It’s no secret that places around the world are experiencing economic decline. Long-time companies are experiencing mass layoffs, businesses are closing their doors and the line to receive bailouts is getting longer. If this is the case for businesses, where many companies are struggling just to survive, how much more is it a struggle for nonprofits? How are nonprofits to exist and survive during economic decline?
There’s an old clich\xE9 that states: “Don’t throw out the baby with the bath water”. Despite being cheeky, the quote has a lot of significance during a time when many people want to jump ship because of current conditions, therefore, throwing out their organization with the economy. Although these are tough times, there are ways that nonprofits have the ability to not only survive, but to flourish during the current economic downturn. Below are a few things you can do to infuse new life into your nonprofit organization.
Energizing your nonprofit during the current economic times must begin at the top, working its way down. This begins by positively reinforcing your employees and volunteers. It is no wonder why so many people are scared, when all conversations center on how organizations and companies are going to survive. This is conversation likened to people who are on their death bed, and you’re not on your deathbed. Center your conversations and actions on the positives. Discuss successes of past, present and future initiatives, and not the failures. If you lead this way out front, then others underneath you will notice it and be more likely to follow suit. If you don’t give positive reinforcement, but negative, then those under you won’t demonstrate the confidence to carry out the vision of your nonprofit.
In addition to positive reinforcement, it’s important to give incentives to employees and volunteers along with it. Giving incentives doesn’t just mean a monetary reward. Many for-profit businesses have come under the microscope because they were giving too much of a monetary incentive to their executives. Providing incentives should be both individual and company-wide, and should be based on different factors, including performance. Other factors can include completion of safety checklists or demonstrating best practices. Nonprofit incentives can range from gift certificates provided by donors to a couple hours of paid vacation time to recognition in a local newspaper or publication.
One of the biggest questions for nonprofits today is how to keep up fundraising efforts. It is no surprise that many people may not be able to give to nonprofit organizations as they once were. Yet this just means that you have to change how you drive your fundraising campaigns. Instead of 50 donors giving $100 each, it may mean 100 donors giving $50 each. You’ll have to get creative by challenging existing donors in different ways, finding new donors and reconnecting with donors who are no longer giving.
Not only will you have to get creative in your fundraising campaigns, but also creative in how you promote and market your nonprofit organization. One of the toughest challenges for nonprofits is marketing their organization. Few nonprofits have the budget and resources to put much into doing marketing themselves, or having a marketing firm do it for them. Yet, a lot of money can be saved from developing the right traditional and nontraditional marketing campaigns. Some new print companies offer free business cards, magnets and brochures, in exchange for advertising. In addition, you can develop social media campaigns with websites such as Facebook and Twitter, which can cost little to no money. Developing the right marketing campaign can save money, time and resources, which can allow you to focus in more on the goals of your nonprofit organization.
The above initiatives, by no means represent a cure-all for energizing your nonprofit during tough economic times. However, they do offer alternatives for pouring new life into your nonprofit organization.
