Interview – Barbie Hislop

Barbie, over a lunch together, I couldn’t help but notice that you come from the senior ranks of corporate Canada.  How did that experience influence your work in the nonprofit sector?

I held a very senior position in a lumber industry company, Canfor Corporation and other senior corporate board positions for the Bank of Canada, Hudson’s Bay Trading Company and some others. It was a rewarding 29 years in corporate Canada. Those corporate experiences really  taught me how to manage people and in the nonprofit sector it’s all about people. And I really think I’ve brought a corporate-driven perspective that you can always do things better – and differently.

So tell me more about how you bring those people skills to our sector a bit more.

Well, I was dealing with smaller communities when I was in the lumber industry. Villages, towns, small cities – rural areas. These are all sensitive, community-minded places and I came to their similarities, differences and their unique views on community  needs. Then, coming to Variety, I came to understand that we we have a lot of grassroots donors and many, many rural communities we provide support to. So, it was a comfortable thing for me to be in donor communities – being on the ground as the head of a nonprofit – a local helper instead of being someone who was a local employer.

In fundraising leadership, we’re often tasked with being accountable with donor dollars. How do you give a corporate supporter a great experience?

I think when I was in a senior position in a publicly traded company learning how to serve shareholders was one thing and the other would have been the unique issues of stewardship in the forestry industry. The idea of being a good steward on a number of different levels has come with me in my journey to the nonprofit sector.

Have you always been involved with nonprofit organizations?

I was always about giving back to community and being a volunteer to organizations like the  BC Childrens Hospital, United Way, etc. I’ve always had the energy and commitment to organize events for Big Sisters  and I was very involved in school fundraising for my kids too.

How is the nonprofit world different – in a good way?

In the corporate word, you were raising money for the shareholders. As long as you were profitable, then shareholders were happy and the company would be sustainable and successful.  Here it’s quite different – we want to increase revenue to help more children. Having a mission is better to keep people focused on the singular goal. People are in the private sector can be driven for a number of reasons that can be at cross purposes e.g. personal gain, influence, profit, etc. There will be a lot of people surprised by this, but: I find nonprofits not changing for change sake e.g. centralizing and then decentralizing and then centralizing again in comparison to the nonprofit sector.

What are you concentrated on to be successful at fundraising at Variety BC?

I want us to excel at grassroots fundraising. We are good at grassroots fundraising at Variety BC. Lots of people go after big companies but I want us to go after medium and smaller regional partners instead that plays on our incrediable community connections. We are in a unique situation. We are medium sized but we are not big. We can almost give the same experience of a big brand for a lower cost.

How do give a corporate supporter a great experience?

I like to have quick win/win situations for corporate supporters. For example, they make an initial donation of $5,000 and I want to guarantee them a great experience. Then, we grow that relationship to larger and larger commitments – incrementally and naturally.

How have you modernized what’s often seemed as a very traditional fundraising organization?

We’ve introduced text giving, social media, online donor surveys, facbook campaigning, revamped our web site, and upgraded the brand look and feel for younger shifted donors.

And we’ve done a lot more multi-channel fundraising (after listening to you Mike).

How about some last words?

It’s got to be about telethon – it’s what we’re known for. I truly believe you can take very traditional fundraising approaches and  tweak them, make it better, add something new into the mix.  Overall, that’s my perspective for fundraising: take what you’re good at and make it better and never rest on your laurels because the competition is right behind you.

How do you give a corporate supporter a great experience?