NONPROFIT PANDEMIC RE-OPENING — THE NEXT 100 DAYS …

How is your organization building its plan? Should it have a plan…?

Andrea McManus, ViTreo Group Inc
May 19th 2020

Originally, the last blog in a three part series on The Future of Philanthropy and Fundraising was planned for today. Plans have changed — which they tend to do on a regular basis these days.

Instead, because so many cities, provinces, states and countries are focusing on re-opening and lifting some of their restrictions (some slowly, some not so slowly and some rapidly), it seemed more important to focus on that.

The third blog post in the earlier series is ready for publication and will be published within the next few weeks - stay tuned. The first two Coronavirus Impact — Future Proof Your Nonprofit And Nonprofit Organizational Extinction? can be found here.

ViTreo has hosted a bi-monthly Fundraising Ask Anything (FAA) Zoom meeting for nonprofits to gather for the past seven weeks; last week was based on this topic of the next 100 days. Many valuable thoughts and recommendations came out of this FAA — we thought we should follow up with a blog for those who weren’t in attendance.

So, here we are. After two plus months of lockdown, many of us are considering whether moving into Phase I of re-opening is wise? Some are opening and yet others have decided not to at this time.

Our current situation, which I’m recommending we accept and even embrace, is this:

• There are lots of “what-ifs”

• We’re nonprofits and fundraisers; we are not in the business of prediction

• Going forward will be less about benchmarking — what can we benchmark against in this strange time?

• There will be less focus on budget…

• And more focus on scenario planning

IS 100 DAYS OVERLY OPTIMISTIC?

Calgary Chamber of Voluntary Organizations (CCVO) CEO David Mitchell advised us in the FAA session that his organization has decided to postpone re-opening until 2021. If their decision changes, it’s likely to be a staggered re-opening. They are not alone in this thinking.

WHAT’S YOUR PLAN?

Goal setting is always critical in business. Until it isn’t. How do you set goals when the world you live in keeps shifting?

As President Eisenhowser said in his 1957 speech:

Plans are worthless, but planning is everything. 

- Dwight D. Eisenhower, Remarks at the National Defense Executive Reserve Conference Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project

And these days, it is somewhat like we are going to battle. With an enemy we’ve never fought before, who outflanks us and out manoeuvres us constantly. But carry on we must, and remain calm and all that…

WHERE IS THE OPPORTUNITY?

In our FAA session, we talked a lot about being opportunistic — the good kind of opportunistic. Having that mindset is what will help organizations to remain sustainable. Most of you have probably already come to the conclusion that… things have changed.

How we used to fundraise is not going to work in the “‘new abnormal”, a term that also came out of the session.

INSTEAD FOCUS ON THE WHAT IF’S? ON SCENARIO PLANNING. REPURPOSE.

Assume that things will shift. Preparation and acceptance that this is the way life now will stand you in good stead. Here in Alberta, restaurants, hair salons and other businesses were told a few weeks ago that Phase I would occur on May 14. Restaurants bought food in anticipation of this. Other businesses got geared up and ready. On May 13, these businesses in Calgary and the town of Brooks, Alberta, were told they would now have to wait until June 1.

Heartbreaking for many, I’m sure. The powers that be felt it was too risky. $#*! happens. If we are to retain our hold on our mental well-being, it’s a good idea to assume $#*! will continue to happen.

What is the situation in your city/province/state/country? And what do you think about it — do you feel it’s safe? Not safe? Not sure?

“When more unknowns become known, update or eliminate each scenario or create a new one!”

- Scott Decksheimer, ViTreo Group Inc

What decision is your organization making about re-opening? If you have re-opened, what’s it been like? What has been the response?

REPURPOSE, REPURPOSE, REPURPOSE

Businesses that have achieved some or lots of success during COVOD-19 have looked at their teams, their offerings, their services and their products. And asked themselves how can they repurpose them and turn this into an opportunity? How can they repurpose to help their stakeholders, how can they repurpose to stay sustainable?

CONTINGENCY PLANNING

Our recommendation is to have several contingency scenarios in place, but be prepared to abandon them. Think General Eisenhowser. In the planning is where the What If’s and the Then What’s will appear and you will then have the opportunity to pivot, redesign, redeploy.

Understand your organizational, revenue and other contingencies and remember, not everything you do needs to have a monetary return. Engagement is also essential, just as essential as revenue.

ADAPTIVE CAPACITY

Another thought that came out of our discussion — those organizations with a growth mindset, who are able to adapt, willing to go to new and uncharted territory will survive. This is important for both individuals and organizations.

As the above graphic points out, know who you are AND know who you can become.

Where are the opportunities, the potential for your nonprofit? One of the silver linings in all of this is the ability to reiterate, to take risks we haven’t taken before, that have never even occurred to us before.

EXPERIMENT. EXPERIMENT AGAIN.

There’s never been a better time to do a face plant and to dust yourself off and get up again. No one expects perfection right now. Another silver lining — your public and the general public are much more forgiving. And they much prefer a human organization, one that is willing to be vulnerable and to fail and to keep trying.

Do you have an initiative you were thinking of launching, but seemed too risky? Now could be the perfect timing. With consideration, of course.

Try things, measure their effectiveness, try again, and then try some more.

It’s also time to tackle those elephants in the room, those “we can’t go there”, the sacred cows we haven’t been willing to touch before.

What programs can and should we divest ourselves of? And if we are seriously worried about the future, are there opportunities for mergers, partnerships? Or should we be considering dissolution?

FORTUNE FAVOURS THE BOLD

As hard as this coronavirus pandemic has been for so many, it is also a time of renewal, reiteration, and repurpose. Be bold, be audacious and be brave. (And don’t be afraid of alliteration…)

ViTreo can be your partner through this. We can walk with you through this time and help you look at the unknowns and the what could be’s.

Feel free to contact any one of us, Scott, Vincent or myself, during this time. We are here for you.

Our recent BrainTrust Philanthropy podcast episode discusses Healthcare Philanthropy in the Time of Coronavirus with podcast host Vincent Duckworth who was joined by Ken Mayhew, President & CEO at William Osler Health System Foundation; Jessica Veitch, Manager, Donor Recognition at Sinai Health Foundation; and Judy Neiser, CEO at Spirit of the North Healthcare Foundation. Listen to it here.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Andrea McManus, Chair, Board of Directors, Partner
ViTreo Group Inc

Andrea McManus is a Partner with ViTreo with over 30 years’ experience in fund development, marketing, sponsorship and nonprofit management. A highly strategic thinker and change maker, Andrea has worked with organizations that span the nonprofit sector with particular focus on building long-term and sustainable capacity.