Episode 122: Are you Coachable? Are you a sponge or a brick wall?
Are you open to new information, receiving it in new ways, trying new strategies? Or do you push back. Do you find ways to Not Do what's being suggested. Do you find yourself saying, I've done that before. That's not being coachable. Being coachable is being open, trying new things. Learn how being coachable can help scale your organization.
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🔦 NONPROFIT SPOTLIGHT 🙌🏿
The California Community Foundation Pt. 2
👉🏿https://www.calfund.org/
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🚀 RESOURCES TO HELP YOU RUN A SUCCESSFUL NONPROFIT
How To Validate Your Nonprofit Idea
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/toec0pimrgb5ysudqf59q/02-How-to-Validate-Your-Nonprofit-Idea.mp4?rlkey=y8rp4ssyvwakgdsv405fayhjy&st=90g71a0l&dl=0
90 Days to a Profitable Nonprofit https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ofgeHJ2CTVS0t8STMiNqfveaVpWfaK7o/view?usp=sharing
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Learn more about my success with helping nonprofits
Visit My Website👇🏿👇🏿👇🏿
http://www.amberwynn.net
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Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4G9QNaVAYz8eXTmz48gagl
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Got Questions? "Ask Amber" on any of my social media platforms or email me at amber@amberwynn.net
Podcast Transcript
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to On Air with Amber Wynn, where nonprofit leaders learn to fuse passion and commitment with proven business strategies to create long-term funding impact and sustainability. And now, here's your host and resident, Philanthrepreneur Amber Wynn.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Hey, FA, it's your girl, Amber Wynn. On the mic. I wanted to say on the ones and twos, and today we are going to talk about how you either advance your nonprofit or are you hold it back. Today's topic is, are you coachable? Are you, listen, I have been in this space for over 30 years and having been on the other side, meaning as a consultant, I can tell you that a lot of times people are so stuck in their ways. They think they know or bless your heart, you've been grinding for so long, people have taken advantage of you or whatever, and you just become closed. Or you've just been doing it for so long, 10, 15, 20 years that this is the way you do it. You cannot grow your nonprofit if you stay closed because what's the saying? The only thing that stays constant is change.
(01:26):
The world is changing. And so you have to change with it. And most importantly, when you are working with the consultant, when you're working with the vendor and they have a certain level of expertise, you need to trust them, right? And so being coachable is a part of that. I can't tell you how challenging it is to work with an individual when every time you recommend something, they're like, I've done that before, or That doesn't work. And for me in particular, it's like, let me see it, right? I make the recommendation, well, let's try corporate sponsors. I did that before. That didn't work. And when I say, let me see it, it's because it's not a real corporate sponsorship package. It's a diatribe about how amazing you are, and it has nothing to do with marketing or, listen, when we come back, I'm going to dive into nonprofit leaders being coachable so that they can take their organizations to the next level. When we come back,
(02:34):
Most founders don't realize that they're more applicants than there is money. This fact impacts a nonprofit's fundability. Nonprofit founders should administer research on their competitors, determine if their community is oversaturated, and identify their competitive advantage before they start a nonprofit. Check out how to validate your nonprofit idea, a step-by-step guide on how to administer the research you need. Validate your idea before spending hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars only to struggle to fund it. Get your copy today. Welcome back. You're on air with your girl, Amber Wynn, Philanthrepreneur, and we're talking about nonprofit leaders being coachable. I think it's extremely important in this day and age where technology can help nonprofit leaders to reduce their level of engagement. What do I mean by that? We know that nonprofit leaders wear 17 hats, right? That's not a good thing. That's not a badge of honor.
(03:37):
I want my nonprofit leaders to get to the place where they're only wearing one, maybe two hats. And how do you get there? By bringing in professionals who can help you to streamline processes, who can help you to look at how to deliver your programs more effectively, more efficiently. How to create systems that doesn't necessarily require four or five touches. Maybe it's just one or two. But here's the thing. In order to get to that, you have to be coachable. You have to hear somebody say to you, you are not delivering this efficiently. Right? When I say that to potential clients, they get so defensive, so defensive, and I have to say, beloved, this is not me judging you. This is me trying to help you. Well, I this and I that. Okay? Okay. And I listen. But the reality is they are not coachable.
(04:33):
They're not open to new ideas to approach the same challenges. If I am a consultant, it is because I have a certain level of expertise, so I can look at a situation differently and maybe help you get to point Z in two steps instead of 22 steps. But if you are not coachable, you won't allow me to help you to do things more quickly or more efficiently. So it's important as nonprofit leaders that we're open to new things. And I'm just going to share with you, Amber Wynn, Amber Wynn, as I've said on multiple times in multiple episodes, I suck at technology. It makes me, it's like a deer in headlights because it's so complicated and I just get wigged out over it. But when I'm working with my coaches, with my consultants to help scale my business, to help get me to a place where I'm not touching everything, I have to sit still and I have to try.
(05:40):
It may scare me, it may petrify me, it may, whatever, but I have to listen because if I'm going to make my business more effective and more efficient, they are the subject matter experts. They are the ones who can help me get there. So I understand some of that frustration, some of that fear, but remaining coachable, it looks like this. This is what I said to my coach last week. They're like, oh, Amber, I want you to do this. And in my head I'm like, here we go. And they're like, how do you feel about that? And this was my response. I have a high level of anxiety as it relates to your request, but I'm going to do it. That was my truth. You want me to get on work with this technology that I'm not comfortable with, but I trust you. More importantly, I'm paying you.
(06:35):
So I am going to sit with my fears and I'm going to push through it. Being coachable doesn't mean that you're perfect. Being coachable means that you're open to new ideas. You're open to new ways, to new approaches, to just the newness of approaching something differently. So being coachable, you can have the most success in your organization because it can just change things in an instant. Change things in an instant. So that number one, you remove barriers, and number two, you get to your end goal quicker. I can't tell you, well, I started to tell you before the break that I have clients who are like, I've done that before,
(07:20):
But did you do it with Amber and did you do it the way that Amber told you to do it? Because I've been in your shoes and I've worked through it before. So it's just important when we're talking about growth and we're talking about taking your organization to the next level, that you remain coachable. Coachable is like a sponge. You soak it all in, and I have a lot of nonprofit leaders out there who are like a wall, and it's not porous, right? It's just it hits and it bounces off. You need to be open so that that coach can take you to the next level. And if you're not sure, why should I be coachable or how do I become coachable? We're going to go into this next commercial where we talk about 90 days to a profitable nonprofit. And in that space, I'm introducing a whole lot of new ideas. I'm introducing a whole lot of new concepts and ways to approach your nonprofit that's going to help you become profitable. And if you are coachable, you'll see changes within 30 days of even starting the organization because you're looking at things differently. You're learning information in a new way, probably ways that you're never imagined, but if you're open, it'll help get your organization too profitable. Let's take a look.
(08:50):
Are you struggling to fund your programs? Can't get a grant to save your life. Most consultants will share the what of how to start a nonprofit or how to fundraise. They may even share the why, but they don't share the how because that's where they make their money. Now, I'm not hating. I'm a businesswoman too, but I've been where you are trying to make the world a better place, struggling to keep the doors open up to the wee hours of the night writing grants and doing whatever needed to be done. And because I've walked in your shoes, I'm not here to make you spend your will, waste your time or your hard earned money. We ain't got time for that. The world needs you. I'm here to show you how to transform that pit. You keep dumping your hard earned money into a profitable nonprofit.
(09:39):
I take my 30 years of nonprofit experience as a founder, executive director, program developer, grant writer in funder, giving out over $7 million annually in grants, and I save you literally thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours. I walk you through setting up your nonprofit organization so that you can be generating enough revenue to cover your monthly expenses in just 90 days. How would that feel? Not paying bills from your personal bank account. I share my insider secret tips, tricks of the trade and provide you with a step-by-step roadmap on how to turn your bootstrap organization into a profitable nonprofit. Within six months. You could be generating enough revenue to pay your salary or fully fund your program. The choice is yours, but you have to get the blueprint, and it took me three years to develop it, but it's here and it's going to change your life.
(10:37):
Join my other successful clients who are just like you, full of passion and determination, but they had no idea all that it takes to run and fund a successful nonprofit. Now they're winning grants and drawing a salary, and they know what it is that they're supposed to be doing to run a successful nonprofit. They're no longer making it up as they go. They have the roadmap and they're clear about next steps, and I want that for you too. So what do you get in this course? You'll walk away with knowledge, products, processes, and systems, not just a bunch of promises, but exactly what you need to turn your organization into a profitable nonprofit. I promise you don't need grants. What you need is a solid infrastructure, and this course is going to give you all of that and more. And what's more, it comes with the money back guarantee.
(11:30):
So go ahead, click the link below to register for this course. Welcome back. You're on air with Amber Wynn, and today we are asking if you are coachable. Are you open to new ideas? All right. We going to see, right now, we're moving into the part of the episode where you get to ask me your pressing questions. Today we have a question from Wendy who actually emailed me her question. She's from Colorado Springs and she says, hi, Amber. I'm writing this grant and it's asking me for my annual budget and my program budget. Why are they asking me the same thing twice? Am I missing something? Yes. Yes, you are. Your annual budget is how much it costs to run your full organization. That should be around 250, 450. Depends on how many staff you have. Yes, that should include all of your expenses. Your program budget on the other hand is how much it costs to run that small program.
(12:46):
That should be less because it's just the program. I'm going to just give you some random, maybe it's one third of the budget or one fourth of the budget. Here's the thing, A nonprofit is a business, and funders aren't trying to fund your business. It is your responsibility. It is your board's fiduciary, meaning legal responsibility to fundraise, to cover the business expenses for your organization. Funders are not trying to cover the cost of your business. So they ask you for your annual organization budget, which is the big number, and then they ask you for the program budget, which is a small number. If you have been giving that same number for both areas, if you're saying, oh, we need $150,000 for your annual budget and then $150,000 for your program budget, I bet you're not getting funded. Two reasons, one, because number one, they shouldn't be the same.
(13:47):
Your annual budget should be higher, and then your program budget should be smaller. So if a funder is seeing that you're putting both, they're seeing two things. One, you don't understand the difference between an annual budget and a program budget. That's one. And then number two, that you expect them to cover the full costs of running your nonprofit, and that's not what they're in the game to do. They're here to fund programs, all that rest of that stuff, your overhead or whatever, that's your responsibility. So I hope that helped, and if you have a question, feel free to hit me up on any of my socials. I'm here to answer your questions. You can also email me at amber@amberwynn. I'm here. I want to make sure that you get valuable formation, and now we're going to keep it moving and we're going to go to Shine on nonprofit.
(14:47):
It's where I put the spotlight on my amazing nonprofit and the individuals who support them. We've expanded the episode to not only include our nonprofit leaders who are doing the work, probably have their heads down in the weeds, so we want to make sure that we give them the visibility they deserve. But I also wanted to expand the episode to include those individuals who support them. We are on part two of our conversation with the program officer, Brittany Daniel with the California Community Foundation, and she's talking to us about her perspective being a funder. So we are on part two of our four part series. So let's go finish our conversation with Brittany Daniel, with the California Community Foundation.
Speaker 3 (15:42):
I would say a good grantee to start, I will say, is transparent. I think it's important, and also I come from the nonprofit sector, but also from a homeless funders sector also. So I've kind of been on two sides, and now I'm on the philanthropic side, but I think the transparency, so it's a trust build also with the program officer, and I think that's really why too, we try to really build a core relationship before we move forward with any type of grants. Definitely being flexible because yeah, you're right, we have to answer to someone. So I would say honesty and transparency for sure are good grantee traits, having a good relationship in the community, right? Because one thing for us to have a great relationship with you, but we would love to know that we're funding the Amber Wynn Foundation and people are saying good things about you as we go out and we spread the word that we have funded you, that would be great to get a double tap on that.
(16:37):
Like, oh, it was a good decision because we know that Amber is amazing and her organization, whatever. I think that is great. Yeah, being careful how you treat people, because your community rapport is very important, and as we think about just system change and investments countywide, we love for folks to get along, even if they don't really or play well in the sandbox. Sandbox. That's right, yes. I think that those type of partners I think are really great. And then too, I love an organization who can say, oh, it may not be a fit for me, but also let me let you meet another organization, right? So the humility in that, right? Not always just focused on themselves as a grantee, but also what is it you lift as you climb? So you don't put somebody else on like, oh, you've met me. Brittany's great, or We have a relationship with California Community Foundation. Let me spread the word to my folks or people that I know, peers in the space and other orgs. So please reach out to Brittany, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. We would love that.
Speaker 2 (18:06):
Welcome back. You're on air with Amber Wynn, and we're having conversations with program officer Brittany Daniel, I hope you enjoyed hearing her perspective. I think having been an executive director and talking to a funder, it's interesting to see how they look at things. You wouldn't expect a program officer to be so open and to be so willing to have conversations, but the reality is that is their job, right? So you can hear Brittany say, she's out in the community, she's hitting the pavement. She's attending events because she wants to keep her finger on the pulse of the community that she's serving. So I wanted to have her on the show so that you could hear that, because a lot of times when I'm talking, especially when I was writing grants and I'm talking to my nonprofit leaders, there may be something unclear on the RFP. It's your program officer that can provide the clarity.
(19:08):
So I would say something like, well call the program officer and ask them. They're like, Ooh, call the program officer. Yes, call the program officer. A part of their job is to interface with the community. If that RFP is unclear, you let them know. If enough people call, then on the next iteration, they're going to fix the RFP to make sure it's clear. So it's a give and take, and I'm happy that we have the opportunity to speak with the Real Down program officer just to give us those insights that you may otherwise miss. If you've enjoyed this conversation, go hear the full conversation on my YouTube. If you've enjoyed it, make sure you like and subscribe and share the conversation with other nonprofit leaders in your network. That's all we have for today. Looking forward to see you next week, and I'm going to say what I always say to my mighty people out there doing the work, take care of yourself, take care of your community. We'll see you next week. Thanks for listening.
Speaker 1 (20:10):
If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe and leave a review on iTunes. Head over to www.amberwynn.next/podcast for the links and resources mentioned in today's podcast. See you next time.
