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| Path: Main Street > Resources/Library > Research Articles > Feature Article |
The nonprofit starvation cycle
By Pattie LaCroix
October 15, 2009
Imagine reading the following job description.
Unique leadership opportunityI don't suspect any of us who have worked in the social sector have ever seen such a job posting. In a recent issue of the Stanford Social Innovation Review, the chronic lack of overhead investment, both in hardware and people, was referred to as the "nonprofit starvation cycle."We are a nonprofit organization delivering programs in communities across Canada. We seek a director of organizational learning and leadership. We would like to provide leadership in moving our team's professional development forward. Please send in your application to the executive director of our organization with an outline capturing your approach to learning and leadership development.
"A vicious cycle is leaving nonprofits so hungry for decent infrastructure that they can barely function as organizations - let alone serve their beneficiaries."
Whether spending on technology hardware and software to improve operational processes, or investing in professional leadership development to generate innovation and improve program performance and outcomes, nonprofits have been backed into a corner by unrealistic expectations by funders on what it costs to effectively run nonprofit organizations. Nonprofits and their boards also share some of the responsibility for this current state of affairs. They must take a leadership role in educating funders on the projected returns on required investment costs.
Both the private and public sector strategically identify investment in people as a fundamental driver of their success. In the social sector, job descriptions and the skills required to carry them out are rapidly expanding. Here, staff are regularly called upon to be subject experts, financial managers, change leaders, human resource experts, strategic communicators, and fundraising champions. In fact, most nonprofits rely on staff expertise expanding with little or no investment in:
Both funders and organizations are feeling the recession pinch, but it is also an unprecedented opportunity to reposition the relationship between nonprofits and funding agencies, to make smart investments in infrastructure and management capacity.
- attending conferences and workshops;
- increasing formal education training;
- providing leadership coaching;
- developing and supporting learning plans.
President Barack Obama recently observed that "a crisis is a terrible thing to waste." Now is the time to invest in the development of learning and leadership in the social sector. Now is the time to break the starvation cycle.
Pattie LaCroix has provided strategic leadership in crafting integrated communications and fundraising strategies to nonprofits for more than a decade. As CEO of Catapult Media she is passionate about the power of storytelling in engaging your audience and building support for your work. You can reach Pattie at www.catapultmedia.ca.
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