Truth Is Truth: What Makes a High-Performing Nonprofit

It’s been nine years since Leslie Crutchfield and Heather McLeod first published "Forces for Good: The Six Practices of High-Impact Nonprofits."

You may remember this groundbreaking book was the result of four years of research, studying thousands of high-impact nonprofit organizations with the goal of unpacking their successes.

What Leslie and Heather discovered wasn’t all that earth-shattering, although many nonprofit leaders greeted the news with surprise or astonishment.

The truths they highlighted are as true today as they were when the book was fresh off the press.

What they learned was that nonprofit organizations that are consistently successful possess the same characteristics as any organization that is subject to market forces—nonprofit or for-profit.

Ooo, there’s that "business" word!

First, nonprofits—that experience consistent, growing success—have harnessed market forces. They understand and apply Principle 1 of The Eight Principles^™, "Donors are the Drivers^®." Donors—investors in your cause—provide the energy your enterprise depends upon for its existence. And not merely in money. But also in passion, belief and legitimacy.

These high-performers work diligently to convert their supporters—volunteers, board members, staff and, especially, their investors—to become evangelists, spreading the good news.

Evangelists aren’t shy. They share their messages with everyone with whom they come into contact. Principle 3 of The Eight Principles^™ is "Leadership Leads^™." The positional leaders—the board members—are evangelists who, in turn, inspire others to be.

Successful nonprofits embrace an abundance philosophy. It’s definitely not the “If you get yours, I won’t get mine" scarcity we see so much in the nonprofit world.

These organizations readily work with other like groups to build a larger pie—not simply re-divide it.

Philanthropy is elastic. What does that mean? It means, simply, that it expands as nonprofits engage their investors in a relational way. It only contracts when donors aren’t engaged—as with the bloodless transactional fundraising that too often is the fallback in the nonprofit world.

High-performing nonprofits certainly aren’t obsessing over the "overhead myth." They fully have embraced Principle 8 of The Eight Principles^™, "Invest, Integrate & Evaluate^™."

You must regularly invest in the infrastructure of your organization—including fundraising. You must ruthlessly evaluate what’s working and what’s not. Then, jettison what’s not!

You must align the pieces of your fundraising program to work together toward a common purpose—not be a collection of separate efforts, each on its own planet, yet soliciting the same group of supporters!

Finally, high-performing nonprofits are focused on achieving sustainability in their fundraising. That’s as in year-in and year-out with growth along the way. What a novel concept!

Here’s something Leslie and Heather didn’t find. That size is an indicator of effectiveness or health. Hmm.

Why? Because it’s not.

Any organization can choose today to become a high-performing nonprofit. It’s a choice. A deliberate one.

It’s up to you. Will you choose high performance?

Success is waiting. Go out and achieve it!