Powering Your Nonprofit Mission

Two vital assets power the mission of every nonprofit: volunteers and donations. However, with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, volunteers became reluctant to work with the elderly and the infirm or with anyone in an enclosed group setting. Just as many nonprofits needed more assistance to care for their clients during the pandemic, their volunteer list began to shrink. Paid personnel were needed to fill the gap, and nonprofit expenses began to soar.

Although the main objective of organizing a fundraising campaign is to generate funds, there are several other major factors why they are so important. You need money to keep your organization going and to promote your charity objectives and social service campaigns, but fundraising may also provide other advantages. Let's go over some of the important reasons for organizing a fundraising campaign.

Pandemic related labor shortages are threatening the nonprofit sector's recovery. Many smaller nonprofits, virtually shut down during the worst of COVID-19, have begun to revitalize but find progress hampered by a shortage of qualified personnel. Large corporations have raided the nonprofit personnel ranks with lucrative pay increases, flexible work hours, and work from home options that smaller nonprofits find it difficult to match.

As the corona virus pandemic descended over the world, everything changed for nonprofits. Suddenly many of the smaller organizations are fighting for survival. We contacted a retired professor from the Harvard Business School who has spent a lifetime researching nonprofit management to ask for his suggestions on nonprofit crisis management.

The nonprofit universe is vast and varied. According to the National Center for Charitable Statistics, more than 1.5 million nonprofit organizations are registered in the U.S. This number includes public charities, private foundations and a wide array of other nonprofit organizations like civic leagues, fraternal organizations and even local chambers of commerce. Because we work every day with a variety of nonprofits all across the country, it is important for us at Global Vision Technologies to have a clear picture of the nonprofit universe in order to gain insight into the challenges nonprofits face. Here is the nonprofit big picture.

My research analyst asked me a simple question the other day that led to some amazing revelations about the nonprofit world, “What is the largest nonprofit in the world?” 

Increasingly, nonprofits face growing competition from their for-profit counterparts. These for-profit companies can often deliver services at a lower cost or offer higher financial returns to cities, thanks to their capacity and ability to raise investment capital as business entities. This leaves the non-profit social infrastructure in communities at a competitive disadvantage and requires a more thoughtful approach to determining the value of contract bids beyond simply financial criteria.

The Military Model 

Most industrial corporations are organized on the military model that emerged after World War II. This “top-down”, “pyramid”, “span-of-control” model of authoritarian decision making was thought to be the most efficient, effective, and disciplined form for complex, sprawling organizations. It was all about the rank and file executing the will of the top decision makers and not roaming “off the reservation” with ideas of their own. It was a model of discipline and efficiency designed for execution.

Positive Tomorrows, an Oklahoma City non-profit, is opening a private school for homeless children that was designed by the kids themselves. That’s right. A private school for homeless (not privileged) children.

Helping people through the physical and mental issues they’re dealing with is often just a part of the healing process. For many, spirituality is a core value of their life, and therefore an integral part of the therapeutic process.