhoades Photography

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