At Good Foundations, we have always been big believers in the benefits of collaboration in the non-profit sector and more recently we’ve been thinking about how it could be amplified if organisations looked internationally as well as domestically to both share knowledge and learn from each other. The same sort of social issues occur in many countries, so if someone in another country has found a way to solve a problem, why not leverage that?
Non-profit internal investment decision making
We know that in the non-profit sector the majority of organisations don’t have the funds or resources to do all the things they would like to particularly in terms of spending money on their own systems, staff and processes. This results in making trade-offs when it comes to making decisions about where internal investments should be made.
So, you think you want to merge?
We are seeing more and more organisations across all parts of the not-for-profit sector including ‘collaboration’ activities in their strategic plans. Over the last few months, the Good Foundations team has worked on several projects where organisations were looking to merge; from this, we have summarised our take on the 5 most critical elements for merger success for not-for-profit organisations.
Managing your relationship with your board - interview with Rosemary Conn
Risks worth taking.
Historically, NFPs have been reluctant to take risks; they don’t like to take risks with how their money is spent either from fear of negative backlash from funders and the general public or the fear of wasting money and not achieving the desired impact. The reputation of an organisation can quickly be tarnished with one or more poor decisions. So people play safe. But does this approach lead to the best outcomes for people who need the services of NFP organisations?
Measuring the meaningful
Is your organisation well-run?
At Good Foundations, we are passionate about helping organisations be as well-run as they can be.
To help you determine if there are areas your organisation might need to improve so you can be 'better-run', we’re creating an online self-diagnostic tool for organisations to compare how well they are operating and running themselves. To kick things off, we’re inviting you to complete our initial online survey - you’ll be able to rate yourself against 20 elements of a well-run NFP. From there, we’ll take this data to create an average across the sector. When the online tool launches, you’ll be able to see how well you rank against the sector average for each element, and which areas you should improve most.
The survey takes just 5 minutes to complete.
The tool is designed to help you reflect on what you do, and gives you a starting point to determine which actions you should focus on, to improve your organisation.
If you have any feedback or questions, we’re all ears - email us on info@goodfoundations.com.au
Impact Measurement 101
Are you ready to reform?
How to get (and keep) talent in your organisation
We all know it can be difficult to attract and retain talent in the for-purpose (not-for-profit) sector. Salary levels, career progression and professional development issues are all too familiar; meaning, purpose and ‘making a difference’ can only go so far. There are however, many incredibly talented people dedicating themselves to creating impact. So what works?
