Featured CEO: Adam Blatch on leadership in nonprofits
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Around 6% to 8% of people who have lost a loved one experience intense, persistent, and disabling grief. While grief counselling services are available, many still feel hesitant to ask for help when grieving the loss of a child or parent.
Feel the Magic supports the families that were left behind through free camps, resources and strategies to prepare Australians on living with grief.
Third Sector News interviewed Adam Blatch, the Chief Executive Officer at Feel the Magic on providing services to grieving families and the crucial considerations the Feel the Magic team should keep in mind when providing grief support.
After more than 10 years in the NFP Sector, what inspired you to continue on this path?
I’ve always been drawn to a career with purpose. Working for a worthy cause, and seeing that the impact your contribution is making in the lives of real people is rewarding and a strong motivator. The NFP sector is where you get to use your skills, education and experience to drive true social change. Considering we spend a third of our day at work, having a sense of fulfillment has always been paramount to me.
The other thing I love about the NFP sector is the amount of really inspiring and like-minded people, from all walks of life, you get the opportunity to meet and learn from. These can be your colleagues, donors, volunteers and fundraisers who go above and beyond because they strongly believe in a cause and want to make a difference. Meeting the beneficiaries you have the privilege to help is also very humbling and life-enriching all at once.
I’ve always been passionate about supporting children in some way or another– starting out in sport & recreation and now working for Feel the Magic, a NFP that supports kids and their families on their grieving journey after the death of a loved one. It is such a difficult time to navigate for families and children alike. To be able to work so closely with the families, the volunteers with lived experience, and the amazing children you see thrive as a result of our support, is truly rewarding.
Which leadership strategies do you believe have had the most significant influence on you and your team?
As the CEO of Feel The Magic, my role is to help staff do their best work in order to make a lasting, social impact by nurturing creativity, innovation and sustainability, and helping my team navigate uncertain waters when they arise.
Leadership in nonprofits involves some unique elements. A primary difference in nonprofit leadership is that it takes both paid and unpaid people to fulfill the mission. Most for-profit organisations engage their staff initially through employment while most nonprofits engage their people initially through voluntarism. As such, a nonprofit leader must operate from a different definition of equity than a business owner.
There are two key strategies I implemented which I believe have had the most influence on my team. Firstly, having clarity in what we are working to achieve as an organisation and communicating our vision to teams or individuals have been critical to ensure we are all on the same page.
My second strategy is to always lead with care, compassion and empathy. It’s even more important to do so within the NFP sector where you’re relying on volunteers, impacted people, etc. I try to remain open and approachable as a leader. When staff feel anxious or upset, they need to feel comfortable sharing their concerns and asking questions of me. I’m very focused on paying close attention to both the factual content as well as the emotions that the message is delivered with. I try my best to make space to listen, without any bias, without any judgement.
In an organisation that provides services to grieving families, what are some of the crucial considerations your team should keep in mind as they provide grief support?
Childhood bereavement is a significant and often overlooked social and public health issue in Australia. To be able to support the kids and families, it’s imperative for our team at Feel the Magic to fully understand how grief manifests differently in kids than they do in adults.
The grief journey for kids can be tremendously hard – it’s hard enough as adults and we have the life experience and support networks to navigate this far more effectively than children can. How children cope with loss depends on various factors, including their developmental age, personality, the support they receive, and the relationship to their lost loved one. As such, the support we offer is tailored to each individual as each grief journey is different. Our team is trained to take into account every family’s unique needs and circumstance and tailor the support from our programs according to their needs. And our overall approach is always underpinned with care and compassion.
Another key component of our program is the understanding that grief is a process that doesn’t have a timeline. Grief can be felt over an extended period of time – whether it be months, years, or even decades after the person’s death. As such our program and support do not have a set finish date.
What are some of the setbacks you have faced as Chief Executive Officer at Feel the Magic?
Starting at Feel the Magic a month before COVID reached our shores in 2020 and having to deal with all the COVID-related challenges in the past 18-20 months, have created a number of setbacks for our organisation
The biggest challenges and setbacks have been trying to find an operating rhythm. Our most significant revenue stream is from events and fundraising and this has been a huge challenge with the statewide lockdowns, the social distancing rules as well as the health risks involved. We rely so heavily on the economic and environmental factors aligning for people to support us and getting this area of Feel the Magic to perform has definitely had plenty of setbacks and challenges.
From a program/support side, we have expanded our service offering in order to be able to support more families wherever they live or where they are on their family grief journey. We have grown over the past 2.5 years despite the pandemic and its setbacks. We still have a long way to go to reach and support even more families across Australia but we are progressing well!
Anything you would like to highlight?
Working for a charity like Feel the Magic is such a rewarding experience. We literally change the potential trajectory of kids who experience the death of a parent or sibling. Whatever the challenges and setbacks are, the success of our programs are undeniable when you can see the difference you’re making to children’s lives.
Feel The Magic would not be able to do what we do without the help and unwavering support of our volunteers, staff, donors, partners and sponsors. We just completed our annual fundraising challenge 1-in-20 throughout October where participants are encouraged to walk or run 120kms (or what they can) and each aim to raise a minimum of $120 to honour and support the 1-in-20 Australian children who will experience the death of a parent before they turn 18. It is one of the most important events for Feel the Magic because, thanks to all the participants and donors every year, we are able to run our highly successful and life-changing camps for bereaved children – all free for families who need this support.
This year we have raised over $130,000 from 255 participants. While it’s too late to join this year’s challenge, people can still donate.
Related: “I could be in a ceramic jar”: The stories behind calls for bereavement funding
Menchie Khairuddin is a writer Deputy Content Manager at Akolade and content producer for Third Sector News. She is passionate about social affairs specifically in mixed, multicultural heritage and not-for-profit organisations.
