What if it didn’t have to be crazy?
It's been a long time since I started in the nonprofit sector, but I remember those days well.
I was a full-time employee at a mid-sized nonprofit in New York for about 7 years.
Once I got settled in, I began to notice: this organization was a little crazy.
Everyone worked long hours.
One project after another was pivoted at the last moment into something else.
Unattainable goals were met with impossible budgets and unworkable deadlines.
Even good results were rarely recognized, so frantic was the pace of keeping up with whatever was next.
Staffers who were friends with the executives had a way of meddling outside their designated areas, creating a whirling conflict of expectations and loyalties.
I put up with it because I believed in the cause.
I couldn't understand why it was so hectic, but I figured it was just some quirk of our organizational style.
Then I began to work with other nonprofits.
And I understood, it hadn't just been us.
Nonprofit life can get pretty crazy.
But here's the thing:
Not all the organizations I’ve worked with are crazy. Maybe I’ve found a way to attract the sane ones.
Most of them are effective, efficient, and staffed by people who are genuinely happy and fulfilled.
They set reasonable and attainable goals.
They understand what those goals are worth and invest their resources accordingly.
They ensure each area of concern is owned by a specific person, and they trust that person to take care of that area and ask for help where needed.
They understand the value of relationships: between team members, and with their larger constituent base. Everyone has a reason for participating. These organizations validate those reasons.
They expect their tools to be reliable, but don't expect them to substitute for creative thinking and ownership.
They ask each team member to stay in their own lane. If you have a concern, take it to the person who's in charge of that area. You can ask for help, but you can't tell them how to do their job.
They acknowledge that while their hopes and dreams may be limitless, their resources will always be finite, and they decided to work within their means.
If you're working at such an organization now, rejoice and rock on!
But if your current situation is a little more on the crazy end, it might be worth asking:
Does it have to be that way?
What if you could take steps to bring sanity back to the work that really matters?
A little hope it's a dangerous, but I'll offer this:
The work that matters doesn't have to make you crazy.
There is a sane and pleasant way to make the world a better place.
Nonprofit sanity begins with clear goals, honest assessment, kind and clear communication, and a willingness to make tough decisions and then move forward.
It's not a matter of luck -- it's a matter of chosing systems that value calm execution.
All the best,
A.