87. Measuring for Success: Alignment, Data, and Donor Confidence with Sasha Dichter

Can you imagine a vibrant social impact marketplace built on outcomes-based data? My guest on this episode of What the Fundraising certainly can – because that’s exactly the platform he and his team at 60 Decibels are building out. CEO & Co-Founder Sasha Dichter explains the why behind creating a foundation for genuine benchmarks and repeatability when it comes to measuring nonprofit results. The goal is to give organizations a window into how their programs are performing relative to peers and to set targets based on meaningful feedback. 

Our conversation touches on the power of partnerships and lessons learned when Sasha moved from the corporate to the nonprofit sector. Far from his initial impression of fundraising as the pursuit of dollars at benefit dinners – somewhat remote and hands-off – he quickly identified the importance of building partnerships based on trust, not transactions. As Director of Business Development and then Chief Innovation Officer at Acumen, a strategic investor in organizations and people fighting poverty, Sasha learned first-hand about the transformational impacts that can occur when a clearly defined mission meets a genuinely engaged funder. He shares his thoughts on how to identify the core DNA of your organization, bring confidence to the table with donors (you have something of equal or greater value to offer) and build sustained relationships through authenticity and honest conversations. “You actually want to have the goal of a conversation (with funders) that involves trust and mutual respect,” says Sasha. “If you don't have that, you can't fake it.” 

At the end of the conversation we get to learn more about 60 Decibels and it is exciting stuff! With more than 1,000 researchers doing qualitative surveys in 77+ countries, 60 Decibels is creating a tech-enabled resource with huge implications both for incrementally improving the quality of what nonprofits deliver and unleashing capital investment based on systematic metrics that funders can get behind. Think of a future landscape in which this data-fueled tool could be used to pair funders and nonprofits whose values align. There is so much in this episode for nonprofit leaders, you don’t want to miss this one!

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Check out Bloomerang’s fantastic resource:How to Collaborate With Your Community to think through how you can start working smarter, not harder, by aligning yourself with the right partners around the ecosystem. We’re so grateful for their resources and for their support of this episode. 

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If you’re looking to raise more from the right funders, then you’ll want to check out my Power Partners Formula, a step-by-step approach to identifying the optimal partners for your organization. This free masterclass offers a great starting point!