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Nonprofit Leadership Podcast
EP376: World Vision’s Bold Plan for the Future
00:30:16
In this episode of the Nonprofit Leadership Podcast, Dr. Rob Harter welcomes Edgar Sandoval, President and CEO of World Vision, one of the largest international humanitarian organizations in the world. With 75 years of impact across 60 countries,
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- [00:02]
A
This is Dr. Rob Harder with the Nonprofit Leadership podcast, Making youg World Better. What does it take to be an effective nonprofit leader today? What are the biggest challenges? What are the biggest obstacles? How should nonprofits fundraise in an economy that is constantly changing? All these reasons combined led me to start this show. And it's my hope that through this series, people can learn not only what it takes to be an effective nonprofit organization, but to hear from effective leaders who are are successfully making a positive impact in their communities. We hope you enjoy the show as together we hear how they are making their world better. Welcome everybody to the Nonprofit Leadership Podcast. So glad you're tuning in today. So, you know, I talk to a lot of nonprofit leaders nearly every day, and there is no doubt that these recent funding cuts, specifically in the US Context, these federal and state grants that have been cut, they're impacting all of us in the social impact sector. Not just because those who maybe rely on federal grants or state grants are really seeing a big chunk of their budget now cut. It could be 10, 20, some 30, maybe even 40% of your budget for some, but even for those of us who don't rely maybe on a lot of federal or state grants. Here's the thing, because there's so many cuts from the federal level and state level on various organizations, therefore, those who are getting more pressure to give to more organizations are individuals, foundations, corporations, even so they are feeling the pressure because now more organizations need more of their budget raised outside of these federal and state funds they used to receive. So I'm curious, number one, I'd love to hear what you're doing. How are you navigating through this new challenge when it comes to the funding cuts that we've all experienced? You can just ping me, email me, you can send a message on LinkedIn. I'd be really interested and curious about what you're doing with your organization. In fact, I'm looking at maybe doing a special series on this because that's such a big deal. I talk about it almost every day with somebody. But how they're navigating through these, this new changing fundraising landscape. So with that in mind, now the organizations probably that are hardest hit with these new federal funding cuts are any organization that's doing international humanitarian aid. And there's a lot of them. And they have been really hit hard. And one of the organizations that I've got on the show today is World Vision. It's an organization that's been around for 75 years. They reach countries all across the world, and they particularly work with marginalized populations there and specifically with women and children and people with disabilities. So their CEO and president, Edgar Sandoval, is joining me on the show today, and we're going to talk all about, number one, how is he navigating all these challenges, you know, in his organization? But I've asked him to give us some advice. How are they finding ways to work around it? How are they keeping their staff focused on their mission? How are they keeping them motivated? So as you listen to Edgar, you'll just be really clear to you how much energy this guy has and how committed he is to the vision and mission that he has there at the organization he leads. And I it'll be very inspirational for you. Whatever you're facing today, if you're facing some major challenges on the fundraising front or you're just still navigating through the regular challenges of leading your organization, I think you're going to really enjoy this conversation. All right, now onto the show and my interview with Edgar. This podcast is sponsored by DonorBox, helping you help others with the best donation forms and in the business. Well, welcome to the Nonprofit Leadership Podcast. So glad you're here today. And I've got Edgar Sandoval on the show today. Edgar, it's a real pleasure to have you on the show. Thanks for joining today.
- [03:37]
B
Thank you, Robbie. It's a pleasure to be here.
- [03:39]
A
You know, I'm a big fan of World Vision, have been for many years now. And I also know that you've brought some unique additions to this organization because of your leadership. In fact, your leadership impact extends well beyond just the powerful work at World Vision and among the groups you impact the U.N. you work very closely with the U.N. and I thought it may be helpful to start there because there' so much in flux right now regarding funding to international aid. Specifically, what are some of the most pressing challenges the UN faces, and therefore humanitarian organizations like yours, in terms of achieving its goal to end extreme poverty by 2030? And how are vulnerable populations specifically being prioritized?
- [04:19]
B
Yeah. Thank you, Rob. A great question to get started with, because the challenges that are really the challenges that we're all facing in the humanitarian sector, that we all face very similar challenges, and there's several. But I want to hone into two that I think are particularly relevant and applicable to many organizations, including World Vision, and then maybe I can share some of the ways that we've navigated through them. I'd say that the two challenges are, and they're very much interrelated and One is, and you mentioned that, one is that the increasing gap between humanitarian needs and available funding to meet the needs. Okay, we need to remember that even before January 25th, there was already a 30 billion plus gap in funding. So things were already challenging. Or the second challenge, I like to call it the lie of futility. The lie of futility. And that is the narrative about humanitarian assistance and questions, legitimate questions that people have. Well, does anything work? Are things getting any better? I see those two very much interrelated. And in terms of the current state of affairs is they have accelerated, they become more intense as a result of the narrative that started in January as a result of the acceleration in the funding gap. And so without as context, I would say, Rob, that at World Vision we are doubling down on reshaping the narrative so that we can increase the funding or reclaiming the narrative. I should say reclaiming the narrative so we can increase the funding. And we're drawing on 75 years of experience and facts and learnings to say a couple of things. One is humanitarian assistance works. We've seen it work. We have signature programs like PEP Partner and HIV AIDS. With 26 million people who are alive today as a result of that bipartisan program, we have 8 million children a year who are born HIV free. I could go on with a couple of other statistics like 2 to 3 million kids that get vaccinated for polio every year and almost eradicating that illness. Smallpox has been eradicated from the face of the Earth. Malaria down 50%, child malnutrition down 50%. And I could keep going on and on and on, but we need to get the word out to educate our constituents. So that's one about the past accomplishments in the present. At World Vision, we're also, over the years developed some amazing capabilities. God has been good to us over the 75 years. And I'd like to speak about two particular ones. And by the way, the concept here is we need to have, we need to be clear about the impact that we make. We need to be data based and letting database lead what we expand and where we expand it. And we've got two critical sectors in the humanitarian space that we particularly play into, and those are the extreme poverty alleviation. And also related to that is the access to clean water. I will tell you, on the access to clean water Borrow vision, we're the largest nongovernmental provider of clean water. Every 10 seconds a person gets clean water for the first time in their lives, for the first time. And by the way, the Most disproportionately affected people for the lack of clean water are women and girls. Right? So this plays directly into some of the things that we're trying to do to alleviate the suffering of the most vulnerable. But, and so with that capability, we're now doubling down and saying, we want to finish the job. Worldvention wants to finish the job. What does that mean? We want to bring clean water to everyone we work. Everyone, everywhere we work, we want to bring clean water too. And so we've developed proof of concept. We went to Rwanda, partnered with the Rwanda government and communities and we proved it. We proved it out. We've delivered clean water to a million people. Okay? And now we're done. We're done with Rwanda and clean water. Next we want to go to Zambia, we want to go to Honduras, Ghana. And we're not going to stop until everyone has access to clean water. That's the idea. We also have a poverty alleviation program called Thrive. And make a long story short, we've got third party validated data that says that World Vision Approach helps families lift themselves out of extreme poverty. They multiply their incomes from sub extreme poverty to 10 times what they were earning before. The program. And the secret sauce, according to this independent third party validator, was what we call our biblical and power worldview, which is a program that lets people understand that they are created in the beautiful image of God, that they're beautiful people, they have dignity and they have resources, and they themselves lift themselves out of extreme poverty. So the point here is when we challenge the lie of futility with facts and we get people like you to help us tell those facts to your audiences, then the funding comes and the capabilities that we've been able to build at World Vision and other organizations over many years, we can scale them and take care of very, very challenging problems like extreme poverty. And that's what we're trying to do today in what is perhaps the most challenging in the history of humanity. We're saying, no, we're not hopeless. We're actually very hopeful because we know what to do. We just need the collective will and the funding to get it done.
- [09:31]
A
Yeah, you shared something really interesting when you said that people want data to, quote, prove your concept or to prove that your work is actually making a difference. I completely agree with you. Let's talk a little bit more about the sustainable goals that the UN has established, because I know they really dovetail with what you're trying to do. There's a framework that the UN has put Together for the Sustainable Development Goals, they've spelled them out which really address the needs of marketing marginalized groups such as women and children and people with disabilities. So how are you addressing these specifically at World Vision to address these Sustainable Development Goals?
- [10:02]
B
For us, the Sustainable Development Goals are a helpful framework. That's how we think about it. And we have places where we intersect in our aspirations. And one of them is to eliminate extreme poverty. Another one is to bring clean water to everyone. So there's a number of things that we have similar aspirations. Right. But for World Vision, for us, it starts with understanding what is the approach that works best. And so I'll give you a few statistics. For instance, when it comes to hunger, 89%, which is almost nine out of 10 severely malnourished children make a full recovery when treated by World Vision. That's pretty remarkable. I'd like it to be 100%. In fact, I like never to have to treat another malnourished child. But as far as competency and capability, we know what to do. And so that's an example of the data that we collect. I mentioned the thrive example, where we've done studies across five different different countries because we want to make sure that we understand the context and how we may need to adjust depending on the context. But the studies keep coming back with income that is multiplying in these communities. And these are programs that are. That are things that we've learned over 75 years. I would just say that I would encourage everyone in our sector to continue to focus on the impact that we all make in our missions. And I think that with impact comes credibility and with credibility comes funding, and then we create a virtual cycle.
- [11:27]
A
Well, you mentioned that this is one of the most difficult times in your leadership experience, especially in the area of international and humanitarian aid, particularly because of the rising needs, but at the same time, the increasing and cuts to funding, particularly in the U.S. context with the recent federal cuts. So what have you been learning through your organization of how you've been able to continue to provide all of these services you offered? You mentioned you're still doing 40 out of the 60 countries, for example. What lessons can you pass on to others as you've had to work around these challenges that you've been facing? I mean, you've already given us a couple of good examples. Are there other things you're doing on the strategic leadership side of things to really continue to move forward despite these recent challenges?
- [12:07]
B
I want to first commend you for the term that you use. You Use humanitarian assistance. Assistance to humans. You see, when we use the term foreign aid. I looked it up. I looked it up. Foreign can. Strange and unfamiliar. Okay, we need to remind everyone that this is. This is really humanitarian aid to humans that are created for us as a Christian organization. Humans created in the image of God. And when you talk about it that way, and then you remind people, because there's also a misconception, I should say, about how much of the US Government budget is actually allocated to humanitarian assistance. International humanitarian assistance. Most Americans think It's somewhere between 15 and 20%. But I spend a lot of time with good, caring, compassionate Americans. And when I explain that it's really less than 1%, the overwhelming majority say, oh, that's something we should continue to do as it relates to learnings. Boy, what I've learned over the last six months and over my entire career is that my leadership principles and my leadership approaches, really, they don't change. But what changes is how difficult the test is when things get tough, right? So they get tested, but they don't necessarily change. And I would say the first thing that I've done whenever I encounter challenging circumstances. And by the way, World Vision has been around for 75 years. This is gonna. This is not the first nor the last time we're gonna encounter challenges. But the first thing that I've learned is that I have to remind first myself. And so I would say to all leaders, remind yourselves of why you're doing what you're doing. Remind yourself of your calling. And that's what helps me stay grounded on solid, solid ground, rooted in solid ground. It is so critical for me to do that. And for me and for us at World Vision, it is all our faith is our mission. Okay? That's the driver of our mission. That's the calling. And I remember how I got this calling. I was in corporate America, and I got a calling to come serve the most vulnerable. I was selling everything from detergent to fabric softeners to all kinds of consumer packaged goods. And now I'm helping vulnerable families lift themselves out of extreme poverty. Right? And it's a completely different. Different line of work. But it was a calling that I'm. And there's nothing more rewarding, by the way. But so remember your calling, and then remind your staff of their calling. Your staff have the same calling that you do. It doesn't matter where you sit in the chain of command. They have the same calling that you do. That is where things start, with the heart of the mission, the soul of the Mission. At World Vision, we have a mantra. We developed this mantra in the middle of COVID and it served us well for Covid and it's serving us well now. And it's called Believe, Belong and become. That's our organizational mantra and it's believe in the calling in your lives to be here for such a time as this. Serving the most vulnerable populations belong to a like minded set of brothers and sisters who have the same aspirations. And then where you can be yourself, or we talked about this briefly earlier, where you can be yourself, where you can bring your true self to work and then become. Become everything that God wants you to be, but also help others become everything that God wants for them. And that includes the vulnerable people that we work with around the world. So that's the heart, that's the soul, but that's not enough. That's not enough. Okay, that's critical, but that's not enough. It's necessary, but not sufficient, I would say. Then comes the head and the operational approaches. And again, the approaches don't change. But the speed at which you're having to make decisions and process data and go through scenarios, it gets accelerated. So you need to be focused. You need to have the right team around you and go through the operational tactics that you've employed before. And they are, get the facts right, work the scenarios. I like to plan for the worst case and for the best case. And then I know I can deal with anything in between. Okay? Communicate. Communicate. Communicate particularly to staff, to your board, to your partners, suppliers. Communicate. Because if you don't communicate, someone will fill in that gap. And when you do communicate, I would recommend a couple of things. Don't sugarcoat it, but also don't be a fatalist, okay? And most of all, most importantly, paint a picture of a better future. Right? Paint a picture of a better future. And when it's really tough, then you've got to pay attention to the small wins. Celebrate the small wins. Everybody needs to know that we're making progress. But here's the one that I've learned the most at World Vision. Okay? This is the new one. This is the nonprofit one. Be ready to give a lot of grace. Be ready to give a lot of grace. Give yourself some grace because you're going to make some mistakes, okay? But give others grace as well, because everyone is trying their absolute best during a challenging circumstance. So that's, I would say, how I approach leadership day in and day out. But it gets tested at different speeds, at different windstorm strength during crisis.
- [17:00]
A
I loved what you shared there, especially the idea of painting a compelling picture of a preferred future. Appreciate you just saying that. Now, I also want to go back to something you said earlier, because these recent funding cuts, they really have impacted, I would say, nearly all social impact organizations in some way, but especially those that are focused on international humanitarian aid. I mean, you're there on the ground level with your work at World Vision. What have been the impact on social impact organizations as a whole, specifically those trying to address these huge global needs with these funding cuts. What are you seeing from your perspective?
- [17:35]
B
I would say, as I speak with my peers and other leaders, I would say that it really depends. And it depends on, let's say, the makeup of their portfolio of funding sources. The more disproportionate that portfolio was on U.S. grants, the more challenges they're having. The more disproportionate their portfolio was on U.S. grants for development work versus relief work, the more they are challenged, right? It really depends. Depends. Rob, at World Vision, our portfolio of funding resources is quite diversified. We do work with the US Government, and we'd like to think that we are a preferred. We like, we always want to be a preferred partner for all of our of our daughters, including the U.S. government. But we also have the vast majority of our resources come from on the private side. So we've been able to, I would characterize our situation as we've had some meaningful cuts, but the impact has been limited. But that said, that said, even one child not getting the emergency assistance that the child needs is one too many. And that's one of the reasons why I'm so excited about how we're pivoting to the moment, right? Because yes, there's been some cuts, but we're still operating today. And we will continue to operate in 40 of the 60 most fragile countries around the world. We were there before the country, we're there today. We're still operating, right? And because of that and because of this moment in the history of the world, we're doing something that it's, I think, quite bold, our biggest, most ambitious campaign. We're seeking to reach 300 million people with life, hope and a future. When we say life, hope and a future, we mean life as in water, access to water, access to health, hope. We're talking about Christian discipleship because we know that when kids are in church and being discipled, they flourish, they have better relationship, more self confidence, child protection, that they're in safe spaces. And then a future. And a future is education and livelihoods and we're excited to call on the entire community of caring and compassionate Americans to join us to come visit come Visit our website, WorldVision.org and learn more about this campaign that is rooted on 75 years of real experience and real lessons of learning. Proof of concept. We're ready to scale. We're ready to do it and to live our faith. What God has asked us to do. I will make a note about that, that there's over 2,000 verses in the Bible that speak about what God cares about and it's about helping the poor and the oppressed. So this is an invitation to everyone to join us in this work. We know what we're doing. We just need people to join us in this movement.
- [20:08]
A
What's really interesting, you talk about pivoting. You know, I think it's so critical that all social impact organizations learn how to pivot when things around them are changing. We all pivoted during COVID and now many organizations are trying to pivot in response to these major cuts in funding. And it seems like you have all pivoted well there at World Vision. What advice would you pass on to other social impact organizations when it comes to how best to pivot these changing conditions in order for those organizations also to thrive, which it seems like you're doing?
- [20:36]
B
I think it goes back to the mission. It goes back to get very clear on the mission, on the reason why they exist to begin with. We see many examples throughout our history of organizations that have had mission drift. This is the time to get clear about the reason why you exist. And they explore all the scenarios, all the scenarios that will keep the mission alive. New partnerships, new mergers, new sources of funding. But it starts with the mission. Because if you're clear on the mission and the unique value add that you bring to the world, then that is the motivation that will keep you going.
- [21:13]
A
We'll be right back. Are you looking for an easy and effective way to boost your nonprofit's donations? Well, look no further than Donorbox, the online fundraising platform that streamlines your fundraising efforts, maximizes donations, and simplifies giving for your supporters. With Donorbox, you can create beautiful donation forms, accept digital wallet payments, track donations, and send auto receipts. And the best part, there are no setup or monthly fees and no long term contracts required. So what are you waiting for? Visit donorbox.org today to get started. That is www.donorbox.org. yeah, it's so important to talk about staying clear on your vision. I couldn't agree with you more. And mission drift is a real Thing for all social impact organizations. All right, well, keeping focus on one's vision and mission is absolutely critical to an organization's health. Right. So it's clear that you seem to have a really bold vision there at World Vision for the next five years specifically. So what specific programs and partnerships is World Vision trying to rely on in order to scale towards empowering 300 million people by 2030? That's a huge goal to reach 300 million people. And I love the idea of empowering 300 million people. So talk more about how you're going to go about doing that.
- [22:31]
B
Yeah, absolutely. And to take a spoon out of my own medicine, I would say we are very clear on our mission. Right. We know that we are all about helping the poor and the oppressed lift themselves out of extreme poverty. And we got. We are, we've been doing that for 75 years. And that. And with God's blessing and the generosity of our donors will continue to for the next several decades. And so what we're doing is, I would say we have throughout our history codified what works and now we're sharing that with a multitude of stakeholders. So we are calling on all donors, government, corporate, high net worth donors, churches, congregations, foundations, to come and join this movement and see the impact that we actually can have when we join together with proven practices and we scale them so that our focus is on that, on changing the narrative that things can't get better. No, they can, they have. And we can even do more together. So that's where our focus is.
- [23:32]
A
Well, you do a lot of work with government agencies, not just the US Government, of course, but governments all over the world. In fact, you gave the example of the Rwandan government. Now this can be a challenge for a lot of social impact organizations. So I'm curious, how and why have you been so successful at building those key government partnerships over the years? And what recommendation would you give, what kind of advice would you give to other social impact leaders who are trying to do the same with their local government, their state government, and even the federal government?
- [23:58]
B
There's a number of things, but I would summarize it with these two things. One is fundamental belief that we are there to empower and enable communities to lift themselves out of extreme poverty. They are the heroes. They do the hard work. And so really, World Vision, even though we're a worldwide organization, we're really, we're more. I'd rather, I'd rather describe ourselves as a collection of thousands of communities lifting themselves out of extreme poverty. And then we Aggregate the learnings and the best practices and we disseminate them. But this local empowerment is really critical. 98% of our staff, they work and live in the communities where we serve. So they understand the community, they understand the players, the stakeholders, how to get things done. We are really a local organization, as hard as that may be to believe. For a big organization like World Vision, that will be number one. And number two is we have big aims. And it starts with what we call our journey to self sufficiency and self reliance. All of our programs are about graduation. One of the things that we are clear about is because families tell us this all the time. The families that we serve, the children that we serve, their parents, they don't want to be dependent on assistance. They don't. They want to be self sufficient and self reliant. And so the combination of an aspiration with the tools to be self reliant and to graduate out of programs, out of assistance, together with local best practices, with the players that can get the work done on the ground, have really been a critical catalyst for the last 75 years. And they will continue to be foundational for the next 75.
- [25:38]
A
Okay, so as you think about going forward with a strategic vision you've talked about, how have you gone about up to this point, the inside work, if you will, you know, building into the entire team at World Vision, you've got a huge staff there. How have you been able to motivate the entire team, help create, buy in, keep them all focused on the mission and vision together as a team, particularly in the midst of budget cuts and other challenges. How do you keep your team focused on the mission together as a team?
- [26:04]
B
I spend a lot of time visiting with our staff and they are truly the heroes of our organization. The sacrifice that they make to serve the people that they serve in their local communities. Sometimes they have to travel, spend weeks, months without seeing their families when there's an emergency somewhere else in their country. And so they are truly my heroes. And I will say that I often ask them, so what motivates you to do what you do and to keep going despite the challenges? And the answer is a World Vision staff is always the same is God's calling in my life. And so that's one thing. People at World Vision are self motivated. They make my job very easy in that respect. They're self motivated because they understand that this is God's calling in their lives. But then the role that I play, I try to also remind them of the history of World Vision. The Times where we've had very many challenges throughout our history. I mean, we started in the middle of a war. We started in the Korea War, 1950s, right when a youth pastor from California went out to Korea and found himself in the middle of a war. Partnered with churches there and try to help the orphan and the widows. We overcame that challenge through partnership. We were part of the HIV AIDS pandemic that hit Africa in the 90s. And we didn't have enough resources. We had to call the church to step up and help us deliver the help that was needed at such a critical time. We were in Ethiopia during the famine and didn't have enough resources. So there's almost never enough resources for all the work that we need to do. But when I remind people, when I remind people that we've been through challenging times before, you have God's calling in your life and God is faithful to these beautiful children because, you know, one of the things that we always say to our remind ourselves is that God cares about the most vulnerable more than we even do. And so I remind them that there's been challenges in the past. And if we continue to answer our calling and we continue to put our best practices in search of excellence in our service, God will continue to provide and he has never failed us. He's brought generous donors to us for 75 years. And we are believing and that he will continue to do that for the next several decades.
- [28:22]
A
Well, Edgar, your energy is contagious. I know that if I was on your team, I would get excited about the mission just because of your energy and excitement for the mission. For those who are listening, how can people find out a little bit more about you and about your organization?
- [28:34]
B
Yeah. Please go to worldvision.org and they'll have all kinds of resources on how they can join this movement to help end extreme poverty in our lifetime around the world. And I would just want to emphasize that every little bit helps. It doesn't matter how much, whatever you can do, it all gets pulled into major impact.
- [28:53]
A
Well, Ken, thanks for all you're doing. In particular, thanks for caring about the most vulnerable and the often forgotten people around the world that World Vision serves. I really appreciate that and admire that. And then thanks again for taking time out of your really busy schedule to share your thoughts and insights with our community.
- [29:08]
B
Thank you, Rob. And one last thing, if I may, on the topic of leadership, if there was one thing I'd leave your leaders on this program with is my mentor told me something a few years ago that it stayed with me during the good times and during the challenging times. And that is that strong leaders absorb fear and exude hope. And so that's the playbook that I'm trying to follow.
- [29:31]
A
Hey friends. Well, I wanted you to know that this podcast can be found on itunes, Spotify, Amazon, Google Podcasts, and where everybody you listen to other podcasts. I also want to encourage you to like subscribe and share this podcast with others. This will actually help us get this great content out to more nonprofit leaders just like you. You can also join the nonprofit leadership podcast community, find other resources and interviews of past guests, all on my website, nonprofit leadershippodcast.org well, thanks again for listening, and until next time, keep making your world better. This podcast is sponsored by Donorbox Donor Box, helping you help others with the best donation forms in the business.