Hey, social change agents! I am back with part 2 of 7 Reasons Why Nonprofits Are a Hot Mess. As I said before, I had to break it into 2 pieces because it was much longer than I expected. I'm excited to get into it, and to tell you my last 4 reasons why nonprofits are a hot mess.

Number 4: Founder's Syndrome

I just looked this up on Wikipedia because I have lots of feelings around this. I needed to find a succinct way to really give a definition that made sense. "Founder's Syndrome, also called Founderitis, is a popular term for a difficulty faced by organizations where 1 or more founders maintain disproportionate power and influence following the effective initial establishment of the project, leading to a wide range of problems for both the organization and those involved in it." What's interesting is that Founder's Syndrome doesn't actually need to happen with a founder. It could happen with a CEO or an executive director who's been there for a long time, maybe even 10 years. They've gotten comfortable, and everybody's gotten used to their preferences. Even though they aren't founders they hold a disproportionate level of influence over every other piece of the organization. For me, the biggest reason why founder's syndrome is a huge problem and why nonprofits are a mess because of it, is because the growth of an organization requires trading money for time. In the beginning, they're bootstrapping the organization. They're trading their own time for the money, or for the impact, or for the returns. At some point, they run out of time. After all, there's only 24 hours in a day, and they just can't do it all. At that point, it's time to transition over to trading time for money. That's when they should hire other (professional) people to take over certain things. Yes, they did a great job as they bootstrapped, but there are other people who are probably more qualified in that specific area and can bring in new ideas to help you grow the organization. There's no reason for anyone to do it alone when we have collaborative economies, online communities, and people who share the mission and vision.

On September 14, I'll actually be taking a deeper dive into the effects, the causes, and how to identify Founder's Syndrome, so make sure you check back then!

Number 3: The Mission in Context

When someone starts a socially minded enterprise whether it be a social enterprise or a nonprofit, they should strive to put themselves out of business. For example, think about the March of Dimes. They were initially started to help cure or prevent childhood polio. After the Salk vaccine was declared safe in 1955, it was only a matter of time until Polio was no longer the threat to Americans as it once was. For 30 years, the United States has been (mostly) Polio-free. That's what every nonprofit, or social enterprise should really be aiming for. Now that they had essentially fulfilled their mission, they had a crisis of identity. What do you do when you fulfill your mission? Simple. The March of Dimes changed their mission. Their mission is now to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth, and infant mortality. Once a mission is fulfilled, organizations can just make another one. The whole organization doesn't need to dissolve or have a crisis of conscience. They are in existence to solve social issues. In my mind, if they have a win under their belt, that's fantastic. They should keep making wins and evolve as they improve society. Why is that novel idea?

Number 2: The Lack of Board Diversity

Now, I understand that founders might recruit their friends in the beginning to help support their social enterprise, nonprofit, or initiative. But as I said before, growth requires diversity, especially on the board. That does not mean just the founder's friends, wealthy people, or connectors with influence. The board should be a group of people who believe in the mission and the vision and who can provide resources, monetary or non monetary to move the organization toward its goals. If wealth, influence, or connections to the founder are the determining factors of board members, that organization will find themselves with a board with limited ideas, that likely doesn't reflect the constituency served, and that succumbs to groupthink instead of conflict with purpose. Really? That's who is governing organizations tasked with solving the many massive, intersectional societal issues? Can I get a refund?

Number 1, and this is a big one...

This is the thing that I am about, here at Collaborative Philanthropy Consulting... I really need nonprofits to HAVE A PLAN. Yes, they've got a mission. They've got a vision. They've got some value statements. They've got people who are ready to give money. They've got volunteers. They've got community cache. Great! I need them to have a plan. Not just a strategic plan outsourced to a strategic planning consultant who, after A LOT of money and crucial time, delivers a book of dreams that sits on a shelf, gathering dust. No, I need them to really, really critically think about exactly what they will need to go from where the world is now to the actual vision statement. You need to think about finances. You need to think in revenue models. You need to think in building sustainable communities. You need to think in program design that is not just innovative, and not just new, but actually effective. You have to have program evaluation. You have to have data. How are you going to know when you've gotten to that vision if you don't have data that benchmarks where you are, and where you've been? You can't. You can't know anything. This is the number one reason nonprofits are a hot mess; they are floundering with their empty optimism. But the good news is that if you're reading this blog post, and if you're following the Collaborative Philanthropy Consulting blog and communications, I know that you're not going to be another person with a big idea, with a big dream, and no plan.

If you want to build a social enterprise with a real plan aligned with your core values that accounts for revenue structures and collaboration, set up a short call with me at kat@katbloomfield.com. A free 30 minute consultation could be the difference between being another hot mess or a rising star.