THE FUTURE IS OURS TO SHAPE!
THE FUTURE IS OURS TO SHAPE!
Andrea McManus, ViTreo Group Inc
November 17th 2020
As with many of our readers, ViTreo Group has been impacted first by the Alberta economy and then the COVID-19 pandemic. However, I have always been a firm believer in silver linings and confidently believe that this is an opportunity for our company, the work we do and for our clients. We have made internal changes and are actively considering new directions to identify our own silver linings.
Sadly though, this means we have made the decision to bring The Provocateur to a close. Today’s blog will be our final post – our swan song, so to speak.
Writing and producing The Provocateur has been a labour of love. I had always wanted to do a blog that focused on the bigger issues, the game changing ones that all too often we don’t have time to think about as we go about the daily tasks of our work. I wanted to put ideas and possibilities out there, to get people to think, to get myself to think differently. And I am so proud of what we have produced.
“WE” is the operative word here for, of course, I have not worked on this alone. I have limitless gratitude and respect for two people in particular: Denise Summers, our talented and patient writer who has an uncanny ability to take what I wax on about or write and turn it into “exactly what I was trying to say;" and Michelle Bergsma, our amazingly creative (just former) marketing guru who brought the drafts to life and meaning through her incredible layouts and design. Our many guest authors over the past few years have also contributed their thoughts and ideas to make The Provocateur an even richer reading experience. Thank you! And also to the whole ViTreo team who I leaned on many times over the past two years for their input and feedback. You are each and every one of you talented, strategic and just simply the best kick-ass team around!
Thank you to everyone who has contributed to and read The Provocateur. Your comments and your support have meant so much to us. It has been a privilege to bring this blog to you for the past two years.
What’s next for nonprofits and fundraisers?
THE NEXT TURN ON A BLIND CORNER.
To say we are all driving somewhat blindly is not an understatement. If 2020 has shown us anything, it is that life can change in an instant. We’ve seen that this year and we will continue to see upheaval and chaos on a global level for some time. Perhaps even a long time.
So, what can we do about it? If we stick with the driving analogy, when driving blindly in fog or a blizzard, we go slowly and steadily. At least most of us do. Slamming on the brakes is a recipe for disaster in either of those two situations. In the case of fog, it can get you rear-ended and in a raging snowstorm, you could lose control of your vehicle. Pulling over and stopping can be equally as dangerous in no visibility.
And that’s what we as nonprofits and fundraisers need to do now. We must move forward slowly and steadily. We must still head in the direction we were headed before the downturn and the pandemic. We must not lose sight of the fact we had a plan, and although it has been impacted, we must carry it out.
Now is not the time for pandemic paralysis. If you’ve been experiencing this, as psychologist Dr. Bob Newhart, who was a character on a TV show many years ago, once said, “Just stop it.” I know that’s easier said than done, but careful and considered action will be what gets us through this.
Unfortunately, there will be casualties, just as there often are in heavy fog and in winter storms. There will be organizations that will not survive these circumstances and that is very sad. We cannot change this fact.
In his 2019 book Upheaval: Turning Points for Nations in Crisis, Jared Diamond, the Pulitzer prize-winning author of Guns, Germs and Steel, looks at how six nations recovered successfully from crises by adopting selective changes.
The four that resonated the most with me (out of his list of 12) were:
acknowledging you are in a crisis
taking responsibility
self-appraisal
learning from strategies other nations adopted
It’s definitely one of the most fascinating books I have read recently and on my “must-read” recommendation list. (Upheaval: Turning Points for Nations in Crisis, Jared Diamond, 2019)
These are coping mechanism often associated with people surviving a personal crisis. And they are tools that can be applied to nonprofits and for-profits to recover from the economic downturn and this pandemic. As nonprofits and fundraisers, we can learn from this.
We, and our organizations, have been in a global crisis like none before. For those nonprofit organizations who are able to weather this situation, our advice remains consistent with what it would have been pre-2020 and I think in keeping with Diamond’s advice and examples:
Revisit your vision and mission to ensure you are consistent with your values and trumpet those values.
Review your corporate strategy from the lens of the pandemic. If you don’t have a corporate strategy, create one (now).
Keep a steady hand on the wheel.
Continue to connect with your donors, build relationships and fundraise.
Seek outside professional advice when you need it. Learn from others. If that means hiring a consultant, hire one. When you’re too close to a problem, it can be overwhelming to find a solution. And now is the time to be prudent and evidence-based in defining your future path.
The Harvard Business Review offers this advice:
“When nonprofits are under-resourced, their natural response is to turn to their donors. But is it realistic to expect a healthy stream of charitable contributions in the midst of the worst economic situation since the Great Depression?
Absolutely — if you approach the right people. Because even as unemployment soars, as tens of thousands of businesses close, and as default and eviction rates rise, a small but significant portion of the population is doing just fine, thank you.
Welcome to “the K-Shaped recovery,” in which the experience of the fortunate few is vastly different from the reality faced by the miserable many. Most of us are doing badly —some, desperately so — but others are doing well.
Those at the top of the socio-economic heap have seen their investment portfolios recover from the early 2020 stock market crash. Tech companies are soaring…..”
Imagine Canada has prepared the report Sector Monitor: Charities & the COVID-19 Pandemic, which:
“details the experiences of charities since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, including the impact of physical distancing, mandatory closure of non-essential businesses, and myriad other changes to the operating environment.
The impact of the pandemic on the financial health of charitable organizations, and the size of these shifts in comparison to the 2008/2009 economic downturn;
Changes in the demand for charitable services and associated effects on organizational capacities to respond to COVID-19;
The types of organizations and income streams most impacted by the pandemic; and,
The extent and the kinds of innovation being used by charities to adapt to systemic changes.”
- Imagine Canada, Sector Monitor: Charities & the COVID-19 Pandemic, David Lasby, May 2020
Highlights from the Imagine Canada Sector Monitor: Charities & the COVID-19 Pandemic. Download the full report here.
The following is additional advice we offer in light of the COVID-19 pandemic:
For those who are frozen in fear (and many people are), it can be easy to become complicit with this situation and to give up. Please don’t! Start with something small and tangible, and just do it.
Seek the silver linings (and there are always silver linings in every circumstance). This will help you to move from pandemic paralysis to strategic resilience.
Be bold; explore new technology. Make your literature unapologetic, full of pride in your place in a civil and caring society.
Conduct scenario planning. Pick a path and go for it.
And above all, start asking! And don’t stop!
We are on that road, approaching that blind corner, and we must take action if we are going to recover and to be sustainable. The world is talking about what the “new normal” might look like. Well, today is the new normal and tomorrow will also be the new normal and next week and next month will be as well. We cannot and must not remain in limbo any longer. Our patients, health care workers, clients, students, teachers, families, patrons, artists, animals, audiences, partners, stakeholders, volunteers, the environment, donors and supporters and others – need us. And we need them. So let’s get on with it and move ahead confidently, optimistically and realistically.
After all, we’re fundraisers and nonprofit leaders – we’ve got this!
Safe travels and all the best in your journey. Please reach out to ViTreo if you require assistance getting there.
Thank you for your support of The Provocateur.
Our Next Fundraising Ask Anything is on December 16th on Budgeting in a 65% World. It is being reported that many nonprofits in Canada will be operating at 65% of their pre-COVID budgets for at least the next three years. How can we deliver on missions with a 35% budget rollback? What type of thinking needs to be in place to develop budgets with 1/3 fewer resources? Register 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.