Building Strong Relationships to Achieve Nonprofits Missions
Activism in a Digital-First World: The question, “What can we do?” was addressed by the exemplary panel of Jane Fonda, Daphne Frias, Tori Tsui, and Cristina Jones. The experts shared how we’re in an interesting time where, as a society we are more aware of the conversations on climate change. They continued to offer solutions such as driving digital activism in your community and staying resilient in your community outreach. Technology is the great equalizer in these times to mobilize voices of everyone, everywhere. Let's all drive climate action by thinking globally and acting locally.
Feeding Community and Fueling Hope
The admirable Jose Andres of World Central Kitchen shared how he saw the better side of humanity. He sees people come to the aid of others, how they rise to the challenge, and help their fellow people survive in a time of crisis. He discussed how organizations such as World Central Kitchen help feed hundreds of thousands on the frontlines and who have solved food security issues during the pandemic. A plate of food shows love – feeding communities feeds hope!
How to Start Building a Data Strategy for Your Nonprofit
Are you a nonprofit looking to develop a successful data strategy plan to drive business efficiency and decision-making? Then, here’s your chance to learn about best practices and key tools to get you started. Hear how the American Society of Hematology is building a data-driven culture from the experts -Tim Weeks, Industry Solutions Director, Nonprofit Operations, Salesforce.org; Karina Fernandez, Chief Information Officer, and Brandi Suttles, IT Project Manager of American Society of Hematology (ASH).
This session was completely packed with valuable information that highlighted the significance of data management goals, the impact of data trends, and practical steps to construct a successful data strategy for nonprofits. During the presentation, Tim Weeks shared his experience with nonprofits who struggled to begin their data journey with questions like “should I start with technology or integrations?” or “how do I ensure buying across my organizations?”. He also offered practical guidance on how to build a strategy by considering data maturity, inventory, and governance.
Later on, Trailblazers Karina Fernandez and Brandi Suttles shared their adventure and challenges on how ASH is building a data-driven culture by migrating their legacy CRM and financial systems to Salesforce. Currently, they are building tailored training sessions involving scavenger hunts to engage users from all departments to help them understand Salesforce better. Some of the key takeaways of this session are:
- Understand that having a data strategy plan can transform your nonprofit into one where data is trusted and used to make organizational decisions at every level.
- Data infrastructure plan flows from your Data Strategy – once you understand your strategy goals, you can then decide where and how data is stored and unified.
- Data management does not have to be complex to be effective; just be sure to take the time to be thorough.
DEI-Driven Fundraising — Connections and Tensions
This session amplified the work of two leaders and two organizations and how they use technology, to inspire the why behind their work. Patrick McIntyre, Chief Development Officer at Polaris Project, and Eva, Chief Digital Officer at the Sierra Club, shared how organizations can use technology ethically in order to make meaningful change. The conversation focused on how to explore the connections between fundraising and DEI and how they matter in building DEI-driven fundraising strategies for organizations. To advance DEI – from hiring to fundraising – the panel recommended understanding DEI and how incorporating that into a strategy with inclusive values becomes key. You have to screen for that in hiring processes, invest in training for staff, and also be willing to make mistakes and learn. Having leadership that understands this is important, and for those who need to make the pivot, having champions inside the organization are key.
Diversity and Inclusion: Less Talking, More Doing
This session began with a traditional Māori welcome ceremony with notable speakers Anne Fitisemanu, CEO; Tim Johnson, Digital Lead; and Maruata Reweti, Director of Programmes of TupuToa. They shared how TupuToa saw both a challenge and an opportunity to adapt their business model toward a data-driven NFP during the COVID-19 pandemic.
TupuToa is an organization charged with the mission to increase Māori and Pacific representation in leadership positions in the corporate sector. The speakers shared about an organization’s actions to drive diversity and inclusion. Their DEI journey is about less talking and more doing.
They said, “We're accountable to the communities that we serve and when we have to have those courageous conversations around how to do things differently." And included that with Salesforce, they have been able to take all the documentation and knowledge on paper and help them share it with customers, partners, and the rest of the world seamlessly.
Nonprofit Cloud Product Roadmap
In this session, Yvonne Baur, VP, Nonprofit Cloud Product Roadmap, and Lori Freeman, VP, Nonprofit Solutions and Strategy of Salesforce.org, discussed the recent and upcoming functionality shifts for Nonprofit Cloud that could help organizations reach more supporters and achieve missions better than ever. The highlight of this conversation included these top five research takeaways:
- Nonprofits are concerned about expenses
- The Workforce is facing a historical shift in how work gets done
- DEI Perception and Reality
- Staff face Mental Health Challenges
- NGO Fundraising and Marketing is Changing permanently
The key speakers shared how nonprofit cloud- with its data-driven, relationship-centric, and connected features- can benefit nonprofit organizations and offer distinct solutions such as fundraising, marketing and engagement, program management, grant making, and operations.
Using Data Visualizations and Automation to Make an Impact
This session involved exemplary speakers Noel Carter, Product Marketing Manager, Salesforce.org, and Ariane Etemadi, Director of Operations, SA2020, who shared how SA2020 uses data analytics to power their missions. They explained how it helped them drive positive change within their local community, become more data-driven, and tell impactful stories.
By using data visualization, and automation SA2020 drove impact and explored community results in San Antonio. The speakers elaborated on the steps engaged in their fundraising overview, data acquisition and retention, campaign efficacy, and intake during the session.
The key takeaways of this session are:
- Understanding how SA2020 organization uses Tableau, a powerful data analytics tool that helps to capture, visualize, and use data as an asset to deliver interactive dashboards to the community.
- An informed community—shaped by data—helps people understand, engage, and provide insights based on trends and patterns.
- A clear goal with mutually defined metrics helps improve an organization's decision-making process.
- Automation and data visualization from multiple nonprofit partners influences the San Antonio community in positive ways, and results in a common goal.
DemandBlue - Your Mission is Our Mission
Thank you for reading Team DemandBlue’s recap of a few of the many exciting sessions featured at Nonprofit Summit 2022! We had fun engaging with our Trailblazer community in the virtual space.
