Amy Casey: How would the world look without you? (…and other existential questions)
By Amy Casey
At the halfway mark of 2021, I looked back and took stock of where I was and how I had done for the year. The differences between this year, last year, and the year before that were abundantly clear. I’m changing—we all are. My priorities remained the same, but through each challenge and win, I lived them out in a different way.
As an organization, we at Aperio spent the first half of this year taking a deep dive—individually and as a team—into defining our ‘north star’ and course-adjusting for what pursuing our purpose means right now. Many of our nonprofit clients find themselves at this crossroads as well.
One of the most meaningful questions for nonprofit leaders and anyone committing their professional lives to a cause is this: Why are we here? What we do and how we do it are no small matters, but what is that thing—bigger than the day-to-day grind—that drives us? How are we providing meaning and value back into the world and communities we care about? And, can we do it in a bigger way?
As we work alongside a diversity of nonprofits to define and articulate their meaning, clients’ off-the-cuff response is often about the ‘what’—programs and services, the reach demographic, and maybe even some outcomes. But that doesn’t answer the question of why your organization matters.
Getting to the bottom of that question requires courage. It brings us face-to-face with ways we might be missing the mark or wasting resources. Organizationally, it means breaking the cycle of ‘strategic plans’ that are all planning and no strategy. It means being unafraid to cast a vision and commit to bringing it to life.
It’s time to take a bet on yourself—individually and as an organization—to level up the focus and impact of your work. As you dig in, use these three 'big questions’ to guide your process.
1. How would the world or your community be different without you?
I absolutely love this question. It reveals so much and challenges us to think about ourselves differently. Surprisingly often, when I ask clients to answer this, I’m met with silence—or the difficult admission that there would be no change. This gets to the heart of the matter, a great launching pad for transformational work.
What would it look like focus on those you serve rather than how you serve them?
How would that impact your value to all stakeholders today—and those who are yet to come too?
By asking these questions of one of our clients, we saw the organization begin to transform its self-image—from simply the implementor of a set of day-to-day operations to the largest force supporting the social-emotional development of kids fighting health battles. Crystalizing a vision of the world without you creates the urgency to manifest a world with you in it, making your mark.
Not having an answer is ok for now, but serves as a call to action to rethink your purpose. If you don’t believe in the significance of your work, potential donors probably won’t either.
Why are you still here after everything that’s stood in your way?
By asking these questions of one of our clients, we saw the organization begin to transform its self-image—from simply the implementor of a set of day-to-day operations to the largest force supporting the social-emotional development of kids fighting health battles. Crystalizing a vision of the world without you creates the urgency to manifest a world with you in it, making your mark.
Not having an answer is ok for now, but serves as a call to action to rethink your purpose. If you don’t believe in the significance of your work, potential donors probably won’t either.
How can you leverage those insights to achieve impact on new levels?
Where did you thrive and where did you struggle?
What is that secret sauce that you can bring and why have you been holding back?
What’s your role in the big picture?
It’s not about you. By asking these questions of one of our clients, we saw the organization begin to transform its self-image—from simply the implementor of a set of day-to-day operations to the largest force supporting the social-emotional development of kids fighting health battles. Crystalizing a vision of the world without you creates the urgency to manifest a world with you in it, making your mark.
Not having an answer is ok for now, but serves as a call to action to rethink your purpose. If you don’t believe in the significance of your work, potential donors probably won’t either.
There’s an ecosystem out there, and you have a role to play.
If it feels uncomfortable to take that leap, you haven’t been thinking big enough about the potential of your organization.
It is permission to step out of the boxes of your outputs and outcomes and speak from the heart about your impact.
Where to go from here
First, sit with these questions yourself—and probe your responses and assumptions.
Carve out time and headspace for the process. Doing this requires time and intention—not to be done between meetings or before running out the door.
Pinpoint the cause of any discomforts, celebrate the places that feel good, and focus on the future.
When you think you’re ‘there,’ let some time go by and then revisit. The important thing is prioritizing the process and accepting the time it takes to get there.
Next, seize on the opportunity to connect with your stakeholders in a new and impactful way through this process by listening—really listening—to their perspectives.
Reach out with the intention of learning and hearing the expected and the not-so-expected, good and bad. Start with your closest peers.
If you’re a leader, let those responses inform your conversations moving forward: What would your board say? How about employees and other staff? Volunteers? What about the people you serve?
Having collected many ideas to consider, take time to reflect on how the process went; this can reveal important insights you’ll need to ‘level up’ together.
How did these individuals respond to being asked for their perspectives on this level? Were they receptive and engaged? Did they see their value and role in the process and therefore realizing the future together? This is helpful to understand team dynamics, strengths and weaknesses, and prevailing mindsets. The process further builds the relationships that will be essential to doing the hard work of change.
What about your reaction to the ideas? What does that tell you? This is valuable insight as well to uncover any additional mental roadblocks.
Guiding organizations through this process, we have seen many ‘aha moments’ in which they truly understand the importance of their programs for the first time—and determine that their impact could be far greater. These are tough questions, but ones that pay off in the clarity and renewed sense of purpose they yield. Now is the chance to harness that spirit of innovation for transformation and growth.
Amy Casey
Amy’s career has focused on helping non-profits thrive so they can better serve others and drive impact. She specializes in prospect research and donor solicitation as well as in program design and evaluation.