By Regenia Bailey / Guest Editorial
Running and managing a nonprofit has a lot of challenges, not the least of which is working with a business model reliant — to a greater or lesser degree — upon human generosity.
And there’s no time of year when this is more apparent than it is now. Our mailboxes — real and virtual — fill up with donation appeals. In some instances, the organizations and their appeals mesh together in an indistinguishable mass; one program and appeal sounding and feeling very much like the other. This is where the nonprofit sector can take a page out of the business sector’s playbook and think about competition.
To some, competition is a bleak word that leaves no room for altruism, for empathy, or even cooperation. Therefore, many nonprofit boards do not think about competition when starting an organization or developing their strategic plans. This is an oversight. A nonprofit organization must be able to articulate how it is distinct from other organizations in the community — whether these are in the nonprofit, the business or in the public sector — and where they have similarities to others. How an organization distinguishes itself in meeting community needs is key to its survival.
An organization can distinguish itself by the services it provides, the manner in which these are provided, the location of the services, or even in the underlying philosophy that guides and informs the services. The way in which an organization distinguishes itself is often dependent upon the type of organization it is.
Faith-based organizations differentiate themselves by their underlying beliefs and philosophies. This approach may not work as well for art museums. Because nonprofit organizations typically have two groups of customers with varying degrees of overlap, an organization’s distinct qualities may be clear and appealing to its clients, but if supporters — individual donors, foundations and other funders — along with the broader community, do not see and understand these, it may be difficult for the organization to garner the support it needs to survive.
From its beginning, an organization must be clear on its unique purpose and the value it brings to community. To do this, it must look at its environment and determine what other organizations are providing similar services. This doesn’t mean that a community should not have multiple museums, theatres, youth organizations or homeless shelters. It does mean, however, that if a museum or youth organization cannot describe how it is different from the one down the street, that it may face challenges as it makes the case for support to potential funders.
Exploring feasibility and distinction work well for a start-up organization, but how can a board of an established organization approach these questions? First, the board should do an environmental scan and make a list of all the other organizations that provide similar services. Second, it should specifically describe how its organization is different from each other organization on the list. If it is difficult for a board to describe how the organization is distinct from others in its community, it should begin to examine why this is the case and what should be done about it. In cases where the differences are apparent, the board and staff should look at the organization’s materials to ensure that these differences are clearly and succinctly articulated.
An organization’s environment is constantly changing. As part of its strategic planning function, a board must regularly evaluate its environment to ensure that the organization’s services continue to be relevant and distinct. Additionally, organizations must communicate their value in ways that help those less familiar with the organization understand it. It is a foregone conclusion that nonprofit organizations do good work. For an organization to cut through the din of a noisy environment full of interests competing for supporters’ attention, an organization must clearly and consistently articulate how the work it is doing is distinct and valuable in meeting needs in the community. When an organization can do that, its appeals for support and donations — at this time of year or any other time — stand out from the others and increase the likelihood of support and deeper community understanding of its work.
Regenia Bailey is a consulting and coach to nonprofits and small businesses at her firm, the Bailey Leadership Initiative. She is a former mayor of Iowa City and teaches business courses at Kirkwood Community College. For more information, visit www.baileyleadershipinitiative.com.
