Building Community at the NonProfit POWER Conference
Our Turnkey team was with 100-ish nonprofit professionals last week at the NonProfit POWER Conference in Philadelphia. I gave a presentation on how one’s identity is strengthened by being part of a community — how engaging with like-minded community members is validating and rewarding, the reason people seek out communities to be a part of.
I didn’t expect the conference itself would provide proof of concept. But, in my own case, my identity as a fundraising professional was enhanced; attending the conference was a richly rewarding experience for me. At Turnkey, we believe community is more than a fluffy word. We work with our clients to systematize developing their communities of supporters. We are convinced it is the route to ensuring the highest lifetime value for a donor. Happily, that’s because supporters who engage with a robust nonprofit community find it to be very satisfying. In fact, that is the reason that almost the entire Turnkey marketing budget is used to build community. We do it with what we call Convenings, which are in person experience sharing gatherings, and Alongside Groups, which are virtual experience sharing meetings.
About community, we believe this:
At its most basic level, a community has two elements:
A shared belief by community members
A way for community members to communicate with each other
When the organizer (NonProfit PRO) first pitched the format they used at the conference, I thought they were a little crazy. It was different from any sponsorship I had invested in—although I was assured it was a tested model. Chris Lyons, NonProfit PRO’s president, called it a “hosted event.” Here’s how it worked:
The for-profit sponsors (vendors, like Turnkey) paid to be there.
The nonprofit professionals had all their costs of attendance covered—flight, hotel, libations, food, and fun.
The vendors were expected to “pitch” their offerings.
The nonprofit professionals were expected to listen.
Information was exchanged in a variety of ways:
From the stage with presentations by both nonprofits and vendors
In 1:1 scheduled meetings between social gooders and vendors
Via boardroom presentations in which groups of 10-ish heard and sometimes discussed in-depth case studies
Over food and drink — Lots of food! Lots of drink!
Reading the plan, I anticipated it would feel... icky. However, experiencing that plan felt great.
Why so great? At first, I thought it was because all the expectations were set beforehand. We all knew what to expect. There were no booths that social gooders felt obligated to visit, no eye contact to avoid when you didn’t visit. Social gooders listened and asked questions of the vendors. There was no expectation for them to buy then and there, or maybe ever. Vendors explained, compared, and advocated for their products and services without the expectation of being bought then and there, or maybe ever. Hope? Sure, but no pressure.
But, as the event progressed, I realized it felt good for another reason—the attendees formed a community, and fast.
The format brought us together in a variety of ways. We were in different-sized groups; we shuffled between different groups. Sometimes we listened and sometimes we talked. The format fuzzed up the line between vendor and social gooder and helped us focus on the problems we wanted to solve.
Vendors started to collaborate about issues they heard, sometimes walking a social gooder over to another vendor who could answer their particular questions. Were vendors competitive? Sure! But in a good-natured, “there’s plenty of business to go around” kind of way.
Vendors heard things that helped them make their products and services better. They left with business intelligence on which they can act.
Veteran social gooders exchanged information with each other and with their less seasoned colleagues. Sometimes the more experienced folks brought the less experienced folks along. Sometimes it was the other way around, with old dogs learning new tricks.
We hadn’t just attended a conference. We formed a small community in the brief span of 72 hours. It satisfied both our professional needs and our human needs. And like with most all community membership, it felt good.
Rarely do leaders of nonprofit organizations have the luxury of speaking openly about their struggles. But, that’s what happens at Turnkey’s Convenings. Sitting in small groups surrounded by peers who have the same role at other organizations, each understands what challenges the others are facing, with the time and space to share their experiences.
