Have you ever struggled with imposter syndrome, burnout, struggled to raise the money your nonprofit needs, have trouble inspiring your team, or communicating your impact? Well, nonprofit science can help with all of that.
When people hear the word ‘science’ they think of lab coats, pipettes, and beakers. But science is really just a way of thinking.
Let’s kick things off by addressing the elephant in the room- what is nonprofit science?
Here’s what you can expect to take away from this episode…
⦿ The importance of scientific thinking and how it can help you grow your impact
⦿ Why a systematic process for iterative improvement is so important
⦿ A seven step framework for applying scientific thinking to the challenges nonprofits face
Sneak peek at the episode
⦿ [1:53] When we hear terms like hypothesis and experiment, it may sound like scientific thinking only takes place in the lab or in a research setting, but we can use this process to solve almost any problem, and I bet that you already do this to some extent.
⦿ [5:02] It’s about observing what’s in front of you with a sense of curiosity, asking questions, and testing out answers. The key, here, is that it is done systematically.
⦿ [7:50] When you have a big goal it’s very tempting to make sweeping changes in an effort to dramatically increase your chances of achieving the goal. But, unfortunately, that type of thinking sets you up for failure in the future.
⦿ [10:11] In the scientific process, typically data that is gathered informs the generation of a hypothesis or a testable question, and data that is produced is leveraged to make decisions.
⦿ [11:24] Over the years, I’ve worked on a framework that has really helped me apply scientific thinking to the challenges nonprofits face both big and small.
⦿ [13:58] Starting over is never a bad thing, it doesn’t mean you’ve failed. Starting over simply means that the hypothesis was determined to be false based on the data collected in your investigation.
⦿ [17:31] I relied on this systematic process to help me initiate new fundraising campaigns, streamline operations, grow our organization into new regions, but most importantly, it helped me overcome my imposter syndrome as a young nonprofit leader.
⦿ [19:12] On the Nonprofit Science Podcast you’ll hear from researchers who are actively investigating the challenges nonprofits face, and I’ll pull from the latest published research to consider all angles to the questions many of us have asked.
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Links mentioned in this episode:
⦿ Download The SIGNALS Framework Ebook today!
