Surveying the Field: Interviewing Vallye Adams & Nicole Gabler
Written by Victoria Shadle
As part of Surveying the Field where I’m interviewing 20 strangers with experience in the nonprofit sector and asking everyone the same four questions, I recently spoke with Vallye Adams and Nicole Gabler.
Vallye lives in Tampa and has worked in both the private and nonprofit sectors throughout her career. She has spent over a decade in nonprofit management, including six years at an international nonprofit. This year she launched her own full-time independent fundraising consulting firm and is also a licensed benefit and fundraising auctioneer/emcee working with nonprofits around the country.
Nicole has built her career in the nonprofit sector; she joined AmeriCorps for three years after graduating from college and then went back for her Master’s in Public Service Administration with a focus in Nonprofit Administration. She now works in donor relations at a large children’s hospital in Texas, and previously worked as a grant writer for Girl Scouts in Houston.
Keep reading to hear how Vallye and Nicole answered our four big-picture questions about the nonprofit sector!
What do you think are the biggest misconceptions about the nonprofit sector?
Vallye sees a number of misconceptions including the assumption that we’re always looking for something for free and that our organizations don’t need to operate like a business. She also believes people take notice of turnover in nonprofits. When turnover is high, constituents of the organization sometimes believe employees are “fair weathered friends” who are engaged and invested, but will then jump to another easily. She’s heard this in particular from volunteers and donors who develop a relationship with staff liaisons and are then disappointed when those staff members leave.
“I do see a lot of turnover, which is not only hard on the organization but the constituents and participants of the organization as well. I think it’s related to many things however a large responsibility falls on internal higher leadership and management. They should address the internal culture, talent relationships and always be willing to invest in ensuring a positive work culture and developing and retaining great talent.
It’s not just about filling roles, it’s about making sure you have a solid HR team, fill positions with a person who strengths and talents are best fit for the role, offer amazing training, onboarding and most importantly the opportunity for employees to consistently develop their skills and abilities.” — Vallye
She was also quick to acknowledge that obviously this year is different than most and nonprofits are having to decide how best to deploy their limited resources. Vallye sees organizations having to make tough decisions on who they can keep and how they can best keep their doors open. Having said that, she feels the onus for this turnover is by-and-large on the organization.
“Organizations need to make it a priority to deflect turnover — some organizations really care about their employees, making sure to recruit the best talent, offer competitive wages, professional development and have a positive work culture, thus more likely to retain good talent. However, some nonprofits are unable to or choose to not offer competitive salaries, fill open positions with ill fit talent, and if coupled with a negative work culture, will certainly see higher turnover.” — Vallye
Vallye challenges nonprofit leaders to really invest in the hiring process to find people with the right talent and skill set, and resist an urge to just fill a gap by promoting someone internally if they aren’t a good fit for the role.
The biggest misconception about the nonprofit sector that came to mind for Nicole is that employees aren’t making money or the organization itself isn’t profitable. When she got her Master’s in Public Service Administration, many people didn’t even know that getting that degree was an option and assume that nonprofit work is largely volunteer-based and not a viable career path.
Nicole herself originally studied journalism and didn’t consider this line of work until a longtime mentor recommended she join AmeriCorps after college. In that program she was on the ground providing direct service for three years, mentoring title one youth and working in a community health program. That experience altered her trajectory and opened new doors for her in the nonprofit sector.
If you could tell nonprofit volunteers or board members one thing — what would it be?
Nicole believes every volunteer has something to offer and can find a way to give back. She urges people to look for volunteer opportunities that align with their skill sets and passions. Nicole has also seen first-hand just how vital volunteers are for nonprofits, especially organizations like Girl Scouts where they need dedicated volunteers to run key aspects of their programs.
While it can be difficult to find people willing to take on longer term volunteer roles like being a troop leader, Nicole is inspired by the people she’s met who are so invested in their community and giving back that they will be a troop leader without having a child in the program.
“Everyone has something to offer and something to give back, find that volunteer opportunity. Find that passion and go for it.” — Nicole
Nicole herself is also a regular volunteer with a local rodeo and appreciates both the experience of volunteering, and also the common bond she has formed with a diverse group of community members who are all passionate about agriculture and educating children. Some of the rodeo volunteers are so invested they’ve been involved for 20 or 30 years!
When thinking about board service specifically, Nicole finds that some people shy away from being on a board because they think it’s too much work or they don’t fit the ‘mold’ of a board member. She would encourage people to get involved regardless.
“Being a board member is the ultimate way to live out your passion, as a board member you have a say in the direction of the organization and you can leverage the organization among peers. It doesn’t matter if you’re 20 or 50, there’s no age requirement to join and be a board member.” — Nicole
Vallye’s main advice for volunteers is to commit. She wants volunteers to be fully invested in and a part of the mission of the nonprofit while engaging with and compassionate towards the people the organization is serving.
“If the mission resonates with you as a volunteer, commit. Commit and go 100%, 120% — use your passion and true dedication to help them to the best of your ability.” — Vallye
Relatedly, Vallye also would tell nonprofit staff managing volunteers to absolutely always make sure volunteers feel appreciated and to not let their work go unnoticed. She believes volunteering needs to be mutually beneficial to have the greatest return and results.
What do you believe people think about working in the nonprofit sector, and how has that aligned with or challenged what you’ve experienced?
Vallye doesn’t believe people outside of the sector realize the tremendous responsibilities and work load the staff has to do. In the nonprofit sector she’s seen employees frequently having to wear many hats and being responsible for wildly different job functions.
“Nonprofit workers are quite often handling the role of multiple full-time positions. In the for-profit sector, there may be larger expense budgets allowing for not only fair competitive wages but opportunities for additional staff and positions. This allows for their staff talent to focus on their strengths and what they can do best. In a nonprofit environment, there is a high chance you will need to be a fundraiser, who is also responsible for marketing, sales/negotiation, donor retention, staff management, sometimes while assisting with finances/billing and HR — plan to wear so many hats.” — Vallye
She sees nonprofit workers being pushed to their max this year especially and has heard from staff at multiple organizations that they’re burnt out. Organizations are trying to operate as if everything is normal, but these are difficult times with different goals and less staff.
“Right now, staff at different organizations are sharing they are burnt out and volunteers are hesitant. There is a definite caution and reluctance in the marketplace, due to the economy, the pandemic, and so many things.” — Vallye
Similarly, Nicole has found people often do not realize how much strategy goes into the nonprofit sector and the level of process refinement going on. In her work in fundraising, she sees it as both an art and a science and she uses a lot of strategy in her day-to-day work. She’s analyzing situations and there’s a lot of background research and work that goes into what she does.
In a way, she thinks it stems back to the title “nonprofit” and people getting hung up on this false idea that everything is at no cost, or there isn’t monetary value tied to what we do.
What cultural or structural norms have you seen at individual nonprofits or the sector as a whole that you would like to see change?
Nicole would like to see nonprofit workers put a stronger emphasis on processes and process refinement and building institutional knowledge. She knows employee turnover is part of life, but sees within nonprofits great room for improvement with record keeping and onboarding and retention practices.
Her current organization does a great job of welcoming people to the team; with 16,000 employees they make everyone feel excited to be part of the hospital by throwing new hire pep rallies, pairing new hires with a buddy for quarterly lunches, and even having the CEO welcome new hires during an intimate gathering twice a year. She sees this as a stark difference to a previous organization where she worked on the same floor as the CEO and never had that kind of facetime with them — even though the organization was much smaller.
Nicole also wants to see more women in leadership positions and more transparency around salaries.
“There’s a real stigma against telling coworkers what you make. Coworkers become friends, but then when it’s time for a merit increase or bonus everyone’s so hush, hush about it. Sharing salary details helps me to know if I’m on par with other people in my industry and if not, it helps me to be more equipped to discuss salary and raises.” — Nicole
Vallye also sees a lot of room for improvement, starting with the internal culture and leadership at organizations and how leaders invest in talent.
“Take time to develop and align great talent and offer a positive, purposeful and collaborative culture within the organization — all nonprofits will thrive and benefit if they invest in this!” — Vallye
Additionally, she wants to see nonprofit salaries raised to be equivalent with the for-profit sector. She knows it’s a challenge, but believes salaries need to reflect the type of skill and talent organizations are looking for. She also recommends organizations utilizing the services of professionals with niche specialties. Instead of just filling empty positions with the wrong talent, outsource those with the skills and experience to ensure the job gets done and the organization and constituents benefit. When it makes more sense, hire a consultant, or freelancer to save on full time salary expenses or instead of hiring a not qualified new staff member.
Lastly, Vallye encourages organizations look at alternative ways to fundraise besides just events, even though events are her specialty! Vallye has seen incredible success in transitioning in person events to virtual events, however, has also seen the fall-out this year of what can happen when an organization has 80% to 90% of their revenue coming from events — or even a single event — and then events gets cancelled or postponed. She expects some of these organizations to not survive because they’re not asking for support and are instead taking a wait-and-see approach. Vallye is concerned about organizations losing momentum by not pivoting to virtual events, supplementing revenue in other ways, or continuing to build relationships with donors.
Despite the challenges, Vallye loves working in this sector and believes nonprofits and the people working in this field are absolutely making a difference each and every day to change the world.
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To hear how others like Paul and Zulakha responded to these questions, check out the article below. You can also learn more about The Nonprofit Collective Blog by reading this article and stay in the loop about what we’re up to by following us on Facebook and Twitter.
