Balancing the Mission Checkbook

The New York Times published an article this week about the Gilmanton New Hampshire Year-Round Library Association and their efforts to raise money for operating costs. Led by dedicated and committed volunteers, a facility has been built by moving and refurbishing an 18th century barn, but no funds are in hand to open the doors. The article reports that they are “looking for someone who will provide at least $1 million for a private endowment” to support the ongoing operating costs. Wouldn’t every nonprofit like to “find” someone who will donate $1 million! This is a case for Mythbusters – Nonprofit Finance Edition.

There are no magic donors. In the article, one of the volunteers hopes that “Maybe someone out there has had a dear loved one that’s passed away, or a child or parent they’ve given everything possible to, and this would be a special new gift.” I don’t mean to pick on the volunteers for their effort. And I certainly love the picture of the barn/library, having grown up in New England with a lot of time spent in a picturesque, cozy library. I hear that kind of wishful thinking elsewhere, though, and am concerned that the myth of the elusive, secret donor is dangerous. Hoping and waiting for One Big Gift that solves everything might just be an excuse not to do the hard work of fundraising. Now, as always, fundraising involves identifying those who care about the cause, building relationships, making the case, and demonstrating responsibility – step by step.  I recommend this recent blog post from PhilanTopic that smartly translates the core principles of donor cultivation and planning into useful advice for today.

If you’re like me, you’re reading a lot of reports, surveys, and advice right now looking for useful data and direction. To help you cull through this material, Nonprofit Assistance Fund has launched a new blog, Nonprofit Harvest.  Our goal is not to post every available resource, but to consistently provide useful content that will help nonprofits.  I encourage you to read the blog, share resources you have found helpful, and offer your own suggestions for how nonprofits can navigate this challenging economy.

A couple of weeks ago The Financial Times posted an online article, MBAs lift non-profit sector, which sings the praises of MBA degrees for those seeking leadership roles at nonprofits. The article portrays those with MBAs as possessors of a set of skills and abilities that have been unavailable to nonprofits. The FT article and similar postings over the past few months have generated a variety of responses, both from fans of MBAs and from contrarians. There’s the “nonprofits need to be more business-like” school of thought, and then there’s the “but we’re really different” argument. At the PhilanTopic blog, Tracy Kaufman posted What’s so great about an MBA? with a skeptical view of MBAs. She hits it exactly right, I think, with this comment, “But to suggest that what nonprofits really need to be effective is a couple of MBAs and more business discipline strikes this nonprofit employee as, well…beside the point.”

Exactly. It is beside the point what degrees the leaders or staff have. It’s the skills and knowledge that matter, and the ability to use those skills, knowledge, experience, etc. to effectively impact the community. It’s worth considering why this needs to be a debate at all. Is this an example of a chip on the shoulders of the nonprofit sector?

The best hope for the next era of leadership depends, I think, on flexible, adaptable, and smart people of all stripes. The Future Leaders in Philanthropy blog has a nice post that describes the benefits of, and distinctions between, MBA and MPA degrees. My advice is that (1) graduate degrees are great for learning, opening your mind to new and emerging ideas, and working collaboratively with different people; (2) any professional degree program with rigor will be a good experience; and (3) you should pursue the degree program that sounds like it will get you where you want to be.

Disclaimer: After two decades in a for-profit business, I spend my days helping nonprofit organizations navigate the most business-like aspects of their organizations – the finances. I’m pretty good at it. I do not have an MBA.