Mission: Impact podcast & blog
Build a better world without becoming a martyr to your nonprofit cause
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I help the helpers. When a major disaster happens or tragedy in the news, a video from Mr. Rogers often makes the rounds on social media. His mom told him to look for the helpers. I will be way further off to the side than what he describes--not even on camera. Instead I will be in conference and project rooms of nonprofits and associations that either serve the helpers or directly serve marginalized people. I will be working with those helpers to make their nonprofit organizations healthier, to be more strategic, and innovative. Why do people do it that way? I have worked in the nonprofit sector almost my entire career. Over time I learned that while the mission always motivated me, I was more interested in how people did what they did – how they worked together. And what got in their way. They were all trying to have a positive impact in the world. Why did it seem like such a struggle much of the time? I read lots of books and ultimately went back to graduate school to try and get some insight into that question. I learned about how groups and teams work, how to design organizations, how to create strategy, how to cultivate innovation and the importance of organizational culture. And much more. Making the values real I believe nonprofits are more likely to have a greater mission impact if their ‘inside’ matches their outside --when the values they espouse for the change they want to see in the world match how they treat each other and go about their work. I believe that these organizations can be great places to work AND have a great impact. They don’t have to choose between those two. Turning down the static By being internally healthy, the organization turns down the static in their system. If the people investing their life to achieve these important missions are freed up from expending energy on internal inefficiency or supporting a poorly performing team, they are then able to apply that critical energy on achieving their goals. Tapping the group's brilliance One way to turn down the static is to get clear on the organization’s strategy. Being clear and focused on where you want to go, what you want to achieve and how you will achieve it taps into the brilliance and energy of the group. The challenges these organizations are facing require innovation. Yesterday’s solutions are not sufficient. And for innovation to work the organization’s culture needs to be open to it and create space for creativity, experimentation and even failure. This type of work plays on my strengths. I am good at seeing connections and simplifying a lot of detail into a few big goals. I love working with people to help them figure out new and better ways of doing things. To offer people structures and processes to make manageable what otherwise might feel very overwhelming and impossible to tackle. I love helping groups imagine new futures and then helping people realize those. Virtuous CirclesBy investing in women and children, communities improve. Families' health improve. Women invest in those around them and they contribute to a virtuous circle. By serving those who work to support thriving families, communities and a sustainable economy, I can also contribute to this virtuous circle.
I am here to be a catalyst, like a river current that propels people along in their good work so that they can do it with more ease. People want to be happy and engaged at work and do work that matters. Yet not lose themselves in the pursuit of that work – no more martyrs to the cause. I want to help that come alive in the world. Iteration Iteration You have probably heard that word a lot recently. Whether you are talking about adaptive management, design thinking or lean start up, each approach involves iteration and experimentation. Creating a prototype – something much simpler and less expensive than a pilot project – is easy to imagine when you are talking about a tangible product. But what about a program or service your nonprofit or association plans to deliver? How can you create a low cost prototype of that to get in front of your customers/members/audience? Blah, Blah, Blah Nonprofits and association staff often rely on describing their program – whether to their board or in a grant application – through words. It is then up to the listener/reader to imagine what they are talking about. And usually the focus was on convincing those with money to support this new venture. If the pitch is successful, the program is then funded, usually as a pilot program is developed over a few years. 4 flaws to this approach This approach has multiple flaws that are easily addressed.
What is a storyboard? Movies, videos, TV shows are all story boarded before filming starts. The storyboard is a sequence of drawings that show how the shots will progress. For a program you have imagined, you draw the steps in the storyboard that a program participant would take as they complete your program. Think of it as the comic book version of the program you want to create. But I can’t draw When I worked with the design teams a number of team members were reluctant when we got to this set because they said they couldn’t draw. I reminded them that this wasn’t the purpose – we were not looking for artistic ability. Just clear enough stick figures to show what would happen as part of the program. Here is an example of piece of one of our first draft storyboards. No awards to artistic merit here! We then worked with a professional illustrator to create clearer versions to put in front of our audience. Benefits of the storyboard
Let’s talk. I work with associations and nonprofits to help them lower the risk out of launching new program and service development initiatives by coaching them on using human centered design innovation approaches and tools. Most organizations believe they keep their end user, audience, members or customers front of mind when they are creating new programs or service offerings. Yet often this is based on preconceived notions about members, beliefs developed from a staff member’s time in the field, or based on interactions with a few of their volunteer leaders. It is rarely based on an in depth exploration of the day-to-day work life of their members. Qualitative research digs into their experience and has the opportunity to uncover unmet needs. |
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March 2024
Grace Social Sector Consulting, LLC, owns the copyright in and to all content in and transcripts of the Mission: Impact podcast, as well as the Mission: Impact blog with all rights reserved, including right of publicity.
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Telephone301-857-9335
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info[at]gracesocialsector.com
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Grace Social Sector Consulting, LLC, owns the copyright in and to all content in, including transcripts and audio of the Mission: Impact podcast and all content on this website, with all rights reserved, including right of publicity.
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