The New Nonprofit Normal

A STRATEGY GUIDE FOR ADAPTING

The way we live and communicate has changed and, when the virus is gone, for many, life will not go back to the way it was. It’s time for creativity and finding ways to leverage change to achieve your mission and even more impact.

The pandemic has forced nonprofits to innovate, and those innovations may change the future of the sector. As a lesson for all nonprofits, here’s what’s happening in New York City:

The Department of Education implemented online schooling for 1 million students on short notice. Spectrum gave free broadband for 60 days to those students who didn’t already have it. 

Can this network be built up so every child in every school gets the same quality of education? Could this be a watershed moment for failing schools?

Community Board 7 held a virtual meeting using Zoom. Attendance was so much higher than live meetings that the chairman commented they may keep doing it. Online attendees included people with a disability or childcare issues who had never participated in local government. 

Will virtual opportunities be added to other government or nonprofit meetings in order to increase public awareness and participation? How will that diversify democracy or affect the outcomes?

People are using the NextDoor app to offer help to those who are self-isolating and to learn the shopping hours for seniors and which stores still have masks.

Can these networks of people and of information be used by local nonprofits to identify needs, deliver services, or attract volunteers while funding is low?

Instead of its lecture series, CUNY is offering free videos to the public, and Symphony Space is offering online entertainment for adults and children. The Metropolitan Museum of Art is producing online exhibits and access to its collection.

Is this a model for making cultural events more accessible to people who can’t afford or can’t get to these venues? Will this help close the culture gap in this country?

Doctors at NYU Langone Hospital who never tried telemedicine before are now using it.

Will this give more people access to good healthcare, no matter where they live? Will this jumpstart foundations to fund a new model of telehealth delivery to reach underserved rural America?

Elected officials and residential buildings are compiling lists of vulnerable people in order to offer help. And they are keeping those lists for the next crisis. 

If this information is disseminated to all local service providers, will it result in better service to vulnerable people? 

Planning for the Post-Pandemic World

Many businesses that supported nonprofits will have gone out of business. Individual volunteers and donors may be looking for work. Government budgets will be slashed. And the needs of the communities you serve may have changed completely. The services you offered for years may no longer be what the community needs most. Are you ready to pivot? 

With greatly reduced income and increased need, nonprofits may have to prioritize services and find new ways to deliver outcomes — whether evolving existing programs, eliminating them, or creating new ones.

Thinking beyond current parameters is crucial. Nonprofits may have to build new partnerships with other nonprofits and with the businesses that have survived. Online options will have to be explored. 

Amidst the rush to plug the holes, it’s also time to step back and explore the big picture. 

Nonprofit Success Strategy Guide

1. Communicate effectively with your constituents. Let your participants, partners, donors, and other stakeholders know how the COVID-19 situation is affecting your organization and what you are doing about it. Remember that the needs of the people who you are serving, or your other audiences, may have changed, so let them know how you are adapting to address their needs. 
2. Re-imagine your future. Prioritize what you need to do keep afloat, but also take concrete steps to re-imagine your future. Whether forming a strategy committee or soliciting ideas from staff — get new ideas flowing. A good question to ask: If we had to start an organization from scratch to address the same problem, what would that organization look like? How can funding be put to use to maximize our impact? 
3. Rethink both your short-term needs and long-term goals. Addressing your immediate cash flow and other needs is crucial, but it’s also an opportunity to rethink your overall strategy for delivering impact. Organizations that will come out ahead in the end, will be the ones that have a compelling vision that maps to this new reality and inspires donors. Financially lean organizations are often more creative in their approaches, so leverage this chance to slay sacred cows, abandon ineffective ways, and forge bold plans for solving problems and delivering impact.
4. Engage your board. Now is a good time to engage your board so that they have skin in the game. Your board needs to provide leadership through these troubling times, set an example for others (particularly with their continued financial commitments), be effective ambassadors representing the organization to funders and the public, and actively participate in the organization — it’s all hands on deck. This can be an opportunity to bring your board to life, improve communications between board and staff, and eliminate the deadwood.
5. Decide which staff members will be able to safely return to work first. The governor of New York is thinking about a phased restart, with younger people or those who have developed antibodies to COVID-19 allowed back while vulnerable workers are still in isolation. Reassign staff so the skills of first returnees can be best used in getting top priority programs up and running.
6. Adapt your fundraising approaches. If everyone is hurting financially, funding will become more difficult, but not impossible. Express empathy for your donors and create connections — we are all in this together. People still have philanthropic desires, and there are still ways to fulfill those desires — pledges for the future, smaller monthly gifts, in-kind contributions, volunteering, stocks that can appreciate in value, and other ways.  
7. Experiment. Now is the time to find new ways to deliver more services or impact for less money. Nonprofits previously stifled by the fear of failure are now free to experiment with new methods. Use this opportunity wisely. Document your process for developing new ideas, record what’s working and what’s not, and report back to your stakeholders. Celebrate your successes, and use the opportunity to cultivate a culture of experimentation that can lead to breakthroughs in addressing the problem.
8. Ask and listen. Keep your ear to the ground. Ask your constituents how their needs have changed and what can be done to fulfill them, don’t assume. Check out your competition (ahem, organizations with similar missions), to see how they are adapting. What ideas and best practices are emerging? How can your organization be positioned to lead in its field?

Your business model, strategy, and brand are more important than ever. How will your organization adapt? Red Rooster Group has been helping nonprofit organizations through three recessions over the past 20 years. If we can be of help to you, let us know.

RELATED RESOURCE

Independent Sector’s Virtual Town Hall – Leading During a Pandemic

Watch the recording

See the slides

TOOLS

Here’s a list of free or discounted tools for working remotely.

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