After many years of working with not-for-profit (NFP) CEOs, Boards and Senior Managers and identifying the challenges they faced, Spranger developed The Golden MILE – a tailored model that combined these insights with tools used by successful corporate enterprises.

Markets

The expression ‘the trend is your friend,’ often used in financial markets suggests that if you miss the market you’re out of the game. Marketplaces have been operating for 5,000 years, yet NFP managers rarely acknowledge that they operate in a marketplace for all revenue sources – government, donor and member included.

Look at the movement away from ‘care and join’ toward ‘click and credit card’ and the impact this is having on organisational relevance. With new NFPs being born every day, corporates and the Government focused on fulfilling CSR initiatives, your NFP needs to know that it’s hitting the mark.

NFPs need to focus on trends impacting the core of the organisation and changing donor and stakeholder needs. There’s always opportunity in a marketplace – by building on existing products and services to existing or new markets, or implementing new products and services to existing or new markets.

NFP marketplaces are shifting. Occasionally organisations are at risk of being out of kilter and need to realign themselves to remain successful.

Innovation

If you’re rolling out a strategic plan each year that’s very similar to the last then it’s unlikely that innovation’s at the forefront of your plan. Sometimes there’s greater risk of continuing with the status quo as this can potentially lead an organisation to extinction.

Improved innovation is the key to forming successful strategic planning under a current business model.

One tactic to ensure that innovation is the driver in your strategic plan is to appoint a dedicated manager to it.

Lifecycle

Just like people, NFP organisations are at a stage in their lifecycle. The challenge lies in identifying and agreeing upon where you are positioned, what to do about it, and if needed accept the journey and steps that are required to achieve a turnaround.

Evolution

Organisations evolve over time, so it is good to revisit your journey to see where you’ve come from, where you’re currently positioned and, most importantly, where you want to be positioned in the future. Where to from here? That depends on you.

Decided that your NFP needs to change? Consider this:

If you were to fully reboot and restart you organisation tomorrow with your existing asset base, how would it be structured, who are the key stakeholders, what would the business model look like, and what type of resources and infrastructure do you need to operate it successfully?

Asking yourself the tough questions and answering them honestly is the first step in identifying where your organisation is at and where it needs to be.

Frank Spranger works with NFP organisations in transitioning into the future, strategic planning, achieving revenue diversity, feasibilities, risk reviews, and review of building and property options.

He has worked with The Australasian Fire and Emergency Service Authorities Council, Australian Dental Association, Australian Medical Association and Oxfam.

For more information email {encode=”frankspranger@gmail.com” title=”frankspranger@gmail.com”} or call 0408 336 363.