Will Nonprofits Survive? ??

?Chilllleee,

Cliff notes first - yes, I wholeheartedly believe that nonprofits can survive?in any economy, any political landscape (assuming our core rights are still intact)?and any funding cuts. Since I'm already in the habit of sharing my unpopular opinions with you, I'll say this - nonprofits would be much better off remembering that they are a business, too. A 501(c)3 is just a type of business structure, which is chosen based on the end game for the profits made. Whereas, the for-profit business can distribute those to stakeholders, staff, invest or carry it over to the next year - a nonprofit's profit loss sheet always has be balanced (i.e. to break even with expenses and income).?The other unique aspects of a nonprofit is that you'll have to secure and sustain a Board of Directors and document everything in case of public audit. Most nonprofits I've worked with, there were tensions around the special rules that nonprofits have to play, but I don't think it has to be a bad thing to have these extra checks in place. By nonprofit status, you're saying - "I agree to be responsible to my mission to meet this need in the community, and in receiving public resources, donations of time, precious lives and public welfare to be responsible for, I agree to honor the public's trust and support of me". Or something like that, lolol. So, we should be in?the weeds and details?of nonprofits a little bit.

That doesn't exempt?a nonprofit leader, from treating their operation like a business. And this is the unfortunate mistake I see alot of my nonprofit clients making by the time they call me in for strategic planning. It's heavier on the charity focus than the business focus. But the truth is, the most successful nonprofits have a good balance of both. So, we roll our sleeves up and get to work establishing the "brand" of the nonprofit (another blind spot?for many), taking a look at the mission vs. real-time programs and products, and then create streams of income for the nonprofit. In my humble opinion, I think sustainability for nonprofits is fairly simple and for most, having access to more money fixes alot of problems and extends the capacity of the team many times over. Money is a tricky topic in the philanthropy sector but, reality is, nonprofits need money to actually carry out their missions.?We logically cannot give what we do not have. It seems to me that it's more risky to depend on the same grants every year even though funding can be cut at any time, with little notice.Whereas, if you create streams of income for your nonprofit, you have more predictability, forecasting sales, hire people with confidence that you can pay well and help more neighbors. Once you establish your "brand", you can put it on t-shirts, stickers, tote bags, bumper stickers, create ticketed events and get brand deals. Remember, as a nonprofit - you are a business, too.

Sure, it would take one lean?organization and a stellar leadership team to pull off the kind of pivots that I'm talking about here, but if your succession plan has legacy to it,?I think we can look to orgs like?4-H, YMCA, and The Nature Conservancy?as great examples of?success in their ability to?evolve, ride out every economic high and low imaginable, and yet still turn their nonprofit mission into an experience generations can have in real life, over and over and over again. It can be done. We survive through creative sustainability.

Cheers to your legacy and onward to 100 years,

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