Most often “metrics” are a numbers game.
How much money did we fundraise?
How many people came to our event?
How many likes and retweets did our post get?
How many people read the blog?
Etcetera.
Quantitative data has its uses but it does seem to dominate the “how well are we doing?” conversation and is, in my opinion, myopic.
It does not share the fullness of one’s activism experience or impact, and I would suggest we need to make room for a more robust, more realistic, more humane and more precise form of accounting.
And so I propose a re-evaluation for you to apply as the year 2023 comes to a close and you reflect back on your activisms.
Sustainability:
Let’s just ask the question: did you burn out? Are you running on fumes financially, emotionally and energetically?
Or do you feel nourished and sustained?
What is the fullness of your funds, your feelings, your energy levels as you turn towards 2024?
Frankly, most everyone I know is exhausted. But it doesn’t have to be this way. We can build in nourishment. There is a way to sustain and not sacrifice one’s self to the point of collapse and despair.
In 2024, sustainability of your organization—and you’ll note that means more than financial— is a beautiful metric to aim for.
So, some things to consider;
What infrastructure do you have in place to:
generate and regenerate the humans involved, so that you/your members/volunteers don’t burn out bodily,
so that the feelings (so predominant in the work we do and yet so regularly unacknowledged) are processed and allowed to be present,
and so that the financial coffers get topped up monetarily on the regular?
How are you doing with your sense of sustainability? Is the garden of your activism lush? How thriving can you make it in 2024?
Presence:
Now let’s ask this question: how well are you known in your region ? Are you on the radar of those you wish to be on the radar of? Do they know of your existence and understand who you are and what your message is?
How strong is your presence? Is it as strong as you’d hoped for this year? Do you want to sustain it at its present level or grow it wider in 2024?
Presence involves sharing your mission, your purpose, your brand, your personality, your stories, your goals, your events, in a way that reaches and touches an audience.
This can involve social media but that is a small, small aspect of a larger vision. Too many groups get bogged down in too much social media, when there are robust communication methods (email funnels, for example) more deserving of your time and energy to cultivate.
Do the people who signed up for your email know who you are? How can you tell? How strong is your presence in the lives of those who actually took the time to give you their email and name?
Does your community know who you are? Have you taken the time to get to know and meet the businesses around you? The leaders in your community? The other groups around you? Do they know who you are? Do you know them?
Quite naturally this now leads to this section:
Relationships:
This is, to my mind, the key to everything. The most important metric.
If you don’t have strong relationships, you cannot sustain yourself nor can you build a presence. Without people there is no power.
You need people. They need you.
Activism is inherently communal and relational.
So, how are your relationships doing as this year ends? This could mean relationships with governmental reps at all levels, but this is only one small part.
What about your co-activists? People in your organization? Your volunteers? People in other organizations in your region or across the regions? Other demographics?
Do you talk to each other? Do you know what each other is doing? Do you know how they are? Does everyone know everyone or are you mostly strangers to each other? What is the quality of these connections?
How are you nurturing each other? Do you feel connected? Cared for? Caring of? Do have opportunities to gather, talk, connect, share, meet?
How much fun are you all having? How much is mutually enjoyable?
How authentic is your connection?
How welcoming is your activism to diverse members?
How accessible are you to disability folx? To families? To youth?
How are you inviting others in?
How well are you taking care of your relational interactions within your group and beyond? How might you emphasize care for each other as part of your organizational mandate?
How well is this metric in 2023? Where might it grow in 2024?
Power:
Power incorporates all of the above.
A powerful organization does not burn itself out. It sustains, it has built within itself cycles of sustainability—financially, emotionally and energetically.
It has a clearly defined presence, strong and notable and evident to others. Its purpose is clear. Its personality is evident.
And where does this come from? The people who run, join, support, meet up with, connect to, and enjoy being with you as you enact your mission, your purpose.
Power that incorporates all of the above can be supported with some streamlining of organizational infrastructure and strategic planning that assists in creating the conditions for sustainability, builds a strong presence, and supports the flow of forming, strengthening and activating relationships.
How powerful is your organization as we end 2023?
How powerful do you want to be in 2024?
These are some reimagined metrics to consider as you look back and look forward as one naturally does as a year ends and another begins.
If you would like assistance with any of the above, and you are a member with SCGC, contact SCGC’s new Member Services Coordinator to find out more.
Weekly News Digest - “The Blowhole”
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Letting go of “toxic positivity” in the climate activist space.
Carbon pricing offers climate and affordability benefits
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