A recent book by two esteemed business consultants offers more lessons from business for nonprofit organizations. This time, in an accompanying article in the Stanford Social Innovation Review they have teamed up with a nonprofit leader to analyze common practices of highly successful organizations, private and not-for-profit sector alike. I haven’t yet completed the book, but offer the following four principles they say that all interviewed leaders followed. After each one I include my comment.

The cost of service should always decline over time – in other words, it should cost you less over time to do the things you do, well. You should not have to reinvent the wheel – your routine activity should be like a fine tuned and efficient, precision machine! This allows you to do more with your existing resources.

Your market position defines your options – if you’re a big fish in a small pond, you will make the biggest splash. But if you’re a minnow swimming with sharks, you’ll get swallowed. In other words, focus on your strengths, and find yourself a pond that fits you if your efforts are falling flat.

Your client and funding pool does not stand still – recognize that your donors, as well  as the people who benefit from your services, have needs and interests that change over time. As a nonprofit, you are wise to be ahead of both. For example, if demographics are changing the face of your organization’s clientele, you either have to bring along your existing donors whose priorities may remain elsewhere, or find new donors who are interested in your emerging areas.

Simplicity gets results – once again, simplicity rules – trying to be all things to all people never works!

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" Sometimes I'm a cabbagehead.

Sometimes I'm a star.

Always I'm amazed by where

my best ideas are."

 

I love to read a great variety of books -- and as a mother of a brilliant young reader, I am often delighted by childrens books. The above poem comes from Cabbagehead by Loris Lesynksi.

Creativity needs to be nurtured, through fun, play and whimsy. Any artist or writer can tell you, it cannot be forced. Here are some tips I picked up from Father Luke. I actually do several of these often! That is a benefit of working in a home office.

Be A Kid Again

1. Do a cartwheel.
2. Sing into your hairbrush.
3. Walk barefoot in wet grass.
4. Play a song you like really loud, over and over.
5. Dot all your “i”’s with smiley faces.
6. Read the funnies. Throw the rest of the paper away.
7. Dunk your cookies.
8. Play a game where you make up the rules as you go along.
9. Step carefully over sidewalk cracks.
10. Change into some play clothes.
11. Try to get someone to trade you a better sandwich.
12. Eat ice cream for breakfast.
13. Kiss a frog, just in case.
14. Blow the wrapper off a straw.
15. Have someone read you a story.
16. Find some pretty stones and save them.
17. Wear your favorite shirt with you favorite pants even if they don’t match.
18. Take a running jump over a big puddle.
19. Get someone to buy you something you really don’t need.
20. Hide your vegetables under your napkin.
21. Stay up past your bedtime.
22. Eat dessert first.
23. Fuss a little, then take a nap.
24. Wear red gym shoes.
25. Put way too much sugar on your cereal.
26. Make cool screeching noises every time you turn a corner.
27. Giggle a lot for no reason.
28. Give yourself a gold star for everything you do today.

Nancy Schwartz at the Getting Attention blog is on a mission to help nonprofit organizations create better taglines in 2008. Having created or rewritten more than a few in my lifetime, I have a great collection of the good, bad, ugly as well as completely nonsensical. Hint: your tagline, the "slogan" that goes with you wherever you dare to go in your communications journey, is not your mission statement. Help Nancy by completing the survey and you'll receive a copy of her report and tips.

Borrow a page from the retail industry. If you really want to view your organization from a donor's eyes, be one. I call with a general inquiry, join or donate to an organization and sign up on the mailing list when I do a communications audit for an organization. There's no more basic and telling way to check out the donor experience and see how close or far you are from living up to your mission and values statement in your day-to-day operations. You may also find some missed opportunities and mixed messages in your materials and interactions along the way.