If I asked 100 nonprofit leaders how they solve problems in their nonprofits, I bet that 90 or more of them would say something about taking action. The entire nonprofit sector, it seems, is driven by this go, go, go mentality. Folks are always doing more (often with less). But I want to propose a mindset shift that will help you solve problems in your nonprofit more strategically and effectively. And it starts with getting out of the cycle of constant action.
Before we go any further, I want to be clear that I’m certainly not faulting anyone who’s in the action-taker mindset. Like I’ve said before, because nonprofits are addressing pressing needs (created by historical and ongoing injustices and inequities), the work is crucial. And I’m not in the business of telling the women of color and other BIPOC who shoulder so much of this work that they need to stop.
Rather, I’m proposing a way of looking at problems and problem solving that will make it more possible to sustain the effort, create long-lasting change, and reshape the social, political, and economic landscape of our country. We’re talking about systemic change here.
Let’s get started.
Step 1: Identify the problem
This step probably seems like a no-brainer. But what I see often is folks mistaking the symptoms of a problem for the problem itself.
For example, let’s say there’s a small nonprofit, and they run three programs: a food pantry, an after-school program, and a career counseling center. They don’t have the funding they need for these programs, and they want to add a fourth program–a GED prep program.
So at first glance, it might appear that the problem is a lack of funding. But I want to dig a little deeper. I would say that the lack of funding is a symptom of the true problem.
I know this is an imagined scenario, but frankly, it’s not all that different from some of the situations I hear about when I do discovery calls with prospective clients.
The real problem in most of these cases is that running 3 or 4 programs on a yearly budget of less than $50k is trying to do too much with too little.
And the other real problem that I see in cases like this one is that folks who are running all these programs (often for very little or no compensation) aren’t able to commit 50% of their time to fundraising and grantseeking. I know that 50% might sound absurdly high to you, but this is the number that I’ve seen have the best results for small nonprofits that want to scale.
So once you’ve identified the true problem by looking past the symptoms to find what’s causing them, it’s time to consider possible solutions.
Step 2: Consider all possible solutions
You’ll notice that this step says consider all possible solutions, not act on the first solution that pops into your head or do what you’ve always done to solve problems in your nonprofit.
This is something that my team and I are working on improving in my business; it is something that we all need practice doing.
If we think about the example of the nonprofit running three programs on a budget of less than $50k, there are several solutions that might remedy their cashflow problems (which, again, is a symptom of the deeper problem of doing too much with too little and not dedicating enough time to fundraising and grantseeking).
They could:
- Ask for summer donations from their existing donor base
- Cultivate new donors
- Search for 5 grant opportunities
Each of these actions will require an investment of time and effort, which means that they’ll have to scale back their programs, most likely, and potentially make other changes. And that brings us to the next step.
Step 3: Identify the changes you need to make to implement the best possible solution
Let’s say that the ED of this imaginary nonprofit decides that the best possible solution of the three listed above is to search for 5 grant opportunities. She knows the economy is struggling, their existing donor base is tapped out, and she’s going to be warming them up for year-end donations soon. Similarly, finding and cultivating new donors will require a lot of time-consuming networking.
So, she identifies grantseeking as the best possible action to take.
She’s going to have to make changes to put this plan in action. First she might decide that they’re going to table the GED prep program idea and scale back their after-school program. The food pantry runs pretty much on its own (and doesn’t require much time from her or her team of 3 volunteers), and she wants to focus on the career counseling program because it is a good foundation for the eventual GED prep program.
If this is her first time making grantseeking a priority, she also needs to dedicate time to learning how to do it successfully. This is what I tell to leaders of small nonprofits that I speak with, the ones who need grant funding but don’t have the resources to hire a consultant like me. And often, I sense some resistance to this idea. The underlying belief is that they need funding and they need it now, so there’s no time to stop and learn.
So this is another place where we need to break out of the cycle of constant action. If you take the time to really learn how to write grants, the results will be so much better than if you jump right in.
Step 4: Take action and track your results
Taking action is something I bet you’re comfortable with, so I won’t say much on that. But I do want to highlight the importance of tracking the results of the actions you take, so that you can make even better decisions in the future.
For example, when you apply for grants, keep the proposals you submit on file and track whether you were awarded and for how much on a spreadsheet. If you’re not awarded, follow up with the funder for feedback on your proposal. Turn to this data whenever you apply for a grant in the future to determine what funders to apply with and the amounts you should ask for.
Did this resonate with you?
Did this post resonate with you? If you’re thinking “yep, I’m definitely in the cycle of constant action and doing too much with too little,” I want to help you solve problems in your nonprofit and be successful with grants.
Download “The Roadmap to Grant Funding” and start planning your next steps.
