Next Stage has gleaned countless insights from interacting with our clients and their constituents. We “learn by doing,” interpreting and studying trendlines gathered by our interactions with stakeholders, and then, we find ways for our clients to make those learnings actionable.
Earlier this year, internal conversations about our position in the social good space led to a brainstorming session. Nonprofits and other community-based organizations typically had to hire us to engage in formal strategic planning, but we wanted to consider: Could we make Next Stage’s collective learnings more accessible? How else could we share these insights with mission-driven organizations to help amplify their impact?
That led us to develop our new service line: learning management. Now, Next Stage engages social good institutions in structured deep dives — half-day, full-day and multi-day workshops — to illuminate opportunities for innovation.
Our first deployment of this learning management offering is on an essential topic: Community Voice. We believe centering community voice can strengthen the entire social good business model, from service delivery and communication to human resources and advocacy. However, rather than embed Next Stage’s community voice curriculum in our larger strategic planning process, we decided to offer it through a free webinar series to help organizations prioritize getting actionable.
Relaunching Digital Engagement with Next Stage
Next Stage’s first foray into facilitating digital engagement began in 2020. Against the backdrop of the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, Next Stage launched a digital roundtable series designed to help social good leaders make sense of how the pandemic was disrupting the status quo. We weren’t certain anyone would have interest, but when nearly 200 people arrived at our first session, we knew we were on to something.
It’s not hyperbole to say that Next Stage was reborn during the pandemic. Our passion for social innovation was forged through the necessity to change practices. In the years since, our team has more than doubled, and we’ve made social innovation a key focus.
Gathering people digitally is in Next Stage’s DNA, so as we considered how best to launch our new learning management service line, a webinar series just made sense.
We launched our five-session Community Voice webinar series on April 17, 2024. The series explores how nonprofits and mission-driven organizations can apply community voice best practices to further their goals. We’re now in the second iteration of the free series, which will conclude on September 19. Join us for our next session on August 8 — Marketing & Community Voice: Communicating with Authenticity.
Learnings from the Webinar Series
These webinars have allowed us to not only share insights but also gather them. Through polls, we’ve asked 100+ participants to share their perspectives on topics related to community voice, and the feedback has been illuminating:
- Few organizations feel they’re entirely effective at listening to their constituents. Just over 1 in 5 webinar participants believe they’re very effective at engaging in community voice efforts. A similar number note they’re not very effective in following through with these efforts, with the majority (60%) acknowledging there’s more they’d like to do. This feedback suggests a need for learning management resources that help institutions embrace the principles of community voice.
- Institutions are struggling to connect with target audiences. A general lack of trust in community institutions has increased since the pandemic, which has led to a “quiet crisis” of organizations struggling to forge meaningful relationships with the people they aim to serve. Nearly two-thirds of webinar attendees (65%) suggest they’ve experienced a slowdown in the pipeline of people seeking their services. We’ve previously written on this topic, and it’s one of the primary reasons we’re recommending community voice efforts for service providers.
- Attracting program participants and donors top is a key challenge. Nearly two-thirds of webinar participants acknowledge that attracting supporters remains their biggest challenge. While many topics around community voice center on strengthening service delivery to constituents, during our free webinar on August 8, we’ll unpack how authentic storytelling can help attract donors and volunteers.
Engaging in an In-Person Workshop on Community Voice
We’re passionate about the role community voice can play in empowering social good organizations. Our learning management service line is ideal for organizations interested in engaging their staff in activities that culminate in the creation of an implementation plan specific to their organization’s needs, mission and goals.
Interested in having Next Stage introduce the principles of community voice to your team? Reach out today — we’d love to hear from you!