Learning Series | How Companies Can Best Work with Nonprofits

Summary:

We talk with corporate social responsibility and non-profit guru, Nancy Slezak, about how companies and nonprofits can best work together to achieve impact and employee engagement! We dive into the importance of building deeper partnerships and not just relying on corporate grants.

Transcript:

Andy - WeHero (00:03):Well, Nancy, thank you so muchfor joining us today on the we hero learn series, we are so excited andthrilled to have you with us. You know, you have so much experience background,and you're just one of our favorite members on the we hero team, because youare the constant source of positive energy that we need. So we appreciate that.

Nancy - WeHero (00:23):Oh, I love the we hero team. SoI'm happy, happy to spread positivity.

Andy - WeHero (00:27):Well, maybe it's a good place tostart. Not everyone knows you or has, has had the chance or the luck to workwith you yet. So it'd be great to just share a little bit about yourbackground, you know, in the corporate world, as well as how all of the thingsyou do with nonprofits.

Nancy - WeHero (00:41):All right. Well, I've been inthe CSR space. I'll call it for over 20 years. Most recently with synchrony. Sosynchrony spun off from GE back in 2015. So I was with synchrony since thisinception, which was pretty cool, but I was on the corporate citizenship team.So I got to do a lot of work with nonprofits, which I thought was super cool. Ilove building those partner with nonprofits and there's so many good ones outthere. And so my gosh, the work that they're doing the community is absolutelyamazing. So I led our volunteer program, which allowed me obviously to interactwith a lot of nonprofits and we had locations throughout the country, PuertoRico, Philippines. So it was a great experience cuz I got to work withnonprofits in all those areas and you know, every place has different needs andto see the work of these nonprofits in helping their local communities wasamazing.

Nancy - WeHero (01:41):I also let our employee givingcampaign, so that was some people used to call it the United way campaign. Ourswas employee giving cuz we had it open to our employees. So there, they wereable to give to whatever nonprofit they preferred. So there again, just in workingwith a lot of those nonprofits on the campaign was a great experience. We wouldhave some of our C-suite executives that wanted to do volunteer experie. So Ihad the chance to source nonprofits based upon the type of project they werelooking for. We had an annual diversity symposium every year in Washington, DC.So that was always fun. I'm in Ohio planning, volunteer events happening in DC.So that was actually really fun to learn some new nonprofits in the DC area andjust get 400 of our employees, you with some great work together. So lot offun, I did have a lot of experience working with nonprofits even prior tosynchrony, but at a more localized level, more in the Dayton, Ohio area. So Ihad a range of,

Andy - WeHero (02:46):And all of it. What got you intoin helping? Like what was your first experience with a nonprofit or volunteering?And do you remember that experience?

Nancy - WeHero (02:55):Oh my gosh. Yes. You're gonnatake me back many, many years, which I will not say the year, but when I firstjoined my first corporate business out of college I was tapped with anotherwoman to lead the March of dimes. Walk America is what it was called back then.And it evolved to March for babies. And I had been with at organization as avolunteer ever since again, I'm not gonna mention the number of years, but thatwas my first I'll call it real experience. Cuz I was trying to get people on ateam to participate in this walk March a dime seemed to like what I did. Theyasked me to be on their committee and I never left. So that was but oh my gosh,it really opened my eyes to just the work of volunteers, but also kind of theinside work of a nonprofit because I was on their committee. So that was prettycool.

Andy - WeHero (03:49):Yeah. Yeah. I'd be interested todive into that because you, you know, most of the people watching this are, aregonna be from companies and they may not have as much experience directlyworking with nonprofit. So I'd love to hear from you, you know, just some of thechallenges that you've experienced at nonprofits, some of the challenges thesenonprofits face and I guess how it differs based on smaller nonprofits versusthe big, you know, international nonprofits.

Nancy - WeHero (04:14):Yeah. So nonprofits as a whole,I would say face similar challenges, the depth of those challenges and the availableresources may differ. The reaction may differ between large and small, butresources tend to be the biggest challenge and those resources can befinancial. It could be staffing technology you know, any of those things, itcould even be space the size of, of the area that they're in and that, thatpresents some limitations in some cases. And if it's a larger nonprofit andthey have too much space that presents a whole different kind of problem. Butresources financially I think would be the biggest because I mean that's just aconstant, right? Every nonprofit is trying to raise money and the challengingtimes with the economy and, and most recently with COVID obviously put newobstacles out there, but I'd say a lot of nonprofits right now are facingfinancial challenges because of the pandemic.

Nancy - WeHero (05:19):Many of them had to lay offpeople, businesses have had to lay off people, businesses are changing theirbudgets. Maybe they were a constant supporter of a certain nonprofit and nowthey have to rethink maybe their priorities are changing, you know, it's, it'stough. So the nonprofits, you know, they used to have in person fundraisingevents and volunteer experiences. So that was a whole switch. How do we gofrom, in person to virtual? You know, at first they thought this is impossible.Then they found out, yeah, they can do it. It requires different resources, butyou know what I found amazing the first year of the pandemic, some nonprofitsactually raised more money virtually than they did in person. And I think itwas because of the novelty people were realizing, oh my gosh, I still wannahelp. I can't be in person. I'm gonna give them money. And you know, somepeople were at home saving money cuz they weren't commuting. They weren'tworking from home. So those challenges have kind of changed. How, how thingswork.

Andy - WeHero (06:22):Do you think also you know, I'mcurious cuz you know, we think of the, the local food bank in San Francisco,which historically has had this massive gala every year. Yes. Hasn't been ableto do it for the last two years. And so do do nonprofits, I I guess becausethey can't do that, their reach, they go virtual and they have a bigger reach.Yes. The potential may be to fundraise more, but you don't have as many, youknow, perks of going to a gala in some capacity.

Nancy - WeHero (06:48):Exactly. Yeah. And you know somany more people are on zoom or Google meets these days and there's that wholezoom fatigue. I did attend a virtual fundraiser for a nonprofit. They kept itto I'll say 20 minutes. Okay. Very mission driven, lot of storytelling. Andwithin that 20 minutes they raised thousands of dollars. So very creative a,because like you said, you missed the perks of, you know, sitting with your friendsand walking around and looking at the auction items and that type of thing.Yeah. But I think the fact that they focused strictly on the mission and weresharing the success stories and the needs made a big difference.

Andy - WeHero (07:35):Yeah. Yeah. It's, it's greatstorytelling. So kind of knowing the challenges that nonprofits face, knowingthe constraints, resources, time, you know, money employees, whatever it maybe, you know, from our seat, you know, companies want to help so much. Right.You know, the people we're lucky enough to work with their whole mission is touse their company's resources, to help nonprofits, you know, and help theworld. You know, what tips and tricks would you give to them and what isimportant for them to remember so that their help is actually help and it's notcausing more harm.

Nancy - WeHero (08:09):Yes. Great question. Because alot of people don't think of it that way, like, oh, I'm gonna contact thisnonprofit and I'm gonna give 'em my time and, and my, my skill and this gonnalove it. Well, it depends on how you approach it cause it can cause pain forthe nonprofit. So size in this case, nonprofits that are smaller are gonna havea few more challenges than the bigger nonprofits. Cuz I would say biggernonprofits have kind of a well-oiled machine as to how accept volunteers. Theymay already have a plethora of opportunities available. They've got anonboarding process. All of that. Smaller nonprofits may not be able to do thatbecause of resource issues, but for companies that are reaching out couplethings I would suggest is making sure that you're thinking of the needs of thenonprofit before your own needs.

Nancy - WeHero (09:05):And, and here's just an example.Let's say it's the end of Q1, your company realizes, oops, we didn't do avolunteer project this quarter. We need to report out to our stakeholders. Weneed to get one done. Well, don't wait until, you know, a couple weeks beforethe end of the quarter to reach out give them enough notice, but find out whattheir real needs are because maybe you're thinking, oh, it's springtime. Iwanna help them with landscaping. Well, what if they to don't need landscaping?What if they really need help with technology? Because they didn't have enough.Let's say grants to help with technology. And they're a little bit behind maybetheir website isn't compatible with iPhones and tablets that people are usingmore of and it's causing more problems. People aren't able to donate as easilyas they would like and they give up, you know, it could be anything, right?

Nancy - WeHero (09:59):Well find out what their needsare and really listen to them, find out what their pain points are. You know,find out well, Hey, what's your wish list. If you could have anything to makeyour operation more efficient, what would it be? And then try to come up withsome volunteer opportunities as a partner with them and find the best ways thatyour employees can fit in. So Hey, if you're a technology business, great, youcan help 'em with technology. If you have a lot of unskilled workers, thenmaybe the landscaping is a thing for you. But if you find out what they reallyneed, then you can kind of match up the skills the best. I'd say another thingis to kind of prep your volunteers in advance. So they know what to expect.They know what they're gonna be doing.

Nancy - WeHero (10:44):Cause that will save a lot oflast minute confusion and delays and things like that. But the other thing isto ask the nonprofit, to explain to the volunteers before they ever startworking about their mission, who they help, how they help, how that particularact of volunteers that they're about to do is gonna make a change for theirclients. Because if they can start with that mentality, the employee volunteersare just gonna get such a richer experience. And the benefit for the nonprofitis they're gonna end up with advocates, walking out the door. They're gonna gohome. They're gonna tell their friends, your coworkers, oh man, you should goto this nonprofit. This is what they do. And this is what I got to do. And itwas so cool. I got to meet X, Y, Z. And you know, I just really enjoyed myexperience. So those I think are very helpful ways to work with the nonprofit.But really the listening and finding a out their true needs, I think is themost important.

Andy - WeHero (11:41):Yeah. I mean, I think they'regreat points, right? I mean, you know, you don't know how to help unless youreally ask for it and just telling them how you wanna help, isn't gonna drivethe, the best outcome. Thanks

Nancy - WeHero (11:52):Exactly.

Andy - WeHero (11:53):So it makes a ton of sense andyou know, it's something we work hard to obviously do with the nonprofits thatwe work with. But I also think the final point is you can almost mention a tipand a trick for a nonprofit, right? Is yeah, there, there, you know, I think wework really hard so that each volunteer experience is the opportunity to createan impasioned, you know, net motor of that nonprofit. Yeah. And that's thenonprofit's job, right? Cause if you have someone and you really explain tothem what they're doing, build the empathy of the mission that they're,they're, they're doing and delivering and volunteering, they're gonna wanna doit again and again and again, they're gonna wanna donate money and it turnsthem into just a true, true supporter of the cause and the mission.

Nancy - WeHero (12:32):Yeah.

Andy - WeHero (12:34):Are there any other things thatnonprofits should think about, you know, as more companies are reaching out orthey're trying to get more corporate support, are there any tips and tricks youwould give them?

Nancy - WeHero (12:46):Yeah, absolutely. I thinkcommunication is big. Like they need to communicate to the community, thosebusinesses, those volunteers, what the nonprofit is doing and the successesthat they're making, but also report the need. So I have found that when anonprofit just reaches out and it could be social media, for example, let's sayit's a shelter and shelters, unfortunately are getting higher traffic now, youknow, with more people being homeless or just struggling, they lost their job.Whatever the case may be. If they were to post, Hey, we're in need of blanketsand hygiene items. I bet you, within minutes they would get results becausethey ask sometimes you just have to ask. But I remember working with anonprofit more locally who was doing amazing work, but nobody knew it. And Itold them, I said, you guys really need to tell others what you're doing.

Nancy - WeHero (13:46):You're, you're in the midst ofall of this great stuff and you're making so much progress, but the averageperson just doesn't know about it. I knew because I work more closely withthem. But I think after they realized that they weren't sharing their story asmuch, they, they picked up on that and started making it a lot more clearbecause I think if people understand, oh my gosh, my $25 did this. They're morewilling to give 25 more dollars or even more, but they have to know. I thinkit's, it's a, a satisfaction of knowing where your dollars are going and thatit's really helping. But if you just give money and there's nothing in return,you really don't know what that money was used for. Eh, you may or may notwanna give again. Yeah. If you're volunteering, you wanna hear who you'rehelping.

Nancy - WeHero (14:38):Right. So I think those are sometips that could help nonprofits is really just communicate what you're doing.Get your brand out there. If you have a budget, which many may not, but if youhave a budget, you can afford some trinkets pass 'em out to your volunteers asa thank you. But then also something that they may use, let's say it's at-shirt or I don't know, a bookmark, it could be something as simple as that,but then when they're using it, other people are seeing it. It could be asticker that goes on your laptop. I right now probably have six stickers on mylaptop. They're all logos of nonprofits. So yeah, there's different ways to getyour name out there, but you know, just let people know what you're doing andwhat you need.

Andy - WeHero (15:20):Yeah. I love the point make, Imean, I, I think quantifying impact of volunteer time and donation is the nextbig wave that's gonna hit nonprofits. Yeah. Cause as soon as people realize,you know, instead of saying, Hey, ask for $10 for our general fund, you cansay, Hey, I'm asking for $10 because that $10 is gonna provide these schoolfees, which we have shown over time, you know, takes 80% of the people outtapoverty, whatever the stats may be.

Nancy - WeHero (15:45):Right.

Andy - WeHero (15:45):That really applies. And, and Ithink that will continue to do it. All right. Final question. And I know it'sgonna to be the toughest for you. What's you just, you just shared that you hadsix stickers from nonprofits on your laptop. If you had to pick, I'm handingyou a million dollars right now, what nonprofit would you donate that to?

Nancy - WeHero (16:09):Andy, that really is a very hardquestion. I love so many golly I'm oh my gosh. I don't wanna make anybodyupset. I have worked with before, but I am going to say habitat for humanity.And the reason I'm saying that is because I've worked with them as a volunteer,as a volunteer leader, as a grant provider. And I've been to a number of theirdedication ceremonies when the house is built, I have seen all aspects of itand I just love the way that they are organized. Some of the things I wastalking about before talking about their mission and, and the successes andthings like that, they are excellent at doing that. I've had the pleasure ofbeing able to see families when they get that house. Just the pure joy. Theynever, ever thought they could reach that dream of home ownership and becauseof donors and volunteers and the excellent staff at habitat for humanity, itcame true.

Nancy - WeHero (17:24):Right. And, oh my gosh. It'sjust so rewarding and touching when you see them, the excitement when they getthe key. I also have the opportunity opportunity to be an advocate for afamily, which meant I was kind of, I'll just call it a cheerleader along theirpath. And that was fun because you got to see them throughout the wholeprocess. You got to see them actually develop skills because at least thehabitats that I've been working with would train the homeowners on things thatthey needed to know when they own a home like maintenance budgeting, thingslike that. Cuz they do pay a mortgage and maybe they didn't have as, as big ofa, a housing expenses, a mortgage. Right. And they need to learn how to budget,but, and I had the chance to teach and budgeting skills. So I, oh my gosh, itwas just so cool to see all these things happen. Yeah. And, and the evolutionand this organization has been around forever, I say forever. But they do somuch good and that dream of home ownership is like the American dream. Right. And,and they're making it happen. So

Andy - WeHero (18:32):Yeah. I, I, you know what, I, Iactually didn't think you were gonna pick that nonprofit. I've heard, you know,it's because I've heard you describe with that much passion I've heard youdescribed probably 10 nonprofits. Yeah. And so I think once again, it's veryinspirational and we feel so lucky to have you on team and to be able to, youknow, have you working with clients to share these learnings that you've hadover the last years and just what an honor. And any other things you want toget out there before we end this this call?

Nancy - WeHero (19:04):Well thank you for theopportunity. But also I just encourage nonprofits and BI is to work together.It's really a partnership in order to really move the needle. And I say, go forit, but be good listeners.

Andy - WeHero (19:20):I love it. Well, thank you somuch, Nancy. And look forward to another one of these soon.

Nancy - WeHero (19:25):All right. See ya.

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