As our team has been rounding out the yr, we’ve been so excited abt the opportunities that’ve been presented to us…ones we’ll be able to share more about in the new yr.
But the interesting thing is, we don’t have a “biz dev” group. Starting off for 3 yrs strictly as a nonprofit, that’s not how we’re structured. Yes some larger nonprofits have “directors of growth” (or similar titles), but that’s not how we’ve operated.
We realize how fortunate we are – that sharing the details of the programs we’ve coordinated – on here, on LinkedIn, Facebook, etc., we’ve had orgs reach out to us to partner.
These orgs span the gamut from K-12s to colleges, offices to sports teams, first responder depts to libraries. But they’ve also included other orgs in this space that’ve wanted to build together – to partner/hold hands/grow a msg & a movement of normalization.
That’s been encouraging, bc even in the nonprofit world, I’ve been amazed at how many groups look at each other as competitors instead of collaborators.
Small pic view: you’re competing for donor dollars. But instead there’s a big pic view: help educate society that this topic applies to EVERYONE, & there’s more than enough work, funding, & corporate partner opportunities to go arnd.
When I worked in pro sports, surely more naive back then, my attitude was – put my nose to the ground, work hard, have pure intentions, & you get rewarded. That strategy worked well for me. I pinch myself at the opportunities I got. But selling sports, generally, may not have the purest underlying motives. Your main driver is to move up in your career.
Here, in MH I’ve learned you can break down companies into two main categories: 1) revenue focused, or 2) impact focused. Not only do I think #2 is the way to go…those are the only groups we’ll partner w. Doesn’t mean you can’t make $. But what’s your BIGGEST/MAIN driver? When it’s impact, $ to operate finds you.
When you have pure intentions, it’s the opportunities that find YOU. Not only in biz, but in life. I truly believe that. Follow your heart not your purse/wallet.