Clarity Is the Strategy: Turning Experience into Influence with Brandy Walker

If your board can’t clearly articulate what you do in one sentence, your donors won’t either.

Brandy Walker is joining me to unpack why nonprofit leaders must get ruthlessly clear on the ONE thing their organization does exceptionally well. Not the 20 programs, not the calendar of activities, but the core impact.

Brandy shares why embracing the “messy middle” builds trust, how to use lived experience as influence, and the one question that can completely reshape your growth trajectory: What do you want to be known for?

P.S. We are in the final countdown to the FREE Monthly Giving Summit. Join me on February 25th-26th to master monthly giving.

Resources & Links

Connect with Brandy on LinkedIn, learn more about Brand Worthy Solutions, and tune in to her podcast, Brandy Was Here.

LettrLabs is the proud presenter of Missions to Movements. 

LettrLabs helps nonprofits build lasting donor relationships through real, handwritten mail that’s fully automated - turning moments of intent into meaningful connection. From thank-yous to impact updates, they help you cut through with mail donors actually open, remember, and trust.

Join me and the LettrLabs team on March 30th at 1pm Eastern for a FREE webinar that will showcase even more examples and case studies of how direct mail can work for you.

The Monthly Giving Builder: Generate your comprehensive monthly giving plan and build your program step by step - with a guided companion working alongside you from start to finish. 

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Transcript

Clarity And Confidence For Impact

SPEAKER_02 0:29

Today on Missions to Movements, we are talking about clarity and confidence and what it takes to translate your lived experience into influence for your organization. My guest is Brandi Walker, host of Brandy Was Here, the podcast and founder of Brandworthy Solutions. It's a boutique marketing agency helping leaders and organizations build strategy that makes impact, influence, and income flow naturally. Brandy really believes that clarity is the foundation for confidence, and that confidence is what allows people and organizations to move further, forward, and on purpose. So in today's conversation, we are digging into what that looks like for you as a nonprofit leader. What happens when your mission is clear internally, but maybe supporters can't repeat it? How do you know when your messaging is maybe shrinking your impact instead of amplifying it? And what does it actually take to align the story you're telling with the movement you're trying to build? What do you want to be known for? So if you are navigating, stepping into greater visibility or trying to sharpen how your organization communicates its value, this episode I think is going to challenge you and give you some great nuggets to put into practice. Let's go meet Brandy.

The Power Of The Right Room

SPEAKER_00 1:50

When you are a leader and you are in the work, you are a part of all of it. But when you're communicating to people, I think leaders have to take a step back and understand that not only are other people not a part of it, we don't actually want to be, right? We don't want to know all of the intricate details of how your organization runs and who does what. What people are actually looking for is, you know, how does this relate to me? Or to put it bluntly, why should I care? Right. And so you have to cut through all the noise of what you're seeing on a daily basis and try to relate to the audience that you're speaking to.

SPEAKER_02 2:25

Okay. Y'all know I love talking about thought leadership. I like talking about how we can get a little bit more vulnerable as leaders in our organizations with our narratives and have hyper clarity to make our message crystal clear so there's no guessing when someone is interested to get involved or looking for a way to get involved with our organizations. Brandy is all about this work. And so I am thrilled to have you here. And I always do like a little LinkedIn stalking before podcasts. I love interviews. And I love something that you said. This I think this was like a couple weeks ago, maybe. And you said, I am convinced that the right room can unlock a completely different level of thinking. And I thought that was so good. Can you just like open us up with some context, some meaning? Like, what do you think about that? And where maybe what rooms do you find yourself like wanting to be in in this season?

SPEAKER_00 3:27

Yeah, so I can say that was written from a coffee shop. You know, I primarily work from home, and that has been challenging in a lot of different ways that you can either have a dog at home. I'm at home. I think of all these different things I need to do. And I thought to myself, okay, get out of your comfort zone, leave the house and go and be somewhere. And I walked into this coffee shop and I met a woman who we sparked up a conversation. We're both kind of co-working in our zones, and a song came on, and we started talking. And this conversation just had me reflecting on the amount of times I've been in rooms where I've been able to really connect with people, whether that was a networking event, a fundraising gala, or just standing in line somewhere, right? And you're connecting with people. I think it matters who's in the room. And it matters, it's important that you get to know the people that you're surrounded by. There's a different energy depending on who's in the room. I don't know if you've ever been there. You're like, you know, you have your third space or place that you frequent, but it changes when people, when different people are in the room, when the music is different, you know, when you're in the room versus when you're not in the room. So I think, you know, how we think about putting people together and how we allow environments to shape us is really important. And to be intentional about that. When I worked in nonprofits and working and development, and we were playing our fundraising events, we always just try to get people in the room, right? You have a fundraiser being like, we just want people to come and give us money, but really curating that space to say, I want these people in the room, I want these people sitting together at this table to have this particular conversation is important.

Designing Spaces And Events With Intention

SPEAKER_02 5:07

I even like the idea or thinking about when you're planning the event to be in a different space. I remember I used to work in New York and for like a big ad digital company, PR company. And my role a lot of times was coming up with new ideas for pitches for RFPs, proposals to pitch these clients. And our office at the time wasn't really creatively inspiring. It was like gray walls, right? So, like a lot of times I'd be like, I can't think of anything vivid or creative in this space. And going outside for a walk just through the park, having walking meetings with my boss, I loved that. And just like the different creative elements. So I just wanted to like kind of open with that. I loved that. And I think that's such a great example of you as a thought leader sharing a narrative on LinkedIn, opening up a little bit of peace of who you are. And so, not to get too meta listener, but she has great examples on her LinkedIn of showcasing this in action. So I want to jump into something that you say on your website, and it's all about clarity. Like you help leaders find the narrative and clarity in their messages, and that that truly is foundational for confidence and us really kind of finding our voice for listeners, for nonprofit leaders that want to grow their visibility. They want, I don't know anybody who doesn't really want to grow funding. So let's just say they want to grow funding and some influence. What could clarity, finding clarity, actually look like in practice?

Clarity As The Core Message

SPEAKER_00 6:46

Yeah, that's a really great question. When you are a leader and you are in the work, you are a part of all of it. But when you're communicating to people, I think leaders have to take a step back and understand that not only are other people not a part of it, we don't actually want to be, right? We don't want to know all of the intricate details of how your organization runs and who does what. What people are actually looking for is, you know, how does this relate to me? Or to put it bluntly, why should I care? Right. And so you have to cut through all the noise of what you're seeing on a daily basis and try to relate to the audience that you're speaking to. As a leader, you should be crystal clear about what your organization does well, the one thing you do well. Not the 20 different programs that you offer, not, you know, every Tuesday at five you do this, not talking about the activities, but being crystal clear about what that impact is. Not everyone is going to go and read your mission statement. They're not going to comb through your website to find all the details. You have to be clear about what it is that you do well. And I think the more that leaders can get clear about that and to speak about it and be able to speak about it in a variety of different ways. I think audience is so important with clarity because different audiences are looking for different things. Someone who might become your potential funding partner may be interested in a different aspect of what your organization does well, as opposed to someone who might be coming looking for employment, right? Someone who's applying for a job there may be thinking about it differently. So being able to basically tell the same story in different ways based on audience is really important. So being clear about that one thing, and then you can layer. Once you know that one thing, then you can say, and also we do this, and also we do that, right? I was just watching the NBA All-Star Game with my son. And what does the NBA do? Well, well, they showcase basketball talent, right? Do they also give to charity? Absolutely. Do they develop basketball players 100%? Do they put on a great show such as All-Star Weekend? Absolutely. But their primary focus is basketball, right? So being clear about that in your organization really helps people to understand where they can fit in, but it also helps you in discussing and talking about the organization. So you don't have to go all over the place. You don't have to remember all these different details and stats and facts about your organization. You can say, This is what we do.

SPEAKER_02 9:12

Yeah, point blank. This is what we do, like in a sentence. This kind of leads into the next question I had for you. So that's like perfect tee up. A lot of times when I've asked organizations leaders, you might be feeling this yourself. I felt it myself in my business before. Is when I ask what they do, it turns into this three, four, five minute opening window and I was like, no, like give it to me in like 15 seconds.

SPEAKER_00 9:36

15 seconds.

SPEAKER_02 9:37

15 seconds. And that's a struggle a lot of times. And I try and like break it down in some ways. But how have you seen organizations do this really well or figure out how to really articulate a mission clearly so that, which I think is the core, is that so supporters can easily repeat it. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 9:56

Yes. So I have gotten in trouble for saying to nonprofit leaders to think of themselves as a business, but I think there are some business elements that are important. So I like to think of taking out your unique value proposition or what makes you special, right? There are thousands of organizations that feed the hungry, but what makes your organization special?

SPEAKER_02 10:17

That's right.

Say It In Fifteen Seconds

SPEAKER_00 10:17

There are thousands, hundreds of thousands of organizations that serve the youth, but what makes your organization special? And it really boils down to the how, right? You don't just want to say what you do, but you want to say how you do it differently. And I think that really joins together, you know, can help people simplify. And the how is not necessarily describing the process fully, but just your unique version of it or your unique perspective. So for example, St. Jude's is a really great example. I can't, I don't know anyone that doesn't know St. Jude's as an organization. And I applaud St. Jude because they put a ton of money into marketing and promoting how they serve families, right? They're not treating, I mean, they do, but they don't showcase how they treat the disease or how they diagnose. Their marketing campaign and their position is how they support the entire family through the process, right? And so when you're thinking about your organization as a leader, what do we do differently? And for a lot of leaders, this is difficult because you may not know. In that case, then you have to go and start having conversations internally and maybe do a survey and talk to you know different clients and things that you're working with. But you have to understand your unique approach because this is what's attracting people to your organization. This is what is going to help your organization kind of stand out. This is what actually drives the mission in terms of what how you do things differently and how that impacts the people who you're doing it for.

SPEAKER_02 11:53

This is giving me such a nostalgic moment that I had completely forgotten about. One of my first job in New York City, one of the first things my boss asked me and another girl was hired at the exact same time. And she asked us to stand up in front. We were doing like kind of onboarding, and he said, Explain to me what we do. And me and the other girl, we had two very different answers. So I think that's just a reminder of like maybe do this exercise with your board, a key, maybe supporters or your staff, and be like, is there a clear, simple message, or is there a lot of different mismatched information that's coming across or where it's not clear? When you're working with organizations, how have you found to kind of get over this hurdle to be able to make sure that it's clear?

Find Your Unique Value

SPEAKER_00 12:44

Yeah. It goes back to what we first talked about, right? Being in that room. So what I find in organizations is everyone is working in a different space. Depending on the size of the organization, you may have different locations, so much so that people in the organization don't see or talk to each other. The development team's not talking to the marketing and communications team, no one's talking to the programs team, and we've never surveyed our clients, even know what they think or what they care about. And then we tell the board we need you to bring in money, and no one is talking to each other about anything. So I think it's important when I say to every leader and every organization, you need to do an audit. Figure out what is out there. What are people saying? What are you saying? What you're posting on LinkedIn is very different from what you have on your website. And what you have on your website is not what's in your brochures that are going out to people. So let's get clear first on what are we saying, and then let's put all that together, evaluate, and figure out is this what we want to be saying? Once you figure out what that looks like, then you can start to say this is the message that we want people to say. This is actually what we do. This is our positioning statement that we would like people to carry out. And then you have to share with people and get them to share it. So you're putting it on your website, you're putting it on your social media, you're putting it now on your brochures. Maybe you have it as a tagline on your email signature. You're sitting with the board to say, when you talk to people, here's what we would like for you to say.

SPEAKER_02 14:12

Some pointers.

SPEAKER_00 14:13

Yeah, some pointers, talking points. I work with a lot of boards, and what I found with board members is they really truly want to help. They are passionate about your cause and they want to help. And then they feel intimidated because they can't memorize all of the numbers and the stats and all of the programs that you have. So you have to make it easy for people to be able to be evangelists or ambassadors for your organization. 100%. So simplifying that message, right? That one line, that phrase, right, that you have that you then go out and share with other people. And then you reinforce it by constantly saying it. If you're a leader and you are speaking to your organization as a whole, you're bringing that up. You're reminding them of that statement, you're reminding them of that mission, you're reminding them of that why. When you go out and speak, if you're on a podcast, right, you're sharing that, you're evangelizing, and other people will do the same if it's simple and they understand it, and you are setting forth the example for them to go out and do it.

Aligning Teams Around One Message

SPEAKER_02 16:27

I love that. I love that. And I think another portion of that is something that you talk about a lot too, is for board members, oftentimes it's just sharing their own lived experience of why they decided to sign up for this board in the first place. They don't have to memorize stats because that's not going to be what's actually important to the person that they're talking to. They're going to want to hear from their own story. And I know you've done a lot of work in this when it felt like your story you were telling no longer was like matching the life that you were building. And any role in an organization might feel that way, and really how to translate this lived experience into different stories and narratives that they can share that builds trust.

SPEAKER_00 17:07

One misconception that people have is that if I am going to be vulnerable or open, I have to, you know, expose my soul and spill my guts out to the world and tell them every personal detail about my life. When I start telling leaders that they need to tell more stories, they get really nervous that they're now going to have to share something and uncover something that they may not be comfortable doing. But that's not the case, right? I think so many people are afraid to be in the in-between. And you'll see it on LinkedIn all the time that people want to be the expert. People are sharing only their wins and only the greatest of wins, right? If you're a realtor, you're not sharing that you sold a house, you're sharing that you sold that$20 million house, right? Or a mission-led organization, you're not sharing that we got a grant. We got this grant from this organization, right? So you may feel like you have to brag a bit or be over the top in order to share your wins. But being in that messy middle, as I call it, is really important. If your organization is going to be the transition, name that and say it's hard. I mean, at the end of last year, there was so much going on with the federal government and different cuts, and funding was unpredictable to say the least. Name them.

SPEAKER_02 18:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 18:21

Say, hey, we are going through a tough time right now. We do not have the answers. We have no idea what's going on. We're trying to figure it out just like you. We're having these conversations and to be open about that, right? It's offering a perspective that other people don't readily have access to, right? People can go to your website and see all the pictures of past events, and they can read through your programs list and see your staff, but they don't know those stories. That's the unique value that you hold in being able to tell your stories. I think it's important that as you're thinking about your story, to think about patterns that come up. What has been a recurring theme in your life or in your work? What do you keep seeing? What keeps coming up? What problems need to be readdressed, but in different ways. I think that started for me in my own personal journey in just me asking better questions, right? When you're in transition or you're thinking about how do I show up here, the focus can be on what do I say or what do I do next? But that's not always the best or appropriate question and try to move forward. So just asking yourself, well, you know, what is this experience teaching me right now? What of this might be helpful to someone else?

Stories, Vulnerability, And The Messy Middle

SPEAKER_02 19:42

You did another great job about this. I was just gonna say on LinkedIn, okay, this is me snooping some more. You had another great post where you talked about applying for a job and didn't hear anything. And it was because you had sent like reference information. And when you asked them why didn't you hear back, they're like, oh, well, your reference never got back to us, and so you didn't get the job. And there was like 400 reactions or something on this post. And then you shared the learning lesson where it's like, okay, I'm gonna make sure to really be invested in my network. And that is a pure example of messy middle. Like, that was not a highlight, I'm sure, for you, and really difficult in the moment and frustrating, but you're here to share it because that probably likely is happening to somebody else. And like, what's the perspective and learning we can take from it? There was an article that just came out in the Chronicle of Philanthropy. Nonprofit CEOs can't afford to stay invisible. And I think this is just so timely for what we're talking about right now. And I like something else that you've talked about is like what holds people back isn't a lack of skill. It's not. It's not like you don't have to be amazing, writer. There's another thought leader I love. She's local to Atlanta, Jade Powell. She writes in all lowercase. Yeah. Like you don't have to like have it, it's speak as yourself and just sharing real, raw. You don't have to shrink yourself, you don't have to overexplain. You don't have like it's crazy. The times that I've put out things that I think are just blah or like gonna flap resonate the most. And I'm like, what in the world? How do you get someone to take the first step? What has been your experience of just like starting?

SPEAKER_00 21:31

Yeah, I think it's hard because people have you know these preconceived notions of how they should show up on social media. In fact, there's been a lot of talk about, you know, how overly professional people are on LinkedIn, we need to relax and all these different things. So I think, you know, I try to get people to see outside of that, right? And I tell people, you know, when you're thinking about stories to tell, just tell the story. Like tell the story how you would tell the story, and then you can go back and structure the story in a way that you would like to structure it. Maybe this means nothing, maybe it means something, but tell the story first and then let's figure out what it means. That's the example that you gave of my job experience, right? That story had a certain meaning to me and a certain lesson that I learned. But if you go through the comments, it brought up a lot of different things for other people about are references even relevant in the job process? Does this matter? How's this happened to me? What about my network? What could I have done differently? And people that started this conversation that brought up points that I didn't even think about in that experience at the time, nor did I think about it when I was writing it. So just tell the story. And I think simple stories can bring out the most meaning. It doesn't have to be a story where you are the hero, it doesn't have to be a story where you are successful, it can be part of that messy middle, it can be that beginning. The advice that I give people in telling stories is that when you're telling the story, it's not really about you, it's about whomever you're speaking to. So be careful on who you want to speak to. If you want to show up as a leader on LinkedIn, are you speaking to the younger version of yourself? Are you speaking to an intern that just walked through your door? Are you speaking to colleagues who are also in the field? People that you can change.

SPEAKER_02 23:17

Every post can change. It can change or yeah.

SPEAKER_00 23:20

You have to be clear on who you're speaking to when you're telling the story, and then just tell the story how you would tell it. People really take to posts and stories that are conversational in nature. You know, writing really formal doesn't necessarily translate well because people don't immediately connect to it, right? Stories that are filled with emotion, filled with transition, usually have a better response.

unknown 23:45

Yeah.

Start Posting: Tell The Story First

SPEAKER_02 23:45

That's great advice. I have a, I don't know how you, if you do something similar, I just have a notes, the notes app on my phone. I keep a running list of just things that happened to me or things that I'm inspired by. Or a lot of times I'm listening to a podcast, I'm like, ooh, that would be a really good thing to like play off of and talk about. Or a lot of things come to me while I'm in the airport or like sitting on a plane. And it's like that would be something I want to talk about. If a nonprofit leader that's listening today has discovered that maybe their supporters don't fully understand their mission or there's a disconnect, maybe they're ready to get started and sharing their own voice. What do you think is a practical first step they can take to either fix the supporters don't understand or to just go ahead and get started in their visibility journey?

SPEAKER_00 24:35

Yeah, I would say a couple of things. One, I would say just to take a step back, right? As I mentioned earlier, nonprofit leaders, you are so involved in the work you can't see clearly because you're so deep in it, right? So just taking a step back, whatever that looks like, maybe that's getting out of the office, going for that walk, and you mentioned taking a couple of days off just to get in a different environment and a different headspace. The second thing I would say is to take a look at what people have been telling you and what you have been hearing. Donors are very honest and upfront and clear, and they'll say, like, I don't really get what you do, or I don't understand how this relates. You know, remind me again what you do. A board member might say. So, you know, try to think of those things, the feedback that you have been getting from people about your mission when you're told no or when you're told not right now, because that happens a lot today.

SPEAKER_02 25:28

That could be such a great, super simple, short text-only email asking for reply back. Like, tell us why you love what we do and see what they say and if it's resonates with the mission and what stands out. That and it's also great for your deliverability and open rates.

SPEAKER_00 25:45

Yeah, asking those questions. Don't be afraid. Send it, you know, text a couple board members. Hey, I just have a quick question, right? Yeah. And get that feedback because that's what's going to help you think about it differently. It doesn't make sense for you to try and rebrand or do something new when you haven't gotten feedback on what's working and what's not working, right?

SPEAKER_02 26:02

Totally.

SPEAKER_00 26:02

So I would say that. Then I would say probably the third thing to do after you do that is to really sit down and think about what do you want to be known for? What would you like your organization to be known for? And that may or may not be something that you're currently doing. And this is really putting you not only in the present, but it gets you future thinking as well. What do we want to be known for? And that once you have the answer to that, that will help drive what changes sort of need to be made. And if you want to be known for something, you sort of have to make yourself known. So then you're thinking about okay, now how do we communicate this? Does it make sense for me as a leader to start posting on LinkedIn? Does it make sense for me to start taking speaking engagements? Or does it make sense for us to start telling a different story on social? What does that story look like outside of social? Because these organizations exist in real life. You're not like, you know, an online business where you can just kind of hang back and post. What does real life, how does this translate in real life and what does that look like?

Practical First Steps To Get Clear

SPEAKER_02 27:01

That is so good. Listen, I don't want you to gloss over what Brandy just said, which is what do you want to be known for? And what does your organization want to be known for? That was it's so funny you say that. That was the question in 2021 that shifts everything about my business. I went so narrow focus and niche down into monthly giving, which is all that I talk about now and do. And I realized I was like, I want microphilanthrope, I want everyone to feel like they can give. I want everyone to be able to feel like they have the ability to make a difference. That was it. And I changed everything. I tossed like my courses out the window, everything about my website, like, and it's been insane, like just the difference in momentum when I started being visibly known just for one thing. So I would lean on that for listener, like wherever you're at in your personal like, what do you want to be known for? And then also on the vision mission of the organization. Brandy, this was extraordinary. Where can people learn more about you and the work that you're doing?

SPEAKER_00 28:11

Yes, I am on LinkedIn, Brandy Nicole Walker. You can also find me on my website, youarebrandworthy.com. I have a lot of information there. I blog there, giving you a lot of tips and sharing more stories in detail about what's working for my clients and where they're they're having struggles as well and how I helped them through it.

SPEAKER_02 28:30

Awesome. Amazing. Brandy, thank you so much for being here today. Yes, thank you.

SPEAKER_01 28:36

Thank you so much for tuning into today's episode of Missions to Movement. If you enjoyed our conversation and found it helpful, I would love for you to take a moment to leave a review wherever you're listening. Your feedback helps us reach more change makers like you and continue bringing impactful stories and strategies to the show. Don't forget to hit that subscribe button too, so you'll never miss an episode. And until next time, keep turning your mission into a movie.