e-Newsletter: Connect to Solutions

Sustainability and Transformation
by Jeffrey S. Vengrow, Director of CNE Solutions

Times are tight in the nonprofit sector. So what else is new?

Over the past twenty years the increasing number of new nonprofit organizations has raised the bar of the sustainability challenge to new heights. But the “sustainability” question remains the same. Can you provide enough resources to enable your organization to continue to support its mission over the long term and not just in the short run?

The traditional answers to this question have been: 1) find new ways to raise more money; or 2) reduce the services provided. But these are not traditional times, and it’s time for a fresh look. It’s no longer enough to think in terms of getting more money or just doing less. It’s about significantly changing how you do your work so that you can actually do more with less, and still make a difference. Some have labeled this kind of change “transformative”.

What are some of the key characteristics of transformative change?

     •  There is a perspective within the organization about how to fulfill a community need rather than search
        for exclusive support for the individual organization.

     •  Strategic alliances or program partnerships with other organizations are actively explored both within 
        the nonprofit as well as within the for-profit sector.

     •  Outcomes, outputs, and processes serve as the primary basis of evaluation and decision making.

A transformative process starts with identifying community needs, then building support to address them, and continues to work upstream leading to strategic and business planning including budgets and financial resource development initiatives. A typical process might contain the following elements:

1. Engage the community in a way that involves a range of stakeholder groups and develop support for a common vision. Consider focus groups with these stakeholders to determine community goals that you would address within the framework of your mission.

2. Involve your board and key staff in conducting a self assessment that may include revisiting mission, vision, values and competencies. What are you good at? What are you doing that you’re not as good at? A critical element of self assessment should include an evaluation of each major program in terms of outcomes, outputs and efficiency with an eye toward how resources are allocated.

3. Validate the “new” mission and vision as well and determine the 3-5 core strategic initiatives to support it.

4. Draft the business plan to support the strategies that reflect each major program (expand, delete, modify, or maintain) as well as the revised budgets and sources/methods of revenue needed to support it.

5. Consider other organizations or programs within the community that support the same or similar mission through their offering of complementary programs, or similar ones. Consider how you might collaborate with them in order to increase community impact.

6. Build process models, or “maps” that depict how the work of each program will be accomplished and clarifies who is accountable for what and when.

7. Establish measurable progress goals and timetables that can serve as both the basis of performance evaluation, and as a a communication tool.

8. Develop a comprehensive communication plan that preserves community relationships and maintains contact with all stakeholder groups.

The nonprofit sector has experienced tough times before and has survived. However, there is a real danger in this severe downturn that many individual organizations will not. Sustainability is more than about survival. It is about supporting mission over the long term, and a successful sustainability model will require that nonprofits adopt a new way of working.

Contact Jeff Vengrow by calling 330.315.0432 or emailing him at vengrow@cfnpe.org.