It's About ‘The More Than Giving’ People - Meet Stephanie
Meet Stephanie!
Stephanie is a Nonprofit Virtual Assistant (NPVA)
What about the NPVA program attracted you?
I was pleased to see the appreciation of specialized skills in the nonprofit sector. It is important to me that my work is helping make a positive impact for community good. I liked the idea of joining forces with other experienced professionals who have high standards of excellence, and I was glad to gain the certification with the training offered.
Welcome to another new More Than Giving Team member, Stephanie Dahl. Stephanie is a highly experienced nonprofit executive support specialist from Eugene, Oregon, where she worked for many years at the Eugene Education Foundation. She opened a private consulting business for local nonprofits in 2016, specializing in data management. She is Mom to four grown children, two of whom have disabilities. Stephanie loves dollhouses, guinea pigs and all things Star Trek.
We asked Stephanie to share a bit about herself and her work as an NPVA:
Why did you choose to become a virtual assistant?
Working remotely affords me the opportunity to have flexible hours, which allows me to remain more available to my family. I like working from my own home office, the commute is a breeze!
What have you learned about yourself since working with MTG?
I’ve learned that I was getting pretty lonely in lockdown! Even though I am comfortable at home, it has been invigorating meeting my new colleagues and clients. I hadn’t realized how much I’d been missing those conversations.
What surprised you about MTG or your clients?
It’s fascinating, really, to see how much can be accomplished by this network of experts who are connected electronically. Every week a tremendous amount of work gets done.
How would you describe the needs of most of your clients? How did you help them address those needs? Can you provide a few examples?
Quite a lot of my clients need help wrangling data, keeping it up to date and accurate. More than once, I have helped a client migrate a large amount of historical data kept in some archival form to a new, improved cloud-based data platform, like DonorPerfect or Little Green Light. Being able to quickly segment and export exactly the kind of data needed when questions arise gives a fundraising team a big advantage. I also enjoy copywriting and storytelling. I’ve helped my clients launch successful appeals using crowdfunding platforms like Global Giving, for instance, which is gratifying.
If you were to provide one piece of advice to your nonprofit clients, what would that be?
Be curious about how your team of experts can help you! If you let us know what you want to get done, chances are we already have an efficient and effective way to do it.
What do you like to do when you're not working?
I have a penchant for reading science fiction tales and listening to true crime podcasts. I also volunteer my talents with my local Star Trek Theater troupe, creating costumes and props for our outdoor park plays. LLAP!
What’s a fun fact about you many people may not know?
I’ve had the luck to travel to Rome, Florence, Milan, London, Barcelona, Edinburgh, Tokyo and Dublin, and I can’t wait to go back to planning and taking amazing trips again. I like to swap travel tales!