Season 2 EP 12 - Measurement Resources Company, Christy Farnbaugh

Welcome to Season 2 - Episode 12 of The Bridge to Kindness Project Podcast.

On this Episode you will hear from the following organizations:

Measurement Resources Company - Christy Farnbaugh                        00:00 - 18:15

Each episode features interviews on how you can be involved, volunteer, donate and make a difference being a part of these non-profits in our region.  To learn how your organization can become a part of The Bridge to Kindness project send an email to theBridgetoKindness@gmail.com.  Thanks for listening!  New episodes air each week at 1pm on Saturdays.

You can also find out about The Bridge to Kindness Project by visiting our website at www.TheBridgetoKindness.com.

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:15

Welcome to season two and episode 12 of the Bridge to Kindness Podcast. I'm Ron Smith. This podcast is made possible through the generosity of EPS, signature carpet care, expressions floral design, and Lindsay Honda. Today we welcome Christy Farnbaugh, the CEO of Measurement Resources Company. In 2008, Jerry Cheney Jones founded the Measurement Resources Company with a bold goal: help every mission-driven organization use measurement to accelerate social change. Measurement is a powerful tool. Organizations that implement measurement systems turn data into outcomes. Staff see more opportunities, uncover obstacles sooner, and discover untapped efficiencies. They have better data to demonstrate impact, increase visibility, and raise funds. Measurement moves great missions forward. Measurement Resources Company has created a high performance measurement framework that combines best practices in industrial and organizational psychology, program evaluation, and data collection to make it easy for teams to implement performance measures that can drive better outcomes. They are dedicated to helping a nonprofit team move from data collection for collection's sake to measurement for insight, action, and impact. One of the things that I admire most about Christy is her dedication to nonprofit organizations and their success. She has demonstrated this throughout her career and continues to make that impact with Measurement Resources Company. Christy is a highly respected, resourceful executive and thought leader with deep expertise in all facets of nonprofit leadership and governance. She has led transformational change built on research and data-driven solutions. Her background spans fundraising, financial management, and change leadership, giving her a holistic perspective on the real world challenges nonprofit and government agencies face. Christy has raised and distributed millions of dollars to support social sector organizations as a funder and fundraiser. Christy's ability to influence and motivate staff, clients, and volunteers is unparalleled. As we speak with Christie today, we want you to be encouraged to get involved in the nonprofit community as well. Identify your gifts and talents, find out where you can use those to bless others, and help those in our community with their present needs. On our website, thebridge to kindness dot com, you'll find out more about our mission and have access to links to the organization's websites that we spotlight, as well as an archive of the interviews we've had here on the podcast. We would love to hear from you. Whether you're a volunteer or you lead a nonprofit organization, you can reach us through the website or email us at the bridge to kindness at gmail.com. So let's get started. Christy, welcome. Share with us a little more about Sherry and her vision and the measurement resources company and what it does in the nonprofit community.

SPEAKER_01 3:26

Thanks for having me, Ron. I really appreciate it. Um Measurement Resources was founded by Sherry Taney Jones a little over 15 years ago. Um, out of her desire to help nonprofits and government agencies tell a better story of impact. So Sherry's story was she had worked in um data and measurement. She has a master's degree in organizational psychology. And at the time, she was working at the Ohio Department of Aging. And the state legislature wanted to take away all the money that kept seniors in their homes. Um, and she was like, I don't, I'm not sure that's right. So she analyzed a bunch of data and came up with a formula to prove that leaving the money at the State Department of Aging would save the state millions of dollars by keeping seniors in their homes. And the legislature reversed course and did not take the money away from the Department of Health. So a huge win, right? Huge win. So she thought, well, well, wait a minute, if I could do this for a big state agency, why couldn't I do this for other nonprofits and even smaller government agencies? So it wasn't too long, for maybe a year or two after that, um, she left the Department of Health and set out on her own with measurement resources to do just that. Um help nonprofits and government agencies um quantify their impact and value and tell the story.

SPEAKER_02 4:50

Can you tell us about how you've seen the impact of your work?

SPEAKER_01 4:54

I was most recently uh at the Contemporary Theater of Ohio, and we were working on um measuring empathy in our we believe that our work and our programs build empathy in the community. And we had done some research and and sort of landed on that on that topic. So um Sherry was helping us measure and tell that tell that story of building of building empathy, right? Um we work with uh really that's the currency of nonprofits, right? Like we don't we don't um we're not so concerned about the bottom line, we're not paying shareholders and board members. Um really our currency is helping people, helping humanity, right? So um there we've worked with more than 300 organizations since Sherry started the company. Um I have been here, as you know, just uh seven weeks yesterday. So I am new to the company and new to this role, um, but not new to MRC. I've known Sherry all those all those 16 years um as a as a colleague and a partner and uh sometimes she wouldn't need an arts subject matter expert, and she'd bring me along. And um, so I've I've known the story of MRC really from the very beginning. So when this opportunity came about, I was like, yeah, yes, I would like to, I'd like to explore that with you. So I'm new in this role, but not new to the work.

SPEAKER_02 6:17

What are you looking forward to the most in your new role?

SPEAKER_01 6:20

Helping helping more organizations. I I just really believe in these wild and crazy times we're in. Now it they're always wild and crazy times for nonprofits, um, this era that we're in feels a little crazier, a little wilder. Um, with the cuts that are coming down from the federal government and from state government, right? The the funding is kind of all over the place. And I really believe that if you're clear about your impact and what you're trying, the difference you're trying to make in the world, right? Who's whose lives, um, lives and circumstances are you trying to change? That's the currency that will that will help us through this current storm, right? And any other storms in the future. Um, and we were talking yesterday about don't don't wait. Sometimes we get really scared and nervous in times of challenge, right? And like now's the time to get clear about the impact you're trying to make.

SPEAKER_02 7:12

What do you find most fulfilling in what you do?

SPEAKER_01 7:15

Working working with the people that run nonprofits. You know, as a having I have worked in state government and I have been a CEO of a nonprofit, and so I really understand what they're going through and where they're coming from and the challenges they have um day to day. And so I feel like I can I can come along and be a partner beside them as we do this work and um help them help them see a way forward because I've because I've lived it.

SPEAKER_02 7:40

What types of organizations do you work with?

SPEAKER_01 7:43

Um, well, we do lots of work with social service organizations. So, you know, home homelessness and hunger and housing and um all kinds of social service issues, right? That's that's really kind of how the company started. I think what I bring to this is um the arts sector. I spent a lot of years in the arts, and we're not we're horrible at telling our stories of impact and the lives, the lives that we change and the difference that we make, right? If we're building empathy through a through a performance, what does that look like? So I think we'll we'll we do work with the arts and I think we might do some more of that uh with me in this role. Um, government agencies of all kinds, um, again, health, health, and and mental health and developmental disabilities, and um all the all the larger government systems that support those good causes.

SPEAKER_02 8:35

When we come back, we'll talk with Christy about when the best time is to team up with Measurement Resources Company with your organization. That comes your way next. As the Bridge to Kindness Podcast continues, I'm Ron Smith. We'll be right back.

SPEAKER_00 8:59

You're listening to the Bridge to Kindness Podcast. The purpose of this podcast is to encourage you to identify your gifts and talents and to help you identify ways that you can use those to bless others and serve your community. For additional information about the Bridge to Kindness Project or any of the guests appearing on today's podcast, visit www.thebridge tokindness.com or email us at thebridgetness at gmail.com. This podcast is made possible through the kindness of EPS, signature carpet care, expressions floral design, and Lindsay Honda.

SPEAKER_02 10:03

I'm Ron Smith. With us is Christy Farnbaugh, CEO of Measurement Resources Company, which has made an impact in our community. Christy, when is the best time for a nonprofit organization to reach out to you for your assistance?

SPEAKER_01 10:17

I think if they have a curiosity or a or a yearning, that things are okay, but they could be better. Things are right, things are we're doing okay. But maybe if we told the story a little differently or if we looked at our data a little through different lens, um we could help them with that. Like if you're if someone hears this podcast and they're thinking, well, what what is impact data? How do I how do I know what that is? How would I collect it? How would I think about it? What are the best things to collect? That is right where MRC can can help. We we do what's called um uh measurement impact framework. And so we can start at at square one. What data do you have? What new data should you collect? And then figure out your we call it the logic model, it's a theory of change to help you figure out what that theory of change is and then collect the right data and the right measures to prove it. We also do um smaller projects like um needs assessment. Again, maybe you don't know where to start in your community or you're not sure what the community needs, and so we can we can help with the needs assessment. We do impact reports, so um annual meetings coming up, and oh my gosh, we should talk about what we've done this year. Um, so we do impact reports for organizations, help them um you know, get that really that case for support. So people who work in development and fundraising, what's the case for support? What are you asking people to you know to to support in your organization?

SPEAKER_02 11:46

Who are the key people you would work with at a nonprofit? Is it the executive director, the board director, the board as a whole?

SPEAKER_01 11:54

All all of the above, Ron, all of the above. And again, I've worked with boards, and so I understand how boards uh work and function, and it's really all of the all of the above. And it usually starts again with someone who has that that inkling that that we ought to explore things a little bit differently. Or maybe here's a story from just last week. A funder, I was talking to a nonprofit leader, and they said a large funder said, I really want to support your organization, but I don't know what impact you're making. Can you tell me what impact you're making? Like I like I want to give you money, but you have to tell me what difference you're gonna make with that money, right? So um and and culture, I would say that um the organization, and this might start with the executive director, it might start with some board members, it might start with a development director. You have to build that organizational culture to want the data. You have to want the data, the the good, bad, and ugly. You can't, you know, whatever, make sure what you ask, you're ready to hear the answer to. Um you have to you kind of build that data-driven culture and so that you use data in a helpful way to grow the organization, not in a punitive way um to shame staff members. Sometimes that you know, that's not good. Well, we didn't meet this goal and it's your fault, and we don't want any of that. We want data for good, data for impact.

SPEAKER_02 13:15

What are some of the direct results that organizations will see from working with you?

SPEAKER_01 13:20

Clarity. You're gonna you'll gain the organizational gain clarity about what it is they're they're doing and the difference they're making, which leads to um better marketing stories, better um more funding. We've got lots of stories of organizations that raise more money because of because of this impact, like the story I just told you. Like I want to give you money, but you have to tell me what your impact is. What are you doing with it, right? Um and that that I think is getting stronger. Funders, um, I've worked with a lot of them over the years, and funders just expect to understand and measure what good you're doing in the world with their money, right? They just don't want to put money down a rat, you know, down a rat hole. Um so so all c all kinds of things like maybe we um serve people, we serve people better, right? I'm doing a workshop on Monday with um county boards of developmental disabilities, and they're they really care about the customer experience. How how do the people with this with developmental disabilities and their families, how are they served? And then long term, you know, around that goes into the next levy because boards of DDs are funded by levies and communities, 88 counties, 88 boards, and so you want to serve clients well so that ultimately people feel good about what you're doing in the community, and then when the levy comes up, they'll vote for the levy.

SPEAKER_02 14:44

Looking at the landscape of nonprofits today, what role do you see them having in the community today? And will they continue to have that role in community development?

SPEAKER_01 14:52

They're needed more than ever, right? The services that nonprofits provide are often the services that nobody else wants to do, right? Companies uh uh a lot of them are lost leaders, right? A lot of the services nonprofits provide lose money, and that's okay because we you get um individual gifts and grants and other kinds of funding to do the work. And they're doing the work that for-profit companies can't do in communities, right? A, it's not profitable, and you know, B, it's hard, and you know, so we need this ecosystem of nonprofits to continue. Um and the and you know, we're in the future, you know, I don't know, there you could I think you could see, I forget how many there are, something like 16,000 nonprofits in Ohio or something like that, 6,000 in Franklin County. And there's a lot of duplicate, I'm sure there are duplicate services, right? We talked to a young man yesterday who's um a college student and has an idea and is starting a nonprofit. And my advice is always did you look around and see if anybody else is doing the thing you want to do? Right. Because there might there might be, right? There's lots of people um providing food and helping with um homelessness and housing, right? So my advice would be if you want to start a nonprofit, take a look around and see who else is doing it. Is anybody doing it like what you want to do? And maybe partner a little bit before you start a whole new organization because there's a there's a lot of competition for people's time and and money, right? So I don't I don't know, I don't have a crystal ball, but whether this time we're in will result in some mergers and some um better partnerships, right? That is also a theme in funders, funders really want to see if you're partnering well. Um But we need we need the nonprofit sector for sure because they they do all the hard work that sometimes other people don't want to do.

SPEAKER_02 16:52

How can people reach out to you?

SPEAKER_01 16:54

I would just say people can can find out more about our work at um measurementresources co.com. Um happy to re I love when people reach out. So my you can find me on there, my emails on there. Um I love what you're doing with Bridge of Kindness, Ron. I just think that um you have a lot of organiz you're doing great work through that uh organization. And I hope they're all measuring and tracking their impact of the good work they're doing.

SPEAKER_02 17:20

It's my pleasure, and thank you for your kind words and support and being with us today. That brings to a close this edition of the Bridge to Kindness Podcast. This podcast is made possible through the generosity of EPS, signature carpet care, expressions floral design, and Lindsay Honda. Special thanks to Christy for joining us today. Take a moment and think about how you can engage with the nonprofit in your community to make a difference in those around you. Join us again on our next episode, and we'll provide more individuals and nonprofits in the Columbus region and share how they help people and how you can be involved. Until then, from all of us at the Bridge to Kindness, I'm Ron Smith. Make a difference, make an impact.