I’ve never been in a plane that ran out of fuel. Having fuel is such a critical part of travel but airlines plan carefully. I have never heard a pilot announce that we have to land in the wrong city because we need more jet fuel.
Non profits are having more and more trouble with fuel supplies. A lot of good trips to do good things are being cut short because the money ran out. Some groups have dreams of where they want to go but there is no way to fund the new idea.
Religious non profits are often a sub-group in special pain because they are in decline. It’s a lonely and failing feeling to be in charge but without cash. How can that be turned around?
One of the 4 Decisions Tools is Cash. When I mentioned to my friend that I help nonprofits find cash, he immediately asked if I lead boards in fund raising campaigns. He took me by surprise since the 4 Decisions doesn’t start there. But in the non profit world – of course – fund raising is the magic wand that gets pointed at leaders of nonprofits as the answer to everything!
Fund raising sounds wonderful, but it cannot be the only method for most organizations. Big gifts can take a long time to cultivate and it takes a lot of $10 gifts to get most nonprofits past their difficult cash moments.
Nonprofit leaders actually have 10 levers to improve their cash. The more powerful levers don’t normally include Fund raising.
Let me give an example. In my own nonprofit, I was surprised by changes in health insurance and so we re bid all of our insurance contracts. To my great surprise, a new broker got us the same policy from the same company and the total quote reduced our costs by $34,000.
What is easier for you? Asking 340 people to give $100 or reducing the insurance bill? Something I like about the 4 Decisions Tools is that you will feel more empowered as a leader as you use them. When you have a cash problem, you are not a victim who is waiting for a million dollar gift. You have multiple tools to solve the problem and your team chooses several levers and keeps that plane in the air.
Scaling Up is the textbook for the 4 Decisions Tools and one section is on Cash. And I also offer a workshop on the 4 Decisions if your team is ready to fly with a full load of fuel 😊
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