Experienced Insights: Nonprofit Leaders Speak About What They've Seen That We All Should Be Doing
Continuing the Experienced Insights series on nonprofit leaders and their organizations, NMBL not only wanted to understand what allowed these organizations to make it through the pandemic and subsequent economic challenges but also to determine what nonprofits should prioritize in order to move forward through uncertain times. The last question asked what is something you've done really well and granted insight into how successful nonprofits continued to be successful during the pandemic. While that offers insights for other nonprofits, asking what nonprofits should be doing generally, offers concrete ideas and insight into how you can maximize your organization’s potential, fundraising, and operations despite challenging circumstances. With that, we asked six nonprofit leaders across the country to share what they believe are quality strategies that other nonprofits should engage with in order to succeed. Here’s what they had to say:
What's one thing you've seen others doing that you think nonprofits should be doing during COVID?
“Be nimble with their finances and streamlining to essentials.”
- Yemi Akande-Bartsch, Ph.D, FOCUS STL
“Scenario planning to account for so many unknowns over the next year or two.”
- Emily Lohse-Busch, Arch Grants
“Groups such as World Urban Parks and City Parks Alliance have quickly responded with freely available websites, webinars/conference calls, and other resources that pool collective knowledge from across the public space sector.”
- Scott Stewart, Millennium Park Foundation
“Community outreach”
- Bert Vescolani, Denver Zoo
“It would depend on the nonprofit and what their mission is and if they have a facility or are program services only. However, through webinars, I saw some museums trying new things with virtual tours of their galleries or featuring certain art or artifacts that they hadn't done before. Some of the people commented that they are getting really high attendance so these are programs they'll likely continue in the future even after the quarantining/social distancing is a thing of the past. Sometimes when we're forced to do things in different ways, we learn some surprising things and new ideas stem from challenges.”
- Diane Bauhof, St. Louis Aquarium Foundation
“I love how the shift to the virtual environment has broadened the audience to reach beyond our typical physical space. It opens so many opportunities - for speakers, collaborators, visitors, etc. I hope to see digital/virtual offered as a complement to in-person experiences.”
- Katie Hitt, Architecture and Design Exchange
Echoing the insights presented in the most recent installment of this series, flexibility is still key, but the common factor in these responses is the innovation achieved by nonprofits. Thinking outside the box became key as normal business operations shut down. Whether it was information, services, or whole museum exhibits, these organizations and others in the industry saw success by keeping their “doors open” in innovative ways. Strategically, organizations created plans and streamlined their operations, improving their available operations in ways that many consumers do not see. For others this change in availability was virtual; webinars, virtual conferences, or resource pages for giving consumers everything they want on a single page, all provided new forms of engagement and protected meaningful connections between nonprofits and their communities. The virtual aspect of this was even seen as a step up in many regards with the ability to reach wider audiences, incorporate new speakers or exhibits, and even forcing organizations to learn and implement new virtual experiences that they intend to keep even when in-person operations reopen. All of these responses note that nonprofits that were successful remained engaged and innovated. Whether that was strategically, virtually, or even physically, creating new ways to be available and engage with communities was key.
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