Navigators on the Road: Iowa Nonprofit Alliance Summit

Throughout the fall, my driving destinations across Iowa usually involve high school football. I was glad to mix it up earlier this week and head to Cedar Rapids for the Iowa Nonprofit Alliance Summit.

Last year, I learned that Iowa was one of a handful of states without a nonprofit alliance, until a small group of leaders got to work in 2019 on founding one for Iowa. I heard about this group through Bethany Snyder, the current Executive Director, and a long-time friend of my family. You could check out the National Council of Nonprofits to find your state’s contact and learn more about all their work to champion, inform and connect nonprofit organizations across the country.

This year’s conference was a full day of the usual mix of activities: breakout sessions, networking opportunities, and a pass or two through the vendor fair. The standout difference for this event compared to the Salesforce and technology-focused events I’ve been to this year was the focus on storytelling. Everyone agrees that data is important to collect and analyze, but when talking to others about your organization’s purpose, including stories helps the audience remember the point so much more clearly and vividly than numbers. For example, I was impressed by the final presentation of the day, from Courtney Thomas of Thrive 360, who was hired into a leadership position at a nonprofit only to find out it was bankrupt. Instead of allowing the organization to wind down, she went for a bold idea and ended up with a huge success. A small action wouldn’t have worked. It was an inspiring choice! And I am clearly an example of a person in the audience who remembers the story more than the numbers, even though I consider myself someone who has an affinity for numbers.

There was more to learn, about recommended free sources for data from various government sources, and how to turn that data into a meaningful dashboard for board members and other external audiences. I appreciate that the slides and other materials from the presentations were made available, so I could pick up some information on managing investments from a session that conflicted with another I wanted to attend. (I’d like to confirm that the investment policy I helped to implement at the Iowa Historical Foundation is still relevant.)

I also achieved a long-time goal this week: I presented at the conference with my friend Joseph Piearson! I met Joseph when we worked together at the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs. On my first day, as I was being introduced to an office of people new to me, Joseph made an impression by declaring “I want to talk to you!” when we were introduced, because he was the Salesforce Administrator for the agency and had heard that I had previously worked for a database company. From that auspicious start, we spent many happy hours together talking about how to use Salesforce to support grant-making and other activities. (One highlight was participating in a LEAN event to analyze future software solutions for the State Historic Preservation Office, when the most frequently spoken words that day by either of us were “Oh, we could have a field for that.” And yes, we eventually implemented Salesforce as the solution.)

When Joseph moved on to another position, I took over as Salesforce Administrator. Now Joseph and I co-lead the Des Moines Salesforce Nonprofit User Group (DSM SNUG for short), where we often talk about upcoming nonprofit or technology events. I’ve been plugging the Iowa Nonprofit Alliance Summit to the group since I first heard of it last summer. When the call for speakers went out this year, I asked Joseph to join me in submitting an idea, and we were thrilled to be chosen. Our topic was CRMs and Nonprofits: A Great Match! We walked attendees through the what, why and how of CRMs: what it is, why it’s useful, and how to choose among the many options available.

I have given presentations many times before, but this was the first time having a true co-presenter. This made the whole process easier, from creating the content and practicing in advance, to handing off the narrative from one slide to the next, and sharing in responding to the audience’s questions and comments. If you are nervous about the idea of presenting in front of a group, I highly recommend finding a partner to reduce the effort and multiply the fun!

Photos included for fun: pre-event rehearsal, at the event, ready for a session on dashboards, and presenting, when the photographer caught us in a rare serious moment.