“Make yourself indispensable” is good career advice. It is also great advice for nonprofits of all types.
Why is your nonprofit indispensable to the surrounding community?
Our experience tells us, the indispensable nonprofits are able to raise the funds they need to pursue their mission. The others experience varying levels of difficulty raising funds.
Indispensible nonprofits raise adequate funds each year. Adequate funds allow:
Budget increases each year to keep pace with client growth and inflation
An annual investment in enhancing the service delivery model and staff skills
Financial strength to improve annually
If the ability to raise adequate funds is the yardstick, how indispensible is your nonprofit?
Indispensible – Our nonprofit has a five or more year history of raising adequate funds
Almost – In three or more of the past five years, our nonprofit had adequate funds
Perhaps – In the last five years, it was been rare for our nonprofit to have adequate funds
Doubtful – Our nonprofit reduced its budget to avoid deficits or should have reduced its budget to avoid deficits, seldom invested in itself, and has declining financial strength (If this is your organization, please get help. Your community needs your nonprofit. ‘Doubtful’ nonprofits are the ones most likely to close in the next 3 years.)
What does an indispensable nonprofit look like:
Leader – May or may not be the biggest but is the most respected and usually leads with innovations and state-of-the-art solutions
First Name – The organization people think of when they talk about the category (arts, youth, schooling, abuse, history, health, etc.)
Reputation – Provides the best client services, has the most durable outcomes, makes permanent, meaningful, and measurable changes in the community, etc.
Referrals – Receives more referrals than the other nonprofits in their category
Advocates – Has more independent advocates in the community than the other nonprofits in their category
Next Step:
Assess your organization’s adequacy of funding
Determine which areas of indispensability need to be strengthened
Develop a plan to strengthen your indispensability or contact an expert and ask them to help you
Invite your donors to help you to become indispensability
The community surrounding a sustainable nonprofit would notice if the nonprofit closed, and people would suffer if the nonprofit closed. That nonprofit has become indispensable. As a result, the community will do what it must to ensure the nonprofit has adequate funding. With strong community support there is a high level of sustainability.
