It's A Dog Eat Dog Nonprofit World
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Jim Gould
Mar 28, 2013, 8:40:05 PM3/28/13
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Please consider this free-reprint article written by:
Jim Gould
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Article Title: It's A Dog Eat Dog Nonprofit World
Author: Jim Gould
Word Count: 573
Article URL: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=143418&ca=Business
Format: 64cpl
Contact The Author: http://www.isnare.com/eta.php?aid=143418
Easy Publish Tool: http://www.isnare.com/html.php?aid=143418
*********************** ARTICLE START ***********************
You would not be working at a nonprofit if there was not a passion for your mission that compensated for the sacrifices in salary and other benefits you could probably earn in the commercial world. That says something about the kind of people we are. Most of us are:
* Trusting. We cannot imagine that there might be bad people in our idealized world;
* Optimistic. How could we survive if we did not believe we really could make a difference?
* Sympathetic. We are mostly attracted to needy causes or people;
* Non-confrontational. We mostly like consensus and seek agreement.
* Collaborative. Our comfort level is with working as a team rather than going it alone.
These are admirable and useful qualities to have in the nonprofit world. However, there are other people in your industry who do not fit this description. They operate more like they were in competition with everyone. Instead of trusting, they are wary. Instead of being optimistic, they are fearful of failure. Instead of being sympathetic, they are self-promoting. Instead of being non-confrontational, they fiercely stake out and defend their turf. Instead of being collaborative, they prefer to work alone isolated from their colleagues.
These people see their nonprofits being in competition with every other nonprofit � and they are absolutely right. However, the qualities they bring to the contest can often be disruptive and ugly. If you do not acknowledge this, you will lose donor dollars, volunteer commitments, membership, and patronage.
This article will describe the competitive environment in which nonprofits uncharacteristically find themselves. A subsequent article will deal with the strategies you need to consider in order to meet this challenge.
Where is the competition? It is coming at you from all directions:
* Geographic � Look at the other nonprofits in your town. Are some of you competing for the same resources? The problem is that if a donor decides, for example, to set up a charitable trust in favor of the hospital, it is unlikely they will consider a similar commitment to you. If the local library sponsors a town fair for their benefit, it means that you should not expect great success duplicating the experience. If a national charity prevails in a time of particular need, be it a tsunami or Katrina, people will channel their beneficence to them rather than you.
* Category � If you are a museum, you are in competition with other museums. For example, if you are a local historical society, your constituency may reduce their aid to you if they spend a weekend in Washington, DC at the Smithsonian. You are also in competition for support from your County Museum, State Museum, etc.
* Perception � As other nonprofits promote themselves in newspapers, magazines, newsletters, tv, and radio, you will find their name recognition increasing at your expense. Nonprofits need to recognize the importance of promoting their brand.
* Economic � If other nonprofits can outspend you on technology, lure talent with higher salaries, extend their markets by advertising and public relations, and spend money on consultants, they are positioning themselves to enjoy the dividends of these investments.
There are some ways that you can beat the competition, and create a better environment for the entire nonprofit community. We deal with these in the article �21 Things You Must do to Stay Competitive in the 21st Century.�
About The Author: Jim Gould is the Chairman of Fundraising Solutions, http://www.fundraising-solutions.org, a fundraising company that offer a free fundraising program for non profit organization fundraising, Jim also runs http://www.clickshopsupport.org, a charity shopping website.
Please use the HTML version of this article at:
http://www.isnare.com/html.php?aid=143418
*********************** ARTICLE END ***********************
- To distribute your articles go to http://www.isnare.com/distribution.php
- For more free-reprint articles go to http://www.isnare.com
Message delivered directly to members of the group:
publish-the...@googlegroups.com
*****************************************************************
Please consider this free-reprint article written by:
Jim Gould
*****************************
IMPORTANT - Publication/Reprint Terms
- You have permission to publish this article electronically in free-only publications such as a website or an ezine as long as the bylines are included.
- You are not allowed to use this article for commercial purposes. The article should only be reprinted in a publicly accessible website and not in a members-only commercial site.
- You are not allowed to post/reprint this article in any sites/publications that contains or supports hate, violence, porn and warez or any indecent and illegal sites/publications.
- You are not allowed to use this article in UCE (Unsolicited Commercial Email) or SPAM. This article MUST be distributed in an opt-in email list only.
- If you distribute this article in an ezine or newsletter, we ask that you send a copy of the newsletter or ezine that contains the article to http://www.isnare.com/eta.php?aid=143418
- If you post this article in a website/forum/blog, ALL links MUST be set to hyperlinks and we ask that you send a copy of the URL where the article is posted to http://www.isnare.com/eta.php?aid=143418
- We request that you ask permission from the author if you want to publish this article in print.
The role of iSnare.com is only to distribute this article as part of its Article Distribution feature ( http://www.isnare.com/distribution.php ). iSnare.com does NOT own this article, please respect the author's copyright and this publication/reprint terms. If you do not agree to any of these terms, please do not reprint or publish this article.
*****************************
Article Title: It's A Dog Eat Dog Nonprofit World
Author: Jim Gould
Word Count: 573
Article URL: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=143418&ca=Business
Format: 64cpl
Contact The Author: http://www.isnare.com/eta.php?aid=143418
Easy Publish Tool: http://www.isnare.com/html.php?aid=143418
*********************** ARTICLE START ***********************
You would not be working at a nonprofit if there was not a passion for your mission that compensated for the sacrifices in salary and other benefits you could probably earn in the commercial world. That says something about the kind of people we are. Most of us are:
* Trusting. We cannot imagine that there might be bad people in our idealized world;
* Optimistic. How could we survive if we did not believe we really could make a difference?
* Sympathetic. We are mostly attracted to needy causes or people;
* Non-confrontational. We mostly like consensus and seek agreement.
* Collaborative. Our comfort level is with working as a team rather than going it alone.
These are admirable and useful qualities to have in the nonprofit world. However, there are other people in your industry who do not fit this description. They operate more like they were in competition with everyone. Instead of trusting, they are wary. Instead of being optimistic, they are fearful of failure. Instead of being sympathetic, they are self-promoting. Instead of being non-confrontational, they fiercely stake out and defend their turf. Instead of being collaborative, they prefer to work alone isolated from their colleagues.
These people see their nonprofits being in competition with every other nonprofit � and they are absolutely right. However, the qualities they bring to the contest can often be disruptive and ugly. If you do not acknowledge this, you will lose donor dollars, volunteer commitments, membership, and patronage.
This article will describe the competitive environment in which nonprofits uncharacteristically find themselves. A subsequent article will deal with the strategies you need to consider in order to meet this challenge.
Where is the competition? It is coming at you from all directions:
* Geographic � Look at the other nonprofits in your town. Are some of you competing for the same resources? The problem is that if a donor decides, for example, to set up a charitable trust in favor of the hospital, it is unlikely they will consider a similar commitment to you. If the local library sponsors a town fair for their benefit, it means that you should not expect great success duplicating the experience. If a national charity prevails in a time of particular need, be it a tsunami or Katrina, people will channel their beneficence to them rather than you.
* Category � If you are a museum, you are in competition with other museums. For example, if you are a local historical society, your constituency may reduce their aid to you if they spend a weekend in Washington, DC at the Smithsonian. You are also in competition for support from your County Museum, State Museum, etc.
* Perception � As other nonprofits promote themselves in newspapers, magazines, newsletters, tv, and radio, you will find their name recognition increasing at your expense. Nonprofits need to recognize the importance of promoting their brand.
* Economic � If other nonprofits can outspend you on technology, lure talent with higher salaries, extend their markets by advertising and public relations, and spend money on consultants, they are positioning themselves to enjoy the dividends of these investments.
There are some ways that you can beat the competition, and create a better environment for the entire nonprofit community. We deal with these in the article �21 Things You Must do to Stay Competitive in the 21st Century.�
About The Author: Jim Gould is the Chairman of Fundraising Solutions, http://www.fundraising-solutions.org, a fundraising company that offer a free fundraising program for non profit organization fundraising, Jim also runs http://www.clickshopsupport.org, a charity shopping website.
Please use the HTML version of this article at:
http://www.isnare.com/html.php?aid=143418
*********************** ARTICLE END ***********************
- To distribute your articles go to http://www.isnare.com/distribution.php
- For more free-reprint articles go to http://www.isnare.com
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