The Momentum Playbook for Nonprofit Leaders

Tim Barnes: 0:07

Welcome to episode 104 of the Practice of Non-Profit Leadership. I'm Tim Barnes and I'm Nathan Ruby. Okay, nathan, it's no secret that we are big sports fans, and apologies to those who are really not into sports, but one of the things that I've taken over the years from sports that I think is really applicable to small nonprofits is the importance of getting and sustaining momentum.

Nathan Ruby: 0:34

Yeah, and this is a great time of year in North America. Baseball teams are really fighting for those last playoff spots and hoping to catch fire and some momentum at right at the right moment. And American football is kicking off and Tim and I are big football fans, so we're loving that They've all got their seasons. They're just, I think, opening week is this week, I think, or next week, so everybody's zero-zero, ready to go with the championships in their head.

Tim Barnes: 1:06

Well, nathan, I have to admit I'm also a big fan of the English Premier Football League as well, and they've just started their season and each case, whether it's baseball, football, basketball, rugby, whatever in each case, they're all seeking to get and sustain momentum leading to victory and success.

Nathan Ruby: 1:30

Yeah, you bet, Tim, and there's a thing I don't know what. It's a thing I don't know what to call it, but there's a thing in sports that's kind of like the hot hand theory and where somebody's like basketball happens a lot where they're just basket after basket after basket and the assumption is that they've been hitting like crazy and they're going to keep hitting and they're going to keep winning, and that's momentum. You feel good, you're relaxed, things are going your way. Man, what a great thing momentum is.

Tim Barnes: 2:05

Okay, we'll stop talking about sports for a little bit.

Nathan Ruby: 2:10

But at least for a few minutes.

Tim Barnes: 2:11

For a few minutes, but here's the deal. Momentum is really important in the nonprofit world as well. When I started thinking about this in more depth a few weeks ago, someone sent me a link to a podcast by Craig Groschelle on factors of fuel momentum. And as I often do and you know, nathan, this is true I end up buying a book that the person on the podcast wrote, which I did, and Craig's book was called Lead Like it Matters, and I'll drop both links to the podcast and the book in the show notes and, just so you know, craig is a pastor of a large ministry and so there's a strong faith component in the book, if that matters to you. But I'm just going to say I was really challenged by this concept of momentum and thinking about how that works in nonprofits. So today we're going to explore what a nonprofit leader needs to do to get and to keep momentum in their organization.

Nathan Ruby: 3:14

Well, I'm excited about this topic. I'm excited to learn from you today, tim. I'm going to take good notes, but maybe, before you get into that, we've got an event coming up here in the next few weeks and maybe this would be a good time to talk about that first before we dive into it. Let's be honest with each other. Fundraising can be difficult, but it doesn't have to be Just like learning anything else. You have to learn the fundamentals before you master a new skill. That's why Tim and I are offering a new class called Fundraising Fundamentals on Thursday, october 19th at Noon Central. In this one-hour class, you will learn fundamentals such as why do people give, how do I encourage people to give to my organization, how do I fit fundraising into my already overwhelmed schedule, and a lot more. This class will be fun, interactive and give you a solid base by which you can begin to build your fundraising muscle. If fundraising success has remained elusive, if you know in your heart your organization should be raising more dollars, but you just can't figure out how this class is for you, click on the link in the show notes and you'll be able to register. It's going to be a good class. I hope to see you there. Well, hey, I hope you are excited about that opportunity in that class and love to see you there. It's going to be fun, it's going to be good, so hope you can make it to that. So, all right, let's talk about momentum. So today's question is how do we, as leaders, get and keep momentum going in our organizations? Tim, what do you got for us?

Tim Barnes: 5:09

I think there's five things that we can do and that we need to do as leaders, and the first one starts with vision, and that's probably not a shock, but it's a good reminder. We need to be able to start with the why. Why does it matter and what are we trying to do here? What will it look like if we're effective in fulfilling our vision? And, as a leader, that's part of why we are there. That's why we lead is to communicate that vision, to keep it on the front, and we need to paint the picture. We need to talk about what will it look like? What does it smell like, what does it taste like? We need to connect that vision to the senses so that people understand and get excited about where we're headed. So, whether that's in written form, whether that's in giving a talk, whether that's a video that you do, you keep looking for ways to paint that vision and keep that vision out in front of people so people know where we're going to go. I think one of the challenging things, nathan, is that it really requires us, as leaders, to over communicate, and that can be hard. It's like, hey, I said it once, everybody should kind of get it, but we need to be talking about that vision all the time, with board members, with our staff, with our volunteers, with our donors, almost to the point that we're sick of hearing ourselves talk.

Nathan Ruby: 6:41

Yeah, and what is it? I forget what the marketing numbers is, but you've got to see it, hear it, read it in different formats seven, eight, nine, 10 times, something like that before you actually internalize it. And so if you have five board members and each of them have to hear it seven times, that's 35 times just to board members, and that doesn't even guarantee that they get it after that amount of time. So, yeah, over communicating is a big deal. It's really important and the vision so much in our world, the nonprofit world, is based on vision. In my experience, I think, as a group of people, a group of employees, a group of staff working for nonprofits, we are, as a group, more inclined to be excited about our jobs and because we're making a difference, and a lot of times nonprofit staff are so passionate about what they do, and so I think it's a little easier to come to work excited. However, human nature is human nature and a job is a job and there are good days and there are bad days and sometimes there's multiple bad days, and so just that vision of this is where we're going and this is why it's exciting and this is why you should be excited and, yes, we're going to have a bad day here and there, but the big vision, the big goal of what we're going is exciting and it is a way to get people excited about what's happening and pushing that momentum forward.

Tim Barnes: 8:21

Yeah, we need to keep knowing where we're going to head and if we don't, then when things get tough, it's easy just to walk away. We'll talk a little bit more about that in a minute, but it is so important to be able to communicate that and get people on board with that. The second part of this, I think, or second element, is it takes belief and optimism and I'm not talking about kind of pie in the sky, but if you don't believe that you can actually see this vision happen, you might as well just pack your bags down and go home. You have to believe that this is something that can then accomplish. It has to happen, it matters, and you need to believe and you need to let that belief and that optimism keep coming out. This can happen. And I think part of that is calling out the best in people. So as you're moving forward finding you know, catching people doing something right and reinforcing that, looking at people and calling out the best say you really can do this, you can lead. If you want momentum, you've got to keep talking about why this is possible. You've got to bring that belief to the table, and that's belief in people, that's belief in your staff, in your volunteers, in your board, even in those who benefit from the work that you're doing. You need to keep calling people to action and showing that you believe that this really can happen.

Nathan Ruby: 9:50

At some level. We as executive directors especially if you're new to this, if you're a new executive director, there are some skills that you can kind of fake until you make it. You know you can have mentors, you can have coaches, you can have people come alongside you and help you and kind of give you that extra support you need until kind of help you with the training wheels until you get good enough to where you can take those training wheels off. So you could kind of fake some of that. But it is really hard to fake belief and optimism If you don't 100% all in believe in what the organization is doing and the vision of where you're going and your role in taking the organization there. That's hard to fake. And your staff, your board, your volunteers, it won't be long and they'll know that you're faking it. So that's incredibly important to him is that belief and optimism in where you're going.

Tim Barnes: 10:50

So, Nathan, do you have? You know, I hate to say techniques, but you know, how do you keep your optimism up, how do you keep that belief in the work that you're doing? Are there some things that you do that fuel some of that?

Nathan Ruby: 11:03

Yeah, and I think it comes down to what we do matters. You said it just a little while ago. And if you're in an organization where you are not fully believing in what your organization does and the impact that it makes in the world, that that is not critically important, then you're probably in the wrong place. And you know, and we're different. We you know, tim and I both have a passion for international work, but we're different. We have different visions and different likes and tastes, and everybody has that. And so what gets one person excited at one place isn't necessarily going to get somebody else excited. And I think that comes also comes up when you're looking for new positions. And you know, are you looking for a job and a paycheck, or are you looking to match up and align up with a vision of an organization that matches your own? And that is that's extremely powerful when that happens. And so I think, tim, to answer your question, the simplest way I can is I just rethink, remember, focus on the vision and the impact. And if, if my organization ceased to exist, people would be hurt, and that's the motivating factor for me.

Tim Barnes: 12:26

That's really good. I think just you know we're not talking about kind of a fake optimism. We really want you know, as a leader you really need to believe in what you're doing. I know one of the things and it sounds really simple, but you know I've really tried to develop this year a gratefulness habit where I do take time each morning to write down at least one thing I'm really grateful for and it kind of just puts me in the right frame of mind that I'm looking for that positive, I'm looking for that optimism on what I'm grateful for the things that are in front of me. So to give momentum, it starts with a vision. You need to have the vision of where you're headed and what you're trying to do and you need to believe that it can actually happen and you can be optimistic that it can take place and you're gonna bring people along with that optimism. A third thing here is supportive actions and systems. What I mean by that let's talk about supportive actions. Supportive actions really talks about the idea of planning. I need to know if I have this vision and I'm excited and believe we can accomplish it. I need to know what steps that I need to take to actually start moving in that direction. What do I need to do to get there? How do I need to? You know, what do people need to be doing? What kinds of actions do we need to take to actually see this happen? So you gotta be planning and talking and putting people together. And the second part of that is supportive systems. You know, so many times systems can actually hinder us as opposed to actually helping us accomplish our vision. But we've seen it before Sometimes the things, the hoops you've gotta jump through don't help you get to where you're going. They actually slow you down. And so the question is do our systems help us get there? If you're trying to get momentum around raising gifts, raising new donations maybe you're saying I wanna raise $100,000 between now and the end of the year Do your giving systems allow you to get that momentum? Is it easy for your donors to actually give to you, or are the hoops so many that it's like there's no way you're gonna get that momentum because your systems don't help you move in that direction? You get that, nathan.

Nathan Ruby: 14:51

Yeah, absolutely. And you know, taking your reference of fundraising which is actually a pretty good thing for me to talk about, Tim, you know, if you're trying to raise $100,000 between now and the end of the year, the best place to go because we're on the back half of the year now is I would be looking at people who typically have given between the January 1st and late August, early September, maybe even up to 1st of October. If you have people who traditionally give during that time of year but they haven't given yet this year, then I would be on the phone to those people saying, hey, we miss you, where are you? Well, I wouldn't say where are you, but I would just say, hey, you know, thank you so much for your past giving. It means so much. You know how are things going this year and you'll develop the relationship from there. But when it comes to systems, if you don't have a database, or your database won't tell you, or you have a database but you don't know how to use it to get that information, then that's what Tim's talking about. That is a system that you don't have, that you need to do that type of fundraising.

Tim Barnes: 16:06

Actually I think you probably would say hey, where are you?

Nathan Ruby: 16:08

But anyway, Actually I would, but that's me, that's my personality.

Tim Barnes: 16:15

But our point is so, as you think about, you want to get momentum, you want people moving in a direction you're going to get to this vision. The systems that are set up are they set up to help you get there? So I would be looking at what forms do I make people fill out? How do I ask them to report? What are our meetings effective? What's our communication style? How are we communicating? I'd look at all those things that are either going to move you forward or they're going to hinder you from getting to where you're going. And, as a leader, you should be asking some of those questions and you should be looking at some of those things to say, hey, are we, are we doing? It's like a coach, you know. Are we practicing? Are we practicing the right things and do our practices? Are they set up to actually help us get better and move forward, or are they just busy work and they just like, oh, we've got to be doing this to get momentum. We need to have supportive actions, we need to have plans and we need to have, we need systems to push us forward rather than hinder us for making progress. A Fourth thing and I don't know why, nathan, that we sometimes struggle with this. Maybe not every nonprofit does, but maybe it's because we're so focused on the intensity of the before we're trying to accomplish, but oftentimes we forget to celebrate the good things that are happening. And if you want to get momentum, you need to celebrate. And you know what celebrates gets done and it gets keeping. It continues to get done. When you celebrate, when you find people doing the right things, when you catch them doing right, when you take these small steps, we should, we should be celebrating, whether, however, however, you want to celebrate, whether that's a hey, let's take a moment and clap, let's, let's send a note around, great job, or whatever, or let's have a cake, I don't know, but Merlee yeah, not sure how that goes with momentum, but that's alright. But the key is we need to be looking for those, for the, for progress, and we need to celebrate when we see that.

Nathan Ruby: 18:30

You know, I think back. I probably get on a grading scale I probably get a D or a D minus on this. That is not something that I have done consistently in my career and I look at as you were talking. I'm just in my head thinking back to times and opportunities where I could have Led and had that and I didn't. And I don't. I don't think it was a conscious choice not to, it's just Didn't. I didn't think about it, it just didn't come into my head and so, yeah, that's definitely something that I need to pay attention moving forward.

Tim Barnes: 19:08

I think a lot of these things are things that we need to be intentional about, and Some people it's like oh you know, some people are looking for a party around every corner, which is great, that and that's not me. So if it's not me, I need to think about how can I be intentional About, about celebrating those little victories you know about, when we get that gift. Hey, we've been working at this that that gift came in, let's, let's celebrate, let's put it out there. You know, even writing a little note to someone hey, great job, I saw that you did you, I saw that you did this People would be excited about. They want to keep moving forward and working with you. So how do we? How do we celebrate?

Nathan Ruby: 19:49

When was the last time that that you received a written card from somebody that wasn't your birthday or Christmas or you know, just out of the blue? For something like that, that gets, that gets remembered.

Tim Barnes: 20:00

I've worked around this enough that there have been times I've walked by people's desk and I see a handwritten card up on a bulletin board or put aside somewhere, because it means something to get a handwritten note that all Built momentum, it keeps you moving forward when people know they're appreciated and we're celebrating what we're trying to do. The last one number five, and this is this is ripped right from Craig Groschel Momentum oftentimes is sustained by grit, by grit. There are so many things and, nathan, you know this and I'm sure our listeners though there are so many things that work to stop our momentum. There are so many things that come at us. It could be criticism. Well, why did you make that decision? Why aren't you doing this Boy? That really stinks. You know you're just not doing what you said you were gonna do. You know there's all these someone's always got a, a word of criticism for us and that sometimes like oh man, that takes the air out of us. I'm not talking about constructive criticism. I'm talking about, just flat out, what are you doing? I'm not sure you're. You're making it. You know it could be criticism. It could be financial challenges. You know it could be changing circumstances, things I mean the world is changing so many, so quickly. There's so many things happening all the time, it could be a pandemic. You know who knows? There are so many things that are that are coming at us. It takes grit, it takes getting down and dirty. I'm sorry I keep going back to sports, but you know, you think about all the practices, you think about in the mud, you think in the rain, you think in the heat, you think in the cold and sometimes you know To to get momentum, to be successful and to win, you grit your teeth and you go. I'm not giving up. I'm gonna keep working at it and Get to the place where we're gonna see this vision happen. It's a willingness not to give up but to fight through it. Because of the impact of the vision, because it matters, we need to do it. Maybe you're frustrated or maybe you're feeling down, and I'm just saying Grit is what's gonna get you through. People see you Gritting and see you moving forward and willing to do these things. They're gonna follow you. They're not gonna listen to if you tell them to get in the mud. They want to see you in the mud as well. And so if we really want to see momentum, we need to be people of grit. We need to be leaders of grit who keep moving forward.

Nathan Ruby: 22:43

Tim, I don't even know what to add after that. I, I, I can't. I don't have anything. That was awesome.

Tim Barnes: 22:51

No, but I think we've all been there, haven't we? I mean we, we all. Every day, we, we take script. You know, some days it's things are flying high, but most days it's like I've got it, it's not like I'm done, I'm tossing the towel in. It's just not worth it. The vision is worth it, and sometimes it just takes gritting our teeth and moving forward.

Nathan Ruby: 23:10

Yeah, and you know there are. They're just their times where you know if you just get through the day, if you just get through the day, you know that's worthy of celebrating and. And then you know, going home and getting a good night's sleep and and coming back tomorrow and hitting it again and again and again, and sooner or later, sooner or later, things start to go your way. And you know you go to the mailbox and you open up and there's a, there's a nice big check in there. Or you know there's the, the issue that you're dealing with, you know, with one of your staff people miraculously, you know, solves itself. Or you know, I don't know, there's a million different, different things, but it is. It is understanding that what is happening at any given moment. It is not necessarily gonna last forever, and maybe it's a day or a week or a month, but we just you get up the next day and you come back, you show up, you do the work to the best of your ability and you get up tomorrow and do it again and you lead through that and I guarantee you, your staff, your volunteers, your board, they're all watching you, they're paying attention to what you're doing and they're seeing how you deal with this, and even even if you're not perfect and even if you don't get it right, the fact that you're showing up and doing the best you can is good enough.

Tim Barnes: 24:37

So, as we record this podcast, we are in the last four months of the year. Kids are back in school. In in North America, kids are back in school. Season is starting to change a little bit. We have four months to the end of the year. What a great opportunity to take these next four months and really go after the momentum. So what do you? What do you want to get to at the end of the year? Come back to your vision. Do you believe in your vision and are you ready to go for it? Do you have the belief and the optimism that, yeah, we can actually see some of this happen over the next four months? Are we taking the right actions? Get our actions in place. Let's look at our systems and make sure they're gonna help us move forward. Let's be looking and celebrate what's happening around us. Let's look for those good things, let's celebrate them and let's commit ourselves to be people of grit that we're gonna do whatever it takes To get from here to there by the end of the year. So momentum is such a key aspect to a nonprofit being successful and carrying out its mission. But, as we've said, it doesn't just happen. It takes leadership. It takes a leader who can communicate a vision, believes in the possibilities, looks at the lines of action and systems that keep things moving forward, celebrates the little successes and is willing to exercise grit in not giving up. Can I just remind you that the work your organization does matters. It needs you to keep moving forward.

Nathan Ruby: 26:19

Thank you for listening today. If you are benefiting from what is being shared on this podcast, we would love to have you share a review on whatever platform you're listening to. Let us know how the podcast is benefiting you and don't forget to sign up for that fundraising Fundamentals. We'd love to see you there. If you would like to get in touch with us, our contact information can be found in the show notes. That's all for today. Until next time.