Creating An Abundance Mindset in the Nonprofit World: An Interview with Nell Edgington

We recently had the pleasure of interviewing the incredible Nell Edgington of Social Velocity. Nell helps nonprofit and philanthropic leaders become more strategic, financially savvy, and confident at creating social change.

In her new book, Reinventing Social Change: Embrace Abundance to a Healthier and More Equitable World, Nell provides a strategic roadmap for social change leaders.

We think this is such an important conversation to have in the nonprofit world, that we wanted to share this with you. Some highlights include:

-Abundance vs. Scarcity Mindset in the Nonprofit World

-The One Word That Can Open Up Your Possibilities

-Debunking Nonprofit “Myths”

-The Difference Between Over-Giving vs. Generous Giving

And SO much more!

Nell Edgington has spent her 25-year career innovating in the social change sector. As president of Social Velocity, she helps create more strategic, financially savvy, and confident nonprofit and philanthropic leaders and organizations. She is a popular writer, speaker, and blogger, and author of Reinventing Social Change: Embrace Abundance to Create a Healthier and More Equitable World coming from Page Two Books in February 2021. Nell is a member of the national Leap Ambassadors Community, a network of more than 250 social change thought leaders. And she holds an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

Tips for Training Staff on New Software

How do you get to Carnegie Hall? You know the saying...practice!

When it comes to implementing new software, training and practice are just as important as a violinist practicing her scales (although maybe not quite as fun). In this guide, we’ll share tips, ideas and questions to consider when training your staff, admin and clients on your new software.

We’re often asked, “How long will the software take to implement?” 

The answer is...that depends. 

Much like when a family asks, “How long is the home study process going to take?” The answer is...it depends!

The final timeline is ultimately in the prospective parent’s hands. How willing and able are they to work through the home study requirements? How motivated are they to invest the time it takes to get through the process?  

The answer for software implementation is similar.

The length of time it takes depends on things such as:

• How much of the software you’re going to use (which modules?) 

• Do you have a dedicated administrator with time to learn and teach the software?

• How much time each day will you dedicate to learning and teaching the software?

• How well are your workflow processes documented so that they can be converted to a digital process? (See this guide for details on that topic).

Next, consider the follow questions about your organization:

1) What is our organization’s culture around new technology?
2) How much time are we willing to invest in the training?
3) How much money are we willing to invest in the training?
4) How or When do we determine whether to invest in more training or support from the vendor vs. “figuring it out?”
5) Does our chosen software vendor have a robust User Training Guide and regular webinars/classes? Is their support team responsive?

Just like a new iPhone, the more you use your software, the faster you’ll learn it.

Pro tips for practicing and training on your new software:

• Create test cases for practice: families, children, birth parents, organizations, etc. 

• Schedule practice/training sessions with admins and staff on a regular basis and encourage attendance.

• Encourage team members to practice using the software by giving them plenty of time to do so. Make sure your admin is available to answer questions.

• Create quick training videos for clients showing them how to use your client interface (in SAM it’s called the Family Portal). Use free software such as Vidyard or Loom to record your screen.

• Ask for feedback from your staff and families and re-evaluate on a regular basis.

Our online “Get started” user guides, videos, webinars, one-on-one training over Zoom and email support are all available to help you learn and practice using SAM. Take advantage of our team’s extensive experience helping dozens of agencies successfully implement SAM.

Schedule a demo or drop us a note. We’d love to chat.

How to document your workflow for successful software implementation.

Whether you’re making widgets, supplying software, or connecting families and children, your organization’s process is the path that you follow to get the job done. When implementing new software in your organization, documenting your processes so that you can translate them into a digital format is an important but often skipped step.

In this guide (Part 2 of our 3 part series on software implementation) we’ll discuss your agency’s process: evaluating and documenting your agency’s internal processes and workflow to integrate with new software. (It’s not as terrible as it sounds...we promise! :) 

In our experience, this is the step that tends to be rushed, overlooked or just so “well known” that your team doesn’t need it written down (or do they?) Although this can be time consuming, we’ve found that confusion and frustration implementing new software is much more likely when this step is skipped. 

Your processes and procedures are not static. They change with time, new technology, new requirements, and new resources.

Taking the time to work through this important step is a great opportunity to identify where there might be redundancies, or overly complex parts of your programs that can be simplified.

REMEMBER: The software should be able to be customized to your agency’s process, but your process should also be open to changing to become more efficient and easier to implement within the software.

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Create your Process or Workflow Map

How do you go about describing your workflow process? Watch the short video below for a great description of how to get input from your team.

Map your workflow and processes, looking for potential improvements to your current client experience

(Pro tip: ask your team and clients for feedback!) 

There are many ways to go about this mapping exercise. Using post-its, spreadsheets, drawing diagrams or using mind mapping software are all great options.

Some examples of processes or workflows in adoption and foster care are: Inquiry, Application, Home Study, Licensing, etc.

Next, map out the steps in each stage of your process. Determine who is responsible to complete the step and how. For example, when a new inquiry comes in, how does it come in? What happens next? Who does that? What happens next? How does that get done? Who does that step? Etc.

Avoid the temptation of recreating a process in your new software that is unnecessary, redundant or needs improvement. This is a great opportunity to streamline!

Determine which parts of your workflow will be customized in the software first. We recommend beginning with simple processes (such as data entry) then building on the software with more complex ones such as automations and emails and building templates to print the data. 

Check out our other blog posts on this topic:

Use Sticky Notes to Document Your Process

Create a Consistent Client Journey

Use a Swimlane for Workflow Documentation

7 Tips for Helping Your Staff with New Software

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Let’s connect!

Our team is here to support yours as your partner in growing your agency with new software. Schedule a call below. We’d love to chat!