This webinar has 18 possible sources of 90 days of cash while you make your real plan.
Nonprofit Coaching Archives - TurnAround Social Sector Coaching
What happens when you work hard to lead your nonprofit and don't see results? Simon Sinek has five rules to help.
Battling with the Board? Frustrated by Fund Raising? Join me for a Zoom Executive Director Cocktail Hour at 5pm Eastern on Thursday, December 20. Bring your own wine and hors d’oeuvres. I’m your host. Ronald Dale Tompkins. As with all good cocktail hours, I’ll have questions such as who is the most interesting person you met this month? Who is your most successful client this year? And what do you need to solve before you enjoy your holiday feast? Register at the link below and see you soon!
You are invited to a Zoom meeting.
When: Dec 19, 2019 05:00 PM Eastern Time. Click HERE to Register in advance for this meeting:
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
It’s almost impossible to lead a nonprofit! You know what I mean if your December fund raising is less than target. Low margins and not much access to capital markets make a day by day challenge.
The burden of organizational success becomes concentrated in the Executive Director with little money left to hire appropriate expertise in development, accounting, and HR (Alice Korngold).
Coaching doesn’t remove the challenge but coaching helps you to reorganize resources and make a plan. Join me for an ED Holiday Cocktail Hour on Zoom, Thursday, December 19th at 5pm Eastern. Bring shrimp, wine, and questions for an hour together. Cheers!
You are invited to a Zoom meeting. When: Dec 19, 2019 05:00 PM Eastern Time, Register in advance for this meeting: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/u5AvdumurDIv8qFtebIgBMi6fZ4KP9sjXg
NonProfits rarely see the need to find a business partner. At best, they find a favorite auditor, attorney or supply vendor and essentially develop no-bid contracts with their favorites. Stuart Mendel and Jeffrey Brudney found that nonprofit and business partnerships were only 10% of partnerships.
Partnerships mean that both partners get something that they want from the relationship. Nonprofit CEOs are nervous about relationships that might make a business – more profitable. Actually, every time that you pay your auditor, I assume that they get richer! So there is nothing illegal or unethical about partnership with business.
What are bad partnerships with Business?
Brand Risk – The biggest risk is Brand risk. If you choose to partner with businesses that don’t match your values, mission, or values of your clients, you can seriously damage your brand. Partnerships with business should hire a coach to help you review partner proposals with your leadership team, board, and stakeholders before you proceed. For example, the company in New York that has done audits for Mr. Trump also pushes aggressively in the nonprofit space locally. Would it affect your nonprofit brand if you chose the same auditor? What questions would you raise before you made the decision? Your coach can help.
Kentucky Fried Chicken partnered to give money for breast cancer cure. They printed a month of pink buckets for chicken. Media quickly seized on the links between calories, obesity and breast cancer. There was nothing unethical with the business relationship but the nonprofit failed to consider key implications of their brand. Proceed slowly and use a coach!
Process Risk – A second risk is process risk. The processes and corporate cultures of all companies are far different. When any two groups develop a partnership, there needs to be a written charter that the coach helps you to carefully spell out details
Both Brand Risk and Process Risk can be managed. Leaders lean into the danger, use a coach, and do risk management! You can partner with business.
What’s a good reason to partner with Business? Mendel and Brudner list four reasons and I add two more!
- Your nonprofit needs money – Pampers diapers and UNICEF were partners for a long time and UNICEF got funding for its mission. Pampers added to its brand strength by being interested in children. Find a business owner who really likes your mission.
- Your nonprofit helps a Business that helps your clients – A family doctor has a practice locally that easily accepts cash and his prices are low. Any nonprofit that helps low income families would be helping their clients by referring them to the doctor if there are not other good choices.
- Your nonprofit needs more expertise – A local construction company is willing to partner with your nonprofit with internships. You have a training program for people released from prison but no expertise in introducing your best graduates to the job market. The construction company gets a supply of semi skilled workers that come there with your recommendation.
- Both you and the Business want market share – You realize that a local bakery attracts young parents whose children would be eligible for your school. You already have 200 parents who don’t go to that bakery. If both companies give discounts to each other’s customers for a month, then both groups of parents are now potentially interested in both companies.
- Sumo Number Four – Bernie Brenner suggests that you find a partner who is 10x bigger than you and partner with them. For example, a real estate developer suddenly gets bad press about rodent infestation. They need a brand partner who will help them clean their brand. They donate money to your nonprofit and rebrand as the safe rental for families. This partnership is the most risky for the nonprofit but potentially the most effective.
- More Respect Than Government – Government partnerships are often take it or leave it contracts. They add conditions without reflecting on the costs of compliance. They assume that they are the head in the partnership and your nonprofit is the hands and feet. Business partners can be different, You can search until you find the right business to partner but you can’t easily choose another government to partner if you don’t like the first one!
Conclusion: Partnerships are critical in the growth of nonprofits and often welcomed by business. You will be treated as a co-equal partner by the right Business. Remember:
- This is not a plan for next week – it’s in your three-year plan.
- Use a coach and develop carefully.
- Avoid brand and process risk
- Involve your leadership and board in the decision
- Enjoy the expansion of your good work!
Apply today to be one of five nonprofit leadership teams to receive an analysis and two free hours of coaching in December or January, My idea of Giving Tuesday to help partners in stress.
