Next Stage - Social Impact Services

Social good strategy to amplify your impact

Values & Culture

Why Nonprofits Don’t Need the Biggest Audience

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I’m fascinated by the origin stories of social movements. They are as varied as the people who make up their constituencies. Civil Rights, the fight for marriage equality, the Labor movement, women’s rights, abolition, anti-war demonstrations – these are just a few of the most prolific movements that have shaped our national narrative.

It’s easy to imagine that these movements had traction and noteworthy leaders from the beginning. In reality, most simply began in living rooms or at kitchen tables, finding more followers as their message spread.

When I meet with nonprofits about marketing, I regularly hear concerns: their lists aren’t big enough, they need more constituents, they are worried they can’t compete with the bigger, more established organizations. And while a greater following is the goal of any cause, there is a lot to learn from the history of national movements that also started small.

It allows you to test what works

There’s a lot of pressure on organizations to be ‘the next big thing,’ be more creative, find that magic thing that will go viral and create a mass following. In most cases this isn’t reality – and it isn’t even helpful.

I recently worked with a nonprofit on a digital campaign that launched some big ideas for their organization. Before the campaign, we noted that the marketing list was smaller than we’d hoped but it was a highly-engaged group that had intentionally opted in. We used the opportunity to develop high-quality content and messaging for the year. The email series was opened at a rate of more than 75% over two months. Despite the smaller list size, it enabled the nonprofit to build valuable content, test what worked and develop a longer-term plan for the content without the pressure of a giant following.

Building and testing over time allows you to develop stronger, more iterative marketing that speaks directly to your audience. 

It fosters authenticity and relationships

Successful movements happen for a combination of reasons, but one common factor is the sense of belonging they build among members. It’s up to nonprofits to build this same sense of comradery and authenticity among their constituencies. We’ve talked before about the expectations of younger consumers and their desire to establish a more relational stance with their favorite brands – and many consumers will now walk away from brands that conflict with their own identity.

Authenticity stands out amid campaigns that aim to be ‘the next big thing.’ Money can certainly buy ad space – but it’s not a replacement for a real relationship with your audience. It’s the latter that cultivates understanding, passion and ultimately – movement.

It builds a strong foundation

Every social movement that rose to prominence began in a small community. One of my favorite examples of this is the MeToo movement. The phrase was coined in 2006 by activist Tarana Burke but didn’t gain national attention until 2017 when actress Alyssa Milano encouraged people to share their stories of sexual harassment on social media. Ten years before ‘MeToo’ gained prominence in the media, it lived as a phrase of empowerment among women in smaller pockets, gaining traction over time. ‘MeToo’ isn’t alone in this phenomenon. Community activists and leaders often start small, building recognition and engagement over time – until something prompts a critical tipping point.

The “slower” start enabled the MeToo movement to create a strong, meaningful foundation. By the time it went national, the phrase already had a clear identity and devoted base of followers.

It’s not bad to want a big audience of raving fans. Some of the biggest social movements in our nation’s history only happened because they captured our collective imagination and attention. And ultimately, reaching a critical mass of people is what will spread important messages far and wide.

But just as social movements don’t begin with a big viral moment, your work likely won’t either. The ability of nonprofits to build small, committed audiences with deep understanding and motivation is a superpower. If you’re doing the hard work of daily movement-building and aren’t feeling the traction just yet, don’t give up.

Movement-building is a long game – and it can change the world.

The Data Won’t Save Us: Human Insights for Social Change

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The Data Won’t Save Us

I’m a self-professed data nerd. But there are long-held data points that have been repeated so many times that they have become conventional wisdom – or even tropes.

We plan for future prison capacity based on third grade reading rates. Source
Only 3% of youth exiting the foster care system will graduate college. One in five will experience homelessness. Source
One-third of children who grow up poor in the U.S. will experience poverty as an adult. Source
If your city has low economic mobility, it is nearly impossible to escape poverty.

If you’re plugged into any conversation about social innovation, you’ve heard these numbers, and many others like them. They are breathtakingly, shockingly awful – a stark report on the reality that many nonprofits, activists and community leaders live every day.

I think most of us like data – even if it is hard to look at – because we can make sense of it. Numbers can be studied and improved. We perceive that the ‘answers’ can be found in those numbers. And while data is driven by a desire to know more and do better, I wonder if it sometimes stunts our collective curiosity.

When I pause to consider what’s behind the data, I start to wonder: 

  • At what point does data become a self-fulfilling prophecy? How do we use these numbers to guide us rather than allowing ourselves to fall into resigned acceptance? 
  • In using data to make sense of complex issues – do we also use it to distance ourselves from the complexities of being in relationship with people?
  • How can data inspire us to imagine something new – instead of simply to predict an inevitable future?

Quantitative data is critical to the work of social good. We need it to shed light on issues, to help evaluate the effectiveness of programs and to galvanize us to action. But the temptation exists to bury ourselves in that data, to seek the answers in clean numbers and next steps.

The data won’t save us – but it can point us in the right direction.

Let it guide us towards relationships.

Data is a great starting point, but it’s no substitute for lived experience. This is one reason that Next Stage so strongly advocates for qualitative data. The data often tells us where to look – but how and why are most often rooted in conversations with people most proximate to the issue at hand. These relationships are where trust is built. And trust is where long-lasting social innovation starts.

In our report, Inside Out: The Case for Community Voice, we shared a story about a nonprofit’s mobile health unit. The unit nestled in a few locations before centering itself at a local community center. They saw very little traffic, even though the numbers suggested that this would be best supported by a mobile unit. But when the driver of the mobile unit walked into the local 7-11 and struck up a conversation with the owner, they found that the convenience store was a trusted ‘third space’ for that community and saw a lot of daily traffic. The manager offered the parking lot for the mobile unit once a week, the team accepted and use of that unit increased significantly – all because of a partnership rooted in a simple conversation.

Let’s embrace the tension.

Working on any social issue is messy and rife with competing viewpoints. It can be tempting to lean on data that feels straightforward and ‘clean,’ when conversation feels messy. The reality is that every data point represents a real, complex human with a specific viewpoint. 

Our team learned this firsthand when we did work for TreesCharlotte. Charged with developing campaign messaging, we pulled from data and our own common beliefs to develop a message we thought was obvious – ‘Everyone loves trees.” When we workshopped this with our focus groups and stakeholders, the dissent was immediate and overwhelmingly more complex. It turns out that not everyone loves trees. They sometimes fall on houses, are expensive to maintain and have impacts that are out of our control. We changed the message to a more nuanced expression, “Everyone has a tree story,” but if we hadn’t been willing to engage the tension – and the disagreement – our data would have led us far astray.

Let it inspire us to imagine something different.

Rather than self-fulfilling prophecy, let’s allow those sobering numbers to help us get curious. The temptation to bury ourselves in the research is real, but so is the risk. It’s easy to forget that the data isn’t inevitable, and that we have the ability to imagine something different for ourselves.

Our team recently collaborated on a documentary about Southside Homes that featured highly proximate organizations, including ParentChild+.  In the documentary, NC State Director Angela Drakeford speaks to the need for imagination and action when she states, “We have all the data we need. We don’t need to waste ten, twenty, thirty more years on data – then the ten, twenty, thirty years of people that contributed to that data, it’s too late to save them. I think we have enough now to think outside of the box. Let’s kick those boxes over and let’s make a difference in this community.”

Next Stage Celebrates 10 Years with The UnFundable Project

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 9, 2024

Next Stage Celebrates 10 Years with The UnFundable Project

[Charlotte, NC]: Yesterday, Next Stage celebrated its 10th anniversary by announcing the recipient of The UnFundable Project, a $10,000 grant. The award used the philosophy of trust-based philanthropy to identify a project in the Mecklenburg County area that would typically be deemed “unfundable,” determined by a panel of community leaders.

The $10,000 grant was awarded to Caroline Calouche & Co., a local arts organization that creates memorable dance and circus arts shows. Their application requested funding to pay off a credit card that was used to replace their damaged sprung floor.

“The UnFundable Project launched from a desire to highlight the importance of trusting nonprofits and the people who make them go. We believe in the importance of relationships, knowledge and proximity to issues and constituents. We believe this makes nonprofits who already have trust built in community best equipped to determine how to make an impact with the resources entrusted to them,” said Josh Jacobson, CEO of Next Stage.
The award is a celebration of Next Stage’s 10 years of social innovation work, a significant milestone for the company on its mission to build belonging at the intersection of social good.

“Next Stage has gone through a lot of evolution over the years, and we have arrived at a central value proposition, of building belonging at the intersection of social good.” says Josh Jacobson, CEO and Founder of Next Stage. “We believe that there is no way forward but together.”

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About Next Stage: Next Stage is a social innovation company that consults locally and nationally for nonprofits, private sector companies, government agencies, faith institutions, philanthropy and community leaders.

Next Stage is a respected thought leader on the themes of Community Voice, profit and purpose, and social innovation. Notable achievements include partnership on Spark Centro, making the case for Community Voice, and releasing a respected weekly newsletter on all things social good.
To learn more about Next Stage, visit its website.

Contact:
Janet Ervin
Chief Marketing Officer
Next Stage
janet@nextstage-consulting.com

A Decade of Growth: Insights from Next Stage’s Journey

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Tomorrow night, we look forward to seeing so many of our friends and colleagues at our 10th Anniversary Celebration event where we will also reveal the selected organization for The UnFundable Project grant.

This milestone has made me reflective of late – on where we’ve been and where we’re going. It has also caused me to take stock of what I’ve learned from a decade as an entrepreneur. Because folks, there have been lessons… so many important lessons. Today I’ll share a few.

Lesson One: Purpose Fuels Action

It may be surprising to know that I was a bit of a slacker for much of my early years, skating by with minimal effort. You know the type: I was the kid cramming for the test or dashing off the book report in the back of the bus on the way to school.

Relocating to Charlotte and starting a career as a social impact consultant awakened something dormant inside me. I had only worked as a practitioner inside nonprofit organizations up to that point. Being on the other side of the table was a big adjustment, but once it was made, I never looked back. I love my job. It is probably the last one I will ever have, and I am perfectly fine with that. The opportunity to work with so many different organizations, to live inside so many disparate missions, is what gets me fired up in the morning. Where some people would see the chaos of colliding priorities, I gain energy that powers each new day.

I’m not sure there was a specific moment when it all clicked into place, but there is no doubt that purpose is at the heart of Next Stage. As a team, we feel a calling to do the work that we do. It urges us forward to continually disrupt what we think we know about how the world works.

I believe that there is a purpose inside all of us, and you are truly lucky if you can make that purpose your life’s work. It is a wellspring that makes everything possible.

Lesson Two: It’s Better Together

No one tells you when you start a company how lonely it can be.

My office when Next Stage was first launched was not an office at all – it was our family dining room table. Each night I would move the stack of paperwork down to one end so my wife Adara and I could eat dinner without getting spaghetti sauce on a recently-signed contract. [Sidenote: My wife has been so patient and understanding throughout this journey. None of this would be possible without her support.]

A big change came when I joined a coworking community and realized how great it was to be around other people. You can forget how important human connection is to maintaining positive energy and hopefulness. That move eventually led to hiring employees and committing to office space – all significant milestones.

Without a doubt, the thing I am most proud of is having built such a talented, values-aligned group of professionals who fuel our work. We recently made a commitment to advancing collaboration as our organizational mission, and that starts with our own team. Next Stage is a movement of people who choose to work together to advance social good. We complement each other with knowledge, skills and lived experience that strengthens everything we do.

It took me a while to figure it out, but I eventually arrived here: If you want to keep your impact small, go it alone. But if you truly want to change the world, the only way forward is together.

Lesson Three: Vision Drives Belief

So much of one’s early years are defined by boundless potential. When you’re young, anything is possible and the options feel infinite. But as time goes on, you start to realize that every choice you have made has led you further down a path. Eventually, the direction of that path begins to take shape.

I’ve described this in the past as a branching tree. Twenty-five years ago, I had no idea that decisions that seemed so arbitrary at the time – choosing that internship, relocating to this city, taking that get-to-know-you coffee – would be so defining of my life. When you are at the start of that branch, it seems like it extends out into forever, and each decision, no matter how small, seems only to take you to the next moment, to the next opportunity.

I am now old enough that I can look back on the branch I’m on and know exactly how I got here. And out in the future, I am also now old enough to know the branch doesn’t actually extend forever. If I squint, I can see way off in the distance where the divergent branches reach their destination.

When we work with our clients on strategic planning, we challenge them to establish a time-limited vision – “where do you want to be ten years from now.” Of late, we’ve been taking our own medicine. I recently wrote about our new strategic plan, which defines who we are and how we want to make a difference in the world. It commits us to a specific branch – one we are choosing for ourselves.

Our ten-year vision is now crystal clear, and every client, partner, contractor and new hire is joining a movement of people who believe the world can be what we want it to be. We look forward to partnering with you on the road ahead.

A Decade of Good: Looking Back and Looking Ahead as Next Stage Marks Year 10

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This month, Next Stage turns 10 years old! What began at my kitchen table has grown into something far more ambitious. As we launch the second decade of our company, I’m excited to share that ambition with you today.

Last month, we formally approved a three-year strategic plan – a first for our company. That may be surprising if you know how many plans we have developed for clients over the last decade. What’s the saying about the cobbler’s children walking barefoot through the world? Suffice it to say, this is the most robust expression of our aspirations ever committed to print.

We have never had a more clear North Star for where Next Stage desires to go. Over the last 18 months, our team has developed a new mission and theory of change for our work that creates cohesion across a number of concepts. What we once thought were disparate ideas are now being harnessed in service to a new organizational horizon.

Building Belonging at the Intersection of Social Good

Our new purpose statement is building belonging at the intersection of social good. The tenets of this include:

  • Building more cohesive infrastructure and collaboration between six primary sectors (nonprofits, the private sector, municipalities, philanthropic institutions, faith institutions and community-based organizations), channeling more resources to address pressing social causes;
  • Developing a more equitable ‘supply chain of social good’ that ensures decision-making and resources are invested in those who are most proximate to people being served, where trust can be fostered as an asset.

We feel best positioned to support initiatives focused on breaking down walls that contribute to systemic barriers. This work leads us to more community-and-neighborhood-based frameworks that shift power to where trust is most authentically residing. We believe trust capital is the most important asset to overcoming the failure of systems.

It’s a big concept, we know. So what does that mean in practice?

We are called to build a new methodology for collaboration. The pandemic made undeniable what we have all known for decades — that the silos of service delivery are inefficient and ineffective. Greater cohesion and collective effort are needed if we are ever to make inroads on the toughest social issues.

To make that happen, we believe institutions and their leaders must build belonging at that intersection. And not just performative engagement but authentic, hands-on collaboration that is recognized as just as important as the work these institutions individually lead.

In other words, we desperately need each other and must spend more time creating infrastructure and trusted relationships at those intersections.

We’ve explored this in several ways. Our Profit & Purpose series of community reports outlined what we believe is an important bridge between the private sector and nonprofits – one of mutual benefit that has the potential to transform social outcomes. Our recent Inside Out report, making the case for community voice, suggests a need for strengthening between nonprofits and the people they serve.

These are important intersections, but hardly the only ones needed to generate the outcomes we desire. Our next horizon aims to link the six sectors listed above and create new ways of working together for the greater good.

Our Three-Year Strategic Goals

Our plan has three primary goals:

1. Begin the transformation from a Charlotte-based management consulting firm into a national social innovation company.

The language here is important. We are proud in recent years to have been working with clients throughout the country. Where we once considered these as infrequent interruptions to our primarily Carolinas-focused work, we are now realizing a larger geographic frame.

We are also finally using the terminology that best suits us. We dropped Consulting from our name a few years ago and have taken to calling ourselves a “social impact company.” But going forward, we want to own what we truly believe we are — a social innovation company. We have sought to help institutions navigate change by onboarding fresh ways of working. This is the main idea of our work in an increasingly more national context.

What does that mean for our work in the Carolinas, and especially the Charlotte community we’re proud to call home? We will never abandon our commitment to local and regional partners. This work serves as both an opportunity to improve outcomes for people where we live and a chance to learn by working at the frontlines of social good.

Over the next three years, that research will inform the development of new service lines including two new offerings in 2024: Community Voice and Collaboration Management. We are also conducting new pilots on our digital community of practice platform – Cultivate Impact™ – toward formalizing it as a part of our solutioning process.

2. Evolve our operational infrastructure and workplace culture to be more optimized, team-based and sustainable.

The biggest difference between the Next Stage of today and the modest consulting firm that declared its existence in 2014 is the collection of talent we have assembled. Our company now comprises seven full-time staff members and a diverse team of contractors and subject matter experts. We are a collective of passionate do-gooders (who we call ‘Next Stagers’) working together to live our shared values.

Our growth led us to establish a base of operations in an office on Central Avenue in the Plaza-Midwood neighborhood of Charlotte. We are so proud of our space and of the mural that greets visitors. Through ArtPop’s Inspiration Projects program, we commissioned artist Darion Fleming to transform our office entryway with a mural depicting his take on our theory of change. It now also adorns the top of our weekly newsletter, appropriately renamed The Intersection.

The onboarding of an office was needed in part as a result of a team-based shift in our work. We are now facilitating more long-term, multi-year engagements with clients that bring our entire team forward to advance positive outcomes. This shift has led to a far healthier and more sustainable approach to working.

Our new strategic plan calls for continued development of our internal operations to support this new way of working. We will leverage technology and project management tools to strengthen workflows and foster cross-team collaboration as we grow our staff team. We are also deeply committed to developing a workplace culture to encourage personal and professional growth while prioritizing both individual and team health and well-being.

3. Grow awareness, engagement and buy-in, realizing the resources needed to fuel the company‘s mission of social change.

From the very beginning, we have always described Next Stage as a social enterprise. We are shaped by our values and guiding principles, working with and through our clients to make the world we want to see. Every investment in our services sustains a commitment to a social mission that manifests in a variety of ways.

We were proud to launch Charlotte’s first incubator for emerging nonprofit organizations in 2018. In recent years we have produced a number of thought leadership reports and have produced roundtable discussions highlighting what’s next for innovative partnerships. Going above and beyond to deliver value to the community has always been central to our work.

With increased ambition comes the need for larger platforms of engagement. We desire to foster collaborative networks that bridge people across distance, creating peer learning opportunities that lead to deeper understanding across difference.

The next three years will include new thought leadership deliverables, increasing our focus and reach. We are creating new ways to bridge our brand marketing efforts to client services that make access to learning more equitable and achievable for all. We know that will lead to a growing base of client work that will fuel our continued focus on social innovation.

Our Commitment to You

If you’ve read this far, you are very likely a person we are proud to call a partner, colleague and friend. We have only arrived at this point in our evolution through the collaboration and buy-in of countless social good professionals. We thank you for your belief in us.

As we work to realize our ambitious vision, we aim to stay rooted in what got us here — hard work, determination and passionate belief in the power of humans caring for other humans. We will continue to provide high-quality services to clients in the local, regional and national context. We are the friendly neighborhood Next Stage we’ve always been, only now with a new calling and language describing our organizational purpose.

We look forward to seeing you on February 8 for our anniversary event where we will announce the selected organization for the UnFundable Project grant. If you didn’t receive an invitation and want to attend, we’re sorry, it was just an oversight on our part – drop us a line here.

The Next Stage Team Welcomes Jalah Blackmon

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Introducing Jalah

The Next Stage team is thrilled to introduce Jalah Blackmon – our newest member of the team serving as a Consultant.

Jalah is a skilled public health educator dedicated to using a social justice and health equity lens to empower underrepresented communities and challenge systemic barriers to wellness. Her passion is fueled by a commitment to destigmatize mental health in communities of color, emphasizing education, community, and social support. She deeply believes in challenging and reshaping health outcomes entrenched within systems of structural racism.

She previously served as the Director of Innovation and Capacity Building at Care Share Health Alliance and as a Program Director at Charlotte Mecklenburg Food Policy Council. Additionally, Jalah is the Co-Founder of The Black Light Foundation, a 501(c)3 nonprofit focused on bringing light to dark places for individuals suffering from suicidal thoughts and mental health issues by providing the necessary resources for emotional support, education and intervention.

A graduate of UNC-CH and UNCG, Jalah holds a BA in Exercise and Sports Science and Sociology and a Master of Public Health. Jalah was born and raised in North Carolina and enjoys being a functional fitness trainer.

In Her Own Words

I’m returning to my roots in Charlotte and am particularly enthusiastic about Next Stage’s profound commitment to nurturing local nonprofits while disrupting and reimagining social systems for the greater good. As I step into this consultant role, I’m eager to contribute actively to Next Stage’s mission, specifically in projects targeting community health promotion.

My approach is to not just lead client engagement and project management, but to also champion community-driven strategies. I thrive upon fostering a sense of belonging, a value I am already extending through the innovative use of Cultivate Impact, Next Stage’s online collaboration management platform.

Within and beyond my professional endeavors, I am committed to amplifying diverse voices, fostering inclusivity, and sparking impactful change through thought leadership. In alignment with Next Stage’s visionary mission, I look forward to contributing toward tangible strides toward a more equitable and healthier future for all.

Join us in welcoming Jalah to the team!