You’re probably familiar with the saying, “necessity is the mother of invention” but may not realize it originated with Plato. It is need, often born out of lack, that stimulates creative thinking resulting in new ideas or new ways of doing things. Well, need and lack are not new topics to many nonprofits. They are accustomed to operating on shoestring budgets and making magic happen with few resources. This month, as we continue exploring sustainability strategies and focus on resources. Last month we introduced the concept of sustainability in three dimensions: Resources, Results, and Relationships. [Click here to read last month’s article.] This month we continue this series by unpacking the resource dimension and introducing four strategies to consider for each of these resource categories. Before addressing the four resource strategies, let’s review the three categories of resources common to all nonprofit organizations: financial resources, human resources, and physical resources.

Depending on your organization, financial resources may come from a variety of sources -- even if you’re a start-up organization and self-funding your programs and services -- financial resources are a must. However, money is not all that’s needed and organizations rely on a variety of human resources as well. For many nonprofits this includes significant numbers of volunteers as well as paid staff. Finally, there are a variety of physical resources essential to your programs. These may include buildings, classrooms, computers, office equipment, vehicles, curricula, among other resources. It’s impossible to operate without some base of resources. Let’s explore four sustainability strategies as they relate to resources: conservation, preservation, leveraging, and development.

RESOURCE CONSERVATION involves efforts to conserve existing resources and maximize existing investments. There a variety of strategies organizations can explore;here are a few to consider.

Conduct an audit to determine the utilization of facilities, programs, and staff to ensure all resources are being maximized to their fullest potential.

Organizations may find that facilities are not fully utilized and discover ways to save money by either leasing space to other organizations or closing off parts of the facility not being used to save on utilities. Organizations should also can perform an audit of their utilities to determine if there ways to save money and conserve resources.

In terms of programs, organizations may find they have excess capacity and can enroll additional participants in the programs or perhaps partner with other organizations to serve some of their clients. This could result in more cost efficient programming. If staff are not being fully utilized in their current or primary job role, perhaps you can explore ways to cross train staff so they can assist in other parts of the organization. Cross training of staff has become increasingly popular and allows organizations to have multiple people equipped to perform key tasks increases productivity as well as efficiency.

Reduce expenses wherever possible in the organization.

There are numerous strategies to explore here. Some organizations are renegotiating contracts as a way to cut costs. They do this by asking vendors for discounts, lowering volume or term commitments, and others are renewing building leases early to obtain more favorable rates and terms for their office or program space. Still others are outsourcing tasks like volume printing and copying rather than owning their own high volume copiers.

Provide volunteer opportunities for people that are between jobs. This is a win-win as it fills gaps for job seekers’ on their resumes and at the a same time provides additional staff for the organization These volunteers may free up financial resources for the organization by doing tasks you would otherwise have to hire or they may have skills that allow them to conserve other organizational resources.

In addition to conserving resources, it’s also imperative to preserve existing resources.

RESOURCE PRESERVATION includes preserving existing sources of program income and funding. We realize this is not always possible as many funding sources, like state governments have experienced drastic budget cuts and are not able to fund programs at levels consistent with past budgets. Wherever it is possible, adequate attention should be given to preserving these resources.

Produce excellent results for your current funders and investors. We will address this more fully later as we discuss results,but for now remember it is imperative to deliver great work, document it, and also share your results so others can appreciate it.

Provide accurate, timely, and comprehensive reports for the work you do. This may include annual or semi-annual reports to institutional funders or regular communication with individual donors.

Don’t take any resource for granted and assume it will always be there. Continually invest in the relationships and keep the doors open and communications flowing with your existing funders.

RESOURCE LEVERAGING (or Sharing) involves leveraging or sharing excess capacity with other organizations or accessing some surplus of resources from another organization. There are numerous options for nonprofits to share or leverage resources.

Participate in a buying co-op. This is an informal relationship where several nonprofits aggregate their purchasing power to take advantage of volume discounts and buy commodities like building or office supplies in bulk with others and share the savings.

Share facilities or other assets. Other options include sharing facilities or subleasing space to or from another nonprofit or assets and resources like vehicles. Many organizations have discovered the benefits of partnering with others for costly services like transportation rather than absorbing all of those costs themselves.

Consolidate administrative functions. There are more formal, innovative options for leveraging resources including consolidating administrative functions with other nonprofits [click here to read more]. These require more planning, structure, and effort, but may produce significant cost savings to those involved.

Merge with other organizations. Granted this is a serious step that should only be taken after serious consideration, planning, and lengthy discussions between both (or all) organizations involved, but it’s a course that more nonprofits have taken in recent months. Research shows that most mergers fail to realize the anticipated cost savings that are used to “sell” the merger.

RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT involves identifying, developing, and acquiring new funding sources for your work. Believe it or not, there are still myriads of funding opportunities for nonprofits. Depending on your relationships and capabilities, these may include a variety of potential funding sources ranging from individuals and institutions to entrepreneurial activities. There are so many possible options that we describe it as the fundraising universe. We’ve addressed this in numerous past articles and are hosting a free webinar on Revenue Development: A Universe of Opportunities on Tuesday, July 20th at 1:00 PM ET [click here to register].

Resource development requires a significant investment of time and effort, but you can identify and secure new resources for your work provided you develop a plan and work the plan.

All organizations have resources and trying economic times like these we are experiencing require organizations to get all we can out of our resources. We hope this article helps you think through opportunities and develop strategies to maximize your resources.

Kevin Monroe is the Founder and Managing Partner of X Factor Consulting, a consulting firm that makes the world a better place by equipping leaders and strengthening organizations. Through active partnerships with businesses, foundations, government agencies, nonprofits, and others that share this commitment, X Factor is strengthening individuals, families, neighborhoods, and communities around the world. 

Kevin has a wealth of experience and a passion for nonprofit and philanthropic organizations, as evident in the results he has achieved working with organizations around the country. He is available to consult or speak on this topic and many more. Contact us today or click here to learn more.

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