Episode 41: Getting Real: Assessing Your Organization

Are you saying “We” when actually it’s just “You”. You, running the programs, You fundraising, You doing everything? Stop creating a facade that is doing more harm than good. Shift from Faking It to actually building out a strong organization. Start with a real assessment of where your organization is so you can get it to where it needs to be.

LINKS:

Donor Box Events
HootSuite
The Dashboard

NONPROFIT SPOTLIGHT: St. Jude’s Hospital

Podcast Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:04):

Welcome to On Air with Amber Wynn, where nonprofit leaders learned to fuse passion and commitment with proven business strategies to create long-term funding, impact, and sustainability. And now here's your host and resident Philanthrepreneur, Amber Wynn. 

Speaker 1 (00:29):

Good morning fam. It's your girl. And we are here today with a new episode. But before I even jump into all of that, I just wanted to pause for a second. I've been getting feedback on my socials, my email from my community, telling me how much my resources, my information, my experience, is helping you, the most amazing people in the world, nonprofit Founders and Executive Directors. And the love is mutual. So thank you so much. I really do appreciate the feedback. Right here I'm in the studio and it's just me and my engineer. And so <laugh>, she tells me she likes my information, but it's always awesome to hear it from you out there in the community. So at the end of the episode, I'm always gonna put up my socials, but I love hearing from you. There is an opportunity for you to also ask me your questions. 

Speaker 1 (01:25):

But yeah, I just wanted to start off this episode by thanking you for engaging with me. I always wanna bring you information that's valuable, that's useful, and the only way that I can do that is if you let me know what it is that you're, you need to hear. All right, So I just had to say that before I forget because I will stand up and forget where I'm going. So I just <laugh>, Hey, the struggle is real. So today's episode, I'm gonna get real with you. Not that I don't normally keep it real cuz that's just how your sister roll, but today I'm gonna get real. I have been getting a lot of pushback from my Founders and Executive Directors. And I'll even say it's pushback. It's just like maybe not really functioning in reality. And I get it. I get it. You think that you have to put on this facade about how much you're doing and what you're doing. I just wanna tell you up front, it's not helping you. So in this episode, we gonna get real y’all. So before I jump into that, cuz I got a lot to say, we're gonna pause for a break and when we get back, we're gonna talk about assessing your nonprofit organization. I'll be back. 

Speaker 3 (02:39):

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Speaker 2 (03:14):

Welcome back, you're On Air with Amber Wynn, Philanthrepreneur, and today we're gonna get real. We're gonna get real and talk about how you being you, meaning not real with what's going on in your organization is really holding your organization back from growth, from funding, from all of the things that's gonna move you forward. So as I said at the top of the episode, I've been getting a lot of non-profit Executive Directors talking to me about what their organizations do in the community. And when I drill down and I have to drill down cuz that's the only way that I can assist you, I learned that the things that you're promoting aren't really true. For example, I talked to one client this week and she says, We do this, we do that, we do that, we do this. And I said, Oh, okay. So how many staff members do you have? 

Speaker 2 (04:09):

Well, it's just me. Oh, okay. Do you have a volunteer program? Well, I'm recruiting. I said, So there is no we, it's it's just me. It's just I, right? And she was like, Well, yeah, I'm talking about the organization. I'm like, Listen, the only way that you can grow is if you are true and real about what is and what is right now is that you are solopreneur. What it is right now is that you have a nine to five and you're doing your nonprofit on the side, which makes it a hobby, but I get it, you gotta pay the bills, especially for those who are self-funding their nonprofit. But the problem with that is when you say we, I had one organization, they're like, Oh, we do this, it's like 12 things they said that they did and here was the truth. They had done it at some time in their existence, meaning they got maybe a $5,000 grant and they did it and now they're claiming this is what they do. 

Speaker 2 (05:08):

And I was like, that was like seven years ago. Have you done that program since then? Well, no, but if we get funding, I'm like, So you're not doing it. There is a tendency to try and make your organization look a certain way, make it look like it's doing more than it's doing. And I'm here to tell you that if you stay in that fake mode creating this facade, then you can't move forward. I'm just keeping it real, right? So here's the other thing you must know when you file your 990, people know, that's public information. You have to list the top three highest paid individuals in the organization. You have no one being paid, so you're putting on the facade. But from a Funder's perspective, we can quickly find out whether or not this we is just a you. So it's important to realize that because as a Funder, if you're saying, We do this, we do this, we that, and we look at your financials. 

Speaker 2 (06:13):

If you're saying we've got 13 programs, but your budget that you're reporting is under $50,000, how are you running 15 programs with a budget under $50,000? It is impossible. So two things happen there. One, as a Funder, I know you lying. So am I gonna write you a check for $250,000 if you're lying? No, no. And then the second thing is you keep putting out this same projected image that you're not now spending time getting your organization, getting your house in order. So that's what we want you to do, right? If it's just you, it's just you. And that's okay. What you say is, I am building out my organization currently right now, it's this, this, this. But don't create this facade where it's we do this and we do that and you're not doing it. Funders understand that there is a process, right? 

Speaker 2 (07:08):

Usually you start off with friends and family as your Board Members. It's just you doing programs. Over time you want to get new board members who are fund fundraising, board members, seasoned board members. You want to get some volunteers, you wanna get some part-time staff, It's okay. What's not okay is for you to put out this facade that you're doing something that you're not. Because the purpose of a Funder is not to fund your organization. The purpose of a Funder is for them to get their funding goals met and they're looking for nonprofits to partner with, to meet those goals. So if you are putting out that you can do that, that's why you're applying for the grant, the Funder is believing what you're saying. We, is more than one person, right? Now, if you say to the Funder, It's just me. I need some capacity building funds, I need some operational funds, then we can talk. 

Speaker 2 (08:09):

Because now you're speaking in truth. It's just me. And I would like to apply for some operational funds to hire staff members to do X, Y, and Z. This is our vision. This is our mission. This is our purpose. Now you're dealing in truth. Now we can do something. But if you continue to say, we we we, then you don't move forward. One of the biggest issues with nonprofits is mindset. My most successful client has been successful since the pandemic because she shifted her mindset because she understood that what she was doing wasn't working because she understood that in order to get to the next level, she had to change. And they had been doing things for years. They'd been in existence since 1987 and doing things the way they thought. But once she learned what she should be doing, she shifted her mind and she started doing the work. 

Speaker 2 (09:04):

Now she's bringing in $60,000 annually from employee giving. She got a grant for $945,000 from a foundation, she's got stock donated. Heck, I donated my car to the organization. Once you shift your mind and you say, Okay, I don't know what I'm doing. I'm making this up. Just embrace it and then get into a space where you're getting accurate information so that you can shift your organization. Then you are powerfully positioning your organization to receive. But as long as you keep saying, we this and we, we got all these programs, it's like, what do they say? If you have a rock in your hand or something in your hand, you can't receive. It's the same thing with your organization. If you're putting up this facade that you're doing this, doing this, doing this, then you can't grow your organizations. So today I want to just encourage you, if that's you, you're on the we train and it's just you. 

Speaker 2 (10:01):

If you've got 12 programs, but none of them have funding, stop it. Stop it, and go back. Reassess your organization and just be real. Be real with the fact that you need to do some work. I am going to recommend that you go to my website and you download this tool I have. It's called The Dashboard. And The Dashboard outlines for you exactly what you need to have in your organization to be successful. There's five columns and it starts off with Concept and it goes all the way to Funding. If you don't have all of the elements that this dashboard outlines for you, then that's where you start. If it's just a me and you want it to really be a we, you have to have some foundational elements in your organization. So go to my website, www.amberwynn.net, go to my shop and look for the dashboard. Download it, and start to build your organization. Shift your mind from putting forth this image and really start working on what you need to do to get your house in order. All right, I'm gonna pause right there. We're gonna break for a minute. Come back and we have a question out of New York on our Ask Amber. So when we get back, I'll handle that. See you soon. 

Speaker 4 (11:26):

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Speaker 2 (12:41):

Welcome back to On Air with Amber Wynn. I'm Amber, your resident Philthrepreneur. And now it's time in our segment where you get to ask me your questions. You can reach me on social media; Instagram, Facebook, email, LinkedIn, all of those. Today's question I actually received from an email, and it's from George out of New York. And George's question is, Hi Amber. I'm old school. Ay, ain't nothing wrong with old school. I'm down for that. Hi Amber. I'm old school. I believe we are here to serve our community, not create TikTok videos, but I have staff pressing me to do more on social media. So I wanted to ask you, how important is social media to nonprofits? This is an excellent question, George, in particular because a lot of things have changed since the pandemic, right?. We couldn't get out, we couldn't network the way that we used to. 

Speaker 2 (13:42):

You're absolutely right. Your primary purpose as a nonprofit is to deliver your services. However, things have shifted since the pandemic, Funders wanna see your engagement. It's a whole lot easier for Funders to get on your social media and see if you are having events and see if you are engaging with your target audience to see if you're posting your events, your pictures. It's easier for a funder to go click click than it is to do what we used to do traditionally, which is site visits, right? So is it more important than the services that you provide? Absolutely not. Is it important? Yes. And I wanna point out, social media is extremely important for your fundraising strategy. When you start looking at corporate sponsorships, corporations aren't interested in your programs, they're interested in your marketing, the visibility. So if you have 10,000 followers, one of the levels, one of the benefits in your levels could be, if you sign on to be our gold sponsor, we will do a blast to our 10,000 Instagram followers. 

Speaker 2 (14:55):

We will shoot your logo out to our Facebook. So social media definitely has a place in your nonprofit. And if those individuals are interested in doing it, I say let them. Let them create a campaign present it to you, show you what it is they wanna focus on. I don't mess with social media. I have it. I'm old school like you. It kind of rattles my brain, but it is a part of our world today. It's important. So I invest in it because that's how people find me. Well, you emailed me, but people can hit me up on Instagram. Hit me up on LinkedIn. Our social media platforms are important. So there's a balance. Keep doing what you do, but make sure that you are accessible by your social media platforms. All right, so we're keeping it moving. Today we are talking about getting real. Earlier in the episode we talked about assessing your non-profit organization, and now we're moving on to my favorite time of the episode. 

Speaker 2 (16:05):

And it's where I get to spotlight a non-profit. Nonprofits always have their teeth to the ground doing the work, and I want to spotlight you. Let people know the work that you're doing out there. Get you some visibility, potentially let other people know that you're a resource in your community. Today we are going to highlight one of my favorite non-profits, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Around the world an estimated 400,000 children are afflicted with cancer each year. St. Jude has helped push childhood cancer survival rate from 20% when they opened to more than 80% today. How miraculous is that? But they won't stop until no child dies from cancer. And that's why St. Jude chairs the breakthrough it makes. And every child saved at St. Jude means doctors and scientists worldwide can use that knowledge. Let's take a look at St. Jude. 

Speaker 5 (17:06):

I never thought I would live in St. St. Jude Hospital business. 

Speaker 6 (17:11):

St. Jude was born of a long day. Hours after the crowds departed. One lonely car remained Dr. Donald Pinkel. The hospital's first director and employee had work to do young lives depended upon it. They said he was a fool. They said there was no hope. But St. Jude was built upon big dreams and a trail blazing spirit. There were discoveries to be made and lives to save. So he worked. Soon people worldwide join the mission lending their time, energies, and talents. Today's St. Jude is more than 4,700 employees strong. The lights never go off at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, the diseases that take our children from us ravaged day and night. So we fight through the small hours of the morning searching for the next innovation. We clean like a life depends upon it because it does. We cook, like we cook for our own families. We fix what is broken. We facilitate care for today and seek tomorrow's cures. And when the sun rises on the other side of the planet, we are there too. We take our mission around the globe because we believe that no child should die in the dawn of life, no matter where they call home. 

Speaker 6 (18:47):

We are stronger together and working together. We will create a new right of future. This is our mission. There is urgency to what we do because this moment.

Speaker 7 (19:04):

Pack up your bed, get out the door, you don't get chemo anymore. 

Speaker 6 (19:10):

This moment is why we are here. 

Speaker 2 (19:23):

Yes, yes. So if you wanna support St. Jude, visit them at www.st jude.org/donate and help to support an organization that is changing lives every day. St. Jude doesn't charge families to treat their kids. So it is an amazing, amazing organization. Thank you St. Jude. All right, so now we're gonna switch over to Mindset Minute. I said in the beginning of the episode that a lot of times nonprofits don't excel because the Founder, the Executive Director, stuck in this mindset, right?. Mindset is the main reason nonprofits fail. If you go in believing that you have to be untruthful about what is, then it's a challenge for you to change what is right. So I want you to just sit with a minute and say to yourself, Where do I wanna be three months from now? Where do I wanna be? Six months, 12 months from now? And I know in your heart you wanna be making an impact in your community and it's not gonna happen if you do the same thing the same way. 

Speaker 2 (20:40):

If you've been doing the same thing and you still don't have a salary, if you're still self-funding your non-profit, if you are overwhelmed and you're struggling, it's because you're doing the same thing. And I'm here to tell you that there are resources. Hello, Amber waving, to help you move your organization from where it is to where you want it to be. And where you want it to be is making an impact in your community. So that starts with a mindset. My most successful pupil I was talking about earlier, I call her my pupil because it's like a star pupil, but she's a client. She paid me y’all. She was successful because she shifted her mindset. She trusted a person who had been in the industry for 30 years and could talk to her about what to do and how to do it. It is important for you to shift your mindset so that you can start doing the things that you need to do to strengthen your nonprofit organization. It's a growth mindset. It's a mindset that says, Okay, I don't have to do it this way. Okay? There's actually a roadmap out there for how to do it so that I can move from this fictitious we, which is just me, into a real space where I can start to hire people. 

Speaker 2 (22:00):

Unfortunately, a lot of my founders wanna jump from I got a 501(c)(3) to how do I get grants? And that's not the truth. The truth is you've got to build out your organization, you've gotta create a track record and then you can qualify. So that takes work. You gotta build out your infrastructure, build out your foundation. And if you've been doing this for five, 10 years, you may think, Well, I don't have time for that. You don't have time to do anything else cuz if you continue with this facade, you're gonna continue self-funding, you're gonna continue not having the support. So think about that and when you are ready, go visit my website. Look at the free resources I have for you that lays out what it is you should have in your organization. Lays out what you should do and how to do it. Cuz I'm here to help you. 

Speaker 2 (22:49):

My statement is always, the world needs nonprofits, but it needs nonprofits who are actually doing the work, not just putting up this facade. And I am here to help you. All right, so that's all I have for today. This is me getting real with you cuz sometimes you just gotta hear the truth just to snap you out of whatever that space you're in to get you to where you need to be. I am saying this with love and adoration because I love and adore you, but let's just keep it real. It's time to do what you gotta do. All right. So that's all I have for this week. I will see you next week. In the meantime, I need you to take care of yourself, like you take care of your community. Next time. 

Speaker 1 (23:36):

Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe and leave a review on iTunes. Head over to www.amberwynn.net/podcast for the links and resources mentioned in today's podcast. See you next time.