28: Culture by Default or Design: How Colorado College Hit $20M Ahead of Schedule

Proof beats promises every time. Here it is.

Colorado College's Advancement team was coming out of a pandemic, shrinking staff, leadership transitions, and a culture that had quietly drifted from healthy to unstable. Sound familiar? They didn't ignore it. They decided to fix it by design, not by default.

In this episode Marcia sits down with Kimberly Elahab, Director of Prospect Research at Colorado College, who was inside the Culture CARES process from the beginning and is still leading the work three years later. Kimberly shares what it actually felt like when the culture started shifting, how a peer-led volunteer committee became the engine of sustained change, and why having an external accountability partner made the difference between good intentions and real results.

The numbers tell their own story. After one year of implementation the team hit 94% psychological safety, 86% improvement in trust, and 78% improvement in engagement. Then they hit their $20 million fundraising goal two months ahead of schedule.

This is what culture transformation actually looks like from the inside. Not a workshop. Not a one-time event. A process that keeps working long after the consultant leaves the room.

If this is what you want for your organization, the next step is a 90 minute call with Marcia. No obligation. Just clarity on what's possible.

Timestamps

00:00 Welcome and Recap 

01:03 Meet Kimberly 

04:25 How They Connected 

06:12 Why Culture Work Started 

07:54 Early Culture Shift 

09:11 Listening Tour and Visioning 

10:59 Themes and Roadmap 

14:16 Daily Implementation 

16:12 Process and Data Mindset 

18:29 Culture Drives Fundraising 

19:54 Safety Gains Snapshot 

20:28 Why Mistakes Must Be Safe 21:20 Culture Over Survey Fatigue 

22:25 Kimberly's Culture Why 

23:27 Ripple Effect Engagement 

24:50 Accountability Partner Value 

26:03 Culture Drives Results 

26:54 Advice, Framework and Invitation 

28:10 Closing Thanks and Next Steps

If this conversation showed you what's possible, the next step is yours to take.

Ready to build a culture your team actually feels?
Culture CARES Accelerator → https://culturecares.com/ceo-ed-mentoring/ 

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Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Welcome back to the show. This is Marcia Beckner. And in the last episode, I walked you through what it's actually like to work with me in the Culture Cares Accelerator. We talked about what nonprofit leaders are facing when they reach out, situations that might begin with an HR concern or a team dynamic that fills off, or simply the growing sense that the culture inside the organization is no longer supporting the mission the way it should. And we talked about how the work begins by stabilizing the leader first and then creating this confidential space where CEOs and executive directors are free to think clearly again. And then we move into the culture cares design process so the entire team can begin rebuilding trust, clarity, morale, and alignment together. And today I want to take that conversation one step further because hearing about a framework is one thing, but seeing how it actually plays out inside a real organization with real people, real challenges and results is something entirely different. So in this episode, I'm joined by someone I've had the privilege of working alongside through this process. Her name is Kimberly. She's a nonprofit leader who stepped into a culture leadership role in a moment that many of you will recognize immediately. Her advancement team in the college was really doing meaningful work and the mission mattered deeply, but they were in a space after the pandemic where their team had shrunk a little bit. Internally, the the culture had reached a point where people were feeling burnt out because of the smaller staff, some leadership transitions. And it just all of us after COVID felt very unstable with how to rebuild and going from remote back to in-person. So they were going through a very common situation. And what their leader, their senior VP of their department said is, I want to proactively focus on our culture now, rebuilding trust and morale. What I appreciate so much about Kimberly's leadership is that she is willing to take an honest look about what happens inside the organization and say, we need to address this issue at the root and not put a band-aid on things that keep popping up into internal fires, but really understand what is the root causes of what's happening, identify what people are really thinking honestly, and get their suggestions for how we can change. And that willingness is where real culture change begins. If you listened to the previous episode and found yourself wondering what does this actually look like in real life, this conversation will give you that perspective. Each week I help nonprofit leaders stop spinning out, set boundaries, and design inclusive cultures where all staff can thrive. If you're ready to reignite your leadership without sacrificing your well-being, hit subscribe and let's spark your next chapter together. She is the director of prospect research in the advancement department, and we've been working together through the culture care system. So I wanted her to kind of walk you through what it's like to partner with me on this work. First, Kimberly, would you please introduce yourself and tell us about your role and the advancement team?

SPEAKER_00 3:55

Hi, Marcia. Thank you so much for having me today. My name is Kimberly Illihabe, and my title at Colorado College is Director of Research and Prospect Management. I've been at the college since 2014 and have spent the majority of my career in prospect research and prospect development work, helping to provide data intelligence to fundraisers to raise major gifts.

SPEAKER_01 4:24

Amazing, amazing. I want to just tell people the story of how we met. I was speaking at a Colorado Nonprofit Association event about culture cares and how it can help organizations build healthy, inclusive, and empowering cultures where all staff members can thrive. After I was done with my speech, I saw you make a beeline towards me and introduce yourself. And you said, Oh my gosh, we just put together this culture solutions working group, a committee of interested coworkers who wanted to take your culture to the next level. And I remember something you specifically said. You said, Well, we don't have a culture and we want to build one. And I said, Well, actually, the good news is you do have a culture. It's just by default and not design. And that's what we can partner together on. So, Kimberly, from your perspective in how we met that day, take us back to and set the stage for people listening. Like, what in my stories or that speech really called to you?

SPEAKER_00 5:24

One thing that stood out to me was your speech. You know, because I in my in my work, I think in process systems, pathways, and so it's the back that she just outlined, like this is how you do it. It wasn't, it was just a roadmap, it was laid out, it was clear. There was no ambiguity about culture. Because when you talk about culture, you say do culture work. If you ask someone that, they'll say, What is that? You know, it's just it's kind of ambiguous. And I remember like feeling that inside, like, she's who we need. And what really stood out to me was the framework. You provided a framework of how we could transform our culture. And so at the time I didn't know that it was necessarily called the CARES model, but it was a roadmap into how cultures can transform. And so that really stood out to me.

SPEAKER_01 6:12

Why did the Culture Solutions working group get formed? And what was the charter? What was the initiative?

SPEAKER_00 6:19

No, the working groups were formed because there were, we were coming off the heels of a global pandemic, a lot of leadership changes. And you know, as those types of disruptions happen, culture can shift. And our culture had shifted. And our VP at the time wanted to put some effort toward transforming the culture and set out to hire an external facilitator to help with that along with an internal working group to help move the needle in our culture. And so, and that was around 2023, and now here in 2026, the group is still thriving and we're still making progress in our culture.

SPEAKER_01 6:58

I love it. And why was an external facilitator part of the initiative versus doing it yourself internally?

SPEAKER_00 7:06

It was a combination of things because when culture shift, you know, pandemic, people, some people working remotely, then you come back together, and then we have some different, some various leadership changes. And so all those types of things imp impacts culture. Those external forces impacts culture. And so their need was recognized that we needed to get back to some homeostasis, some type of baseline. And if we knew how to do it, we would do it ourselves. And having someone who was entitled to the organization, looking at it with fresh eyes, who could give us some data to tell us where we needed to focus, was paramount. And that's what you provided for us in those initial visioning sessions or brainstorming sessions, giving helping us to have a roadmap to and a path forward to improving our culture.

SPEAKER_01 7:54

And what was the culture like when we first met? And what is it like now?

SPEAKER_00 7:59

You know, it was just a it was just a different environment. I mean, it just felt different. I mean, I can't really explain it in two words. It was just a different feeling. We had I mean, this is our first time ever being involved in in culture work with that with such intentionality. And so that was, it had never happened before up until that point. And so now that we've done the culture work, the environment feels just better. It feels better, feels different. People seem to be very engaged. We're doing a lot of intentional work around culture with our events and our different initiatives. We're getting attendance and engagement. We are having people volunteer. This is a volunteer peer-led committee. And so people are engaged and want to be a part of the culture work that we're doing, and we're having a lot of fun.

SPEAKER_01 8:51

It was all about listening. So the work continues, right? Because culture is never static. It's either getting better or it's getting worse. I say that a lot, and people are, you know, understand that people are always changing. So the culture is always changing.

SPEAKER_00 9:06

Yeah, new people come and new people and some people leave, and so it's very fluid.

SPEAKER_01 9:12

The first thing I did when we started working together, we did a CARES listening tour. And that's where we did an anonymous confidential CARES assessment with 27 questions that measure the exact amount of commitment, appreciation, respect, engagement, and safety. And we take that data from 40 people and aggregated it and looked for themes, and that's where we surfaced those themes of what people most wanted to improve. Then we scheduled two visioning sessions with your team, because they were bigger. Usually it's one visioning session for a smaller team, but we did two different visioning sessions to co-create the future roadmap going forward. And so we had 100% basically buy-in from the team.

SPEAKER_00 10:02

I don't remember the exact first first thing that we did. I do remember that we held those visioning sessions, and I think that's one of the things that was impressive as well. That although at the senior leadership level recognizes the need to improve culture, but this is something that everyone had a voice in. We came up with shared values. People were really engaged in the work and taking ownership of improving our culture and really recognizing that as a team, we are the culture.

SPEAKER_01 10:34

And you're you had a staff of about 40 people in on your team, is that right?

SPEAKER_00 10:39

Yeah, but about 40 at that time. Our team has since grown back up to pre-pandemic levels. It's around 50 or so people.

SPEAKER_01 10:47

So the work continues, right? Because culture is never static. People are always changing, so the culture's always changing.

SPEAKER_00 10:53

Yeah, new new people come and new people and some people leave, and so it's it's very fluid.

SPEAKER_01 10:58

So the CARES listening tour surfaced five specific themes that the staff wanted to work towards workload, burnout, trust, morale, and engagement. What was it like to see your team's experience reflected back to the whole division?

SPEAKER_00 11:17

I just remember people being engaged in the conversation. Us in that big room, and people are just really being engaged, and how you were guiding and facilitating and helping us with the conversation.

SPEAKER_01 11:30

Mm-hmm. And then we co-created the CARES Roadmap together for about 90 days to start, and then some focus areas over the next few quarters after that.

SPEAKER_00 11:41

And who knew this was going to lead to where we are now? I mean, we wanted results and we wanted to improve our culture, and we've we've done it. I mean, we've gone from a culture where, you know, as Marcia may go talk about the model, the red, the yellow, and the green. We went from red to yellow in such a short period of time. And the transformation has been was huge. And we set out to do this for a period of time, and three years later, we're still doing the work because culture, as Marcia had mentioned, is continuous work. It's always improving. And you're I don't think you can ever arrive. You just keep improving things. And it's and it's something that you do slowly, it's baby step. Culture does not transform overnight, and there's always room to improve. So we are over the last three years, it's been really refining and focusing on different things each year to improve our culture and make it the best that it can be.

SPEAKER_01 12:40

This is a really important thing. Some people think that culture is just too hard, it's too much work, I don't have time. But really, it's you know, we went by this, I think that this adium comes from the military where slow is smooth and smooth is fast. And that's what culture work is. We just slow it down a little bit, we put in a a few implementation pieces that the staff said that they wanted, and you just see it's you see the collaboration start to snowball and really impact the end results and the work and the outcomes that you're that and goals that you're trying to hit.

SPEAKER_00 13:16

The surveys and the outcomes from that survey, that's what guides the work. That's how the committee decided what we're going to focus on. Based on the survey results, when we see the areas where we need need some more support, some help, and we think we can improve, we use it as the roadmap. Otherwise, it's just a guess. I mean, going in and saying, well, I think we should work on that. But the team said this, and I wonder one thing I'm really proud of is that we are following the what the feedback from the team. Team members say, This is what we need, I wanted to try this initiative, I think we should do this. We implement that from the team, and so the survey results has really helped guide the work. So we are still using the framework, we're refreshing our posters, because this is the this is the path forward, and it's the framework that works.

SPEAKER_01 14:04

And that's how you get the work done and the implementation done, is that everybody feels like a culture ambassador and and a contributor to the culture. It's a team sport. So once the CARES roadmap was built, what did implementation actually look like more on a daily basis? I remember some of the feedback was we want more connection events.

SPEAKER_00 14:30

You know, it just started, we started doing things as a team. We we created a signature event that we do every year, our build day. That was the one where I feel like, oh my gosh, this is so great. You know, when the mirrors of the committee did that was her idea to have this field day, and all the team came together and we're doing this really competition. It was just so much fun. And to see the camaraderie and people coming together, having a good time, that was that was really memorable.

SPEAKER_01 14:54

I wanted to say beyond the field event, and and Kibberley and I have talked about this before, it's not just about feel-good events, it's about how you feel daily in the office and how you're able to more easily collaborate with your peers. That is the ultimate goal, is that you are a team. The team is always greater than the individual when it comes to working on big goals. And you've got to feel connected to your team. And so it's really important to align how people are feeling valued, respected, and appreciated all the way through the team.

SPEAKER_00 15:33

Yes, and I think when that happens, you know, you you can't help but to have a positive outcome in in your goals and in your col in your collaboration and supporting one another. It's just a ripple effect, also, not only in your area, but then when people experience these transformations at work, it comes out into their own lives across the campus, too, and across the college, and also in their personal lives and as they interact in their communities. So the culture work, you just have it's like that the example, you just have a pebble drops into the water, and then you have this ripple effect, and that's what it feels like. Yeah. The reason why a process and structure are important is because it gives a path forward. It provides a step forward. All of in our in all of our roles, we have standard operating procedures. And what is a standard operating procedure? It says, first when you do in a certain area, we do this, and then we do this, and then we do this. And so, in order for for things to go fluidly, there needs to be a process. And so the CARES model was that, was and continues to be that process, and to guide our work to move us from the yellow into the green.

SPEAKER_01 16:53

Yeah, and you're so data-driven as well. And that's what you go off of every year that you're, you know, updating and revising your CARES roadmap, and this work continues without me. You you do it on your own and lead the committee forward. You look at the data from the CARES assessment, and there's recommendations all throughout that assessment on how we can take our culture to the next level because there's always another level. And and that's why, that's what's so impressive about you is that you continue to do the work, you take small steps forward, and it just continues to snowball into a culture where people love to work.

SPEAKER_00 17:35

And plus, I'm building on the work that the other chairs have done before me. And so we continue to build on that work is something that I'm very, very passionate about to because it feels good to be involved in something at work that has a direct impact. And we can see the impact directly with our own eyes today in real time. And without that roadmap, though, Marsha, we would be in the dark. I mean, just trying to figure it out ourselves. I mean, you've done the research, you knew the science, and you knew this map, what how organ that something that it can improve culture and also increase organizational or departmental effectiveness. And so you have a good culture, it it could improve your fundraising or those in the corporate sector can help your your really improve your bottom line when people are working in a a culture that that in a positive culture.

SPEAKER_01 18:29

Yeah, and let's talk about the results that you've gotten from your fundraising. I mean, you're responsible last year for a $20 million fundraising goal. Tell us about that goal and and how you achieved it and when.

SPEAKER_00 18:44

Yeah, fundraising goals are always something being in the fundraising industry. We always have ambitious goals and we reach the goal ahead of time. And it's always exciting. However, you know, culture is an important part of that success. Because when people are showing up as their best selves at work, they can do better work. And so I would say that there is a correlation between us reaching that goal ahead of time and the culture that we have established.

SPEAKER_01 19:15

That's why I stand on a on a mountain sometimes and shout, if anyone's listening to me or not, that culture truly is your growth engine. And without a healthy, inclusive, empowering culture where staff can be their best and do their best work, you're not gonna hit those fundraising goals. And your bottom line is gonna suffer. There is a clear, clear line between culture and the financial health and well-being of your organization. I want to get to the results because that's what everybody's wondering about. Why does why is culture work important? Well, after a year of implementation, you measured staff perspectives again. And what the numbers show is 94% improvement in people feeling safe to take risks. That's a psychological safety measure. 86% improvement in trust, 78% improvement in people feeling like their strengths were optimized, 68% improvement in appreciation and celebrating wins together, and then another psychological safety measure, 68% improvement in people feeling that mistakes were not held against them. And that is such a crucial data point because if people feel their mistakes are held against them within a group, they're not gonna bring new ideas, they're not gonna innovate, they're not gonna share their creativity because they feel like they might be punished or shamed or humiliated for sharing that new idea. So that's why psychological safety and improving that systematically, that's why that's so crucial in the cares process and why it feels different. You've mentioned quite a few times, it feels different where you work today versus when we first started together. It's because we've really nailed down the psychological safety features that people weren't feeling safe in at the time that we could take measured approach to improving it. And you improved it with those are very high percentage numbers improving it. And I want to just share with anyone listening, it's really not hard to improve all of these areas when you're focused on it. It's all about strategically prioritizing a healthy culture. If you are focused on caring about the culture as a leader, setting everyone up to succeed as a culture contributor, because people are not tired of surveys. They're tired of lack of action after surveys. It seems so simple, but it's one of those like really important issues that get pushed aside because you have urgent fires that you're fighting today. Keep culture front and center because you know it's going to ultimately. Drive the financial health of your organization, the fundraising results that you get, higher retention of your top talent, easy to recruit people. And that's why it's been working, Kimberly, for years, is that you've kept this front and center for your organization and because you care so much about it. Why do you, Kimberly, why do you care about culture so much that you're willing to put yourself out there as a leader in this work?

SPEAKER_00 22:25

I care about culture because I want to work in an environment where I look forward and enjoy coming to work every day. I really enjoy working on the committee with a team of people who share similar values as me. I mean, we have a committee right now of six of us, and we are all passionate about culture, and it's across the different teams, so I get the chance to interact with people who I don't necessarily work with that see every day because they were in three different buildings. And it's so refreshing to see us come together for this common goal, and each person participates and optimizes their talent and whatever gifts that they have. Everybody is gifted in a different way. We have somebody who's good with graphic design who helps with the posters, some people who are great with like leading one of our events, people are great with coming up with ideas and things. I mean, and so the creativity is really infectious. It's a it's a committee you want to be on and people you want to be around, and it's just this ripple effect, and our people on the team are starting to also bring ideas and say, why don't we try this and why don't we treat try that? So engagement increases.

SPEAKER_01 23:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 23:37

It's not just the people on the committee, it's how people show up every day as their best selves and they're able to do their best at work. So it's definitely a ripple effect and something a byproduct of the work that we've been that we've been doing together. I mean, we we plan in the events and different things, and people show up and have a good time and able to connect with people. It's just so it's just really nice to have an environment like that where the work is being done with intentionality, because without that, culture work just it doesn't really if you don't really intentionally focus on it, you may not get what you want. Because like with any gold or anything you want, you have to put effort into it. If you want to be strong at strong, you need to go to the gym. Just sit down. It's not gonna do it. It's not gonna happen, but just thinking about it or hoping that it'll happen. There has to be intention, and without that focus, things just don't move forward. And so I'm really grateful that we have a team of people who are focused and just as excited as I am to move the culture forward. Because I mean, who doesn't work and want to work at a great place? I work here, so I want the plate to be great too.

SPEAKER_01 24:50

Yeah, so uh and then as we started working together kind of like that first year, um, what was important about the accountability of having uh like an external facilitator slash partner work with you? Like how did the accountability help move the work forward?

SPEAKER_00 25:08

It was so important because you know you did some things like a newsletter and and things of that nature, some so we can share with the team. Just making sure we stayed on track, because you know, it's in fundraising, it's easy for things to kind of fall off because you're you're focused on what you need to do in front of you the fiscal year. You have to go these dollar goals to meet. And so it's easy for things to fall off. But having a partner like you, Marsha, to say, hey, have you done this, have you done that, and then keeping us accountable as a coach was really helpful with keeping us on track. And you also gave us two a framework too of what we needed to do, a cadence of how to do it, and to show us the way that we are focused on it. So you really modeled model the way that we needed to keep going to move forward to make our culture the best that it can be. You set the expectation of what had what because we've never done culture work before. How are we supposed to know what we're doing and we've never seen it? But to have somebody actually model it was really has was has been really transformational. Okay, so we hit our fundraising goal last year ahead of schedule, and I think that the culture work had an impact on that because when people are showing up at their best self every day, they feel happy to come to work, they are, they put forth a lot of effort into what they're doing, and they want to shine, they want to meet to reach goals, they want to collaborate. So I think having a healthy culture, reaching fundraising goals ahead of time, it's just a natural byproduct of that. I mean, how can it not happen when people are showing up as their best selves every day and wanting to do the best work that they can? I mean, best plus best equals best, right?

SPEAKER_01 26:46

When you when people bring their best selves to work, the organization becomes the best version of itself.

SPEAKER_00 26:52

Absolutely, a hundred a hundred percent.

SPEAKER_01 26:54

Kimberly, for someone listening right now and they see themselves in you and say, wow, this sounds a lot like my team, uh, what we were struggling with in the beginning, and what we want to create in our own organization, what would you want them to know?

SPEAKER_00 27:11

I mean, one thing I just really want to say that I don't think any leader could ever go wrong investing in culture. Because it undergirds everything. It's worth the investment. And I think having a framework, a try, true, and trusted framework and model to set you up for success. We had the framework that was tested and validated, and we just plugged ourselves into it. It's not something we have to create from scratch. And so one thing, too, to help us see possibility where that we don't have to be where we started, that we can go higher, that we could be be greater, and then that we can have the best possible culture ever.

SPEAKER_01 27:52

And for those of you listening, if this conversation resonated with you and you're thinking about the culture inside your organization, I invite you to head to culturecares.com. There's an application there for the Culture Cares Accelerator. It's always worth having a conversation together to see what's possible. I want to end by thanking Kimberly so much for sharing your experience so openly today. I know these conversations require honesty and courage, and I am incredibly grateful that she was willing to take us behind the scenes of what it actually looks like to lead culture change from the inside out. You saw yourself in this story, or if you're curious about what it would look like to work together, head over to culturecares.com and learn more about the Culture Cares Accelerator. And remember, you are meant for great things and you don't have to burn out to prove it. I'll see you on the next episode. Thanks for listening to today's episode of Nonprofit CEO Spark. If you're ready to turn burnout into boundaries and build a healthy, happy culture where everyone, including you, can thrive.com to learn how I support nonprofit organizations like yours. If this episode brought you value, share it with a fellow leader navigating stress and overwhelm. And remember, you are meant for great things and you don't have to burn out to prove it. Until next time, keep leading with courage and confidence.