June 28, 2010
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Editor's Note It’s time to start looking for the best nonprofit for which to work. Following on The NonProfit Times’ 2010 listing of the 50 best nonprofits at which to work, we are seeking contenders for the 2011 crown. In This Edition: • Perils And Possibilities Of Scaling Nonprofits
•Management… •Human Resources … | ||||
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| Management 4 innovations for your resources The concept of doing more with less is a familiar one to nonprofit managers, even though during the past three years they have found themselves having to do more with a lot less. In her book “Nonprofit Finance for Hard Times,” Susan U. Raymond observes that doing more for nonprofits will mean more than just stretching each dollar. She offers four innovations in the use of philanthropic resources that provide opportunities for nonprofit finance. They share a common effort to link resources to markets in ways that leverage the capacity and impact of philanthropy itself. They are: • Mission-related investing (MRI). This is the process of using foundation assets to contribute to the success of organizations serving the societal mission to which the foundation is committed. It attempts to turn the corpus of foundation funds into a mission-directed tool. • Program-related investing (PRI). These deploy resources to both for-profit and nonprofit entities engaged in market activities. They are used to leverage philanthropic capital with other sources of capital, reduce nonprofit costs of capital for expansion, create nonprofit financing sustainability and enable large distribution of capital at a certain time.• Social Enterprise Support. Its central characteristics are market orientation, social aims and social ownership.• Harnessing investment to philanthropy. New strategies to flow resources to nonprofit needs are emerging and are deeply tied to financial management and investment strategies. | |||||
Human Resources The economy won't stay in the toilet forever, however (will it?), and finding the best talent is always important. In their book “Brand for Talent,” Mark Schumann and Libby Sartan describe the new prospective employee as a “consumer of work,” one who has expectations to be met by the prospective employer. Like it or not, these are the items to keep in mind: • The new consumer of work orders the work (a job) the same way as ordering a product or service.• In a marketplace where knowledge is power, the information potential workers can seize quickly gives them the upper hand with a potential employer.• Employees today simply don’t believe they will work for one company for a lifetime. Or two or three. Or seven or eight.• While many characteristics of the new consumer can be attributed to younger workers, the impact reaches every generation at every stage of a relationship with a business.• Consumers of work look for work experience, not a job. They demand constant attention.• The new consumer of work walks into a company with full expectation for a complete program of how a career will develop, performance will be managed, pay will develop and work and life will balance.
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Direct Response Speaking at the Direct Marketing Association’s 2010 Washington Nonprofit Conference, Nancy Eiring of The Nature Conservancy and Kevin White of Russ Reid offered several tips about using metrics to keep from optimizing out of media, measuring success one metric at a time. They suggested: • Use a variety of metrics to define success. For example, acquisition cost paired with long-term value gives a clearer picture. Return on investment can be paired with increased awareness for future donations. • Refrain from making snap decisions based on one piece of the puzzle. Step back to take a big-picture view. Remember that poor decisions can be made be reacting to something that’s “not working” without knowing why. • Fix the interlocking pieces. Is the acquisition strong but retention a challenge? Build a stronger cultivation stream. Is the phone ringing but the call center isn't handling the calls well? Fix the existing call center or find an additional one.• Be cautious about investing all of the budget in the “best” channel. Utilize a variety of channels that pay out over time. Balance high value with consistent revenue.
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