When you hear the phrase “community outreach” what comes to mind? Most people immediately think of nonprofit organizations hosting community events, which isn’t necessarily wrong. However, on its own it’s an incomplete view of what community outreach means for nonprofits. Hosting events can be an important component of what outreach in our communities looks like, but it is, by no means, all that should be included. Often, this overly simplistic view of what is included in community outreach comes from a misunderstanding of what community outreach should accomplish. The goal of community outreach shouldn’t just be to recruit volunteers and increase funding to support the organization’s mission. Outreach should also be the organization’s mission. With the rapid changes that we’ve seen over the last decade across technology, culture, and industry, organizations that fail to adopt an innovation mindset will run the risk of stagnating in their mission delivery and becoming obsolete in their communities. What does this mean for your organization? To put it plainly, the time to innovate is now! But wait, innovation may not mean what you think it does! While many conversations around innovation typically focus on expanding technological capabilities, the kind of innovation mindset that truly powers today’s top organizations is not solely tech-based. True innovation is about fostering a culture of creativity, collaboration, and continuous improvement that remains focused on your mission and its impact on the communities you serve. Embracing this kind of innovation is what will set tomorrow’s nonprofits apart! Serving on the board of directors for a nonprofit organization offers opportunities to support the community through focused, mission-driven work. It also brings the opportunity to help guide the organization in how it does that both now and in the future. While the staff is charged with delivering on the plans and goals previously set, the board of directors is responsible for looking to the future. That responsibility includes the question of whether the organization’s mission will be delivered in the future to be of the most benefit to the community and, if so, what form that will take operationally. The prevailing wisdom in the nonprofit sector is that there are way more nonprofit organizations than there are resources to go around to support their missions. Many of us have had the experience of tripping over each other as our mission delivery strategies overlap. But who wants to be the one to suggest consolidation, merging, or simply closing a struggling organization? On the other side of the coin, who wants to raise the idea of a thriving organization taking on an aligned organization’s “baggage”? Merging and aligning are touchy subjects! |
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