Ten Steps to a More Effective Nonprofit Organization

Notes on Organizational Change

Government Relations for Non Profit Agencies and Associations

Co-ordinated Advocacy Chart

Ten Steps to a More Effective Nonprofit Organization

 What makes some organizations progress year after year and achieve their objectives? They move ahead creatively and dynamically and gain greater financial and volunteer support.  Others do not.  What makes the difference?

1.  Vision

Successful nonprofits have a clear vision and concept of their organization in the future.  It is a future that has been created and is shared by both staff and volunteers.

2.  Values and Principles

Values are enduring beliefs about specific modes of conduct that are personally and socially preferable in an organization. Principles are statements that incorporate the values that describe the way the organization does business.  Values and principles include a series of assumptions about the way things work and the way decisions are made.

3.  Mission

A well defined mission provides a focus for everything the organization does.  The mission is a clear statement of what business the organization is in; a concise declaration of the purpose the organization is attempting to fulfill in society.

The mission statement answers

• What function does the organization perform?

• For Whom does the organization perform this function?

• How does the organization go about fulfilling this function?

4.  Planning

The organization has a clear strategic plan and an operational plan that spells out what key results the organization wants to achieve.  It also includes measures of performance, action plans to address each key result area, identifies those people responsible for achieving the objectives and the target date.

5.  Finances and Budgets

Effective organizations are clear about their finances, and make efforts to acquire multiple sources of funding to make their services possible.  Budgets are based on planning, which addresses the needs of the organization, the goals they want to achieve and their priorities. 

6.  Staff and Volunteers

Staff and volunteers are the heart of the organization.  People more than anything else determine the quality and success of the organization.  The highest priority of effective organizations is to attract and retain staff and volunteers with the skills and knowledge needed to achieve the purpose of the organization.

7.  Teamwork

Teamwork needs to exist among staff and volunteers.  Each person must readily inform others of what she or he is doing and meet in groups to learn from each other, pool ideas and work out next steps.  Employees and volunteers are bound by a shared vision of service to clients rather than competing with each other.

8.  Communications

Effective organizations work toward a shared common purpose and communication keeps staff, volunteers and specific constituents informed of what others are doing and how that may impact on their own work.  Communication informs constituents about what activities the board and staff are undertaking on their behalf and reports to funders how their donations are being used and what is being accomplished through their support.

9.  Evaluation

Leading organizations conduct evaluations of their services to determine what impact they have made on the needs of the people they serve.  They also may conduct internal evaluations of staff and volunteers, and utilize outside expertise to conduct an analysis and report.

10.   Ethics

Non profits must be committed to the highest ethical standards. They require honesty and integrity in every element of their operation.  Decisions are influenced by personal values and goals.  In working to resolve differences and arrive at agreements, effective organizations have found it necessary for volunteers and staff to understand the uniqueness of non profits and how they differ from business and government. 

Peter Drucker, wrote an article in Harvard Business Review, What Business Can Learn from Nonprofits .in which he states that “non profit organizations realize that good intentions are no substitute for organization and leadership, for accountability, performance and results”.  He adds that nonprofits have good management precisely because they don’t have a bottom line, and because they concentrate on getting results as they define and meet the mission of the organization.

Notes on Organizational Change

• Change is more rapid, more turbulent and more unpredictable than ever before. Any one who has been involved with change knows one of the major obstacles is people’s natural resistance to change. Peter Senge, in his book The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization writes that people both fear and seek change. An organization change consultant whom Senge quotes puts change in this perspective: “People don’t resist change. They resist being changed”. Success means getting people to choose change rather than resist it.

• A recent article on change stresses that leaders can make change happen only if they have a coherent strategy for persuasion. The impressive turn around at a world-renowned teaching hospital shows how to plan a change campaign – and carry it out. See Change Through Persuasion by David A. Garvin and Michael A. Roberto Harvard Business Review February 2005 www.hbr.org

Government Relations for Non Profit Agencies and Associations

All non profits depend in one way or another on government funding. Organizations need a communications plan to make the public aware of the services that the organization offers and to inform government whether Federal, Provincial or Municipal about the work they are funding. Government needs to know how the work of the organization is related to government responsibilities, services and finances. A government relations plan will prompt you to alert government officials about needs and can suggest what actions are required to address those needs.

What you Need to Know about Advocacy

• Organizations advocate in order to represent the needs of a specific group of people.  Government has the power to change policies and provide funding.

• Advocacy is on a continuum. You need to decide whether you are going to be reactive or proactive? Collaborative or confrontational? Direct or indirect? How are you going to get what you need from government for the people on whose behalf you are advocating?

• You need to consider the pros and cons of confrontation. Will you be successful with media coverage, letters, faxes, telephone campaigns, petitions and demonstrations? What risks are involved?

• You ask yourself if an organization is more successful when it believes that advocacy is a negotiation?

• How do you arrive at a clear understanding of the government’s values, stated position and deeper interests and needs?

• Attacking problems not people, being soft on people, hard on problems is what makes for a win-win situation.

• Seek solutions that will also benefit government

• Negotiating positions that are based on the values of government have a good chance of receiving a sympathetic hearing.

• Relationship building is the key to effective government relations. External influence is expected and often desired by government decision makers.

• It helps to build or be part of networks and alliances.

• “To be heard, you must be seen”

For more on coordinated advocacy and getting what you need from government choose a skilled and experienced specialist in government relations for nonprofit organizations.