SMAll BuSiNEss Tool KiT

By Sam Sokolove

Executive Summary:

Nonprofits need to think of themselves more like a “regular” business does.

Early in my nonprofit management career, few things would rankle me more than when a board member from the corporate world would gaze disapprovingly at my agency’s monthly financial report and announce, “We need to think of this organization more like a business.”

Being a Generation X’er who had chosen a life of service over profit, Lloyd Dobler’s anti-consumerist monologue from Say Anything would creep into my mind and I would self-soothe with a short mantra: mission matters most. The donors would always support us, I reassured them – but mostly myself.

Today, when I’m working with a non-profit organization my mantra is, “You need to think of this organization more like a business.”

That’s not to say that mission is any less important; but as the economic landscape for nonprofit organizations continues to shift downward, the virtue of the services an organization offers isn’t enough to guarantee sustainability. Which is where good-old-fashioned customer service comes in.

In our post-pandemic world, most interactions with nonprofits are conducted virtually, through a website offering a host of information including a listing of board members, staff and services. While the emphasis has been on graphics and content, I’ve noticed that too few organizations make their contact information easy to find. More often, there’s an email address for general questions - which, based on experience, winds up in the ether. And a follow up phone call is met with a user-unfriendly menu that leads to a mailbox that leads to who-knows-where.

While citing the Walmart business model injures my soul, there’s something to be said for an agency greeter who can direct the public to the right aisle. The failure to do so means a frustrated client (or potential client), an agitated volunteer or worse of all—a lost supporter.

Nonprofit managers can avoid these mistakes by regularly reviewing their websites to ensure that an agency point of contact is clearly listed on the homepage. They can then train that staff person to answer questions confidently via a prompt phone call or email or direct the message to the staff member who can.

Sam Sokolove is the Senior

Consultant

and

Director of

Government Contracting for Building Beloved Communities, which works to help non-profit organizations grow. sam@buildingbeloved communities.com

Nonprofit managers should think like a customer walking into a store: no matter how good the merchandise, if no one greets you at the front because they’re checking inventory in the back, you may go next door to find the same services. And for Virginia’s nearly 51,000 nonprofit organizations, chances are someone’s just around the block ready to do that.

At this stage of my professional life, I’ve learned that you can be both Loyd Dobler hoisting his boombox high - and someone who cares about keeping the customer satisfied.