Making It Work
Let’s Get Innovative
Judy Alnes, Executive Director of MAP for Nonprofits, is on a roll about the importance of innovation. In her article for MCF’s Winter 2010 Giving Quarterly, she outlines what might come next for the nonprofit sector, finishing with a call for innovation:
- “Scrub-Down” Won’t Be Enough
- We Aren’t Going Back From Where We Came
- Strategic Investments Aren’t Optional
- We Must Do a Better Job Measuring and Taking the Positive Results to Scale
- We Have to Innovate and Be Bold
Judy was also our guest blogger this week at Balancing the Mission Checkbook, and her post Ready, Set, Innovate provides a number of resources to help nonprofits embrace the discipline of innovation.
Thinking Differently
To help nonprofits think outside the box, we are offering a workshop Financial Planning in Uncertain Times. This training is built around our scenario planning tools, which any nonprofit can use to think through how different circumstances – such as changes in the state budget or foundation grants – impact your programs and other operations.
For nonprofits interested in assessing new revenue streams, you can listen to a recording of the webinar Alternative Revenue Strategies and download the Revenue Matrix.
What other tools do you need to think differently? Tell us in the comments and we’ll do our best to find existing resources or develop new materials to meet these needs.
C is for Collaborate, Good for You and Me?
Another hot topic is collaboration, especially as nonprofits try to find new ways to deliver services with fewer resources. Around Thanksgiving I wrote a blog post What I’m Thankful For – Strategic Collaboration that highlighted some examples of successful collaborations.
So what does it take to have a successful collaboration? Here are some resources that help make these partnerships work for everyone.
Administrative Alliances
The Nonprofit Times recently published an article, Secret Sauce Of Backroom Collaborations, that identifies three common factors in successful administrative collaborations:
- Standardization: The reason why many nonprofit back room operations are not standardized is because they tend to be put together in support of programs and services that are not standardized. Each has different terms referring to essentially the same thing.
- Replicability: Without an overarching agreement about the service models using the administrative services, it is unlikely that two or more back rooms will have enough in common to maintain replicable processes.
- Scale: Low volumes of transactions will not support the added administrative effort needed to make an alliance work… This “administrative alliance tax” is the reason why small organizations might be better off co-locating rather than trying to build administrative alliances.
Strengthen Your Collaborations
As the Nonprofit Times article mentions, working collaboratively can be hard:
The staff time required to make them happen is almost always “extra” time, over and above the normal demands of day-to-day operations. That means collaboration time is often of a lower priority, squeezed out in favor of more pressing business.
When partners don’t work well together, the goal is muddy, and responsibilities aren’t clear, collaboration can be far more effort than it is worth
The webinar Collaboration: Construction, Repair and Maintenance was designed to help nonprofits consider the pros and cons of collaborating during tough economic times and asses whether collaboration is the right strategy to reach your goal, and how to build a strong foundation. Listen to the recording to learn more about how to build trust, lead successfully, and make collaborative decisions.
Case Studies
- Nonprofit Collaboration Case Studies: The Charity Lawyer presents four case studies, complete with what worked, what did not, and lessons learned.
- Looking for an example of a successful backroom collaboration? Check out the MACC CommonWealth.
- Nonprofit Collaboration Database: The Lodestar Foundation, which awards the Collaboration Prize, has created a database of collaborations. You can search by type of partnership, geographic area, service area, and even challenges faced.
Other Resources
- Mergers – Due Diligence Items: After a conversation with La Piana Consulting, Nonprofit Law Blog outlines the most important things to think through before any merger.
- From the Answer Desk: What do I need to know about collaboration and other kinds of strategic alliances? The librarians at the Foundation Center in Cleveland explain different kinds of collaborations and round up some useful tools.