The last three months have brought about unprecedented market changes that have had dramatic impact on nonprofits of all kinds. As financial resources shrink and the need for social services swell, urgent consideration must be given to addressing the myriad new challenges that are threatening the very existence of our nation's health and human service organizations.
In our work with organizations around the country, MissionWise has seen many nonprofits respond swiftly and decisively to the challenges of our economic crisis, including (1) reducing program expenses, overhead, and staff; (2) merging with other nonprofits; (3) using their reserve funds; and (4) in some cases, closing their doors. In addition, a number of organizations have addressed the crisis programmatically, by (1) narrowing their focus or changing their eligibility standards in order to limit the demand for their services; (2) using this time as an opportunity to refocus their program work; (3) looking for social enterprise opportunities and /or new methods of earned income activity; (4) finding ways to collaborate with organizations in various fields and sectors; and (5) redefining the tangible results their clients get from using their products, programs, or services.
In most of the cases above, challenges were viewed as opportunities, with bold, creative, entrepreneurial thinking applied to addressing the impact of the economic crisis.
While there are no right or wrong answers for nonprofits who are navigating through these extremely challenging times, it is clear that survival will entail an ability to move beyond a "business as usual" approach.
How has your organization turned challenge into opportunity?
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
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2 comments:
The current economy has provided an opportunity for our organization to trade services with other nonprofits through staff time instead of a finacial contract to get the work done. By doing this, we also gain new collaborative partners in the process.
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