Let’s face it. Funding for nonprofit charitable work has gotten tight. That’s not to say that there isn’t still a large pool of funding out there for the RIGHT nonprofits, doing the RIGHT work at the RIGHT time, based on the clear priorities of selected funders.
According to the Chronicle of Philanthropy, in 2010 grantmaking foundations gave an estimated $45.7 billion, while independent and family foundations — which represent the vast majority of U.S. foundations — reduced their giving by less than 1 percent to $32.5 billion in 2010. Corporate foundation giving remained basically unchanged at $4.7 billion in 2010. However, community foundation giving dipped 2.1 percent to $4.1 billion in 2010, the first consecutive-year decline on record.
Be that as it may, what I consistently tell my nonprofit partners is that funders, without fail, give to those programs and projects that help them to meet their own visions and missions. Thus the key is for nonprofits to seek out those funders with whom their own visions and missions align.
Too often I see nonprofits — especially small, grassroots community-based nonprofits, the groups I most like working with — chasing funding. Tweaking the missions (or in some cases, abandoning them altogether) to chase after this grant, or this funding opportunity, or this generous funder. In most cases, they fail to get the money they need, but in those rare instances when they are able to secure funding for a program or project that doesn’t fit into their original mission, the result is failure. And for a number of reasons.
First, your mission is your mission for a reason. Mission represents the INTENTIONALITY of organization founders, supporters, partners and staff. It explains why your organization even exists. It is your “North Star.” “We will do (what) for (whom) so that….” If you say that you intend to decrease community hunger, and to do this you plan to do X, Y, and Z for a particular constituency — while it may be possible to utilize a funded program that focuses on doing ABC to get there, if ABC is not what you’re set up to do, you’ll spend the next year (or however long the funding lasts), retooling large parts of your organization, program and staff in ways that don’t empower your XYX mission. This is an expenditure of resources most small nonprofits don’t have available to squander.
Additionally, the funder who has entrusted you with the resources to do ABC will likely catch on before very long that your expertise in that area may not have been all that you wrote about in your fabulously written grant proposal. Once they catch on to that, they will be watching with a closer eye to make sure you are capable of and consistently meeting the objectives set out in the funding contract. Ideally, you will be able to pull it off because if you don’t, funders have a way of talking to each other across miles, and other funders may well hear reports of your inability to perform that which you promise to perform. Never a good look.
Finally, once that funding is expended, and you’ve spent your resources to work on a project or program that was not expressly in line with your vision and mission, your community partners are left wondering just who you are — really. As community servants, community partnerships and the constituency you profess to serve are your foundation. Loss of support from them can result in confusion, isolation and a sometimes insurmountable struggle to regain your footing.
There is a better, more empowering way to work. Know your MISSION and strengthen it, if necessary. Be very clear about what you are doing and why. Again, “We will do (what?) for (whom), so that….” Base your mission on real needs and issues, and realistic possible outcomes. Do your research, including actively involving your partners and constituents, and be able to substantiate the need for your existence. Be about filling actual needs or addressing salient, urgent issues. Fill the gaps. Make sure that your board, your partners and your constituency are clear about your mission and are bought into it. If the mission is realistic and important, they will be.
Once your mission is crystal clear, you will be able to begin effectively planning creative ways to support its achievement. With all the best intentions….
NEXT UP: The Importance of Strategic Planning in Funding Organizational Mission.
Transformative Concepts Consulting Group 