Patmos Reports on the Resiliency of Nonprofits in Middle TN

Last Friday, May 21^st I presented to Executive Directors/CEOs findings on the overall level of resiliency among participating nonprofits in Middle Tennessee.  During the month of April 2010 fifty-two nonprofit organizations participated in a pilot project made possible through the generosity of The HCA Foundation. The project was in collaboration with The Center for NonProfit Management. The pilot involved using the MyGamePlan.Org Risk Navigation Tool, a software program we designed specifically for assessing risk and addressing vulnerabilities among nonprofits.  The software leads users through a series of questions related to practices and processes that are important to have in place for the thriving, resilience, and survivability of a nonprofit.  The software determines a “resiliency score” based upon how the organization’s answers compare to best practice benchmarks.  Upon completion of the survey, a diagnostic assessment is assembled, providing a “resiliency score” and recommended action steps based upon the organization’s vulnerabilities.  This action plan is aimed at helping the nonprofit recognize and react, strategically plan and prioritize next steps toward the goal of greater resiliency.  Another aspect of the project involved compiling the individual organizational data into an aggregate report that was shared with the HCA Foundation and with the participating nonprofits and beyond towards the overall goal of helping organizations become more resilient and to better serve the Middle Tennessee communities in which we live and work.

I want to give a huge shout out to the Executive Directors/CEOs who participated and who provided what could be considered sensitive information (i.e. financial strength, decision making practices) in return for learning how they could improve their particular organization while strengthening the nonprofit community as a whole.

The word resilience readily appears in literature on nonprofits and with good reason and I will be writing more on this theme in upcoming blog posts.  With the economic downturn of the last two years, the nonprofit sector is facing conditions much more difficult than in years - past.  What emerged from the data in the report are both reasons to celebrate and reasons for concern.  What we have found is a remarkable resilience in the organizations and their leadership that have either occurred during the last year or in expressed commitments for forward looking action in light of the findings presented to them in the diagnostic assessment of their organization.  They express commitments to change practices following this pilot project, revising their strategic, communications, and fundraising plans; nurturing greater board engagement; calculating ways to monitor expense and control costs; and, consider partnership formations reflect their resilience. At the same time, there are reasons for concern, particularly around long-term financial viability.  Forty percent (40%) of the nonprofits reported ending the 2009 fiscal year with a deficit, 95% of the participating organizations (50) are at medium to high risk in terms of expenses relative to revenue in the current year, and 92% of organizations are at medium to high risk in terms of revenue being on track to fall short of budget projections for the current 2010 fiscal year.  The Assessment Report provides invaluable data compilation that provides the funding community with the state of the sector.  In my next series of blogs, I will be writing on the key findings that may lead to greater resiliency and sustainability, among them are: increased focus upon board engagement, the importance of collaborations, and organizations developing their adaptive capability through management practices such as regular contingency and scenario planning.

Next week the MyGamePlan org team will be releasing a White Paper on the Risk Navigation Tool and this recent project.  If you would like a copy, we would be glad to send it to you.  Click here  and respond in the subject line: "please send White Paper.”

Have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend!                         - John Hilley