Speaker 1  0:01  
Welcome to Engaging Ideas, the bi weekly podcast from Parsons TKO, bringing you conversations with mission driven leaders and luminaries to shift your perspective, and challenge your assumptions on the art of the possible.

Tony Kopetchny  0:16  
Hello, everybody. Welcome to another episode of Engaging Ideas. Today, we'll be talking with Viveka von Orion, about leadership and digital transformation in the social sector. I'd like to thank you all for joining us. And please don't forget to subscribe or leave us a review after the episode. And now on to the show. I'm joined today by Velyka van right, and I'm coming to me from Scotland. This is exciting. I think this is my first international interview. So I'm very pumped up right now. She is currently serving as the CEO of the resource Alliance. And their mission statement is the resource alliances mission is to change the world by weaving together a global alliance of people fighting for positive change and equipping them with the knowledge and resources they need to accelerate lasting social impact. Welcome to the show.

Unknown Speaker  1:06  
Thanks very much. Nice to be here.

Tony Kopetchny  1:09  
All right, well, let us dive in. So we had a wonderful conversation a few weeks ago, and we talked about many things. That was awesome. Getting to meet you for the first time. But one of the things we talked about, you have an upcoming IFC conference, and we talked about your theme for the conference, which is Unite, but I'm hoping you could tell our audience who might not be familiar with the conference, or you know, what's gonna go on there, a little bit about the conference, and then also how you came to choose unite as the theme for the conference this year.

Speaker 3  1:36  
Yeah, thanks very much. So IFC stands for International fundraising Congress. And it is held in the Netherlands from the 18th to 20 of October this year. And it will be our 41st conference that we are holding. So there's quite a history. And it brings the world of fundraising changemakers in the social impact sector together. If you ask people about what is it all about, I think conference is not the right word. It's more seen as a three day festival where people link share, connect with each other, really around the topic of fundraising, resource mobilization, campaigning, social movement, building, and learn from each other, and also start collaborating with each other to create a better a better impact. And where last year of the COVID, we finally came back, and our females around shaping the future together, that together elements is more important than ever. So this year, our theme will be unite. And what we mean with Unite is unite you can do in different ways. One element is around the focus of unite within your organization. You know, we have many organizations where we hear conversations about silos, we have a communications department of fundraising departments, and campaigning departments, and they all work in silos are not really connecting with each other, or the program department is seen separately as the public engagement area. So that uniting is really crucial, especially when you're talking about creating impact. And that's in the end, what we're all here for to do. It's also about unites links in the sector. You know, there are a tremendous amount of organizations working around climate change, there are a lot of organizations working about ending poverty, what is very clear, one organization on its own, will not achieve that big mission, you know, to really tackle the climate change or to end poverty. So there there is definitely a look at how can we create collaborations and therefore a bigger impacts to achieve together? And how can we learn from each other and work with each other to establish that. And then last but not least, and that's why partly we talk about the social impact sector and not necessarily about civil society organizations alone anymore, or nonprofit organizations alone anymore. We see a lot of impacts happening from other parts of the worlds. You know, social movements have been created by individuals think about me to movement, Black Lives Matter, thing, Greta, you know, initiated on whole movements around tackling the climate climate change. So those are examples about other people that are involved that are not necessarily linked to a nonprofit organization anymore. But also, you know, we look a lot at social enterprises at the moment, the B corpse that are stepping up and really expanding very fast, there were a lot of opportunities out there. So really, we were able to build on their expertise, their knowledge and see and nonprofit organizations can really work with them, to create that rich to create that voice that is so much needed and to create a change and impact that we want to establish. So yes, it's unites on many different levels. It's all about bringing people and ideas together and making it happen.

Tony Kopetchny  4:55  
I love it. I love how it layers really well to you know, from the inside The whole way to the global perspective, I'm curious for two quick follow ups for anyone who's listening is there. You know, are you going from this? Do you put reports out? You know, if you're watching the B corpse, and then you're sort of funneling it down, is there, like a learning management system or something or some way people can get to your reports or the knowledge and everything you're gaining? And how do you share once the conference ends? Well, once

Speaker 3  5:23  
the conference ends, we definitely share our content to as wide an audience as possible. And in one way, we started doing this by providing the conference not only in person anymore, but in hybrid version. So that means that online, a lot of people really can join. And besides that, we really work with what we call our virtual content library, where we really want to give access to that knowledge and expertise to as many people as possible. I think it's partly about disseminating that content. And what we sometimes hold the Democrats ation of knowledge so that everyone can really build on it. It's crucial. I think, when we're looking at civil society organizations, or social impacts in a broader sense that we start learning from each other and not reinventing the wheel, the wheel has been invented already. And we really can build on each other and with each other. And the beautiful thing, I think, when we're talking about social impacts is that that's what we want to do. Because in the end, that's what is needed to create. It impacts

Tony Kopetchny  6:23  
my hearts jumping with joy. Yes. 1,000% agreeing with everything you're saying right now, yes, the wheel has been invented, how do we keep moving forward? And it's interesting, the silos within orgs. We see that all the time. And I always think of where does that come from? Or is the transformation and I've wrote once about, I think it was starting in HR and finance, where you have this annual goal. And then you have your individual HR performance goals and budget for that year, and I have mine and the two aren't really. So like, how do we get the whole org thinking about it, but in your second about the sector, which is interesting, I wrote down the word coopetition, which I heard a lot as I was growing up growing up over the last 23 years in the nonprofit sector, where there were we're working on the same issue, but then we're still competing for the same buttons at some point. And yeah, I know, it's a theme that you want to get into this year. But any thoughts on that? Like how, how do we actually start to get to that collaborative place where you don't feel you're necessarily competing, you really could cooperate?

Speaker 3  7:19  
Firstly, I have to say, I absolutely cannot stand the word competition where we're talking about social impact sector. I think as soon as we start talking about competition, we probably have lost a plot. It's, I know, I love it that lost the plot. Because in the end, you know, and it's interesting, what you're saying about your personal What are your personal targets, what is, for example, the target of a fundraising area, and often that is mentioned mentioned in an income targets. But that's not necessarily why we are there working in the social impact sector, you know, it is not to achieve those 10 million or plus 100,000 income this year, it is really to create it impacts and the treatment purpose for what we are there. So it's crucial to keep that cost the cost of we are working for in mind. And if that is not our starting point, then we get into elements of competition, you know, who's sending out a message to our supporters? Is the campaign area, is it a fundraising area? Is it the communications area? But if we start seeing it towards what kind of purpose are we really working upon? And how can we really make it an established that in the best way possible, then your 10 million or plus 100 1000s becomes a complete different story. And you really start looking at other elements that are crucial there as well. And maybe to add to that, I think that is also really looking at the role of supporter in a different way. So as a fundraising department, if you see your supporter as a donor, and that's what a supporter does, you know, if the person gives you a financial donation and nothing else, I feel sometimes that is really kind of narrow minded, because that supporter perhaps also wants to raise her or his voice, that for Subversion also maybe want to allocate some time towards the cause. And we've really noticed that the more a person is involved in the course and in the work that is happening, you know, the more loyal the person will be towards other other elements as well. You see often a combination there of doing different things. It is not saying pushing everyone to do everything at once. But definitely giving people the opportunity to do so is really crucial. And I think if we start seeing people if human beings and when they are asked often actually still receive a yes to watch initiatives to be part of a course that's really a beautiful, a beautiful aspects where we want to be.

Tony Kopetchny  9:49  
Yeah, I mean, we, we talked a lot about it. And we even came up with a model over the years we call Engagement Architecture, because for me it was it was never about pure attention or one interaction, and it's talking to a Person A couple weeks ago in Philadelphia, he's working in fundraising. And he was trying to change the mindset from the donation given at a single point in time to with a lifetime value of engagement with the organization. You know, he did this data, and he found that 40% of their current, I don't know, big donors started out with, like, $100 gift, you know, but over the course of 20 years, they've evolved. And then they're really committed. And now they're, they're putting a lot more towards it, but I'm with you, I think there's a there's an undervaluing what, what we can do over time when people start to feel aligned with us. And as you're talking, my head was just going to between the internal that, that you work between the sector and between the, the stakeholders, it's like, how do we all share the mission? You know, so we all feel a part of it. And then we can all have a part to push it forward, rather than I'm just doing this piece. And I got to own this. And don't, don't tell me what I'm supposed to do, like, how do I take more feedback in? And how do we, how do you do it on those levels, it's kind of where my head was going when you were talking?

Speaker 3  10:58  
Yeah, we had some beautiful examples of that recently. So we had a become online conference about digital fundraising. But we'll also look there, it's in a way like movement building in a constituency building around sort of courses. And there was an organization in India called the Internet Freedom Foundation that is fighting for freedom rights in India, and the freedom of speech surrounded around internet related topics. And they are quite legal organization. It's not the easiest of topics to raise funds for. But they've really built a constituency and constituency where they involve their supporters in explaining why there is a need for this, they are really organizing those kinds of monthly webinars to explaining why the projects that they are doing, the successes that are happening, but also how the constituency and the supporter base can support them, or what initiatives they can take to do more than only their financial support. And they really see a beautiful, loyal group, they're helping them and that is supporting them in their work as well by saying this is not only what we as an organization want, but we have a whole city behind us that is supporting us in the work that we are doing, which of course was a beautiful example, to see that correlation between financial support towards the cause, but also doing additional things to to make that happen. And see it's almost as an integrated call of people not necessarily office and organization, staff versus support, it's really became unity. And that brings us by the way back to unite, which is not.

Tony Kopetchny  12:38  
Yeah, I mean, it's, it's, it's so powerful, what you just said, right? The we're integrated in this, like, I've given my money, I'm integrated into your cause don't act like I just did this one thing, and I'm not around anymore. Like I care about it a lot, too, because I took this after tax dollar and handed it to you to try to make a difference. Just curious, you I might I might bounce around like we talked about some of the questions. But you've recently just were on a panel discussion at catalyst 2030. And I, you and I were just talking about it. And some of this was about the role of and the change, I think within the funding sector too. Because as I'm hearing this, I'm like, how do we celebrate all of the wins? Like if I'm working on this cause I should be celebrating the other group that made a huge success. Rather than thinking oh, man, they got that now they're going to get more funding than I'm going to get. So you know, what role to funders have to play in this to have helping to start to unite all of us and, and push things forward? Rather than keep us divided?

Speaker 3  13:35  
Yeah, we had a beautiful discussion. At catalyst we catalyst. 2030 is a network of social enterprises across the globe. And they organize this week, a catalyst week where they bring people together to really discuss topics that are happening at moments. And as we socialize, we combined our efforts with Winx network around foundations, together with Catalyst 2014, to talk about shifting the funding paradigm. And it's very much linked to shift the power, where should the power lie? What is the role of the funders in it, but what is also the role of the fundraisers? Which of course, we brought in and offered that interesting, I think part of the fundraiser is that it is that connects between the familiar and the work in projects that is happening and the people in the projects that is happening. And there was a very strong voice around principles that have been developed from the foundations perspective, towards shading, you know, where is the community involved in here, you know, the community where we are where we are implementing or executing or creating projects with where's their voice because they have power and they know what is needed or if you're talking about climate change related topics or a nature related topics, you know, are we really having that focus in mind where we're talking about shifting the power and shifting the whole new paradigm? So in a way, I think it's always bringing it back to purpose. It's very nice to say, you know, this is what we want to do, or we want to be nicer and trustful and throughfall. But if we do not have the right stakeholders in that conversation, and if we do not start at the right point, we are really missing an opportunity there. And Indians, we all know, you know, we all have powers in us. And if we need to change certain things, or if we need to improve certain things, I think we need to start by asking the people with whom it impacts and who really would love to make a change and transform. So yeah, I'm a very strong believer of it starts with the communities with the people in a project involved, and that is the starting point and for for us, then it's almost a listening ear in the beginning. And from there a translation towards what does this mean funding wise? And whom are we going to reach out to, and I think that's a beautiful elements that we can play as fundraisers, you know, it is also that, that role of almost informing funders, this is what is happening in the fields, this is what is happening with the people in the program, you know, with whom we are working with. So you have kind of a translation role there, which is a beautiful, I think, a beautiful perspective as a fundraiser to have those two worlds that you can connect into one

Tony Kopetchny  16:20  
hammerheads go into it. And we actually have just in my company, we're having this interesting conversation of like, if we're selling a product, and then service, I should say, going into products, but and then the teams delivering it, how are we doing the feedback loops? Yes, make sure to make sure everything's working. Right. And we're tiny, right? So I'm, like, how do you do that? When it's, if you're the funding organization, to the fundraiser to the work that's happening to the communities? It's happening within? Yeah, I mean, how do we start to create this new pathway for people to listen? And just because you have the money at the top? And how do we, I mean, I don't want to sound rude to any philanthropists out there. I don't mean it this way. But how do you not just call the shots because you got the money? You know, how can you how can you get humble, and take some feedback?

Speaker 3  17:03  
Yeah, and I think in the end, I think home was a beautiful word there. And I think the other aspect is really keep in mind, whatever, therefore, you know, it's really to create a purpose. And that impacts and that really has a starting point. And that is the starting point. That's where the change and the transformation is happening. So start there with listening to the people start there with understanding what is the issue? What are the needs, the real needs, instead of saying, we might think this might be helping you. And often that is a dialogue in two ways. You know, of course, beautiful ideas can come out from other parts of the world and from product or other elements as well. But then you're really getting into a dialogue and a conversation of how to achieve it in the best way itself almost kind of an implementing, or almost saying this is this, this is what we think is best for you. I think we should look forward to that fairly strongly.

Tony Kopetchny  17:55  
Yeah, the whole paternalistic white savior moment that happened for a time, element world at least? Yeah, absolutely. I wrote down, how do we do it together? And not do it, do it with not to, like when we're doing these activities, is what I started thinking about when you said that, because we have to reestablish trust within so many communities to over time, and that I think it was too often this is this is the right thing for you. So we're gonna do it, because we see it rather than how do I pull you into the conversation with me?

Speaker 3  18:24  
Yeah. And then also, you know, in conversations, how do you? How do those conversations happen? We're often talking about equal partnership, but how do you notice an equal partnership is really established that I think also that is that is quite quite important, that the listening ear and the humble fruit differently resonate there very strongly.

Tony Kopetchny  18:45  
So what role can data play in facilitating change? You know, as we start to think about this, because there's always there's qualitative, which I think matters very heavily in the type of work we do. But then there is quantitative that we can try to look at, you know, to guide or steer a little bit to give us some indicators and direction. But you know, and then there's also trying to keep that data safe if we're looking at it. But I don't know, maybe I'm leading too much. The question here today to do first,

Speaker 3  19:12  
well, data gives you a lot of insights about what is happening and the results that you want to achieve. Data can give you also some nice issues, elements and or areas in it, that are kind of golden nuggets that you want to explore further, is there an opportunity, you know, that you see there that actually might have a broader impact or that we can accelerate upon because it really seemed to work? Data often gives you kind of the answer on the hypothesis that you might have? Is it correct? Is it not correct and often by having the facts in hand that makes the position stronger, to create more attention to watch or to address, more focus upon in any kind of form? You know, it could be in racing for He says in raising funding for it to make it happen. I think sometimes we also have to be aware with data is that we are measuring up till now, you know, so is that necessarily the way forward? Or do we how do we how do we really look at data with what is the next new thing that needs to happen? So I think, when talking about those niches, they are quite important for me personally, not to, you know, only look at the past, but also what is the direction so in a way, innovation, there is always crucial to explore new things to see if they could improve situations, and therefore challenge maybe some data points from now to watch new data points in the future. So I think they are they're, they're strongly aligned, in a way but yeah, data is definitely giving you the facts, and the stronger voice and arguments to create transformation, you can

Tony Kopetchny  20:57  
see the pickup, you know, I was resonated with you there, we often find a lot because we do a lot of work with data to and analysis and helping people come up reports and look at it and democratizing data, how do we really spread it out across the board, but it is often to your point, very rear view mirror, like what happened in the past. And what I've often found is I really loved how you put innovation on it with seven matters because it's like, I could try new things. But if I haven't anchored it in some kind of way to judge or test what I'm doing, I'm just spinning rather than pivoting. And a pivot is I'm making a clear decision based off of things that I've seen in the past and where I think I need to go heuristically into the future. And I'm gonna measure it based on XY and Z. But I feel like without that bit of data that wraps it up, it's easy to get lost. And it's easy to get into the cult of personality. And Tony just thinks this is the way to go. And I'm gonna keep doing it. Rather, I'm driving this thing into the ground or not. Yeah, yeah, that rear view comment is really important, I think for folks to understand.

Speaker 3  21:54  
Yeah. And for example, if we're talking about the IOC, the International fundraising, Congress will be used a lot of research there to share with the participants and with audiences to really know what is happening where what is working, what is not working. At the same time, I always liked the combination there with sharing the best practice. So how did you really do it? What was the crucial elements to achieve that data? You know, what did you do different compared to from yours? And I think that's, that's combination of data effects, combined with the knowledge behind the how it's got established, is really crucial for a lot of people to build upon. And many people might say, but I operated a different culture. And that's completely true. Do not argue against it at all. But again, there comes a little bit of point about inventing the wheel or reinventing the wheel, is this something that you can build upon? You know, does this give you a starting block by saying, Oh, so this works there. Maybe it works in our country in our area and our circumstances as well, maybe with a tiny tweak or with a tiny, you know, to really make it localized in your surroundings, but at least you do not have to start from scratch somewhere, I think that extends across the world and across the globe, is something that's really beautiful that everyone can build upon. And that is often a combination of that data, combined with the how does the data get established?

Tony Kopetchny  23:27  
Yeah, I love the idea of talked about this here in stage two, which is an open source knowledge framework, because to your point, it has to be localized, you know, even in the US where I'm sitting, you know, working on child hunger in New York City is very different than Kansas City. And you could have similar steps to take. But when you actually implement within those two very different metropolitan areas, it's going to look really different. And it's going to have to be successful. And I think globally is the same. Not worry, too, is that something that funders need to take on too, is making sure like, Hey, we've collected all these best practices, or we've seen it across our portfolio, but I get it's gonna be a little different for you. So how do you add into it is that you know, is there a role for funders funding and that type of sort of knowledge share? And

Speaker 3  24:13  
additionally, and we would strongly argue as well, you know, there the role of technology and how do you capture your data definitely come in. We did an interesting research last year with Blackboard that was really looking at what kind of organizations did really well off the COVID on which organizations did not do well, and some strong elements were around how HLP will be how fast can you measure that certain new initiatives are working or not, you know, with COVID Suddenly everyone is at home. What do you do? That was big. Yes. Are you continuing with face to face which is not allowed anymore, for example, or are you swapping back to telemarketing if tivities because actually having a conversation the time if somebody else, then your family in your own home was five lessons, and what is your messaging there? And how do you how do you build upon this? So what we noticed there is that as soon as technology was in place to capture data and really know very quickly, if this is working, or this is not working, or this is the feedback that we're getting, and kind of measuring, it really showed that organizations who had that technology in place, and I would almost say, with technology, even if what I often call the fundraising basics in place, do you measure what you're doing? Yeah, they really, they really showed that they were that they were ahead of the curve of the ones that did not have their basics in place and their technology base. And another interesting part was, so how did that really become that in one organization, the technology was in place and others not? And of course, it has to do with investments. But actually, the more important element there was leadership, is leadership behind technology, innovation, trying, measuring, following up on it, or is leadership, not behind it. And that was actually the crucial elements. So even when an investment might be there, that does not necessarily mean that the decisions will be made of investing in it. And so yeah, the leadership role is really crucial of getting that technology in place. And once it in place, also, how do you allocate that data? You know, it's nice to capture data. But do you use it? And do you really adapt accordingly. And I think the COVID periods really showed that we had to continuously change and adapt. And a lot of people would argue in the kind of perma crisis that we are in at the moment, we still have to continuously adapt. Yes. And their technology is interesting supporting role.

Tony Kopetchny  26:58  
Yeah, I mean, we definitely want to talk today with you just about the role technology plays in transformation within the sector, the leadership role within it. And it's interesting, because from that perspective, it's it's honest, it's like it's not necessarily just about the technology tool. I think that's what people miss and digital transformation. It's a it's a new way of working and then leadership needs to, to your point invests in, you're saying you've said adaptation, and we've all talked about that. But for me, there's also like, there's always a gap in adoption. You know, to your point, we've made an investment I have this tool, did I put time and effort to train someone? Am I really into it, because you know, return on implementing a new tool is probably like three years, then everybody, everybody wants something, it's six months, and then it doesn't work in six months, and everybody gets upset about it. But the money has been in and, you know, it sounds like your report, though, that you did with Blackbaud is proving out like, hey, leadership, those that were ready and are willing to keep doing this, you are going to continue to be successful. Those that haven't you're getting left behind. And I had worried about that going into it. I wonder if we're, I don't think we're through it yet. But I've been wondering what the ShakeOut is really going to look like between groups that are able to adopt and adapt compared to others that haven't. And, yeah, I don't know, it sounds like you've got proof in the pudding. Some, some groups are getting left behind.

Speaker 3  28:15  
Yeah, and I think that's one of these hypotheses where we thought that might be true. But it is very nice when you get it confirmed as well, especially for fundraisers in organizations who really want to convince their leaders to start implementing technology. So I really felt the report showed some some proven data there and stronger, a stronger cause for support for many people and organizations who want to make that change. Another interesting element there is, you know, we often talk about technology as the latest newest thing there. And we are always curious, you know, on innovation and new tech trends, what that will be. At the same time, we really noticed with this research that many organizations do not have their CRM in place, or do not have optimized their, you know, their the use of data allocation. And you could say, well, data can be optimized all the time, but really feeling confident about it. Are you really using your data in the right way? A big percentage, and a big group actually said, No, not yet. We are far from there. And I found it always fascinating when we're talking for Ignite, for example, now around the role of AI of Chatty pt. And of course, it is really important for all of us to see how we can utilize it and what it can what it can do for us in the social impact sector. But it's also bringing the conversation back to do we have our basics in place, you know, do we have an operating CRM, if we are working with individuals and creating an individual supporter base? Are we using the data in the right way that we really can optimize our tune? use with our audiences and really build on that and also see if we start trying and innovating new things if it's working or not. So there is, I think, technology wise, also an differentiation between the latest tech trends. And just starting with the basic,

Tony Kopetchny  30:19  
I'm following the same thing. Yeah. And the AI conversation is just getting so big right now. And I feel the same way. There's a lot of groups that the basics just aren't set yet. And cleaning just internally and how leadership could run a process do you have? What's your innovation process like within your organization? What tolerance do you have for trying new things? And what's your budget like for that? And what freedoms? Are you giving staff to do something that might not work out? Because I think that's part of the truth. And it doesn't always work out the way you think it's going to. And I don't know very many organizations that have invested, I think they've heard digital transformation, they think I'm going to acquire a tool. And now I've transformed I've acquired the CRM and you know, that's to your buyer, that's really basic step, but then has as a leader, how are you facilitating the ability to do that and not demand an instant result within a certain period of time, instead of saying, just give me the gist, I have expectations. And I was writing that down to a little bit what you're saying, I think for the groups reading your report, and they're trying to get groups, the leadership on board with helping them get the technology in place, it's like you need whether you can afford it or not, or the time or at least to set the expectation. Because you had talked about the the groups that are talking about, make sure you say what the what was for the learning, and I'm always like, what did it take also, like, it took 15 people for a year and a half focused on this thing, like, so I know, you want this thing leadership, but like, we have two people, we don't have a year and a half. So like, how do we reset expectations based off of the level of effort it takes to also do this work in the technology and data space?

Speaker 3  31:57  
I think that's, that's really crucial. And that comes back to leadership again, you know, and of course, it also comes back towards investments. But it really starts with leadership. Yes, there is that thrive too. Yeah, to really implement it the right way. And to really make the right investments not only financially, but definitely also human resources.

Tony Kopetchny  32:18  
It's, it's, it's the whole thing. And yet digital transformation is just not tech, it's all these other pieces. And but the sector needs that I think, to your point, I mean, if we're actually going to really be able to share these stories and create an open source knowledge framework that everybody can adapt and use to contribute to it, technology is going to enable that. But the technology itself won't do it, an AI system just won't do it. And technology, it moves, technology moves such a pace, that organizations have to stop trying to stay on pace with that, they've got to get the basics first and then go back, I remember a conversation I had with head of an organization, then he was so enamored with wanting to be the Uber of the sector in the nonprofit space. And I was like, but you can understand, like, being disruptive is disruptive. It's breaking people's workflows, and you don't you don't have the capability to handle that with your staff, you're gonna throw a lot of people off, right, and you're gonna see people leave your organization, but you don't have a plan other than wanting to sort of make a mark in the US, right, the whole Silicon Valley, tech sexy in excess of trying something new. I don't think it translates very well into what we're trying to do to create stability and performance for the long haul in the nonprofit space. So yeah, that tech pacing, I think everyone should slow down a little.

Speaker 3  33:32  
I think I think as long as it's really leaning towards the purpose, you know, what do we want to achieve in Yen's tech for tech, because it's fun. You know, I've got a software background long time ago, I love the innovative elements of it. But I think we need to keep in mind what is is really what we want to achieve. And if technology can help there in different ways, you know, we're talking a lot about from a fundraising perspective. But we all know that technology really can can create amazing new things. I mean, access to banks, via mobile phones, complete change in the world, you know, even the fact that mobile phones are available almost everywhere on this planet at the moment and access to internet becomes so much more populated everywhere. That's really, it is a massive, massive game changer. So I'm definitely not against technology. I'm just really focused on is technology doing the right thing? And then within this, how is it accepted within your organization? So bringing it back to the organization, sweetie? Is it? Is it something just have to have? Or is it having a purpose to achieve the bigger purpose that we are therefore, I think for me, everything should be aligned around that. That's why we're operating the social impact sector.

Tony Kopetchny  34:51  
I get very enamored with technology and software development too. So I do understand the draw and I played in that space for a long time to just Another quick question to most of the audience listening in here is going to be based over in the States. And I've heard a lot, you know, in your talking international fundraising group everywhere. I mean, what are some of the differences, you see your that are happening outside of the US in fundraising that we probably aren't paying attention to here that we might want to start thinking about?

Speaker 3  35:19  
Yeah, I think if you're really looking at different fundraising elements, a lot of innovation is happening. Not anymore in the north, what I would call, but definitely in so called Global global majority countries, it's because they started later, maybe sometimes it's because they start with limited budgets, it's because new technology is available. So if, for example, we were talking about bad phones, I mean, the fact that you can make a payments in India on your phones for, you know, a couple of cents, and it's accessible for everyone that is opening, suddenly, the doors 2.4 billion people. And I'm not saying our 1.4 people will have the capacity and capability of maybe to give a donation. But it's a tremendous big amount of people. We've seen in Kenya, you know, the mobile donations via M PESA. That's a completely different approach, which is absolutely beautiful. And are we building on this for, you know, do we want to translate something in that happens in a European country to watch Kenya? I think there's a lot to learn there. And sometimes they are really, yeah, ahead of the curve, because they missed a couple of steps beforehand, you know, or because they suddenly now new things get introduced. And they really, they're, they really can build upon it and move faster. So a lot of innovation is happening in different different parts of the world. And I think the beauty is where in the past, we really saw kind of a north south translation and capacity building. Now it is going west, east, east, north, it's going in all the directions. And that's the beautiful part of where we are at the moment. Yeah, there's a tremendous amount of innovation learnings, best practices happening everywhere. And I think there is a big desire to understand more about it and see how we can translate it into our own cultures, areas of work.

Tony Kopetchny  37:19  
Oh, I love it. And it sounds like yeah, your conference and all the work y'all are doing sounds like positions, you really add a central point to pull a lot of that ideas together. And with the Unite theme, I was just thinking about as a lot of people have been starting to return to conferences. And one thing I felt and I think other people do, too, is the relationship you get. You're not alone in the social sector work either. It's easy, especially coming through COVID, to have felt very isolated. And it's very refreshing, I think, to be around other people that are trying to solve things like you're trying to solve and they're working on the things you're working on. And you just get to talk to somebody about that for a little bit. And that that camaraderie, I think that you're helping to facilitate globally, I think is urgently important, to your point for the many amounts of crises. We're all trying to work out at the same time. Thank you.

Speaker 3  38:06  
Yes, no, no, and I really appreciate it. I mean, it's beautiful to walk around with a groups of people that come from over 80 countries, and everyone is connecting with each other and sharing with each other. And you know, they really have that sense of being part of one big community. And it doesn't matter where you are, it doesn't matter how small or how big your organization is, but you simply the desire, of learning and sharing, learning from each other sharing with each other and see about how we can collaborate together to really created impacts, I'm happy to be part of it.

Tony Kopetchny  38:39  
That's incredible. Thank you for that. I mean, it is really amazing. We're gonna link to a lot of things in the show notes here, I will get some attention, and maybe some folks showing up to be part of that amazing community and at least get some of these reports downloaded. Before we start winding into some of the final questions are somewhat broad, but maybe pulling us back to the basics. You know, if someone could start an organization from scratch today, you know, what are some of the key things you think they would need to address as part of their plan to build a sustainable organization?

Speaker 3  39:07  
Nice question. I would definitely say, well, and if it's an organization with social impacts purpose on it,

Unknown Speaker  39:20  
understand where your funding sources are coming from. Check whether you have the investments to make it happen

Speaker 3  39:30  
towards you know, achieving the course and if you therefore need a new organization, or you should align with an existing one. But I think in the end, if you really want to make it happen, it's all about people. I've worked for a very long time with Oxfam. And I've been involved in quite a lot of the startup of new affiliates. And in the end, it's absolutely about the people and the tribe of people to make it happen. You can have all the investments in the world but if you do not have the people with the drive and the passion to make it happen Going over. So that's really Yeah, that's really crucial elements

Tony Kopetchny  40:06  
are the talent is available to push the mission forward and get the belief all aligned. Yeah. Thank you for that you we often like to because we do a lot of change management work, we try to say, you know, what would your organization be like if it didn't have any baggage? If you could, if you could just take your head out of the moment? And just imagine you didn't have any of that stuff that you're dealing with that's built up over years? And what would you do going forward? So that's why I love asking that question folks.

Speaker 3  40:32  
Kind of the burn the house strategy house and start rebuilding it somehow. We're literally like, oh,

Tony Kopetchny  40:38  
yeah, how do we free our thinking from every day that we sit in stuff? Yeah, this is really tough. Thank you so much. This has been an awesome conversation. I was very excited for this. And for anyone who is a regular listener of the show, if you do know, ask the same question of all of our guests close every episode. And we have started a Spotify channel from all of these answers. And today Velika, I'm going to ask what is your go to song when you need a boost? And why?

Speaker 3  41:04  
This is such a tough question. me makes me laugh because I think the go to the go to song for me, can vary use from minute by minute, day by day, but I will say it's the one that I went to this morning when I woke up and there is John Coltrane with lots of cream. Oh, nice one. To everyone.

Tony Kopetchny  41:28  
Got it. I'm fine off. Just listening to it the other day. There we go. You see a few of my favorite things on that. It's a that was how my wife and I walked in after we got married to the big party.

Speaker 3  41:38  
Oh, nice. So I didn't know that. So that's a nice coincidence.

Tony Kopetchny  41:44  
Serendipity? Well, thank you so much. We'll get like I said, we're gonna get a lot of links out of this. And is there anything else you want to add? I'll make sure it gets onto the show notes page. And we really appreciate your time today. And good luck with everything that you're working on.

Speaker 3  41:56  
Thanks very much for having me. And anyone would love to know more about we social lines, feel free to reach out to me there are not a lot of Viveka von earnings in this role. So you know where to find me. Yeah, wonderful. Thanks, Tony.

Tony Kopetchny  42:08  
Thank you. Okay, and we'll see you next time and to the audience. Like I said, please leave us a review or submit some questions and share with a friend if you can, and we'd really appreciate it and thanks, everybody. Till next time.

Speaker 1  42:21  
Thank you for listening. Join us again for more engaging ideas with your host Parsons TKO CEO Tony Kopetchny. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a comment and share with your friends. Send us your feedback at create change at Parsons tko.com.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai