Understanding your nonprofit
Understanding your nonprofit • Internal environment – – – – –
Mission, Vision, Values Culture & Professionalism Programs Revenues Governance (Board of Directors)
• External environment – Beneficiaries & Other Stakeholders – Industry Analysis – Ecosystem Analysis
• Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats (SWOT)
What Can You Learn from Your Nonprofit’s
Mission Statement Communicates an organization’s reason for being, and inspires and guides stakeholders to fulfill that purpose Purpose:
States the organization’s long-range purpose and desired impact
Market:
Identifies the organization’s market, customer, constituency
Boundaries:
Sets parameters and guides what the organization does and does not do
Inspiration:
Inspires commitment from stakeholders
Identity:
Creates distinctive identity and brand
Clarity:
Clearly and concisely conveys the mission for all to understand
Operational:
Institutionalized, supported, and put to use
EXAMPLE: “Built with love, the Ronald McDonald House of Durham offers a comforting ‘home away from home’ and a community of support for seriously ill children and their families.”
What Can You Learn from Your Nonprofit’s
Vision Statement Represents organization’s greatest aspirations; defines success and states the external outcome of the organization’s work Aspiration:
Communicates the ultimate outcome of the work; not inputs, activities, or outputs
Long-Range: Focused on the long-term future Possible:
Possible to accomplish – someday
Inspiration:
Inspires commitment from stakeholders; compelling; bold
Identity:
Creates distinctive identity and brand
Clarity:
Clearly and concisely conveys the vision for all to understand
Operational: Institutionalized, supported, and put to use
EXAMPLE: “Habitat for Humanity’s vision is a world where everyone has a decent place to live.”
What Can You Learn from Your Nonprofit’s
Core Values • The central principles that guide the nonprofit. • Core values provide criteria for decisions a nonprofit makes about governance, administration, and programs. EXAMPLE: Teach For America's core values are: •
Transformational Change: We seek to expand educational opportunity in ways that are life-changing for children and transforming for our country.
•
Leadership: We strive to develop and become the leaders necessary to realize educational excellence and equity.
•
Team: We value and care about each other, operate with a generosity of spirit, and have fun in the process of working together.
•
Respect & Humility: We value the strengths, experiences, and perspectives of others, and we recognize our own limitations.
•
Diversity: We act on our belief that the movement to ensure educational equity will succeed only if it is diverse in every respect.
4
Five things to learn before you start • Mission & Vision • Leadership
• Key Programs • Finances (review IRS Form 990 on Guidestar.org)
• Other Publicly Available Information (internet, social media, etc.)
Five things to learn in the first month • Organizational structure (including staff, board of directors, volunteers) • Values & culture • Strategic plan, business plan, or other long-range plan
• Annual budget, including mix of revenues • Innovative, high-impact approaches
Five things to learn by summer’s end • Causal factors of major social or environmental problems addressed by nonprofit • Relations and partnerships with other nonprofits, businesses, and government agencies • Key strategic issues facing the organization (internal & external)
• Social impact (outcomes achieved) • Your interest in a career in the nonprofit sector
What do you think will be the biggest challenge to understanding and assimilating into your nonprofit? A. Understanding the needs, desires, and circumstances of the nonprofit’s beneficiaries or other stakeholders B. Learning about the nonprofit’s programs and services C. Gaining access to the nonprofit’s senior leaders
D. Receiving sufficient mentoring and supervision E. Having enough time to become fully immersed in the nonprofit
How do you foresee yourself contributing to your nonprofit? A. Providing direct service to the population the organization serves B. Planning programs or events
C. Assisting with research, monitoring, or evaluation D. Marketing and/or fundraising
Six practices of high-impact nonprofits 1. Advocate and Serve 2. Make Markets Work
3. Inspire Evangelists 4. Nurture Nonprofit Networks
5. Master the Art of Adaptation 6. Share Leadership Crutchfield & McLeod Grant, “Forces for Good,” Jossey-Bass, 2007. A project of CASE at Duke.
Helpful websites for nonprofits • • • • • •
BoardSource, www.boardsource.org, premier resource for practical information, tools and best practices, training, and leadership development for board members of nonprofits. Chronicle of Philanthropy, www.philanthropy.com, leading national news source for charity leaders, fund raisers, grant makers, and others involved in nonprofits. Free Management Library, www.managementhelp.org, library of online resources for nonprofit and for-profit businesses, with over 700 highly integrated topics. Guidestar, www.guidestar.org, contains extensive operational and financial information about more than 850,000 nonprofit organizations. Independent Sector, www.independentsector.org , is the leadership network for nonprofits, foundations, and corporate giving programs committed to advancing the common good in America and around the world. National Council of Nonprofits, www.councilofnonprofits.org, a central coordinator and mobilizer to help nonprofits achieve greater collective impact in local communities across the country.
For more information…
www.entrepreneurship.duke.edu
www.CASEatDuke.org
Email: [email protected] Twitter: @dukesocent, @eshipatduke, @dukesead, @caseatduke, @nashcase Join the Duke Social Entrepreneurship Listserv (events, news, resources): https://lists.duke.edu/sympa/subscribe/dukesocialentrepreneurship
Mission, Vision, Values Culture & Professionalism Programs Revenues Governance (Board of Directors)
• External environment – Beneficiaries & Other Stakeholders – Industry Analysis – Ecosystem Analysis
• Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats (SWOT)
What Can You Learn from Your Nonprofit’s
Mission Statement Communicates an organization’s reason for being, and inspires and guides stakeholders to fulfill that purpose Purpose:
States the organization’s long-range purpose and desired impact
Market:
Identifies the organization’s market, customer, constituency
Boundaries:
Sets parameters and guides what the organization does and does not do
Inspiration:
Inspires commitment from stakeholders
Identity:
Creates distinctive identity and brand
Clarity:
Clearly and concisely conveys the mission for all to understand
Operational:
Institutionalized, supported, and put to use
EXAMPLE: “Built with love, the Ronald McDonald House of Durham offers a comforting ‘home away from home’ and a community of support for seriously ill children and their families.”
What Can You Learn from Your Nonprofit’s
Vision Statement Represents organization’s greatest aspirations; defines success and states the external outcome of the organization’s work Aspiration:
Communicates the ultimate outcome of the work; not inputs, activities, or outputs
Long-Range: Focused on the long-term future Possible:
Possible to accomplish – someday
Inspiration:
Inspires commitment from stakeholders; compelling; bold
Identity:
Creates distinctive identity and brand
Clarity:
Clearly and concisely conveys the vision for all to understand
Operational: Institutionalized, supported, and put to use
EXAMPLE: “Habitat for Humanity’s vision is a world where everyone has a decent place to live.”
What Can You Learn from Your Nonprofit’s
Core Values • The central principles that guide the nonprofit. • Core values provide criteria for decisions a nonprofit makes about governance, administration, and programs. EXAMPLE: Teach For America's core values are: •
Transformational Change: We seek to expand educational opportunity in ways that are life-changing for children and transforming for our country.
•
Leadership: We strive to develop and become the leaders necessary to realize educational excellence and equity.
•
Team: We value and care about each other, operate with a generosity of spirit, and have fun in the process of working together.
•
Respect & Humility: We value the strengths, experiences, and perspectives of others, and we recognize our own limitations.
•
Diversity: We act on our belief that the movement to ensure educational equity will succeed only if it is diverse in every respect.
4
Five things to learn before you start • Mission & Vision • Leadership
• Key Programs • Finances (review IRS Form 990 on Guidestar.org)
• Other Publicly Available Information (internet, social media, etc.)
Five things to learn in the first month • Organizational structure (including staff, board of directors, volunteers) • Values & culture • Strategic plan, business plan, or other long-range plan
• Annual budget, including mix of revenues • Innovative, high-impact approaches
Five things to learn by summer’s end • Causal factors of major social or environmental problems addressed by nonprofit • Relations and partnerships with other nonprofits, businesses, and government agencies • Key strategic issues facing the organization (internal & external)
• Social impact (outcomes achieved) • Your interest in a career in the nonprofit sector
What do you think will be the biggest challenge to understanding and assimilating into your nonprofit? A. Understanding the needs, desires, and circumstances of the nonprofit’s beneficiaries or other stakeholders B. Learning about the nonprofit’s programs and services C. Gaining access to the nonprofit’s senior leaders
D. Receiving sufficient mentoring and supervision E. Having enough time to become fully immersed in the nonprofit
How do you foresee yourself contributing to your nonprofit? A. Providing direct service to the population the organization serves B. Planning programs or events
C. Assisting with research, monitoring, or evaluation D. Marketing and/or fundraising
Six practices of high-impact nonprofits 1. Advocate and Serve 2. Make Markets Work
3. Inspire Evangelists 4. Nurture Nonprofit Networks
5. Master the Art of Adaptation 6. Share Leadership Crutchfield & McLeod Grant, “Forces for Good,” Jossey-Bass, 2007. A project of CASE at Duke.
Helpful websites for nonprofits • • • • • •
BoardSource, www.boardsource.org, premier resource for practical information, tools and best practices, training, and leadership development for board members of nonprofits. Chronicle of Philanthropy, www.philanthropy.com, leading national news source for charity leaders, fund raisers, grant makers, and others involved in nonprofits. Free Management Library, www.managementhelp.org, library of online resources for nonprofit and for-profit businesses, with over 700 highly integrated topics. Guidestar, www.guidestar.org, contains extensive operational and financial information about more than 850,000 nonprofit organizations. Independent Sector, www.independentsector.org , is the leadership network for nonprofits, foundations, and corporate giving programs committed to advancing the common good in America and around the world. National Council of Nonprofits, www.councilofnonprofits.org, a central coordinator and mobilizer to help nonprofits achieve greater collective impact in local communities across the country.
For more information…
www.entrepreneurship.duke.edu
www.CASEatDuke.org
Email: [email protected] Twitter: @dukesocent, @eshipatduke, @dukesead, @caseatduke, @nashcase Join the Duke Social Entrepreneurship Listserv (events, news, resources): https://lists.duke.edu/sympa/subscribe/dukesocialentrepreneurship
