How can cross-functional collaborations help you stay ahead of emerging trends in philanthropy?

Having served as Executive Director for a university foundation, and, having served on the board of trustees of a community foundation, a cross functional opportunity can assist in broadening a foundation's focus such as in Diversity, Equity and, Inclusion, whereby diversity welcomes all protected classes and disadvantaged communities; That the three dimensions of equity of justice, freedom and safety are defined, and inclusion also incorporates accessibility and belonging. A foundation has an arc, a trajectory inter-generationally over time and the cross collaboration such as in the work of DEI can bring greater purpose that appreciates the uniqueness of all in the universal journey of life as philanthropy is known as a love of humanity.

One more aspect of cross-functional collaboration in philanthropy is bringing individuals with diverse skills and expertise together to work towards a common goal and align their passion or needs to our goal of work. Now, these individuals can be from the community for whom we are doing a Philanthropy (we can say part of beneficiaries) or can be people who has zeal to work for people and professionals coming from different areas of Finance, Marketing, Media, IT, Services etc. With the help of collaboration positive skill sets gets channelised which leads to vibrant outcomes.

By leveraging the power of digital, philanthropy can go a long way to ensure and thus measure impact. With emerging open source technologies and emphasis towards frontline health worker populations and their community work, organisations can improve operational efficiencies, register beneficiaries, run efficient program delivery systems and generate reports all in real time- all this while collaborating with digital stakeholders who have emerged to be vital cogs in philanthropic work

Cross-functional industry perspectives combined with age and ethnic diversity is a winning combination in reaching new demographics of donors. Input from all those helps you understand how you and your nonprofit are perceived among different donor groups, how to craft your message so that your donors hear your message, the technology they best respond to, and how best to respond to those interested in your cause. Knowing and responding to donors’ needs, likes, and preferences is a fundamental tenet of fundraising. Their giving is about them, not you or your organization.

Another important stakeholder in the design of solutions to given problems are the people who will use the system, both as staff and clients. Problem solving done in a team environment always yields better results than a single individual. Just remember that working group theory tells us that any more than seven people in a group ceases to be efficient.

We deliver training across sectors and this enables us to facilitate an exchange of knowledge and best practice wherever we go. We think of ourselves as conduits of 'this is what works and it's tried and tested'. It's a wonderful thing to be able to do. We do not reinvent wheels, but we show everyone how people are driving income generation, effectively. From Hospices, to helicopters (Air Ambulances), Benevolent funds to Fundraising tech solutions, we all have something to share and it's wonderful to provide tools that do the job.

A great tool to understand a co-worker’s underlying basis of behaviors is the DISC assessment. In my experience, the people who drive me nuts at work, are those perspectives and skills I need the most. To get the most out of the relationship, I must avoid judgement, assume the person has good motives, and truly accept him or her without trying to change who they are. An objective assessment like the DISC helps me achieve those objectives.

Cross functional relationships are essential to maximising income generation and driving efficient ways of working. Too often activities in silos replicate and fail to complement each other and this can be avoided by sticking your head above the parapet and finding out what other people are doing. Be nosy. Be open to collaboration. See working together as a strength not a chore. Be unafraid to assist another departments or organisations even with no defined outcome to your work, immediately. Working together let's us thrive together, even if the benefits are not immediately recognisable, you are banking profitable returns and making opportunities that will be worthwhile. At Keepace we naturally embrace collaboration and it pays dividends.

Trust, work ethics and Intentions are few other parameters where we should keep an eye while being collaborative. The moment you loose trust on other person/ organization and a vice versa everything that we are talking about goes for a toss. So clarity in vision, roadmap and terms of work should be very very clear attached with trust and moral beliefs.