Forbenefit Newsletter

Ten Questions to Ask Yourself About Your Organization

But Only if You Want to Survive

Self-evaluation is the key to success for organizations of any size and for any mission. The truth is that many organizations exist in order to put themselves out of business. While some organizations have a sustaining mission, others are here to attack the root causes of a problem and solve it. Some organizations, such as the March of Dimes, fulfill their original mission (to find a cure for polio), and, once they "arrive," they must decide what they should do with the tremendous support systems they created and how their accumulated experience and skills apply to other problems.

No matter how long your organization has existed, you should ask yourself the following questions in order to sustain momentum, long-term funding and achieve your mission. If your organization is new, these questions will help you to develop your plan of action: 

• How will we know when we have arrived? For some organizations, the answer is simple. The people they serve are no longer suffering, the problem is solved, the laws have been changed. In other words, the issue is no longer an issue. For others, however, it's not as clear-cut. For those with a perpetual mission - museums, hospitals, human services organizations and others - it's more a matter of doing a superb job and satisfying needs. But for some organizations, the ones that are not organized around a concrete concept, the answer may be elusive. Read our article, When Visions Don't Manifest, for more information. If you are not able to answer this question, you may have some work to do to make your goals more concrete, more focused and, sometimes, more expansive. 
• Why is our organization (still) needed? Are you making reasonable progress toward your goals? Does the quality and quantity of your achievements justify donors' investments? Donors - and the IRS - expect that your organization will contribute to solving a problem. 
• What other organizations are doing this work? Surprisingly, some new organizations don't assess this before applying for their 501 (c) (3). Established organizations frequently overlook the need to learn about other organizations that may be doing the same work for the same population. This is especially vital information, because it is a warning flag. Someone obviously believes that your mission is not being adequately fulfilled.
• Who are our anti-organizations? Before you launch that new PR campaign, do you know who will come out against you? Do you know everything you need to know about the "other side?" Find those organizations and, if possible, use a clipping service or work with volunteers to follow all media and other information about them. Google! Don't underestimate your opponents. Understand their views and prepare your PR message to anticipate and counter their attacks. 
• Is our name branded? Is it easy to tell who we are and what we do by our name? Your brand is your organization's identity. Does it do the job? Avoid using acronyms. They may be easy, but people usually can't figure out what the letters stand for, so your brand is lost. When choosing a brand, abbreviation is inevitable. Choose your own one-word abbreviation - one that maintains meaning. If you don't, someone will do it for you, and you may not appreciate their choice. Also beware of your name becoming outdated or politically incorrect. The exception to the acronym rule is that some very well established organizations, that have strong brand identity, have been forced to change their official names to their acronyms to avoid a name change. 
• Why do people donate to our organization? What's in it for them? Do we articulate that? The key to individual donations is being able to articulate, in 30 seconds or less, why donors should give to your organization. The best resource to develop this message is donors themselves. 
• Has our focus changed? Does your work still match your mission? When you write your goals and objectives, do they reflect the major mission of the organization? 
• Does everyone in our organization know our mission? A good test is can everyone in your organization should be able to state your mission as if they were doing an interview with the media? "The mission of our organization is - -" If each person can't do that, it's time to educate. It may also be time to reexamine the mission statement. Is it too long or wordy? Try it out on each other. Does it flow? Can everyone get all of the words out in the right order? Does it clearly state what your organization's programs hope to accomplish? The answer should be in your mission statement. But please don't spend weeks wordsmithing.
• What are our long-term funding strategies? If you've ever written a grant, you know this question is included. While it is great to say you plan to diversify your funding sources, exactly how are you doing that? How many different funding streams have you investigated and pursued? If you receive a great deal of funding and interest for a program in a new area, how will you sustain that program once the seed money is gone? 
• How do we measure success? Simply saying you measure the number of people you serve is not enough. What changes do you expect to see in those people? If you're organization is not people-focused, can you describe the incremental changes and successes you are hoping to accomplish? 
  

• When Visions Don't Manifest
  
  Money Doesn't Come 
  In our business, we often meet visionary people. You can easily spot a visionary. When they speak, you can see the sugar plum fairies dancing in their heads, but only for a split second, because it's impossible to keep up with them. They leap from one disconnected thought to another, and they are frustrated when others "don't get it." They are frequently the founders of your organization.
   
  Every organization needs visionaries, but not a whole board full of visionaries. Organizations need concrete implementers who can interpret the vision and translate into reality. Sometimes, if the visionaries and emotion-based decision making have too much control over the organization, it can be difficult to implement the practical steps required to make that vision manifest.
  
  Unless you are able to offer foundations and donors a concrete solution - one that benefits large numbers of people or entire communities, will educate people about the issue, positively impact an at-risk population, or solve a well-documented problem, and one that employs proven, respected methods - funding may be difficult to find. You may have to make hard choices in order to accomplish your mission.
   
  Strategies for success:
  
• Build broad support through education and advocacy;
• Diversify your strategies to ensure that your mission gets the attention it deserves;
• Contribute to solving a larger problem as a primary goal;
• Overcome obstacles before you focus on the main goal;
• Collaborate with organizations doing compatible work;
• Convince your core constituents that they are served by the larger goals.
  

Your organization visionaries may lead you astray at times, sending you off to pursue an undefined goal. The visionary may not be wrong. He or she may actually be able to see the end result in his or her own mind, but may not know how to get there. In the mean time, you can waste time and resources and squander your organization's credibility while trying to understand what they or your constituents want from you.
 
You want to get there. It is never too late to attend to these issues to make sure your organization achieves success.