by Andrea Patten
Listen up all you Not For Profit (NFP) staff, managers and directors; it’s truth time!
Have you ever looked at the clutter and mess in your ‘shop’ and said, “Oh well, – they’re volunteers,” or “If we were paid more we could hire someone to pick up on those typos ahead of time?”
If so, it’s time to clean up your act – for good.
I have had the opportunity to work closely with both struggling non-profits and highly successful entrepreneurs looking for ways to support the causes they care about. Many of these donors have told me things non-profit directors don’t often hear about.
For example, did you know that your agency’s un-swept front porch, piles of files, lousy website or dirty windows may be keeping your big donors away?
Don’t get me wrong… I’m not talking about the dirty dishes after serving the hot lunch or the happy chaos that’s left when your clients have been expressing their artistic sides. It’s other, simple things: dead plants, ancient magazines, overflowing trashcans or handprints on the doorframes.
Feeling relieved because none of this applies to you? Don’t get too comfy yet.
What does your personal workspace look like? When ‘company’ comes, do you have to clear off a chair for them? How are you with deadlines? Is your reporting on time? What about staff performance reviews? Who proofreads your publications?
By now, you may have a familiar soundtrack playing in your head: “We don’t have the staff…. We can’t afford … The budget was cut…. People don’t care… It doesn’t matter because we’re helping the xyz’s…. blah, blah, blah, blah.”
Like it or not, your non-profit is a business and people evaluate businesses based on both what they do and how they do it. If you’ve ever walked by the open back door of a restaurant and decided to have your lunch somewhere else you know exactly what I’m talking about! We all feel better and more confident when the professional we’re dealing with looks the part. Clean and neat imply added competence… and it doesn’t cost a dime.
If the ‘mess’ that I’m describing doesn’t exist in your NFP business, congratulations! But please, take one more careful look. Make sure it’s not such an entrenched part of your agency’s environment that you’ve stopped noticing.
It’s a great time of year to make a fresh, clean, more professional start to your NFP year. Here’s to a year of Doing Good!
Read all of Andrea's Tips for Non-Profit Boards and Directors.
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Andrea Patten is an author, trainer and former NFP director. What Kids Need to Succeed: Four Foundations of Adult Achievement provides parents with useful insights from high-achieving adults. (Hint: one of the Four Foundations is ‘giving.’) An advocate for children and families she currently volunteers as an Area Coordinator for the Direct Selling Women’s Alliance. Connect with Andrea via her success parenting blog, Twitter or Facebook! She’d love to hear from you.
