It’s common knowledge that non-profit charities generally start with the greatest of intentions at heart. They contribute to society by collecting funds and funnelling them in the right direction to give themselves and stakeholders a higher purpose.
The core intention behind these organisations is to provide for communities that have fallen behind humane societal standards. With such pure causes and intentions, one would hope they could all thrive and survive, yet there are plenty of charitable attempts that hardly see the light of mainstream media, as they fumble before making any progress (Chalmers, D. M., & Balan-Vnuk, E. 2013).
We, at Partners in Progress (PiP), are not here to sugar coat; but rather keep it real and transparent about everything we do and face. Our primary goal was and continues to remain to provide the vision while trying to tackle the below pitfalls.
To understand the common problems that gets sprung, let’s first take a deep dive into some of the common pitfalls that can occur when trying to deliver non-profit support, while discussing the element of transparency that we offer.
Poor planning
When heading into such ventures, it is important that we have a clear-cut plan that defines goals and KPIs. This helps provide a direction for the business, while also associating clear touchpoints to avoid confusion within and between departments. It is important to have a vision, mission and goals set up from the start, or else the success of your charity will remain a pipe dream.
At PiP, we have divided our strategy into a short term (12 month), and. Along term plan so that we have a clear understanding of goals and targets that are our immediate focus.
Lack of funds
Unfortunately, this common pitfall happens more often than some people think when it comes to non-profit organisations. Although the organisation backs a good cause, investors may not always be so convinced. Some stakeholders are often found to be hesitant to take the leap — possibly because of the looming fail rate behind non-profit business management.
According to the National Center on Charitable Statistics, the failure rate in the initial decade for a non-profit charity tends to be over 30%!
Look, we’re not here to sugar-coat or ignore what’s right Infront of us. As a newbie trying to join the league, we’re here to reiterate that we are serious about the vision, and we come fully prepared knowing that’s going to be a task to gain enough to be able to provide. However, we are also stubborn about getting there, and we know we will in time with the right support and a concrete strategy to back.
Inability to adapt
We live in a fast-paced environment where problems and solutions develop daily. Nothing is ever constant, and the world can leave inflexible traditionalists behind. This is equally the case in the world of non-profits, where stakeholder engagement, fund management and program delivery all present dynamic challenges (Brinckerhoff, P. C. 2009).
PiP takes pride in being highly adaptable and resilient when faced with challenges and hurdles. We’ve come this far by being transparent and honest about the goals we’ve set, and we have no doubt about succeeding.
Poor data management
It’s all a numbers game. Organisations tend to be petrified of real time data as they may not be happy with what they see. But what they fail to realise is how those numbers provide clarity on their progress and what they can do to improve.
According to Bennett R (2016), When data isn’t taken into consideration for business strategies, they end up working with smoke and mirrors which can lead them astray, and we all know that a non-quantifiable variable is never credible.
At Partners in Progress Foundation, we consistently strive to be ahead of the game by relying on real time data and a set plan so that we can offer our best to those in need.
To learn more about our organisation and how we avoid these pitfalls, get in touch today.
Sources:
Bennett, R. (2016), “Factors contributing to the early failure of small new charity start-ups”, Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, Vol. 23 No. 2, pp. 333-348. https://doi.org/10.1108/JSBED-11-2013-0173
Brinckerhoff, P. C. (2009), “Mission-based Management: Leading your not-for-profit in the 21stCentury”, John Wiley & Sons, 3rd Ed.
Chalmers, D. M., & Balan-Vnuk, E. (2013), “Innovating not-for-profit social ventures: Exploring the microfoundations of internal and external absorptive capacity routines”, International Small Business Journal, 31(7), 785–810. https://doi.org/10.1177/0266242612465630
https://www.instrumentl.com/blog/why-nonprofits-fail
https://www.501c3.org/top-5-reasons-why-nonprofits-fail/
https://nanoe.org/nonprofits-fail/
