Episode 135: Accountable Impact: A Model for Sustainable Mission Growth

Decision-making around directing philanthropic giving is an increasingly data-driven exercise. So, it’s more important than ever for social good organizations looking to attract investment to be able to quantify and communicate their defined outcomes and ability to efficiently and effectively achieve them. This is accountable impact.

Today’s episode features an excerpt of a panel session at bbcon 2019 with John Cashman, Senior Principal Account Executive and Tony Boor, Chief Financial Officer at Blackbaud, Paul Preziotti, Principal at Johnson Lambert LLP and Traci Drake, Chief Philanthropy Executive at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. Listen in get an inside look at the 2019 Blackbaud Accountable Impact Study and to hear these experts discuss challenges and best practices around adopting a culture of accountable impact to drive support for your mission.

Topics Discussed in This Episode:

Background on Blackbaud’s 2019 Accountable Impact Study Why the sub-competencies covered in this study were chosen Finance benchmark competencies Funding transparency Promoting success from a financial perspective Communication between the finance function and non-financial managers Why so many nonprofits and social good organizations don’t feel enabled when it comes to technology The interconnectivity of people, processes, and technology Working with donors to fund capacity building needs

Resources:

John Cashman, Senior Principal Account Executive, Blackbaud Tony Boor, Chief Financial Officer, Blackbaud Paul Preziotti, Principal, Johnson Lambert LLP Traci Drake, Chief Philanthropy Executive, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center 2019 Blackbaud Accountable Impact Study

Quotes: 

“The healthier an organization is in terms of vendor and credit management, the higher their overall competencies.” – John Cashman

“Most of the individuals who are making the key decisions don’t have a financial background. Your role in finance is to provide that link, from the accounting information.” –Paul Preziotti

“Technology is not a silver bullet. If you don’t have properly trained people, and you don’t have good processes, technology’s not going to solve it.” –Tony Boor