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Why Your Organization Needs to Change
“It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.” – Charles Darwin
- Donations have been stuck at 2% of GDP for several decades
- Nonprofits keep doing the same things that deliver the same results (usually prompting donors to hop from supporting one organization to another– hoping for a better value exchange and a more meaningful experience)
- Donors are tired of being treated like ATM machines and receptacles for your spam and junk mail
- Your competitors are “getting” it and they are stealing (and retaining) your donors
- You don’t have time to argue with me about all of the above
Here are some other (more positive) reasons why your organization needs to change:
- Change will make you feel good… Really!
- It will make you feel like you are in control
- It will keep you focused on your true mission
- It will drive you to listen to others
- It will help you provide more value to others
- It will force you to make mistakes (so you can learn from them)
Don’t fear change. Embrace it. Be responsive to change and you’ll do more than survive. You’ll thrive.
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Feeling like your job is getting harder because donor expectations have changed and competition for the charitable dollar is growing?
Finding that the old orthodoxies and conventions espoused by so-called experts in online echo-chambers and at conferences don’t work anymore?
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I could not agree more, Greg. And when the organization is resistant to that change, sometimes it is incumbent upon the individual to seek out organizations that are more receptive and welcoming of a change in the paradigm.
Agreed Scott! You always put a terrific twist on my posts. THANK YOU.
Yes, sometimes innovators and go-getters need to stop wasting time with unresponsive and recalcitrant organizations. Sometimes they need to change and find another organization to serve. One that is filled with innovators and go-getters. They are out there. But you have to search for them.
Zen Master walks up to Hot Dog Vendor and says, “Make me one with everything.”
So, Hot Dog Vendor pulls out a bun, slaps in a dog, slathers it with everything, and hands it to Zen Master.
Zen Master takes the hot dog, sets it down, pulls out his wallet, takes out a $20 bill, and hands it to Hot Dog Vendor.
Hot Dog Vendor takes the $20, opens his till, slips it in, and closes the drawer.
After an awkward moment, finally Zen Master says, “So where’s my change?” … to which Hot Dog Vendor says, “Change must come from within.”
You just made me giggle. Thanks Greg.
I could not agree more, Greg. And when the organization is resistant to that change, sometimes it is incumbent upon the individual to seek out organizations that are more receptive and welcoming of a change in the paradigm.
Agreed Scott! You always put a terrific twist on my posts. THANK YOU.
Yes, sometimes innovators and go-getters need to stop wasting time with unresponsive and recalcitrant organizations. Sometimes they need to change and find another organization to serve. One that is filled with innovators and go-getters. They are out there. But you have to search for them.
Zen Master walks up to Hot Dog Vendor and says, “Make me one with everything.”
So, Hot Dog Vendor pulls out a bun, slaps in a dog, slathers it with everything, and hands it to Zen Master.
Zen Master takes the hot dog, sets it down, pulls out his wallet, takes out a $20 bill, and hands it to Hot Dog Vendor.
Hot Dog Vendor takes the $20, opens his till, slips it in, and closes the drawer.
After an awkward moment, finally Zen Master says, “So where’s my change?” … to which Hot Dog Vendor says, “Change must come from within.”
You just made me giggle. Thanks Greg.