the life and death of... nonprofit organizations
For many nonprofits, to be striving towards are mission, we are also striving towards our own deaths as organizations. While this may not be the case for arts and cultures organization or childcare centers, it is often so for social service and community development oriented organizations.
A transitional foster care home ultimately wants less kids staying at its facilities, because it means that more children are finding stable families to live with. A homeless shelter ultimately prefers that the homeless find affordable housing instead of staying at their temporary shelters.
Currently, a community development corporation has been very successful in revitalizing the area where it is located. The region is beginning to attract more population, tourism and income, and appears to be thriving from its dilapidated abandoned-by-industry state. The organization has watched its loan and mortgage business dwindle as the private sector has found it profitable to move in and take over. Small businesses in the area are thriving with new stores and attractions opening all the time. The question ahead remains: What is its role going forward? Has it accomplished its mission?
Death is not always bad and growth is not always the golden touch. Let’s hope that very successful non-profit organizations can acknowledge and celebrate their successes, and gracefully bow out when their time has come, so that resources can be directed elsewhere. Because though some areas may see improvement, there are still many poor amongst us.
3 comments:
I was fb stalking you and found my way to your blog (its Nse :-)I've also been thiking alot about nonprofit sustainability not just financially but mission-wise as well and I def hear what you are saying. I think the thing though is that no nonprofits ever feel that they have completely fulfilled their mission. The cdc you mentioned could logically come to the conclusion that part of their broad goal of strengthening x community requires that they now try to preserve affordability in the same neighborhood they were working hard to "develop," and their work must then move towards community organizing and the provision of affordable housing.
A second point, if non-profits need to respond to the current changes in the sector and become more business minded then shouldn't they arguably look for new markets, new products and new customers once the old loose their viablity?
We should get together when I come back to Philly in the fall!
Hi Nse!
(Sorry -- I edited your comment to remove my name. I have this weird thing of not liking my name being published on the internet).
But yes, we should definitely get together in the fall and I'd love to hear your thoughts for nonprofit sustainability.
I think what you said about the cdc altering and changing their efforts in some ways involves the "death" of the old mission and revival of a new mission (depending on how broadly their mission is). But that will often depend on what kind of funding is viable. I think sometimes nonprofits become too concerned with how to sustain and grow the organization, and lose sight of their mission, or are not fluid enough to adapt their mission to changing circumstances.
For some reason, all I can think about is how we do the same thing to organizations as to individuals --- we want and expect them to live forever, and try to prolong their lives by whatever means necessary. We don't have much of a concept of finishing strong.
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