Accelerant

This week on the Accelerant, we continue our deep dive into Lead Management in Daxko Engage. We’re speaking again with Daxko Product Manager, Charlie Peters about the 18-month long project it took to create new prospecting tools that are now being used across the Movement. We also spoke about how Lead Management changes the way YMCA organizations look for new prospective sales opportunities both inside and outside their facilities. Later, we continue our conversation with YMCA of Metropolitan Milwaukee’s District Executive, Krista Bold on the future of Lead Management and how it can continue to grow as we all navigate a return to normalcy.

With a three-generation personal history in the Y, David Thompson’s Y roots run deep. He has remained engaged in his community through various roles in many different branches around the country. As the current Group Vice President for the YMCA of Greater Dayton, David shares lessons in gratitude that have carried him through the pandemic, and give him hope in the future of The Movement.

• Broad Focused Roles: David’s role blends branch operations and marketing. The context switching between these duties helps him develop a holistic picture of the Y, informing marketing strategy, and giving him a chance to engage directly with members of the community. Evaluating community perception of new offerings, training staff on new tactics, and getting marketing feedback on the fly all help David make quick campaign adjustments to ensure success.
• Digital Footprint: We all know about changes in virtual offerings, but David wants to take it further. What about QR codes and touchless options for membership and program sign-up? And what about a strong push to maintain virtual meetings for parents and staff? A strong digital footprint is vital to recovery and can open interesting avenues to serve the community even beyond the pandemic.
• Choose Happiness: Changing minds and hearts starts with your own. At some level, as David points out, we are choosing to be content. For David, even in the toughest situations, it is important to find silver linings, engage members in hope, and continue serving a mission driven incentive.

This interview took place on March 26, 2021

This Accelerant Bonus Episode is a reworking of our interview with Carolyn Grady from season 1. As the Senior VP of Development for the YMCA of Greater Pittsburgh, Carolyn offers key insights in fundraising and recovery. She shares how her team shifted perspective and adopted new practices in the 2020’s drastically different fundraising landscape.

In this episode:

• Hear Caroyln’s new strategies for driving donations in a seemingly ever-changing landscape.
• Gather key insights about donation data for nonprofits around the country.
• Gain hope in the vitality of community centers. People have witnessed your impact for over a year want to be involved.

The original episode was released May 19, 2020

Any conversation with Constance Miller involves the masterful weaving of beautiful metaphor, engaging storytelling, and impactful data. Constance’s rare mix of poetic intuition and research experience makes her uniquely qualified to share important insight about the role nonprofits have on their communities around the country. You have heard bits of this in the QuantCorner from previous episodes, but in this episode we focus in in the incredible depth of Constance’s knowledge.

Episode 3, “When the World Changes, Our Questions Change” features Constance’s thoughts on:

· Stabilizing Trends. A year ago when the pandemic began, data and insights shifted hourly or daily. Now, the industry is seeing more stability, giving hope for continued healing in organizations and communities as we move forward.

· Pivoting on a Dime. Even with data constantly shifting early in the pandemic, one constant was the ability for nonprofit organizations to meet the ever-changing needs of their communities. This was reflected in rising donations, emergency childcare for essential workers, outreach to seniors, virtual check-ins, and so much more.

· Data or Insight? Learn the important distinction between data and insight. Together, these numbers—and the stories they tell—enrich the impact of nonprofits and provide proof points on what communities need.
This interview was recorded March 4, 2021.

We launched season 2 with the intention of bringing forward important stories from the pandemic. What we ended up finding were stories that offer lessons beyond these trying times, especially as we navigate into a brighter future. In this episode, Accelerant host Saranda West highlights some key lessons from previous episodes, and outlines important and inspiring data about the recovery of nonprofit organizations around the country.