Mission: Impact podcast & blog
Build a better world without becoming a martyr to your nonprofit cause
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 In episode 103 of Mission: Impact, Carol Hamilton, Tip Fallon, and Stephen Graves explore the nuances of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), exploring the differences between inclusive and equitable leadership. The conversation highlights the importance of not only representation but also the behavior and mindset of individuals within organizations, emphasizing the need for fairness and addressing power imbalances. This episode provides valuable insights for nonprofit leaders seeking to cultivate more equitable and inclusive organizations, emphasizing the importance of self-reflection, systemic change, and embracing humanity in leadership. Episode highlights: Defining DEI [00:8:08]
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[00:13:44]
- Concrete examples to create more equitable hiring practices. - Piloting inclusive structures and the importance of leaders doing their own self-work to understand their privilege and responsibility. 00:28:30 - Hippy Dippy or Innovation - The resistance to DEI initiatives and the perception of these efforts as "soft" or "extra." - The financial implications of not addressing DEI, including lost productivity and customer base. - Questioning the fundamental purpose of organizations and the costs of maintaining exploitative practices. 00:38:30 - Embracing Humanity in Leadership - The cultural barriers to embracing emotions and humanity in the workplace. - The need for leaders to create psychologically safe environments and to see employees as whole human beings. Guest Bios:
Tip Fallon partners with leaders and teams to create effective and equitable organizations. He became interested in leadership and creating inclusive cultures at a young age, growing up in an area that had substantive racial, ethnic, and socio-economic diversity, and as the son of an immigrant in a multiracial family. Coming from a predominantly working class neighborhood, he also saw the impact any leader can have at all levels of society and particularly the effects leaders have on those who are most marginalized. These life experiences inform his philosophy that good leadership is equitable leadership. Tip has worked with dozens of organizations ranging from community based nonprofits to organizations with international reach including the Federal Aviation Administration, Annie E. Casey Foundation, and The Nature Conservancy. He has taught as an adjunct faculty member for ten years in Organization Development and DEI programs at American University and Georgetown University. He holds degrees in Mechanical Engineering (B.S.), Organization Development (M.S.), and is a Certified Professional Diversity Coach (CPDC). _____________________________________________ Stephen Graves Born in Greenwood, South Carolina to a pair of faith-driven educators, the values of service and lifelong learning were instilled in Stephen Graves from an early age. These values, coupled with spiritual lessons from an upbringing in the Black Baptist church, shaped Stephen’s social consciousness for understanding the inherent worth every person has in life and addressing the historical and present injustices inhibiting people from fully realizing their worth. With this awareness, Stephen pursued a mission-driven path, ensuring people have a sense of respect, dignity, and belonging to live and thrive in a multicultural world. For over a decade, Stephen has consulted and advised leaders and organizations of all sizes and sectors on focus areas such as People & Culture, Leadership & Professional Development, Language Access, Health Equity, and Patient Advocacy. Stephen earned his Master in Health Administration from the Medical University of South Carolina. He holds an Executive Certificate in Diversity, Equity & Inclusion from Georgetown University. Important Links and Resources: 🔗 Tip Fallon 🔗 Stephen Graves 🔗 All In Consulting Co. More Women work at Nonprofits so Why do Men end up Leading Them https://hbr.org/2024/04/more-women-work-in-nonprofits-so-why-do-men-end-up-leading-them Jay Z - Feeling It: Feelin' It Related Episodes: Episode 62: Highlights of healthy nonprofit organizational cultures, part 1 Episode 63: Highlights of healthy nonprofit organizational cultures, part 2 Episode 86: Building your cultural competence Episode 92: Three stages of nonprofit leadership Episode 97: The business imperative of facing climate change Episode 102: The Nonprofit board’s duty of foresight Click "Read More" for a transcript of the interview. Nonprofit funders expect your nonprofit organization to be able to demonstrate its impact. While there are many ways to approach this, building out your organization’s theory of change and your program level logic models is an important step. We will explore what a theory of change and logic model is, why it is important and how it can help your organization measure the impact of the work you are doing. Understanding the Nonprofit Logic ModelA logic model maps out what it takes to deliver a program, service or area of work within the nonprofit organization. It details the assumptions embedded within the program and its short-, medium- and long-term outcomes. It also visually maps the program building blocks including inputs, activities, outputs. With this mapped out, you then can design an evaluation process and system to capture data on whether the program is producing the expected outcomes. The logic model breaks out in more detail one element of an organizational level theory of change. For example, a local watershed organization may focus their work in three areas – education, citizen science and policy work – to further its mission of contributing to a healthy watershed. Each work focus area mapped out in the theory of change would then have its own logic model. What is a theory of change?A theory of change shows visually and in writing how your organization’s work connects to and moves your mission and vision forward. A logic model maps out what it takes to deliver a specific program, the assumptions embedded within it and its short-, medium- and long-term outcomes. Taking the time to work together to create both will make apparent gaps in logic, understanding and agreement about what you are trying to achieve within your organization. It provides you with the opportunity to work through these to come to a shared understanding and vision which strengthens your work and organization. 4 Steps to Building Your Logic ModelAfter you have worked collectively to create your organization’s theory of change, you can work on creating each work area, service, or program area’s logic model.
From Theory to Practice: Implementing Your Logic ModelOnce your logic model is complete, you can then decide what performance measures you will focus on and how you will collect data on those measures. These data do not all need to be quantitative. In addition to quantitative data collected through surveys, often qualitative data including gathering stories and experiences through interviews will be an important component of the evaluation design. Measuring and Mapping ImpactWith this process, there can be the temptation to start collecting data about everything and then get overwhelmed and over time the data gathering stops, or you have a lot of data that you do not have time to synthesize and make meaning of. Keep it simple and choose a few key items to track so that you have the time to do the truly important work – learning from your evaluation. What are you learning from your team conversations?As you collect data and synthesize it, you will learn more about the effectiveness of your program. You may identify areas in which your hypotheses were not entirely accurate. What can you learn from the information? Apply your learnings by adjusting the program. This may mean tweaking your logic model as new information is gathered. Communicating results to your stakeholdersThe information you gather will have many applications. In addition to reporting results internally to your staff and board as well as to funders, you might highlight results on your webpage, blogs, social media, and annual reports. As you are doing so, consider each audience and their interest and perspectives. What do they care about and how can you link what you are doing and your results to that? Ask this question for each audience as you decide what aspects of your results to share. Just producing one findings report misses many opportunities to tell your story and share your impact. Overcoming 3 Common Challenges to developing a logic modelNot connecting the theoretical processes to practical applicationThese processes can seem a little esoteric. It helps to have an evaluation facilitator help walk you through the process. One of the common sticking points is the difference between an output and an outcome. You are likely already tracking outputs – how many people showed up to a training or the number of times you have testified before government decision makers. But what are you expecting people to be able to do after the training – answering that question helps you start identifying outcomes. A facilitator can keep the conversation going, help everyone understand the purpose of each step and ensure all the items are captured s as the group brainstorms. Realistic expectations of what your data are telling youOther objections to engaging in this work have to do with whether you can prove your program, service or intervention is THE factor that creates the outcome. Organizations rarely have the resources to evaluate their programs at that level, including running double-blind tests. While you may not be able to invest in evaluation to the level that will enable you to prove your impact, you can design a system that help board and staff to continue to strengthen the program as well as gather evidence of your impact. Does not represent the full complexityAnother pitfall is rejecting logic models because they cannot fully capture the complexity of the system that program participants are living within or are themselves. Indeed, the map is not the territory. No model will fully capture life in its full complexity. Yet it can provide a slice of that reality that your work is focused on. With these understandings in mind, you can proceed with more realistic expectations for what a logic model, monitoring and evaluation can do for your organization. Nonprofit Logic models are worth the investmentInvesting the time in mapping out your organization’s theory of change and logic models is an important aspect of ensuring your stakeholders are aligned on your organization’s strategy. The process can reveal and then address gaps in logic, understanding and agreement on how each aspect of your work contributes to your overall mission. Tackling this as a collective project helps educate everyone involved not only about the process itself but also about why and how you do what you do. It can contribute to breaking down silos within your organization. With the information you collect because of this work, you are also better able to tell your story of results to donors, funders, board members, volunteers, community partners and decision makers.
Too often I get calls from potential clients with the question – can you come facilitate our strategic planning retreat next month. Unfortunately the answer is usually no. Why? Because it does not allow time for a full process that builds success. Strategic planning is not just about getting together at a retreat – the retreat or series of planning sessions are an important part of the process – but not the whole process itself. What is strategic planning?Nonprofit strategic planning is the process to take stock, gather input from your stakeholders, evaluate your organization’s strengths and challenges and set strategic goals for a specific time period. A well conducted process will help ensure that everyone is aligned and working on the things that matter most to moving your mission forward. It helps your organization step back and consider where you are now and where you want to go. It provides you with the opportunity to get reconnected with your stakeholders and understand how they see your organization, its strengths and areas for growth. Why is strategic planning important for nonprofits?Ultimately strategic planning is about building excitement and alignment throughout your organization for your vision, as well as the key goals that emerge as part of the process. It helps you shift from your focus on the day to day to think about your organization from a wider lens and longer perspective. When done well, it engages and aligns all the people important to your organization’s future behind a shared vision and set of goals. Learn more about the five step process of strategic planning. Should the strategic planning process include a retreat? Does it need one?Yes a retreat or a series of planning meetings are part of the process. You will need to set aside time to bring your board and staff together to talk through where you are currently, vision where you want to be and then prioritize the steps to getting from here to there. But the retreat or series of planning meetings are just part of the process - they are not the process themselves. What does the process look like beyond the retreat?Strategic planning is a more comprehensive process that takes work ahead of the retreat to be prepared to use the time together well as well as time after the retreat to shift from vision to action. Deciding what the key areas of strategic inquiry is an important step. With that understanding, gathering input from your stakeholders is a foundational step in the process. You are essentially going on a listening tour. This can be a piece of the process where it is particularly helpful to work with an outside consultant. The data gathering phase can be time intensive and challenging for staff or volunteers to complete in addition to their regular workload. In addition, those you want to gather feedback from are more likely to be fully candid with someone outside the organization. Considerations for planning your retreat or planning sessionsYou will need to decide who to invite, how long will you set aside, will the retreat or planning sessions be in person or online and who will lead the retreat/sessions. Typically a strategic planning task force made up of both staff and board members will help inform the answers to these questions. I recommend inviting both board members and staff. They each bring a unique perspective to the process. Whether you are able to meet for a day, a day and a half or a series of shorter sessions will determine how much of the agenda items below you can cover. If coming together for a full day, day and a half or two days will not work for your group, consider doing a series of shorter planning sessions online. What should the strategic planning retreat focus on?ith the foundational steps completed – especially the gathering of input from stakeholders – you are then well positioned to hold your retreat or series of shorter planning sessions. While every organization’s needs will be different, typically a retreat agenda will include: · a review of the findings from the stakeholder input process and a discussion of their implications; · a scan of the wider trends impacting your organization; · envisioning your organization’s future · identifying key initiatives that will help you get from where you are to that envisioned future · drafting action steps and success indicators for each of your key initiatives, and · a review of your mission, vision and values, including how those values are demonstrated in behavior. This can occur over a day or two or through a series of shorter focused planning sessions for each agenda items. When conducting strategic planning online, opting for the shorter focused planning sessions is a better alternative. A day long retreat will NOT be able to cover all these agenda items, so be realistic. What are the benefits of a nonprofit strategic planning retreat?Taking the time to bring your staff and board together has many benefits. These include building relationships, each individual gaining a more wholistic understanding of the organization as well as time away from the crush of the daily to do list to think more expansively. What are the pitfalls of a nonprofit strategic planning retreat?Unfortunately, when retreats are held in absence of a more comprehensive process, they can lack grounding in the current state of the organization. This can result in goals that are not fully connected to the current capacity of the organization or do not address the most pressing issues. They can also result in wish lists of good ideas without a true plan or process for how to implement these and integrate them into the day-to-day operations of the organization. What happens after the strategic planning retreat?At the end of the retreat, you should have a draft of your plan. A smaller group – often a strategic planning task force or committee – will then finalize the plan. Another important task for this group at this stage is to agree on how the plan will be reviewed and updated – how often, by whom. Will this process happen during its own special meeting or will it be integrated into standing board and staff meetings? How do you operationalize the bigger strategic goals?To make sure that your strategic planning process is worth the time invested in it, you need to create not just the overall three-five year strategic plan. You also need to create an implementation plan. You start by choosing a shorter time frame – it could be a quarter, six months or a year – however you already do your planning. Then choose what of the overall plan you will focus on during that time frame. Only then go to the level of detail of who will do what by when. Too much can change over longer time frames to bother trying to nail down all those specifics in the overall plan. Ensure that your team and division leaders understand how their work relates and supports the broader strategic direction and plan so that they can help their direct reports see their part in the organization’s strategy. How do we keep the strategic plan relevant?Ensuring you have processes to monitor and evaluate the plan on a period basis will be key to keeping the plan relevant. Having defined success indicators, you will be able to measure progress and outcomes. Checking in on progress, as well as where you have hit unexpected road blocks, what adjustments need to be made and what may not be as relevant given new realities that it may have seemed when you originally created the plan will all be important to ensure the plan doesn’t just sit on the shelf. Agree on who will be champion tracking progress on the plan. Be flexible and adaptable and not overly attached to the details of the plan as no plan can anticipate all the changes in circumstances that the future will bring. Why is a comprehensive strategic planning process important?Strategic planning for nonprofits is a dynamic and vital process that extends well beyond the confines of just a retreat. It involves thorough preparation, active engagement from all stakeholders, and the integration of feedback into a viable strategic plan. The true power of strategic planning lies not just in the retreat itself but in the continuous, concerted efforts to align the organization's daily operations with its long-term vision.
Remember that strategic planning is an ongoing journey of adaptation and refinement, ensuring that your nonprofit remains responsive to changes and capable of achieving its mission. Embracing the full scope of this process will increase the likelihood of success as you work toward building your organization's impact and sustainability.  In episode 102 of Mission: Impact, Carol Hamilton and Jeff De Cagna discuss the concept of the "duty of foresight," stressing the need for boards to prepare for future challenges. They critique traditional leadership paradigms and promote stewardship as a more inclusive and effective approach. The conversation covers various topics, including the evolution from VUCA to BANI and the need to challenge orthodox beliefs to create resilient and forward-thinking organizations. Episode highlights: Duty of Foresight [00:07:00] - [00:010:00] - the concept of the "duty of foresight." - the importance of boards anticipating future challenges and preparing accordingly. Evolution from VUCA to BANI [00:14:00] - [00:17:30] - the shift from VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous) to BANI (brittle, anxious, non-linear, and incomprehensible). Challenging Orthodox Beliefs [00:19:00] - [00:24:00] -The need for nonprofit leaders to question and confront orthodox beliefs. - examples of outdated beliefs and suggests alternative approaches to foster innovation and resilience. Leadership vs. Stewardship [00:30:00] - [00:37:00] - Critique of traditional leadership models, arguing that they often emphasize winning and greatness in unproductive ways. - Stewardship as a more collaborative and sustainable approach to governance. Preparing for Future Challenges [00:37:00] - [00:23:00]
Guest Bio:
Jeff De Cagna FRSA FASAE, executive advisor for Foresight First LLC in Reston, Virginia is an association contrarian, foresight practitioner, governing designer, stakeholder/successor advocate, and stewardship catalyst. In August 2019, Jeff became the 32nd recipient of ASAE’s Academy of Leaders Award, the association’s highest individual honor given to consultants or industry partners in recognition of their support of ASAE and the association community. Important Links and Resources: Jeff De Cagna Foresight First LLC VUCA https://www.mindtools.com/asnydwg/managing-in-a-vuca-world BANI https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeroenkraaijenbrink/2022/06/22/what-bani-really-means-and-how-it-corrects-your-world-view/ Reasons to be cheerful newsletter: https://reasonstobecheerful.world/ Threatening Thirties series: https://www.naylor.com/associationadviser/the-threatening-thirties-part-i/ https://www.naylor.com/associationadviser/the-threatening-thirties-part-ii/ https://www.naylor.com/associationadviser/the-threatening-thirties-part-iii/ Characteristics of White Supremacy Culture: https://www.whitesupremacyculture.info/characteristics.html Related Episodes: Episode 15: The Nonprofit Executive Director-Board Chair relationship Episode 42: Building shared governance Episode 55: Helping nonprofit boards move toward greater equity Episode 61: Impactful nonprofit boards Episode 97: The business imperative of facing climate change Episode 99: Elevating nonprofit governance Click "Read More" for a transcript of the interview  In episode 101 of Mission: Impact, Carol Hamilton and Michael Randel discuss
Episode highlights: [00:09:30] Mackenzie Scott's Trust-Based Philanthropy Philanthropy Approach - Mackenzie Scott’s “quiet giving” process. - Discussion on how Scott’s approach differs from traditional philanthropy with no application process and minimal reporting requirements. - The concept of trust-based philanthropy and its implications for recipient organizations. [00:13:30] Research on organization’s receiving Scott gifts - Michael’s initial hypothesis and surprising positive research findings - Insights from interviewing CEOs of recipient organizations about managing large gifts. [00:15:30] Patterns in Recipient Organizations - the characteristics and sectors of organizations that received funding. - The importance of organizational preparedness and strategic clarity. [00:18:30] Organizational Preparedness - Key elements that made organizations ready for large donations: - Clarity of purpose and identity. - Strategic priorities. - Proven approaches and evidence-based strategies. - Aligned leadership and governance. - Strengthened capacity and systems. - Learning and adaptation capabilities. [00:27:30] Organizational Development Lessons - Michael’s observations on the sustainability of organizations not centered around a charismatic leader. - Importance of multiple levels of system attention within an organization. [00:30:30] Holistic Organizational Approach - Carol and Michael discuss the benefits of a holistic view in organizational development. - The shift in the consulting field towards addressing multiple aspects of organizational life. [00:32:30] Taking a comprehensive approach - Emphasizing a comprehensive look at all organizational components, not just programmatic aspects. - The role of communication and visibility in securing funding. [00:35:30] Practical Advice for Handling Large Gifts Five good practices for organizations receiving large donations: - Advisor for the CEO. - Thoughtful sharing of news about the gift. - Strategic investment planning. - Establishing a working group for decision-making. - Effective communication with stakeholders. Guest Bio:
Michael Randel Michael Randel helps leaders and their teams move through Change and Growth with Calm and Confidence. He developed the RCA Seasons of GrowthTM framework to help people understand and move through the three common phases of change. This allows leaders to navigate the challenges of change and bring about transformational results. With 30 years of experience, Michael works with philanthropic foundations, nonprofit organizations, corporations, and public sector agencies to help them navigate change with success and poise with his expertise in organizational change. The influence and impact of Michael’s work has been recognized with multiple global awards, and his clients include Amnesty International, AstraZeneca, NASA, United Nations, and the World Bank. Important Links and Resources: Yield Giving: https://yieldgiving.com/ Michael Randel: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelrandel/ https://rcachangeadvisors.com/ Gestalt approach to organization development https://www.gestaltosd.org/ Related Episodes: Episode 15 The Nonprofit executive director-board chair relationship Episode 17 Program evaluation Episode 67: Get that money honey Episode 69: Designing for strategy Episode 70: Values based strategic planning Episode 76: You don’t have to go it alone Click "Read More" for a transcript of the interview |
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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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