Nonprofit organizations work hard to accomplish a world of good, but running one is much harder than it looks. Aside from the common issues that face any company, like adapting to new technology and staying up to date with accounting and regulatory requirements, nonprofits face some additional challenges specific to their sector.
Challenges facing non-profit organizations
What exactly are the challenges facing nonprofits, and how can they tackle them efficiently and within the limited resources they have? Let’s take a look look at the eight most significant strategic issues facing nonprofit organizations today:
- The Challenge of Limited Government Funding for Nonprofit Organizations
Many nonprofit organizations depend on the assistance of the government. This assistance may be in the form of grants or part of a matching scheme, or it may merely serve as a safety net to fill the gap when funds are short.
Shrinking budgets at state, national and municipal levels means there is less to go around. Most nonprofits end up getting less funding than they want or need, while some are left with no funding at all.
- Nonprofit’s Stable Income and Accurate Budgeting Issues
Having a steady income from any source is hard for nonprofits, and that can make budgeting a real challenge. Moreover, income may be unsteady throughout the year, so your focus usually falls on securing enough to cover administrative costs before seeing what is left for projects, and the organization often runs on a shoestring just in case.
- Pressure on Nonprofits to Show Results and Strategic Solutions
In the past, the nonprofit world’s emphasis was on showing that programs were being used and accessed by those they aimed to support. Now, largely because there is less to go around, the pressure has shifted. Your nonprofit must demonstrate that its social impact objectives are being achieved, which can be a much harder calculation.
- Not Running Nonprofits Like a Business and Ignoring the Bottom Line
With so much emphasis on performance, your nonprofit may struggle with remembering that it is still a business that has to have a bottom line in the black. Nonprofits often put their social impact goals at the forefront and their business objectives second, which is fine until there is not enough coming in to cover what is going out.
Cost and social impact must become aligned to deliver real life-changing results across all activities. To ensure your mission never loses sight of its capability/reach, you should use the right tools. This will make your people and processes more agile and adaptable and ready to meet changing circumstances within the resources you have. And they will allow you to track the bottom line in real-time.
- Attracting and Retaining the Right Talent Over Other Sectors
Many nonprofits struggle to win the battle for talent when competing with opportunities in other sectors. This leads to an equally important issue: are they attracting the right people? Looking at what type of person is attracted to the sector, and why others are not.
People attracted to nonprofit work are generally very dedicated to the causes they serve and are an asset to the sector. However, the limited resources many nonprofits have also make it tricky to recruit ‘top talent.’ Those that get hoovered up by more lucrative industries with bigger offers and opportunities. Is there a solution?
The solution comes in two parts. First, fight the fear. If these are the people you need, then invest in them. Nonprofits must fight the fear that they may leave or cost too much, and look at the bigger picture.
Second, where investing in new talent is not possible, you must believe in your top talent. Provide engaging work experience that allows your people to focus on why they love their work – your mission. And help them flourish and take their undeniable passion further.
- The Problem of a Significant Increase in Need for Nonprofit Services
Across the board, nonprofits are seeing an increase in the need for their services. Poverty is a real issue, and many people are facing economic hardships. The environment needs saving, and arts programs in many schools are being cut, putting the burden on nonprofits to respond quickly to unpredictable situations and deliver much-needed services.
- The Problem of a Significant Increase in Need for Nonprofit Services
Successful nonprofits face the possibility that they could work themselves right out of a job. Let’s say that your organization’s objective is to find employment for local veterans, and it does so, continually growing and evolving its services to meet that goal. Once it does, the demand for its services may decrease, which puts nonprofits under to either scale back or diversify their mission and programs.
- Nonprofits Challenged to Keep Their Eye on the Bottom Line
People working for nonprofits tend to wear many hats. Being generalists can mean no one in your organization has the dedicated knowledge that detailed business and finance analysis functions require. It’s essential to find tools that empower everyone to analyze information and make data-driven decisions.
Nonprofit organizations clearly face a range of specific challenges, some of which are obvious, while others are less so. To future-proof your organization and achieve your mission, you need to be aware of these issues and how they could be affecting your business.
Nonprofits that are serious about being around for the long-term need strategies to mitigate these challenges and use them as a starting point for developing a comprehensive business strategy. Approaching an operational strategy from this perspective is essential to sustaining successful business operations.
The article was published by Unit4 Communications
