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March, 2010 -by Peter C. Brinckerhoff

This month's topic: Coming Out of The Recession Stronger


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Nonprofit Book Sale

Just a headsup that The Fieldstone Alliance is having a  30% off sale through the end of March, 2010. Since Fieldstone only publishes books for nonprofits, this is something you really ought to check out.

Here's a notice from their press release:
"Save 30% on your next book order simply by using this sale code: save30sale. Start shopping.
This offer is good on any title in our catalog, for as many books as you wish to purchase. Save even more on bulk orders.
Offer good through March 31, 2010. Discount does not apply to book sets already priced at 30 to 40 percent off. While supplies last."
Full Disclosure: Fieldstone publishes two of my books: Nonprofit Stewardship: A Better Way to Lead Your Mission-Based Organization, and Generations: The Challenge of A Lifetime for Your Nonprofit.

That said, there are dozens of great titles available for a signficant, time-limited discount. Check it out!

This Month's Topic: Coming Out of the Recession Stronger

Sites of the Month

Each month, this area provides with a number of my favorite and most helpful sites regarding the topic of the month.

Management Tip of the Month

Each issue, I start with a discussion of my management perspective on the month's topic, and give you a few hands-on ideas to consider.

Recommended Publications

Here, I provide you with my recommendations on the  materials available that can help you become more mission-capable in the area of  Coming out the Recession Stronger

Technology

I provide you with some good ideas for uses of tech to better your organization in the area of  Coming Out Of the Recession Stronger

Marketing Tip

So much to say, so little space to say it.....

Next Issue

In April, we'll examine the second part of my two part series on Nonprofit Innovation

Past Issues:
You can see the topics of past Mission-Based Management Newsletters, and then view those that are of interest to you, by scrolling to the bottom of the newsletter, or by clicking here.

Websites of the Month

Here are my recommendations for websites of interest on this issue's topic: Coming Out Of the Recession Stronger:

http://nancyschwartz.com/ A terrific set of strategies from Nancy Schwartz
http://www.smartbrief.com/ Good suggestions from the Nonprofit Finance Fund

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Management Tip 
Coming Out of the Recession Stronger

There may be some readers who expected to see the second installment of "Nonprofit Innovation" in this month's edition. Sorry-you'll have to wait until April, but this topic is very, very closely related. I hear far too much talk about "nonprofits surviving" the recession, and hunkering down, getting by, working their way through the economic hard times.  It's gotten to the point that I really need to speak out, so here we go.

As a steward, your job is to make decisions each day that make your nonprofit more mission-capable. If your organization entered this recession financially weak, or over-extended, or under capitalized (and we think about 60% of nonprofits did just that) then survival may be your primary first thought. That said, this financial malaise is an opportunity for you, your staff and your board to rethink a number of things so that you can come out the other end of the recession tunnel stronger and more able to do great mission for the long term. Let's look at some things to think and talk about to help you achieve that goal:

First, think through your core business model. Are you doing things you are really good at (core competencies), or are you just taking money from anyone? Recessions are very hard on nonprofits trying to avoid mission creep. Stay focused on what you do best. Review your mission and your strategic plan if you feel that will help, but most of all, focus on what you do best.

Second, Are you too dependent on one source of revenue? For example, many Illinois nonprofits that receive most of their funds from the State of Illinois have had to wait six months for payment this year......six months. Or what about the New York nonprofits that counted on the largess of Lehman Brothers....remember Lehman Brothers? Take a look at your income streams and think through whether what you are getting paid for is worth the dependency.

Third, look at what's happening in your community. Predictions are for over 100,000 nonprofits in the US alone to close in the next 12 months...that's about 1 in 8 nonprofits, so some will be near you. Pay attention to what's happening around you and think carefully when approached by a failing nonprofit asking to be absorbed by your organization.

Fourth, focus on your people. They are stressed, of course, like everyone else. You want to do everything you can to keep your best people on board. As a leader it's very important to be out there, visible with your staff and volunteers. Don't hide behind your open door policy. And lead optimistically. If you go around looking and acting like Eeyore in Winnie the Pooh, well, that's a communicable disease.

Fifth (and there's more on this in the Marketing and Tech tips), keep up your external visibility. Polish your website and your outside marketing efforts. Let your core funders (and donors) know what you're doing. Tell them about your plans, your re-organizations, re-focusing, etc.

Finally, retool, if you can. Send staff to training, update your website, put a new coat of paint on your offices or service space. Why? Because this shows you are preparing for the future, not just trying to get through today.

Remember the words of Andy Grove (the former CEO of Intel) has said: "Weak organizations are doomed by a crisis, good organizations survive them, and great organizations are transformed by them." Be great. Your mission, and the people you serve, deserve it.

If you found this hint helpful, there are lots more management, marketing, and technology ideas for you in the "Ideas" section at www.missionbased.com. Check them out--they're free.

And, remember to take a look at the Mission-Based Management Blog.

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Print Resources

My recommendations for texts and other readings on Coming Out of the Recession Stronger.

The Nonprofit Strategy Revolution, by David LaPiana. A terrific book that shows you how to re-tool your strategy in a flexibly, mission-based manner,

Mission Based Management, 3rd Edition, by Peter Brinckerhoff
This new Edition of the McAdam Award-Winning book includes a full chapters on a deep discussion of Strategic Planning, Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation.
 
To see my recommendations for great books for nonprofits on a variety of topics,
click on any of the links below:

To see more about any or all of my books, go to: Books by Peter Brinckerhoff

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Technology Tip 
Coming Out of The Recession Stronger....and  Technology!
Recessions are a great time to use your technology to reach out and remain visible to funders, donors, the community and, of course, the people you serve. If you are re-thinking your organizational strategy (a good idea) you should also take a second look at your use of technology. This may include tech for service provision, or for marketing and fund raising.

In the Management Tip, I talked about re-doing your website. While that may seem an unnecessary expense right now, hard times are great times to rethink the point of your website, the outcomes you want and to do the planning needed to re-tool the site when you have a bit more money.

What you'll find is that there are probably a lot of things that you can do right now, and very inexpensively to expand your tech reach. For example, producing low-cost (as in no cost, other than time) videos and posting them on YouTube with links from various parts of your sites can both turbo charge your message and give staff new hope for the future. How can video be no-cost? Well most Macs and Windows based software come with video editing software and every high school senior in the US knows how to use it. Seriously. The cameras are everywhere, so someone on your board and staff will lend you one, and you're set. Still concerned? Go to YouTube and watch the videos on....how to make and publish videos!  

YouTube is also working to match nonprofits in need of videos with video artists who will work as volunteers. Watch for that in the coming months.

There are other uses of your website that you may not have taken the time to put online yet. We'll talk more about those next month when we return to Nonprofit Innovation.

If you found this hint helpful, there are lots more management, marketing, and technology ideas for you in the "Ideas" section at www.missionbased.com. Check them out--they're free

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Training Schedule for Peter Brinckerhoff

Below you'll see the date, location, and topics of public training I'm currently scheduled to do in the next few months. For more information on a particular speaking engagement, get in touch with the contact person listed in the right hand column, or email me.

For more information on my availability throughout the next 12-18 months, available topics, sample agendas, and fees go to www.missionbased.com/training.htm

3/1-2/10 Baltimore Intro to Marketing NISH
Ana Rodriguez
arodriguez@nish.org
3/3/10 Birmingham, AL Partnership and Collaboration
Generation Change
Nonprofit Resource Center of Alabama
Sandy Killion
skillion@vindco.com
4/21/10 Chicago Nonprofit Stewardship The Center for Leadership Innovation
Angelo Arrington
aarrington@dtinational.org
4/29/10 Chicago Innovation as the Norm The Center for Leadership Innovation
Angelo Arrington
aarrington@dtinational.org

Marketing Tip

Coming Out of the Recession Stronger.... and Marketing

As I said in the Tech Tip, if you are re-thinking your organizational strategy, you need to simultaneously re-think your marketing strategy. There are so many markets for you to serve that you have to focus on the ones you want the services you provide, that make the most mission sense and that you can serve well. That may be changing now. For example, if you are heavily dependent on revenue from just one or two sources, you may well have been burned if one of them went broke, or backed off in its funding streams. Thus, you may be rethinking that part of your organizational strategy.

Let's look quickly at two ways to focus your marketing efforts. The first is the Pareto Principle, commonly known as the 80-20 Rule. In this use, it says that 80% of your revenue comes from 20% of your customers. Thus, a quick revue of your income statement will guide you to the customers (donors, users, funders, volunteers types) that are the biggest in their category and thus merit more attention, research, contact, etc.

If, however, you simply stay with your currently biggest customers, that's where you'll be in two or three or five years, and if the recession has taught us anything, it's that change is needed. So, the second method of focus is to look at what I referred to in the first sentence--your new, updated organizational strategy. Are you going online for more smaller donors rather than just a few big ones? (think "Text Haiti 99909") If so, that may merit a change in your marketing to that group of people. Are you looking for new ways of providing service to a new group of people? Then market assessment for that group is in order: What do they really want?

A combination of the 80-20 rule and your new strategy will keep you focused on the markets you need to retain and the markets you want to attain. It's challenging, for sure, but now is the time to transform your organization into the most mission-capable it can be.

If you found this hint helpful, there are lots more management, marketing, and technology ideas for you in the "Ideas" section at www.missionbased.com. Check them out--they're free.

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Future Topics for
The Mission-Based Management Newsletter....
April Nonprofit Innovation, Part II
June New Marketing Strategies
July Evaluating Volunteers
Send me your topic suggestions at: peter@missionbased.com

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You asked, so here they are: Past Single-Topic Issues of the Mission-Based Management Newsletter...

2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
Jan. Business Development Strategic Planning Generation Change  Conflict of Interest Reorganizing Your Board of Directors Organizational Transparency Ethics Accountability and Transparency
Feb. Fund Raising Leadership Accountability Generation Change and Your Staff New Communications Tools Different Generational Cultures Nonprofit Innovation-1
Mar. Volunteers Core Competencies Ethics and Management Admin Costs Generation Change and Finance  Organizational Visibility and Reputation
Apr. Financial Management Expanding to New Markets Staff Satisfaction New  Tech Ideas for Nonprofits Greening Your Nonprofit  
May On-line Marketing  Endowments  When Boards Cross the Management/Policy Line Generations Change and the People You Serve New Approaches to Social Entrepreneurism Nonprofit Blogs Worth Reading
Jun. Transparency  Tech and Mission  Staff Rewards Mentoring Leadership
Development
Jul. Nonprofit Start-up  Sustainability  Saying No to Community Needs Better Cash Planning Technology Planning  Paid Staff/UnPaid Staff
Aug. Governance Ethical Benefits  Board and Non-CEO Relations Small Nonprofits Vision, Mission, Values  
Sept. Political Activities Entrepreneurship  Executive Transition Generation Change and Technology Budgeting In a Recession    Revisiting the Mission Statement
Oct. Attracting and Retaining Younger Staff, Board, and Volunteers Internal Communications   Advocacy Crisis Management Disaster Planning  
Nov. Outcome Measurement Board Recruitment  When Boards Fail Generation Change and Marketing Staff Recruitment & Retention   Characteristics of Successful Nonprofits (revised)
Dec.  Lifelong Learning Better Budgeting  Conflict of Interest  Signs of Organizational Trouble Measuring Mission   

 

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