The Future Is Now: 7 Considerations for Nonprofit Leaders
Nonprofit, church, and cause leaders should be incredibly bullish about the present and the future. The pandemic has forever impacted “business as usual” realities. The veracity of long-standing operating models was already waning. They worked well enough to kick the can down the proverbial road a little longer. But, those formulas, forged with assumptions that are no longer true, will continue to underperform.
While it's tempting to maintain the status quo, your organization's revenue sustainability is at risk unless proactive steps are taken to address underlying issues.
Having analyzed data for nonprofits, churches, and causes since 2007, I can clearly see that many have been resistant to change despite mounting evidence. The current circumstances demand a shift.
Simply increasing revenue streams will not rectify the inefficiencies of past operational methods in supporting programs and missions.
The pandemic's protracted impact has offered nonprofit, church, and cause leaders a gift: the opportunity to let go of what wasn’t working and take on what will work.
Agility is a strategic imperative, not a suggestion.
There will be more variables than constants during this disruptive season. Nonetheless, the insights and breakthroughs realized will yield incredible transformation that will lower the friction of solving—or perhaps even eliminating—the systemic inequities and deficiencies around the world in a material way.
So, buckle up. It’s going to be a bumpy ride. But the result is going to be worth the challenge of getting there.
7 Things Every Nonprofit, Church, and Cause Leader Needs to Consider Now
Time for a lineup change. Your pre-pandemic leadership team is likely not your post-pandemic leadership team. Either your leadership changes, or you change your leadership.
Every decision needs to be informed, supported, and driven by data. Data is not a department; it’s a leadership skill.
Technology and AI are required to deliver mass personalization. The donor brings their consumer expectations to their nonprofit experience. And it’s never been cheaper, easier, or faster to deliver a customized experience.
Decentralized, interdependent, and interdisciplinary teams need to replace departments and functions. Speed to market, failure, and learning are essential for success … now!
Appreciation, retention, and upgrade strategies are the catalysts for predictable growth. Recurring unrestricted giving will be your primary evidence of successfully enrolling your core supporters into the world of possibilities and potential. A lack of this spells financial struggle and the erosion of support moving forward that will likely never be recovered.
Moving general donors to subscription-based, recurring gifts will be a normalizing reality that will provide stability for any future pivots. Mid-Level and Major Donors will provide the investment capital necessary to build the infrastructure for the future. That means the shareholder mentality needs to drive everything.
A culture of learning is critical. If you’re not pushing yourself enough to experience failure, you live in a limited reality on the tail of your previous successes. That “wave” will be shorter than most nonprofit leaders have experienced. The future will be built on the attempts and failures that lead to significant and substantial learning today. (Hint: Comfort is your enemy.)
The Future Is Now
The rate of change is happening faster than most organizations can assimilate and integrate it into their workflows. Leaders recognize that previous models and methods for strategic planning were not designed for an iterative leadership reality that mitigates risk through data-informed experimentation and adaption, resulting in constantly evolving people, processes, revenue, and growth systems. It’s simply not possible to utilize familiar organizational planning methods and expect a consistently positive return on investment of human and capital resources today.
If current realities are not resolved and left unaddressed, a decline in donor development, new funding opportunities, and increased mission delivery costs are almost certain. “Business as usual” leadership and decision-making will not deliver a healthy and sustainable organization moving forward. Therefore, new thinking will need to be employed, resulting in new actions and, in turn, delivering new results.
Leading between now and next will not be easy. It will be met with hardship, disappointment, and frustration. As long as leaders stay present in the tension between mission opportunities and actual capacity, the pathway forward will be clear, and the strength to carry on will be present.
Are you ready?