Costly Mistakes Non-Profits and Charities Need to Avoid to Make a Difference
Charities and non-profits run differently to a normal business, and heavily rely on raising funds to be able to do all the great work and make a positive contribution to society. Unfortunately, this also means that they are at a much higher risk of making a mistake or falling into a trap that a business with profits may be able to sustain.
It is therefore vital that, as a charity or non-profit, you adequately prepare for risks and challenges that lie ahead of you. There are many common ones that have been made by other non-profits that you can learn from. This means you can put the right strategies in place to avoid them, but also plan to ride the wave if they come at you. Unfortunately, some are inevitable with things like major global events or market conditions.
To help you on your journey, here are some of the most costly mistakes that non-profits and charities need to avoid to be able to make a difference in society.
Finances
Finances are tough in a non-profit. What will make it worse is poor financial transparency. If there is a breakdown in the communication of how funds are used, then donors can be put off extremely easily.
It is vital that there is a clear and streamlined process for your finances and how they are shared. A simple financial statement should be published in full, without the use of confusing jargon. At the core of this, there should be adequate financial management procedures in place, as well as key metrics that can be measured.
Leadership
The leaders and management of your business are really key to your growth and the work that you do. However, if leadership is weak, if the mission gets lost, there is no risk management or compliance, and insufficient training, then the non-profit is likely to fail.
It is vital that a good, skilled, and experienced leader is running the projects. The most important qualities are passion and dedication. When a person has these, they are more likely to run an organization that is successful in all the right areas.
Internal operations and systems
Your internal operations and systems are very important. While they may not be the core of the work that you do, they do enable you to run your organization behind the scenes. If your systems are inefficient, if they don’t work, if they create bottlenecks or don’t serve the right purpose, then your organization will be in shambles. You will quickly lose the trust of your donors and the people you do all the work for.
You need to ensure that you have the right system in place and optimize it for efficiency. This might include:
Map and simplify processes
Centralize your data
Delegate work effectively throughout the organization
Use Software for Non-Profits designed specifically for your type of work
Automating simple and repetitive administration tasks
Make running a non-profit easier and simpler by implementing these strategies. These will help you to avoid the most common mistakes that will cost you hard and positive work in society.
