7 HARD FACTS YOU MUST KNOW TO BUILD A SUCCESSFUL AND SUSTAINABLE NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION

Introduction

As the Founder and executive of a Nonprofit Organization, there are vital facts you must know to build a successful and sustainable organization, one that will continue to run even generations after yours.

Sadly, there is a considerable knowledge gap in the Nonprofit world in today’s world, not just from its founders but even among professionals and Coaches.

This knowledge gap is a result of a poor understanding of proper community development. You wouldn’t blame anyone; Only a few studied Nonprofit Management in school, even I didn’t.

But unlike many, just like you, I refused to settle. With so much energy, passion and dedication, I just went to work, with the one single goal of understanding the intricacies of building a successful and sustainable nonprofit organization.

Fast forward to many years after, I have worked with different nonprofits and served on different boards across the world, and now run my consulting firm, where I teach people who are interested in building a successful and sustainable organization how to do it the right way.

You may ask, what changed? What did I do differently?

I learned everything I needed to know, structured it the right way, and had guidance, and that’s exactly what my team of other experts and I do for our clients.

Through this guide, I will show you 7 Hard facts you must know to build a successful & sustainable NPO. With this premium knowledge, you can build a thriving organization from scratch, get unstuck, and take your organization to greater heights if you are willing to implement.?

LET’S GO!

1. No One Owns a Nonprofit Organization.

So many people come to us asking how do I start and incorporate my nonprofit?

Sometimes it takes a heck of a time to help them see why nothing is like my nonprofit.

First, a nonprofit isn’t governed by a single individual, nor can it be passed on to your children as an inheritance.

By registering it with the appropriate authorities, you have declared your organization as a public entity and, therefore, must be accountable to the public.

In the world of nonprofits, it is about a board that is dedicated and committed to the mission. Once that is in place, everyone has an equal vote.

The legacy and worth of what you’ve created will be eternal, but the asset that will also belong to the nonprofit and its mission.

Chances are, if you are the Founder, you may not even be the most influential person in the organization.

Yes, your board chairperson has more authority than you if you have to serve as the Executive Director or CEO of the organization.

Regardless of all that, the Founder’s syndrome is ravaging and limiting the social sector today.

This need for control bears the same characteristics as psychological ownership many small business owners suffer from.

This usually begins during the nonprofit start-up phase, where the owner makes the majority of the sacrifices, thereby stemming into an unwillingness to share control.

This may lead to competition, isolation, and behaviors that may threaten the well-being of an organization.

Aside from competition, this mentality has also led a large group of individuals to start and incorporate nonprofits on their own leading to time wastage & sometimes, frustration.

Rather than go in alone or fall prey to the Founder’s syndrome, the moment you get clear on your vision, mission, and resources you need to implement on your assignment, the very next step is to recruit your team, board members, and co-founders.

By bringing in others from the very beginning helps you diffuse the pressure, build commitment, get access to a wide array of views, and since they planned with you from the very beginning, they are more likely to commit to the Implementation all the way through thick and thin.

2. Money/Funding is not the most important resource.

Don’t get me wrong, money is essential. But when starting a nonprofit, money isn’t the most crucial resource to think or worry about.

On different occasions, when prospective clients engage us, the very first question that comes to mind is how do I get funding to run and grow this organization.

Across the different nonprofit platforms, I am connected to, I see this same question every day, however, in various wordings.

It is not even surprising anymore to see people seeking funding for an idea, one they haven’t spent their own resources on or tested to see the feasibility.

Sadly, the unconscious and conscious importance placed on money has held down too many visions and missions, with the majority never seeing the light of the day.

But this isn’t supposed to be so, and there are good reasons why it shouldn’t be so; follow me.

As we all know, money is a product of value created.

Though, In the nonprofit sector, money transcends that definition.

Money here is a direct consequence of a good team, quality impact/value created, and strategic public engagement. Also, in the standard precepts of community development, funding comes down the line for any and every project.

Even though someone may be appointed from the very beginning to oversee funding, it is the activities implemented to bring the project to life that creates the momentum necessary to bring in the resources and funding needed to be successful.

Activities like researching the need, reaching consensus, building partnerships for the project are all crucial to raising and attracting the funds you need to take your project/organization to the next level.

For this reason, in Community development, it is believed every Program/Project has the ability to fund itself because the community the project/program serves has the resources and assets to meet its needs if adequately harnessed.

On another end, the support you need must not always come in the form of money or funding.

Giving in kind and in materials still remains one of the most underrated forms of giving even though businesses, individuals are twice more likely to part with in-kind and material support than they would with money.

The crux of the matter is this, rather than chase raising money or see it as a limiting factor, harness ways you can create impact with the resources and assets available to you and watch the money come in as a natural consequence.

Activities like building a good team, packaging your impact, reaching consensus, creating partnerships, sensitizing the public, etc. With these coupled with an excellent strategic public engagement, you will raise and attract all the funding you’ve ever desired.

And just a word of warning, if you can’t create an impact with where you are, using what you have, you either re-check your impact if you are going about, it correctly or maybe it’s just a sign it’s not for you.

3. As the Founder, You are Not a Solution Provider

I know this would be a hard pill to swallow since the majority of us are already used to designing and Implementing intelligent projects and projects

But this is the TRUTH.

This fact corresponds with the very first fact mentioned earlier; No one owns a Nonprofit

Your role as the Founder is not to provide the solutions but simply to initiate the vision and facilitate the process of creating and implementing the solution through collective effort.

But many Nonprofit founders do not know this.

They think all they had to do to achieve success was come up with a brilliant business plan loaded with solutions, dump it on their board and get the team/staff actively working on it in a bid to force this plan on the community they serve.

Sadly, as many have learned, such doesn’t intelligence hold no place in a real-world application.

The plan was good, but in no time, they begin to struggle because the commitment necessary to produce a result is almost nonexistent.

Yes! As many have learned and are yet to learn, people only commit to plans they are a part of creating.?

This is where your Strategic Action Planning Session is supposed to come in handy.

A good Strategic Planning session involves working with your team and board to understand the need and engage the public to create a shared vision, strategic goals, and programs of activities to achieve these goals.

Your duty as the Founder is to provide the vision and facilitate the process simply.

Also, you do not define the solution to people’s problems; instead, you bring them together to help them understand the problem with the intention of understanding their perceived solution and reaching a consensus that can inspire collective action.

You do not know where it hurts as much as the man wearing the shoe.

For this reason, it is crucial to engage the man and identify the best solution and, if in a group, inspire collective action.

Therefore, by working with your team, board, and the community you serve to create a Strategic Plan, you generate a commitment to your vision, one that drives collective action and produces results.

4. Your Nonprofit exist only to solve problems not to massage it

As shocking as this may sound, many nonprofits do not solve any real problems.

They simply exist to caress the problem hoping to achieve some impact and create some awareness on this seem.

Four years ago, while working for an international organization headquartered in London, I was tasked with the responsibility of designing and Implementing projects across some specified local communities.

The aim of the project was to provide fewer privileged children with educational materials while ensuring they learn in a conducive environment.

I proceeded as instructed and Implemented the program. In all sincerity, we achieved some level of impact, and I can remember how much my boss appreciated my excellent work.

But all throughout the project, one question kept running through my mind. Regardless of our impact, what are the underlying factors leading to lack of access to quality educational materials and a conducive learning environment, and how can we tackle it?

These questions opened me up to the absolute bane of the problem. Unfortunately, the organization was overwhelmed as they weren’t prepared for the answers we found.

Today, that project has been put to a stop. While we found some level of impact due to the feedback we got from the project, we couldn’t sustain our impact as we never attacked the problem from its root.

This is the exact position many organizations are in today.

As the saying goes, give a man a fish a day, he will become hungry tomorrow.

This is the reason why we have so many organizations focused on feeding and housing and homeless people, yet hungry and homeless people still exist within our societies.

Now, this does not take away your impact in any way; it only limits you from enjoying the sustainability of your result.

You might feel all boozed up from the feedback you get, feeling all satisfied, but in no time, your impact passes away just like every other who focused on massaging the problem rather than solving it.

My appeal today to you as a prospective or already incorporated founder is to Sincerely answer this one question: Is my organization really focused on solving the problem I am working on?

Thoroughly evaluate your plan and organization. End every program or activity that doesn’t help you achieve your vision and narrow your focus on those programs that can really move the needle towards achieving your dream.

You do not have all the time and all the resources; you are better served focusing on what’s important.

As a famous writer, I would say, remember to keep the main thing, the main thing.

5. A Nonprofit Business Plan isn’t the same as a Strategic Plan

Misunderstanding the terms business plan and strategic plan is a common phenomenon in the Nonprofit world

To my surprise, two months ago, even a well-respected nonprofit Professional asked me this question “what’s the difference between a business plan and a strategic plan?”

Getting such a question from her and having seen both intending and already incorporated Nonprofit founders use both terms interchangeably, leaving many confused and lost, I knew this was a critical topic to address

Every day I get a request from intending nonprofit founders to help them create a business plan for their Nonprofit. To check their understanding of the resource they intend to create marketable question is, to what purpose will the business plan serve you?

Many begin with their need to fundraise using their business plan. Others, to generate programs they can implement on

Your answer to this question shows your understanding of a nonprofit business plan

Unlike in the business world, where a business plan is used to source for start-up capital, in the Nonprofit world, it is hardly ever so, though it can serve that purpose to a minimal extent

In the nonprofit world, a business plan is essentially a document that helps you put your vision on paper so you can record all your ideas in a systematic way and share that vision with other people so they can understand what you want to accomplish.

It is solely for the purpose of structuring your ideas & defining the process necessary to Implement your vision so you can think through all necessary details.

It has nothing to do with anyone else other than you.

From this explanation, we can say in summary, the business plan brings you to a place where you can create your Strategic plan collectively with others who you have successfully recruited in using your business plan

This is the purpose it is supposed to serve for businesses as well, just that since it’s a private entity, you can immediately begin to request funding using this resource.

But for a nonprofit, which is publicly owned, until you create a strategic plan that involves a shared vision and clearly spells out the programs you will Implement with an estimated budget and a fundraising plan, you may never be able to get funding

As you can see, both are plans created within the process of starting and establish a nonprofit but the timing of creation, the purpose it serves, and individuals involved in creating both are quite different

While the business plan helps you put your ideas together so as to implement your vision and build your organization successfully, your Strategic plan provide you focus, direction and action in order to move your organization from the start-up phase to where you want to go Your strategic plan can be used to communicate directly to staff and stakeholders and can also be used to raise and attract funding for your organization but your business plan? Not really

6. A Nonprofit Can Have a Business Unit That Aligns with The NPO’s Mision

?A nonprofit is an organization or corporation with the sole aim of creating impacts.

This does not limit the nonprofit from participating in business-related activities for any reason.

Rather it entails that if the Nonprofit chooses to pursue business activities in any way, it’s the central purpose for doing so must be to create impact.

This is the reason many government agencies across the world allow nonprofits to participate in businesses only in line with their mission and vision and the proceeds used to pursue the same said mission.

Because it is termed nonprofit/not-for-profit, many think they are only limited to donations and sponsorships.

This is far from the truth.

A nonprofit is, in fact, to an extent, a business entity.

Yes, it is only nonprofit because it doesn’t pursue profit as its core objective and enjoys the leniency of uncle Sam (government).

In some states in the United States, some nonprofits are registered as LLC before transiting to apply for their Federal Tax exemption statutes, which then certifies them like a nonprofit.

In other states, a nonprofit is registered as a corporation meaning a large company.

The only difference is nonprofits pursue impact as their core objective and enjoy tax exemption status.

This isn’t to say you have to begin pursuing profit as your object; it simply means you must consider generating income/profit if you must ensure the success and sustainability of your nonprofit.

Grants, donations are not sustainable ways to raise money.

They may work now but won’t ensure the sustainability of your organization in the long run.

Rather see your Nonprofit as a business and approach it with the mentality of creating wealth for both your organization and the community you serve.

You only have to ensure your unrelated business income is properly reported to the IRS and is within a reasonable percentage so as not to suffer a revoke of your tax exemption certificate.

7. Consultants, Mentors and Coaches

I am a strong advocate of doing it yourself. But trust me, you don’t want to go down that path alone.

While it is the longer path, pursuing knowledge on how best to build a nonprofit may distract you from the impact you want to create in the first place.

There are degree programs at the university, and there are courses you can take. Still, nothing beats the companionship and experience of one who has achieved the same result you desire to achieve.

This is where Mentors, Coaches, and Consultants come in.

To help you understand the process and ensure you implement it with the precision, speed, and certainty necessary to achieve results.

In many cases, Mentors and Coaches stand by the sideline to cheer you, encourage you, and provide you guidance.

On the other hand, professional consultants understand the importance of entering into the field of play with you and working with you until you are strong enough to win on your own.

As a Professional Consultant, I embody all three personalities when I work with clients to help them launch their nonprofit or take their nonprofit to the next level through my strategic planning boot camp that inspires collective action.

A project that did take you over a year to put together, with the help of professionals, you can launch, establish and begin to run with that same project within a month and learn all the ropes while creating the impact you’ve always desired.