No One Wants to "Save" a Sinking Ship

Every organization thinks that they have an important mission and that everyone should support their work. The truth is that not everyone will support your mission, and that is especially true if you are struggling. Furthermore, no one wants to spend their hard earned money supporting an organization that is dying. Asking potential donors to "save" this or that will not inspire them to get out their check books with very few exceptions.

When you want to solicit donations, you should be prepared to show what your organization is doing and how you plan to increase your impact with every gift received. If your organization is having troubles for any reason, and it looks like you may have to close your doors if the situation doesn't change, don't ask people to "save" you. Most people are not willing to give you funds if you are going to fail anyway. Chances are that you won't find a single wealthy person to get you out of the predicament you are in.

Now, before you start arguing with me and saying, "didn't you just right a book called Rescuing the Mission? Don't you help organizations that are struggling?" Yes, yes. I did write the book and yes, I do consult with organizations which are struggling. But even though the results are positive, we don't focus on "saving" the organization. If you want to turn your organization around or build support for your mission, you have to focus on what you have done, what you are doing, and what you are going to do with the funds you have to work with.

Organizations that are able to raise significant funds even when they are struggling to survive are those that focus on where they are going. If you want donors to trust that you are going to be efficient and responsible with their funds, you must be able to explain the reasons you are struggling and how you are going to overcome and improve the operation. Think of donors as investors in your mission. While they may support your cause, they need to know that you make good business decisions and can maximize the impact of every dollar.

Long histories of poor management and ineffective governance make for a very long and difficult road ahead, but not impassable. Take charge of the organization and don't make excuses. In the meantime, keep a positive attitude even if you don't know what is going to happen. Actions speak louder than words. Any lack of sincerity in your demeanor will cause flags to go up to potential donors. Saving an organization means treating the situation at hand as a difficult time. Failure to believe that your organization will get through the tough times will likely result in failure to get through the tough times.

To get a better understanding of this concept, you should pick up a copy of my new book, Rescuing the Mission. It provides a wealth of knowledge about what you need to have to keep a mission alive and shows the true story of a non-profit organization in my home town that was able to adapt and overcome. The donors and investors didn't "save" Geneva Hills, they supported the mission and understood the difficult time as a transition.

Stay positive. Make a plan and be prepared for many difficult days. You can keep your mission alive if you have a worthwhile and viable mission, beneficiaries of the products or services of your organization, and support from the community in which you work and serve. Finding help from a qualified consultant who has helped organizations transition through difficult times could also prove beneficial. You will need to make that decision for yourselves. Just remember that it sometimes takes money to make money. If your mission is worth keeping, do whatever it takes to make sure that it not only survives, but thrives in years to come!

SWOT - External Analysis

Continuing on from the internal analysis post, this month I want to focus on the external environment. As you should now know, the internal analysis is all about assessing your organization from the inside (strengths and weaknesses). The internal environment is what you can control. The external environment you cannot control.

The "O" and "T" of the SWOT are the opportunities and the threats to your organization. Too often non-profit leaders overlook this crucial portion of the strategic planning process because the assume that they know what is going on around them. Don't rationalize the process away. A plan is not strategic if it does not actually address the external environment in a comprehensive manner. Any consultant that tells you otherwise is doing you a disservice.

So what exactly is an external analysis? Well, it includes an analysis of clients, stakeholders, the business environment, and competitors. There are many other things that could be included, but these are typical of most analysis. The purpose of this is to identify trends in technology, societal influences, access to labor and materials, laws and pending legislation, funding potential, or possible political changes. The exact type of analysis you need is dependent upon your organization.

During the analysis process, non-profits need to identify their opportunities and threats. First, opportunities are positive or favorable conditions for the organization in the external environment. Examples could be new funding sources, favorable legislation, a shift in needs for the community, etc. Likewise, threats are negative or unfavorable conditions for the organization in the external environment. Examples of threats could be a potential decrease in funding, new regulations, apathy to your mission, etc.

Ultimately, the process of identifying the environment is crucial to the success of the organization which is undergoing a strategic planning process. As much as the organization needs to know itself, it must also know what is going on around itself. Leaders cannot ignore the surroundings or assume that they know what is going on. Don't forget that opportunities and threats can look the same in some cases. What one organization thinks is an opportunity could be considered a threat to another organization. Chance and change favors the prepared. Make sure that your organization knows what external forces could have an impact on your operations and mission.

SWOT - Internal Analysis

Ah yes, the SWOT analysis. IF you don't already know what that is, SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. This analysis breaks down in to two different components, the internal (strengths and weaknesses), and the external (opportunities and threats). For the purposes of this post, we will focus on the internal environment.

Before we begin to analyze the internal environment, we should first understand why this is important. "Know Thyself" is a phrase that you may recall from your high school literature class or college philosophy course. It was a guiding doctrine of the Philosopher Socrates. It was inscribed at the temple of Apollo at Delphi. The Holy scriptures even state that we are to love our neighbor as our self. In order to do that, we must know ourselves. Why am I going on this tangent? Well, non-profit organizations must know themselves if they are to make effectively use resources and make necessary changes within the organization. The internal analysis is all about knowing thyself.

What is the internal analysis for? Ultimately, it helps identify the performance of all of the internal operations of the organization. Areas for consideration include strategic planning, financial management, marketing (both inbound and outbound), fundraising, organizational leadership and staffing, operational structure, evaluations, etc. Anything that can be controlled is included in the internal analysis. Lets take a look at the internal components of the SWOT analysis.

First we must identify the organizational strengths. Essentially, we are asking ourselves, "what do we do well?" This question is meant to look at positive internal assets, factors, or situations which are at this very point in time favorable for the organization. Examples could include demand for the services of the organization, or they could be sound financial management. Other common examples could be the depth of skilled volunteers, staff experience, or public support. These are just some crude examples, but each organization should identify its unique strengths.

Likewise, weaknesses need to be addressed.To better address these issues, we can ask, "where can we improve?" For the purposes of identification, we can use the same examples as before but in reverse, ie. lack of demand for services, poor financial management, lack of skilled volunteers, little experience, or less than desirable public support.

Compile the lists and look for ways to improve what you can using the strengths that you have. Use the external analysis which we will look at in April to compile a list of strategic issues and utilize the data to assist in the formulation of a strategic plan of simply design and implement an action plan for your staff.