It’s often said that the first 100 days in any new role are the most critical. This is the time that can truly make or break any transformation a leader is hoping to accomplish. You need to put your stamp on the team, establish your management style and start to enact your plan.
But the first 100 days shouldn’t be about you.
This time should be about listening, engaging and understanding. Absorb the organization’s culture and talk to the people around you before you begin crafting solutions. You need to learn about people’s pain points—and about the pain points of your customers.
Now that I’ve hit my first 100 days at RKD Group, I’d like to share what has stood out to me during this time. And I can sum it up in three words: purpose, people and potential.
Purpose
I spent more than two decades working in the commercial space before joining RKD. I’ve also held a variety of roles, from software engineer to marketer to product leader.
But one thing that was consistent in every role and company was the ultimate goal: Help bring in more revenue.
Now that I’ve joined the nonprofit space, I’ve noticed a significant difference. So much of what we do is driven by a mission to fix something that’s broken in our world.
Whether it’s providing food for those in need, caring for animals, discovering a cure for a disease, transforming the lives of veterans or lending a hand during an emergency, nonprofit organizations are there to fill a critical role in society.
I can feel this purpose everywhere I go. My first client visit took me to the Atlanta Community Food Bank, and I was truly amazed by their mega-scale operation. They collaborate with 700 community-based partners to distribute approximately 9.7 million pounds of food every month, translating to over 8 million meals for our neighbors across 29 counties in Georgia. This extensive operation is supported by a large fleet of trucks which transports the food and is housed in the largest food bank facility in the United States.
That’s why fundraising isn’t about money. It’s about making a difference.
People
Driving this purpose, of course, are the people.
Each one has a unique story that sparks their passion. You can simply ask, “Why did you start working for/with nonprofits?” and you’ll find that most never intended to work in the nonprofit space. Most were inspired by a key event in their life that gave them their purpose, which I mentioned earlier.
As for me, I want to be part of the solution. To me, that means having a career that challenges me and allows me to learn while making a difference.
At RKD, while in meetings and on calls, I have felt each individual’s passion and their dedication. This is also true for the clients I’ve spoken with and their teams across the larger industry that I met recently at the Bridge Conference in Washington, D.C.
It's a privilege to work alongside like-minded individuals who share a singular goal of creating a better world. We’re truly a community that is dedicated to the ideal of making the world more humane, just and compassionate.
That brings me to my final point:
Potential
Throughout conversations during my first 100 days, I’ve come to understand the needs across the nonprofit space. There is plenty of talk about where organizations strive to be—it’s why so many are excited about the #QuitBadFundraising movement—but there’s uncertainty about how to get there.
I see so much potential through the use of data and technology to transform the nonprofit sector.
Most nonprofit organizations are not where they want to be in these areas. They have built customized solutions through a range of platforms and tools (mostly spending millions of dollars). Some products are difficult to use—they don’t work as promised or don’t play nicely together.
There is a GREAT need for innovation that serves the widespread demands of our industry.
Ultimately, though, we need to remember who we are when we design these tech products and services. Just like this blog post, purpose and people must come first.
Any innovative product should be built with a deep understanding of the people—the human beings—who use it. It can’t be about shiny features and cool names.
And this potential truly excites me and drives me. I’m inspired to design new products that are easy to operate and solve the right problems (without creating more).
When products are designed properly, with empathy, they allow us to focus on what really matters—our purpose, our missions.
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