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The Non-Profit Management Metamorphosis:
Rapid
RESPONSE
SM,
Rapid
Realistic
Economic
Strategically
Planned
Operational
Non-Profit
Success
Exposition
SM.
Rapid
RESPONSE
SM
is an
intensive program of processes and modalities necessary to
afford Non-Profit organizations success through the upcoming
tumultuous economic decade.
The focus of
traditional strategic planning is to produce a voluminous
formal written document, within a predetermined time frame,
that will supposedly “carry” an organization for a specific
period of time (usually three to five years years), and
cover a very controlled list of areas with very defined
(often distant and lofty) goals and objectives.
This focus is just not
compatible within the currently turbulent and often
demanding and ever changing economic realities of the
Non-Profit Industry as we know it today.
The formation of effective
strategy requires much more.
To provide more,
Non-Profit Rescue, Inc.
has developed,
through years of experience in highly diverse fields within
the Non-Profit Industry,
a specific strategy known as
Rapid
RESPONSE
SM,
This strategy combines
the best of Strategic Planning methodology that engages
participants, addresses the Big Questions facing the
organization, and creates an atmosphere where
on-going strategic thinking and action can flourish combined
with up to the minute methodologies for on the fly
management, a necessary skill set required of all Executive
Directors and CEO’s of Non-Profit Organizations in the 21st
century.
The
most solid growth sector in employment in the past decade in
the United States has been in the Non-Profit sector which
now accounts for over 11% of US jobs. In fact, Non-Profit
job growth outpaced that of the private sector in 46 out of
50 states, generating 5.3% more new jobs while job creation
in the private sector fell 0.2%. In fact, American
Charities boast a larger workforce than the Utility,
Wholesale Trade and Construction Industries combined. The
competition in this sector is explosive and while the
competition for talent is great, the competition for
contributions and funding is even greater. While
contributions are up, competition for those contributions
are at an all time high as causes celeb and causes du jour
vie for funds normally earmarked for mainstay causes.
As governmental
agencies continue to cut funding, many Non-Profit
organizations, once dependent upon these public sources of
funds find themselves out in the cold and one by one we see
the effects as closures mount. From arts organizations to
natural history museums, to human service providers, every
day sees the closure of not only viable but necessary
organizations. Why? One reason is the lack of planning;
another is the lack of prudent management, but most of all
the main reason is the lack of the ability to adapt. Just
as many species become extinct due to the inability to
adapt, so to have many well meaning and much needed
Non-Profit organizations.
To survive the coming
decade, Non-Profit Executives must be prepared to adjust
quickly with the market as the contributor becomes more and
more savvy and more reticent to contribute to a cause or
organization they feel may not be around in 5 years.
In addition, many corporate and private foundation funding
sources look to the “how does this benefit me” equation to
make the funding decision more often than to the “how does
this benefit mankind” equation. Organizations must
learn to leverage themselves as products and must learn to
quickly adapt to market trends or go the way of the
dinosaurs.
Rapid
RESPONSE
SM
immerses the Non-Profit executive in a hands-on environment
instilling the skill set necessary to forge success for the
future in the Non-Profit organization the executive leads.
Executives in the
Non-Profit Industry must adapt as their for-profit
counterparts have to a dramatically changing economy. Just
as mergers and acquisitions have seen the landscape of the
American Industry change over the past 20 years so too will
this “corporate cannibalism” spread to the Non-Profit
world. As the economies of scale dictate larger Non-Profit
organizations survive where smaller, similar oriented
Non-Profit organizations fail. The new frontier will be
targeting the acquisition of Fund Balance by organizations with like missions.
Rapid
RESPONSE
SM, will help prepare the Non-Profit
executive for that eventuality.
Many of our clients
report this is much better than the traditional approach
they have used in the past, which often results in a written
document that sits on their desks gathering dust. Using our
Rapid
RESPONSE
SM approach, we
can help you to determine how best to address your Important
Questions within the context of your organizations mission
and vision.
We can:
§
Take you
through a one-day kick off session in which you articulate
your organizational identity from elements such as your
organization’s geographic, programmatic and customer scope,
competitive advantage and market conditions.
§
Use
informal and formal market research techniques to gather and
analyze intelligence from a variety of stakeholders,
including clients, funders, competitors, colleagues, public
policy makers, and former board members and employees
§
Help you
foster an environment in which decisions are made from a
strategic perspective
§
Strategize with you about your organization's enduring
values, mission, and vision for the long-run
§
Identify
and focus on the top opportunities and challenges facing
your organization, its Big Questions, which we can then
address aggressively
§
Develop a
Strategy Screen that enables you to set out criteria for
strategic decisions before the decision is on the
table, thus expediting your strategic response to merging
opportunities and challenges
§
Embed
within your organization a methodology for identifying and
addressing future Big Questions as they emerge, rather than
only once every planning cycle.
§
Leave you
with dozens of simple but often quite powerful tools you can
choose from as you continue to enhance your organization’s
ability to anticipate and respond to strategic challenges.
§
Document
your decisions in accessible language, in an easily
changeable format that includes strategies for monitoring
and evaluating the outcomes you achieve over time
§
Develop
effective promotion and communication strategies for
addressing both internal and external constituents, and for
achieving an optimal market position |
