From every client we work for we learn something, the backpack goes back fuller with lessons we can use with other clients. That’s one of the things that makes our profession so much fun.
In recent years, non-profit organizations (impact organizations) have taken an increasingly prominent role in our client base. Piece by piece assignments that we grab with both hands; because of the passion of employees and because we know; that backpack is going to be full. And meanwhile, working with non-profits is familiar territory. We know the complexity of non-profit organizations and the challenges they face. They really are substantially different from commercial organizations.
Nonprofit organizations have a great common denominator; nowhere else will you find people who are so mission-driven and work extremely hard for what they believe in. This is contagious, and it also creates complex dynamics, where passion for the mission can clash with a need for business and efficiency for healthy operations. In today’s times, non-profits often have it anything but easy. Dependence on grants, volunteers, partners and donors creates more uncertainty and demands agility and flexibility from nonprofit organizations. That balance between idealism and what agility requires is tricky, and it’s not surprising that we’re increasingly called in to help with that as an external partner.
In this blog, we share some of the insights we gathered in that backpack. Topics that I am sure other organizations also recognize to a greater or lesser extent.
Nonprofit organizations often run on a strong shared mission and people’s activist passion. This produces tremendous engagement, collegiality and connection. People feel more than colleagues, almost comrades in arms. At the same time, it makes it difficult to make business choices or to set boundaries. Another factor is that commercial methods are often seen as incompatible with the social mission. The trick is not to see mission and business as opposites, but rather as reinforcing. Only by taking both seriously will the organization remain vital and viable.
Many nonprofit organizations are under pressure due to declining subsidies and the search for new revenue models. This brings unrest and worry to employees. If I can’t work here, where can I work? This calls for creativity, new forms of organization and discussing what is really needed to remain future-proof. As an organization and as an employee.
Because every euro prefers to go to the mission, there is often little investment in “overhead. And rightly so. HR and organizational development are often lightly designed as a result. This is understandable, and it makes it harder to deal with complex issues. Whether that’s about change, culture, leadership, or compensation policy. It is precisely a focused HR approach that can help identify tensions, give direction, and allow the organization to grow sustainably.
Nonprofit organizations are close to our hearts. We have enormous respect for everyone who works for a higher cause, and if we can contribute to it, we do so with passion and dedication. This is why we devote volunteer time ourselves to the HR support of Refugee Talent Hub. From our value of “start with us,” we always work from what is already there and know how to quickly grasp existing dynamics. We are not an elephant in a china shop, but we know how to bring the necessary matter-of-factness and clarity.
This is how we make nonprofit organizations stronger, more independent and stable. The stronger the organization, the greater the positive impact it can make on the world. And we need that badly. Perhaps even harder than ever!
