Introducing Surveying the Field
The Kick-off Series for The Nonprofit Collective Blog
Written by Victoria Shadle
For this first series of The Nonprofit Collective Blog, I’m crowdsourcing answers to big questions in our sector and asking people outside my network with experience in the field to sign up to be interviewed.
When thinking about the lofty goal of getting to the root of the tangled mess that is the nonprofit sector, I felt strongly that my first step shouldn’t be reaching out to “experts”. At least at the beginning, I’m not looking to simply ask researchers, popular authors and journalists, or leaders at high profile organizations who are often looked at to answer questions about the field.
To start, I want to hear from the nonprofit masses, a group I identify with. By talking to “everyday nonprofit folk” — the both paid and volunteer workforce that power nonprofits day in and day out — I’m hoping to uncover the true spirit of the sector.
While we’ve been congregating through popular Facebook groups like Nonprofit Happy Hour and at annual conferences, I don’t feel like enough individual voices are being elevated. I can certainly understand why when so many of us are buried in work at jobs where we wear too many hats and are constantly under resourced. Beyond that barrier, in my professional experience I’ve also seen far too many examples of the same people constantly being selected for speaking opportunities while others with just as much experience, skill, and passion are left wondering how to breakthrough.
To break that norm and try something news, for Surveying the Field I’ve put out an open call for individuals in the nonprofit sector to speak with me for 30 minutes to talk about their reaction to these four big questions:
- What do you think are the biggest misconceptions about the nonprofit sector?
- If you could tell nonprofit volunteers or board members one thing — what would it be?
- Do you think there is a stigma about working in the nonprofit sector?
- What’s one thing about the structure of the sector that you wish you could change?
I’m also welcoming people to come to the interview with a topic or two that they’ve been thinking about, as long as it’s nonprofit related I’m up to discuss. My main caveat for guests is that while I’ll be including their name and organization (if they choose not to remain anonymous) I won’t be overly plugging any services or products to keep the series from feeling too promotional.
I started putting a call out through social media five days ago and have had 12 strangers express interest and 5 people schedule a time to speak with me. It’s hard to guess how many interviews will feel like enough, but my goal is to interview 20 people and go from there.
My first interview is scheduled for tomorrow and I‘m not sure what to expect. Will the questions feel relevant or fall flat? Will I hear familiar responses or new perspectives? Will 20 strangers agree to be interviewed when I’m not paying people or partaking in quid-pro-quo to advertise anything on their behalf?
Either way, I’m looking forward to talking to people outside of my network, from very different walks of life and with varying experiences in the field. To clarify, for this first series I’m not planning to interview anyone I know to try to minimize my chances of inadvertently creating an echo chamber.
I plan to release new blog posts featuring guests whenever it feels right to share about the process, what’s bubbling up, and what I’m surprised by. Stay tuned!
And if you’re reading this and intrigued by the questions and my process, you too can sign up to be interviewed!
—
For more information on The Nonprofit Collective, check out our first blog post here.
Update as of 8/2/20: After completing my first few interviews I adjusted the phrasing of the third and fourth questions to be as follows:
- What do you believe people think about working in the nonprofit sector, and how has that aligned with or challenged what you’ve experienced?
- What cultural or structural norms have you seen at individual nonprofits or the sector as a whole that you would like to see change?
