Experienced Insights: What Nonprofit Leaders Are Doing Well During COVID
In early July, NMBL Strategies reached out to several nonprofit leaders operating organizations in states across the US and in nonprofits with varying missions. We asked questions about what they’re seeing over the last several months in order to compile insights from their expertise. In a new series of blog posts called Experienced Insights, we feature questions and answers from various industry experts. Beginning with the nonprofit sector, this first series of three questions focus on sharing advice about how these nonprofit leaders and their organizations moved forward serving their communities despite the pandemic. We are sharing these useful insights in hopes that other non-profit organizations can learn from and implement new strategies to continue operating efficiently and effectively as COVID-19 still affects our everyday lives. So, our first question for non-profit leaders asks:
What is something you've done really well during COVID?
The first question in this series seeks to understand the common factors that have allowed nonprofits to continue to function and serve their communities despite sheltering consumers and closed economies. We wanted to understand the key to moving forward when faced with largely unprecedented circumstances and a fluid situation. In its simplest terms, this question allows someone to say, here is something that worked for me, I hope it works for you. Here’s what they had to say:
“Ability to pivot to alternate platforms of engaging our program participants and alums.”
- Yemi Akande-Bartsch, Ph.D, FOCUS STL
“We've been flexible and reactive, which has allowed us to meet the needs of the entrepreneurs we serve and also focus ourselves on why we exist and how our mission will help St. Louis recover and grow coming out of this pandemic.”
- Emily Lohse-Busch, Arch Grants
“Keep operations and budget flexible, adaptable, and in a "ready to respond" position while positioning budget resources (i.e., endowments, earned revenue, fundraising) so as to provide appropriate protection from market volatility, changing donor interests, and reduced city funding.”
- Scott Stewart, Millennium Park Foundation
“Team collaboration, re-imagine experiences for our guests with far less people revenue.”
- Bert Vescolani, Denver Zoo
“The Aquarium and Aquarium Foundation presented Facebook Live programs twice a week for kids (and adults!) to learn more about the wonderful animals at the Aquarium. The Aquarium Foundation created educational activities to augment each program (and a quiz). We also produced those into an activity packet that we distributed (through partner KidSmart) to under-resourced schools so students learning at home who may not have access to a computer or the internet could still get the activities. We distributed 18,000 packets.”
- Diane Bauhof, St. Louis Aquarium Foundation
“Pivot to virtual/create new partnerships.”
- Katie Hitt, Architecture and Design Exchange
Whether it’s called pivoting, adapting, shifting, or re-imagining, the common trend of what allowed these organizations to perform during the pandemic is flexibility. Flexibility or adaptability allowed these groups to remain available to the public, face budget or market changes, and even shift to completely virtual operations. Regardless of the community, service, or challenge, flexibility was an essential tool for propelling nonprofits through the difficulties created by COVID-19. Flexibility and adaptability are components that should be a feature of nonprofits no matter the economic or world circumstances. Being able to quickly adapt to customer and community needs, can help organizations consistently serve and attract new visitors and clients no matter how the world looks.
NMBL Strategies seeks to empower small businesses, nonprofits, and public-private enterprises through trusted consulting partnerships. Our consultants have real-world experience and significant tenure within their fields and are able to deliver the best and most strategic return on investment. Learn how we can help grow your organization today.
