Nonprofit Expert Episode 6 – Aligning Goals and Values

DonorPerfect – Host – 0:03
Welcome to Nonprofit Expert presented by DonorPerfect.

Tycely Williams – Guest – 0:14
Hello fundraising friends, I’m Tycely Williams and I’m super excited to share a little bit about Read More

DonorPerfect – Host – 0:03
Welcome to Nonprofit Expert presented by DonorPerfect.

Tycely Williams – Guest – 0:14
Hello fundraising friends, I’m Tycely Williams and I’m super excited to share a little bit about what I’ve learned along the way and ways in which you too, can step into leveraging resources and excellent advice to ensure that you are set up for success.

Many, many moons ago, I had the great privilege of partnering with DonorPerfect to roll out what has been an invaluable resource All across our sector. We deal with gender inequities, and we’re also seeking and searching for resources and tactical tools that can help us not only be our best selves, but to build the life that we are seeking, one that is full of happiness and lots of joy.

I’m super excited to roll out, in partnership with DonorPerfect, excellent advice in our newly shaped workbook and the 2.0 version. Here’s the deal, friends this workbook actually captures quite a bit of learning. It also is relevant. As we know, life has shifted a great deal. We have survived a pandemic and we’re beginning to shift back into learning how to work and play within a newly adjusted sense of normalcy.

What we learned when rolling out the first edition of the workbook is that women were actually experiencing most of the same types of frustrations. However, some of the frustrations were more acute, depending upon the identity and the intersectional elements that every woman brought and brings into the workplace.

What is really exciting about our new version of the workbook is that it centers the importance of being mindful of intersectional identities, and it actually brings tangible tips that we can all learn from, whether we’re of the majority or we find ourselves in spaces where we are underrepresented.

I’m also excited to showcase that this learning takes place in a conversational way. Many of you know that I’m from the Deep South, and when we introduce teachable moments, we do them in ways that are attempting to be relatable, ways that tie into people’s stories, and what’s great about the stories that are positioned in the workbook is that these women are actually holding the pin and the power to punctuate how they have set themselves up for success, and it also creates a wonderful way for you to also learn from their lived experiences.

As I have oriented myself with some of these great lessons, I want to introduce to you a few steps and encourage you to take a moment to sit with this wonderful resource and to reflect on how you will pin your own story of success. We begin with core values.

As we rolled out the first edition of the workbook, you made it loud and clear. You said what mattered most were values, and you weren’t just talking about the values that rested in institutions. You were talking about your personal values. And so we are beginning with what we know is an important foundation.

No matter the role and responsibility that you have within an organization, whether you’re a frontline fundraiser or whether you are providing an instrumental role as a prospecting researcher, you recognize that the reason you’re motivated to get up every single day and give it your best is because you are working in values driven cultures.

Values seem rather simple, but it’s become even more difficult for us to distill and to define our personal values. And what we know is, if we’re able to define our values, it becomes so much easier to hold institutions and others accountable. If we’re beginning with values alignment. So the first thing you’ll be able to learn in the newest version of the workbook is how to define and defend your core values. In these stories, you will hear, see and feel the activation of courage. You will gain inspiration and information as women step forward and actually showcase how they’ve defined and defended their core values.

What is also great about beginning with values is that, no matter where you are on your professional journey, these values will help you retain positions that are of significant satisfaction. These values will help you find future commitments and obligations that best align with your values, and this workbook will also show you, as a relationship builder, how you maintain ties and connections to organizations that you once were employed with but you will forever be a supporter of.

After you’ve taken the time to define and begin defending your values, we step into setting your goals with a heavy dose of intention. That’s right. As we took out the first workbook, we learned while listening that what matters to you is not only that you’re able to define your values, but you’re able to put your values to work, that your values are actually leading you to your personal goals.

Personal goals are a lot like philanthropy it’s relative. One person’s goals are not going to mirror the goals of another individual. We show you and model, and we will also invite you to share with us what you’re learning by putting some of this advice to work. We show you how to sit and define your goals in a way where you are not ashamed, in a way where you are not afraid, in a way where you are encouraged to be emboldened, to stretch and to reach limitless possibilities.

You see, when you set goals with an intention that are tied to your personal values, you are guaranteed to succeed. We also talk about the importance of setting a multitude of goals. Not only do we focus on how do you set financial goals to ensure that you are actually receiving adequate compensation, but we also show you and remind you the importance of adopting social and emotional goals.

You see, at the end of the day, the money matters, but it also matters when and how we subject ourselves to conditions and circumstances that result in our ability to earn the dollars. You see, we have learned by following lots of you that women can also succeed in an emotional and in a financial way.

So once we set and define our goals with a heavy dose of intention, we also circle back to something that I know that you already know is very important, and that isn’t just the mission or the money, it’s also your personal brand. You see, friend, there’s something within you that actually attracted your employer to recruit you for the position you’re in. There’s something extraordinarily wonderful about your promise, your potential, your talents that has actually given you the pathway to become a successful entrepreneur, to be a trusted advisor, and so we want to encourage you to continue to flex and build a personal brand that’s rooted in your core values and a brand that will help you achieve the goals that you have within reach.

You see, we spend a lot of time as organizational ambassadors talking about the mission, vision and values of the organizations that we align ourselves with. We want to invite you to spend some time giving thought to your personal brand. That’s right. You, too, are on a mission with a mission. We want to help you settle into recognizing how you express that in word, indeed, and by leveraging your power, not only in real life or 3D, but also the power that you’ve created and the power that you’re protecting on social media.

You see, your personal brand is just that it’s personal, and we’re excited to see how you will not only show up, but how you will glow up and brighten any commitment that you put in front of yourself. That’s right. We know that you have the power to not only be what you’d like to become, but you also have the power to continue forming and forging connections in partnership with other people who share your values and who share the same goals that you have.

That’s right. We’re going to teach you and actually showcase how many of our contributors have multiplied not only success for themselves, but success for other women that they admire, that they hold in high esteem, that they work with, that they learn from. So we’re super excited to introduce a framework that helps you to best understand how to preserve and protect partnerships. I think we know that life is hard, and what makes life a little bit easier is when we’re able to journey and partner with others.

And so, as we give thought to who we are, who we want to be, we also realize and recognize we aren’t able to get there single and solo. We have to attach and connect with others who share our values and who are seeking to form a future that aligns with the future we value. You see so much of the partnerships that we find ourselves entering into. It’s relative to the stages of our life. If you’re just graduating from college, there’s a high probability you’re seeking partnerships with employers.

And there’s an equally high possibility if you’ve been in the workplace for quite some time, you’re seeking partnerships with educational resources, possibly to help you move from being on a team to actually managing a team. And then, once you’ve succeeded by being a values-driven leader, you find yourself in the mid-years of your career, unlikely giving thought to how you use your transferable skills to either stay in fundraising or possibly shift into another profession.

But what’s great about the skill sets and the mindsets that you possess as a fundraising executive is that, when you value relationships and partnerships, you will be able to add value, no matter the organization where you align your talents, and you will be able to add value to all the individuals that you work in partnership with.

You see, value add is also something we know a lot about as charitable fundraisers. That’s right. We find ourselves inviting people to invest in organizations because we know the organizations that we represent actually produce a positive return on the investment. So when we invite people to make a contribution or to gift stock or to give personal assets, we do that because we know we then have the ability to do something that is useful and helpful for others, and whether those are other human beings, the environment or those fur babies that we love, we know that it results in goodness.

So once we’ve built and defined our core values, once we’ve set goals with intention, elevated our personal brand and partnered with individuals, we then want to do something that we don’t spend a whole lot of time talking about, but we want you to do a whole lot of time allocation taking care of you. That’s right. We have survived a pandemic, and while we don’t know what’s on the horizon and what’s to come, what we do know is that, in order for you to be your best self, you must rest, you must recharge, you must rejuvenate, and so this book isn’t all about the skill sets that you need in order to be a success.

It’s also about the mindset you need to have, and we learned with the rollout of the first workbook is that, as women, we don’t give ourselves enough permission to subtract out, to say no, thank you, to say this isn’t a good time, and to prioritize ourselves and the other varying identities that we bring into work spaces. You see, a charitable fundraiser isn’t all of who you are. You actually have multiple dimensions to your personality, those core values.

You put those to work, not only for the organization that you’re committed to, but the people in your life that you love, other people who rely on you to be healthy and happy and who are hopeful that this professional commitment is not getting the best of you. You see, the best of us should also be able to be shared amongst all of our commitments, if we’re too tired because we’ve stayed up to 9 and 10 o’clock at night getting the email out, if we’re too exhausted because we’ve had to find ourselves on planes, trains and automobiles despite what we thought would be an ease of virtual relationship building.

You see, all of those stresses, whether they’re physical, whether they’re emotional, whether they’re psychological, they actually impact not only who we are at work, but who we are once we leave work. We’ve heard from you that you spend the vast majority of your time either working or thinking about work. We are so excited to roll out, with the newest edition of the workbook, an ability for us all not to feel silly, not to feel as if we’re disappointing others and not to feel selfish.

You see, as women, it’s hard for us sometimes to say no, because we don’t want to be perceived as someone who isn’t collaborative. But sometimes saying no to others is the only avenue that enables us to say yes to ourselves, and it is with that that I am so excited to hear from you. I want you to reach out on social media. Drop me a DM, catch me at a conference or a presentation. I want to hear all about how this workbook and the stories of the contributors have been life-changing for you.

You see, we’ve stepped into this profession largely because we want to usher in positive change, and so much of that positive change is tied to trying to impact external conditions. Well, you know what, friend? I’m excited to hear how this workbook is going to empower and encourage you to center yourself, your values, your goals, your partnerships and your personal rest. With that. I wish you all the best as you step into what has actually become my favorite read of 2023. Wishing you all the best and looking forward to hearing more about how you continue to shine bright. Thanks for all that you do, and be sure to take some time to gift yourself inspiration and information that will last a lifetime. Thank you.