Delivering on the Promise of Nonprofit

8/10/2019 Delivering on the Promise of Nonprofit

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Delivering on the Promise ofNonprots

Jefrey L. Bradach

Thomas J. Tierney

Nan Stone

DECEMBER 2008 ISSUE


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Ide in Brief

U.S. nonprots are acing mountingpressure to demonstrate thee!e"tiveness of their progrms

Nonprots are responding by beingmuch more e#pli"it $o%t the res%lts

they intend to deliver and thestrtegies nd orgni&tions the'(ll"reteto achieve those outcomes


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Chllenges for Non)prots in$e"oming res%lt oriented

*%nding +o,s re seldom reli$le enoughto ustiy signicant investments inorgani!ational capacity

" nonprot#s very success can provide ane$cuse or donors to stop giving% becausethe organi!ation no longer &needs' their money

Both public and private unders

over(helmingly (ant to support ne,progrms% so program prolieration trumpsinvestment in e$isting programs


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*rom -Mission. to -Imp"t.

"s they gro(% many non)protorgani!ations struggle (ith the iss%e ofdening the set of progrms they

should ofer to m#imi&e their imp"t *ost organi!ations have a broadly

dened social mission )) or e$ample

+create a more ust society&% buttrnslting $rod visions into ,ell)dened strtegies is a big anddi,cult tas-


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E#mple 1rlem Children(s one

/01


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S%""ess *"tors for Nonprots3

The "uthors suggest that to develop pragmatic plansor ma-ing a diference% leaders o nonprotorgani!ations should rigorously ans(er ollo(inginterdependent 2uestions 3

4hi"h res%lts (ill (e hold ourselves ""o%nt$le for4 1o,(ill (e "hievethem4

4ht (ill results really "ost% and ho( can (e f%ndthem4

1o, do (e $%ild the orgni&tion (e need to deliverresults4

Together% these 2uestions create a rame(or- that canbe used in developing pragmatic% specic plans or

ma-ing a tangible diference


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4hi"h res%lts ,ill ,e holdo%rselves ""o%nt$le for5

The most undamental and most di,cult decisionor a nonprot is to dene the results it mustdeliver

" strong intended)imp"t sttement identiesboth the beneciaries o a nonprot#s activitiesand the benets the organi!ation 5 its program(ill provide

This process entails trnslting theorgani!ation#s mission into gols that aresimultaneously compelling enough to attractongoing support rom sta-eholders and specicenough to inorm resource allocations


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E#mple

6espite the variety o programs 7heedlen8enters or 8hildren revamped itsel

around a very "on"rete set of gols3namely% that 9%111 children% ages 1 to :%living in a ;


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1o, ,ill ,e "hieve res%lts5

>t involves allocating time nd mone'to the most e!e"tive inititivesamong various programs and activities

"n even bigger actor (ill be (hat theylearn as they analy!e their

orgni&tion(s "p$ilities nde"onomi"s% and gather inormationabout ,ht others re doing


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Informtion 6in7ge

6ecision ma-ers need to be amiliar(ith inormation that establishes lin7

$et,een a particular program or"tivit' and a set o positiveo%t"omes

?or e$ample% (hether a tutor meets(ith a child once a (ee- or t(ice% canbe central to a program#s success



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Determining 6imits "nother challenge is determining ,here one

orgni&tion(s ,or7 $egins nd ends

%mpstrt% a national nonprot that mentors

young children ofers a good illustration. >tpondered (hether organi!ation should alsodevelop programs ocused on the children#samilies% as amilies (ere crucial in helping

children succeed in school But given its limited resources% and the act that it

couldn#t drive change on both ronts% theorgani!ation decided to stay ocused on

increasing the number o -ids it could serve



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Est$lishing 9ps

=ighlight gpsbet(een (hat is supposedto happen and (hat is actually occurring

>t is not unusual to nd% or instance% thatthe people using a nonprot#s services arenot the intended $ene"iries% or anorgani!ation may discover a dis"repn"'in ho( the progrms are $eingdelivered



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4ht ,ill res%lts rell' "ost 33nd ho, "n ,e f%nd them5

Leaders should determine (hicho%t"omes the' "n reson$l'"hieve given current and potential

levels o support

This entails understanding the f%ll

"osts of "%rrent progrmsand ho(each is afecting the organi!ation#soverall nn"il helth


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*inn"il Iss%es

*any essential programs cannot ully covertheir o(n costs. >t is essential to determine

(hether dditionl f%nding from other"tivities can be used to support activities(ith the greatest potential to help theorgani!ation achieve its intended imp"t

@rograms not completely aligned (ith thestrategy are (orth maintaining i theygenerte "sh that can be applied to otherareas



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*%nding Iss%es

>n the nonprot sector% *%nders( "hoi"es areoten inAuenced by personal relationships or

the emotional appeal o the mission ratherthan by organi!ational perormance

@eople may stop unding organi!ations

delivering demonstrable results (hen theirpersonal interests shit% a phenomenon calleddonor ftig%e



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*%nding Iss%es

Nonprot must "lerl' rti"%lte (hat theorgni&tion needs nancial support or%

and identiy appropriate sources to meetthose needs

>t is important to invest in $%ilding the"p$ilities to attract and manage

appropriate types o unding 8ultivating private donors re2uires

capabilities very diferent rom those neededto apply or government grants



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Strtegi" nd*inn"i

lClrit'Mtri#



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Creting $etter pro"esses

Staf members may eel passionate% but insurveys they also report eeling under)

supported and under)developedproessionally

The absence o processes or settingemplo'ees( gols and obtainingfeed$"7% or instance% disconnectsindividuals and their perormance rom theorgani!ation#s strategy

1o, do ,e $%ild the orgni&tion,e need to deliver res%lts5


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B%ilding 6edership "p"it' ven though many nonprots need e$ecutives

(ith speciali!ed s-ills% the an$iety amongstemployees about und)raising and sha-y nancial

sustainabilityCtheir organi!ations# and their o(n%can be a signicant barrier to lling thosepositions

That is (hy the (illingness to provide fir p' in

e$change or topAight e$ecutive perormance (illbe a -ey diferentiator bet(een nonprots thatcan deliver great results consistently and thosethat cannot



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Disting%ishing $et,een good nd $doverhed

>nvesting in an >T system that can trac- programresults is goodD paying e$cessive rent or opulent

o,ce space is bad "ttempts to limit all overhead blur this distinction

and severely undermine nonprots# ability to investin the people and =7 processes necessary to deliver

great results Leaders (ho understand this must ma-e these

needs transparent to unders% and alsocommunicate and support these investmentsthroughout their organi!ations



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?inal thoughts E

The dis"ipline of ledership must replace thediscipline o mar-ets. The leader shoulders theheavy burden o engging 7e' st7eholders ina rigorous consensus)building process% in (hich all

parties "onfront the f%ndmentl :%estionsin this articleCand f%ll' em$r"e thes%$se:%ent ns,ers

Fhen such leadership is "omplemented $'donors% $ord mem$ers% and st! mem$ers(ho are e2ually committed to e$cellence% theresults (ill be outstanding

Delivering on the Promise of Nonprofit

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