When Numbers Don't Matter

We get it - you’ve got numbers... impact... you met your plan... the stats don’t lie.

But nobody else seems to care... why is that?

There are pockets of the business services and nonprofit worlds that seem obsessed with metrics and measures (think 'investors'), but most of those who give, share, support, partner and volunteer skills, services and time just don't really care.

Because we know how to impress investors, we try to impress everyone that way... even those who give, share, support, partner and volunteer skills, services and time.

So we have our communications teams create new collateral with graphs and a pie chart - and everyone loves pie, right?!

Everyone loves pie, right?!

And the next newsletter needs to have more numbers too - that's important (because how else will we convince unbelievers?!)

And on top of it all is that nagging foundation grant report due soon that offers 300 characters for narrative and 300 spots for impact numbers. Even though we've already got the money, it feels like we're competing in an invisible world of ROI and efficiencies - not just against our own numbers but against anyone and everyone competing for a limited slice of the pie (yep, pie again).

And just like numbers - you’re now focused on facts, figures and benefits of what you do. That means you mean something... that you're doing something important (and it must be important because it has numbers attached to it).

But in a world motivated by emotion and story and insecurities, our numbers can't compete... and that's all they seem to ask for.

(And I'll add a good Brené Brown quote (because who doesn't love a Brené Brown quote), "Maybe stories are just data with a soul.")

"Maybe stories are just data with a soul." - Brené Brown

It feels like we can't win... we can't convince doubters (and everyone is a doubter when numbers have to tell our story).

It's more than leading with data or not... more than balancing the intellectual case with the emotional case... more than changing pronouns from us/our/we to you/your....

But we are not our numbers... we are a community...

We're not our numbers. We don't want investors - we want community that adds to those who need to be part of what we're doing... that need what we do to be better people themselves... that will miss us if they don't give, share, support, partner and volunteer skills, services and time... and there's no number for that.

#marketing #mission #leadership #fundraising #nonprofit