Do you have personal experiences with being part of a nonprofit organization like a scholarship opportunity? Nonprofits make many contributions to many aspects of our lives. Their nonprofit status may make them distinct from for-profit businesses. However, they share this trait: They are all powered by brilliance.
By “Brilliance,” I mean your unique combination of experience, expertise, and wisdom.
We could compare brilliance powering a given nonprofit to gasoline powering a car. With a car, it is clear that we have to refill the car’s tank every so often. There has to be an infrastructure to make that possible. We need gas stations. Tankers come and fill the tanks from which the gas pumps pull. That gas comes from a refinery. The oil the refinery gets comes from ….
You get the idea. There is a whole system behind making sure that we can power our cars. (The same will be true when we switch to electric vehicles. Any power source needs a system to support it).
What Is The System Behind Powering Our Nonprofits?
Nonprofits tend to
- Be in constant fundraising mode (or, at least, have a strong fundraising push once per year)
- Do a lot of their work through volunteers
I have heard it said more than once, “Nonprofits are messy.” While that is not the case with all nonprofits, it probably is true for many.
- Often the needs exceed the resources.
- Systems may not exist, be outdated, or not fully interconnect.
- Volunteers come and go.
- Accountability may be lacking. Much of the work relies on volunteers who don’t get paid except through thank-yous and appreciation.
- Loss of brilliance happens frequently!
The Harsh Reality
Like everywhere else, a small number of people do the bulk of the work, and a much greater number do the rest. It has been observed that if an organization has N people, the square root of N does half the work. This observation has been named Price’s Law.
If you have 100 people, ten people do half the work. The other 90 do the other half. Wow.
Look at your nonprofit. What is the situation there? Even if the math is a bit different, I will venture the guess that there are some key people? If those key people left or suddenly became unavailable (for whatever reason), the nonprofit would be in serious trouble.
It is only a matter of time before this scenario happens!
Continuity Is Always At Risk
With our person-to-person teaching methods, continuity is always at risk.
- We teach too little, too late.
- We document too little.
- Furthermore, who knows where the documents that do exist are?
What Can We Do About It?
I have been thinking about this situation. I see the need all around us. There are more than 1.5 Million nonprofits are registered in the USA.
Nonprofits make a profound difference in so many areas of life. They
- Feed hungry people.
- Help kids who don’t have parents.
- Support seniors.
- Act as advocates for kids in court.
- Stand up for the environment, rescue animals, rescue and heal victims of sex trafficking.
- Support people who suffer from health conditions, e.g., rare, not fully understood diseases (health advocacy)
- Provide education in many different areas, e.g., public speaking, employee ownership, etc.
- Provide service above self.
- The list goes on and on.
I thank you for doing this fantastic work! You are a large part of the heart and soul of our communities.
A Scholarship Opportunity
I want to open my Brilliance Mining Cohort Program not only to businesses, but I’d like to open them to nonprofits, too. I’m now offering a limited number of partial scholarships to nonprofits who
- See that they are leaking brilliance and
- Are committed to doing something about it.
You can inquire about details and apply by requesting a conversation with me. If you qualify, I am happy to talk with you about donors who could help sponsor your participation along with the scholarship I offer.
If you would rather come to a webinar first, you can register here.
Or you can listen to a recording of the last webinar here.
Together, we can keep brilliance from leaking out of your nonprofit – and with that, your nonprofit can make an even more significant difference in the world!
Dr. Stephie
P.S.: I appreciate you commenting and sharing this with others. Thank you!
