The More the World Changes, the More it Stays the Same – What Nonprofit Leaders Are Worried About
COVID. Inflation. Political divide. Climate change. All of these issues are in many people's top listings of concerns, both professionally and personally. However, none of these reached the top echelons of concerns for nonprofit leaders. And what did is pretty consistent if you look over the decades.
In a study by the consulting firm UHY, of New York City, nonprofit leaders discussed their biggest concerns. And the top three concerns are related to their relationships with donors and contributors. Specifically, managers at these nonprofits that were surveyed indicated that their number one concern was program funding, followed by financial support, followed by the willingness of community partners and donors to continue their participation. All three directly relate to engaging those who support the nonprofit mission.
While not having “hard data” readily at hand, anecdotally, I would argue that 25 years ago, I was hearing much of the same.
There's an old adage that might be helpful here. “No money, no mission.”
While many of the national challenges, and even local ones, bubble up to the top of the news, if an organization can't meet its financial obligations, for which nonprofits see much of that from philanthropic dollars, the societal challenges don't really matter. If you can't make payroll, you don't care what's going on in other places.
All of this circles back to the importance of building better relationships with those who believe in the mission for which the nonprofit exists. Think about those relationships more longitudinally and less transactionally.
In the end, budgets matter. Financial projections matter. Philanthropic revenue matters. And if the basics aren't taken care of, then all the bigger issues of the world really don't make a difference to that nonprofit when they're struggling to keep their doors open.
