Can You Afford To Be Forward Thinking?

A recent presenter shared that nonprofits were so busy worrying about survival that they could not look ahead. Yet, if we look into the past we see that forward looking and survival are not two different events, but two components of one event.

For example, the Y’s website shares, “The Great Depression brought dramatic drops in Y income, some as high as 50 percent.” However, in the Depression the Y developed program models involving exercise and educational classes were both up, along with vocational training and camping….” The idea spread widely and YMCAs discovered they could survive handily if they served a large number of people and had low building payments. In fact, the Chicago Y was able to organize a new South Shore branch in the depths of the Depression.”

Along with survival, think forward. Consider these questions: How can you enlarge the pie? How might you include more members of the community in your mission? How might you improve the stewardship of your current resources, i.e., spend your time better? If money were not object what would you do differently to improve your outcomes? What might we do differently, since money is an object, to achieve outcomes? How will you take advantage of the coming up swing?

For more forward thinking strategic questions, email karen@kedconsult.com, ask for the Month-By-Month Strategic Organization article.