Do you face any of the 3 problems that kill NonProfits?
If you are frustrated with the growth, or impact of your nonprofit, there are 3 common reasons, As I coach nonprofits, I see disturbing patterns that make the ED job much more challenging than running a local Walmart.
In Scaling Up, there are 4 Decisions that have to be made to keep any agency alive and thriving. Right People, Sustainable Strategy, Flawless Execution and Abundant Cash.
Nonprofit Debt payments are about to start on PPP and EIDL loans. When the agency is sick, scarcity of cash is the symptom. Boards immediately think of fund raising. If you are anxious about cash, it’s time to get serious about change that could turn things around. I speak from experience, My first contact with Scaling Up was when we had 158 staff on payroll and $13,000 in the bank. Scarcity is the mother of Strategy, Execution, and People.
There are three points of untreated paralysis that Scaling Up will change.
The paralysis in Strategy comes from the Board or a client. Boards are notoriously risk intolerant. I get it. It’s a volunteer job so no one wants their name on the vote that killed the agency. Some clients like things just the way they are and push vigorously against any change. One unhappy person was leaving her church in New York for retirement in California. She voted against replacing old chairs on the altar. When it was pointed out to her that she wouldn’t be here, her reply was that she wanted to imagine the church after moving and know that it was just as she left it.
Coaching carries some of the load with quarterly team meetings with the coach and the TurnAround Performance Platform toolset. As discussion about the 3-year strategy brings clarity, much of the board will get on board. Coaching will support your emotional capacity to push for needed change in one year strategic goals, but the coaching is about empowerment. If leaders can’t carry the mantle of leadership, coaching does not replace leadership.
The paralysis in Execution comes from the staff. Any change in strategy changes tasks and job descriptions. None of us like constant change and a few people really want no changes at all in life or at work. It’s not surprising that strategy stirs up fear, anger, and passive resistance from some staff.
Coaching again carries some of the load with quarterly team meetings led by an outsider – the coach and the TurnAround Performance Platform toolset. Some staff will be enthusiastic and others are willing to learn. The leadership will still need the patience to repeat and monitor changes in processes for flawless execution.
Finally, you may have to face your own paralysis to choose the right people. The change in strategy and execution often requires new skills and experiences. Some of your people have these qualities and others are willing to develop. But even in the best scenario, you are about to threaten someone’s pay, chance for promotion, job security, power, status, or key role.
I have never terminated a person’s employment with happiness. It’s even more wrenching when the person is trying hard but simply can’t do the job. And, of course, harder on them than me.
The good news is that coached changes in strategy, execution, and people turn agencies around. I personally turned around the nonprofit with $13,000 in the bank to become a $7 million success. Several thousand clients are better off today because of those decisions in strategy execution and cash.
Almost every client wants to know how much coaching will cost. And it’s all on my website. But the real cost is not the tiny % of revenue invested in coaching. It’s the emotional investment that the leadership will make. Do you have the emotional capacity to lead with passion and compassion, understand the pain of staff but speak for the pain of clients, speak the truth in love with a board that is your boss?
If you have watched to this point, I suggest that you make an appointment on my website so that I can hear more about your situation and whether coaching will be effective. Click the Pic!