Take control of where your nonprofit is headed with our Nonprofit Leadership Tools for Uncertain Times e-book set
The past couple of years have been tough for most nonprofits. With a global recession in full swing, nonprofits have begun searching for new ways to make budgets stretch further, do more with less, and maximize their return on investment. We don't know how long the economy will remain in a recession, but it certainly provides challenges for the immediate future.
This e-book bundle provides you with the step-by-step guidance, practical tools, and solid strategies you need to get your nonprofit back on the road to success. Helping you develop a better understanding of what your organization needs to do to survive a depressed-or any-economy, this bundle offers expert advice from renowned nonprofit leaders.
Nonprofit Finance for Hard Times: Leadership Strategies When Economies Falter / Susan U. Raymond-Learn how to survive the current economic conditions and prepare for future economic cycles
Jump-Starting the Stalled Fundraising Campaign / Julia I. Walker-Get timely advice to help your nonprofit develop a strategic approach to fundraising in the weak economy
Mission Impact: Breakthrough Strategies for Nonprofits / Robert M. Sheehan-Discover the very best current thinking on performance and strategy available, drawing from both the corporate and nonprofit worlds
There's no need to white-knuckle it through the rough economy. Wiley's Nonprofit Leadership Tools for Uncertain Times e-book set partners with you so that your nonprofit can emerge stronger—and enjoy the ride!
Frequently asked questions
Yes, you can cancel anytime from the Subscription tab in your account settings on the Perlego website. Your subscription will stay active until the end of your current billing period. Learn how to cancel your subscription.
At the moment all of our mobile-responsive ePub books are available to download via the app. Most of our PDFs are also available to download and we're working on making the final remaining ones downloadable now. Learn more here.
Perlego offers two plans: Essential and Complete
Essential is ideal for learners and professionals who enjoy exploring a wide range of subjects. Access the Essential Library with 800,000+ trusted titles and best-sellers across business, personal growth, and the humanities. Includes unlimited reading time and Standard Read Aloud voice.
Complete: Perfect for advanced learners and researchers needing full, unrestricted access. Unlock 1.4M+ books across hundreds of subjects, including academic and specialized titles. The Complete Plan also includes advanced features like Premium Read Aloud and Research Assistant.
Both plans are available with monthly, semester, or annual billing cycles.
We are an online textbook subscription service, where you can get access to an entire online library for less than the price of a single book per month. With over 1 million books across 1000+ topics, we’ve got you covered! Learn more here.
Look out for the read-aloud symbol on your next book to see if you can listen to it. The read-aloud tool reads text aloud for you, highlighting the text as it is being read. You can pause it, speed it up and slow it down. Learn more here.
Yes! You can use the Perlego app on both iOS or Android devices to read anytime, anywhere — even offline. Perfect for commutes or when you’re on the go. Please note we cannot support devices running on iOS 13 and Android 7 or earlier. Learn more about using the app.
Yes, you can access Nonprofit Leadership Tools for Uncertain Times e-book Set by Julia I. Walker,Robert M. Sheehan, Jr.,Susan U. Raymond in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Negocios y empresa & Organizaciones sin ánimo de lucro y benéficas. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.
Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.
Published simultaneously in Canada.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 750-4470, or on the web at www.copyright.com. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, (201) 748-6011, fax (201) 748-6008, or online at www.wiley.com/go/permissions.
Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a professional where appropriate. Neither the publisher nor author shall be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.
For general information on our other products and services or for technical support, please contact our Customer Care Department within the United States at (800) 762-2974, outside the United States at (317) 572-3993 or fax (317) 572-4002.
Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books. For more information about Wiley products, visit our web site at www.wiley.com.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:
Sheehan, Robert M.
Mission impact: breakthrough strategies for nonprofits/Robert M. Sheehan, Jr.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
eISBN : 978-0-470-59329-5
1. Nonprofit organizations-Management. 2. Strategic planning. I. Title.
HD62.6.S497 2010
658.4’012-dc22
2009037491
The AFP Fund Development Series
The AFP Fund Development Series is intended to provide fund development professionals and volunteers, including board members (and others interested in the nonprofit sector), with top-quality publications that help advance philanthropy as voluntary action for the public good. Our goal is to provide practical, timely guidance and information on fundraising, charitable giving, and related subjects. The Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) and Wiley each bring to this innovative collaboration unique and important resources that result in a whole greater than the sum of its parts. For information on other books in the series, please visit:
THE ASSOCIATION OF FUNDRAISING PROFESSIONALS
The Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) represents over 30,000 members in more than 197 chapters throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, and China, working to advance philanthropy through advocacy, research, education, and certification programs.
The association fosters development and growth of fundraising professionals and promotes high ethical standards in the fundraising profession. For more information or to join the world’s largest association of fundraising professionals, visit www.afpnet.org.
2008-2009 AFP PUBLISHING ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Chair: Nina P. Berkheiser, CFRE
Principal Consultant, Your Nonprofit Advisor
Linda L. Chew, CFRE
Development Consultant
D. C. Dreger, ACFRE
Senior Campaign Director, Custom Development Solutions, Inc. (CDS)
Patricia L. Eldred, CFRE
Director of Development, Independent Living Inc.
Samuel N. Gough, CFRE
Principal, The AFRAM Group
Audrey P. Kintzi, ACFRE
Director of Development, Courage Center
Steven Miller, CFRE
Director of Individual Giving, American Kidney Fund
Robert J. Mueller, CFRE
Vice President, Hospice Foundation of Louisville
Maria Elena Noriega
Director, Noriega Malo & Associates
Michele Pearce
Director of Development, Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Greater Atlanta
Leslie E. Weir, MA, ACFRE
Director of Family Philanthropy, The Winnipeg Foundation
Sharon R. Will, CFRE
Director of Development, South Wind Hospice
John Wiley & Sons, Inc.:
Susan McDermott
Senior Editor (Professional/Trade Division)
AFP Staff:
Jan Alfieri
Manager, New Product Development
Rhonda Starr
Vice President, Education and Training
To my Dad, the dreamer, and my Mom, the pragmatist. Together you’ve encouraged me to bring dreams into reality.
With Love,
Rob
Introduction
We need a breakthrough in the quality of life for millions of people on our planet. A few examples:
Hunger
• An estimated 12.4 million children in the United States live in food-insecure households and are at risk of experiencing hunger on a daily basis.1
• Nearly 3 million seniors in the United States access food pantries annually to meet their emergency food needs.2
Housing
• More than 700,000 people in the United States are homeless.3
• More than 30 million U.S. households either pay excessively for housing, live in overcrowded conditions, or have physically inadequate housing—such as no hot water or no electricity.45
Education
• Up to one-third of school children in the United States begin kindergarten not fully prepared for a successful learning experience.6
• Only about half (53 percent) of high school students in the largest U.S. cities graduate on time.7
Health
• Cancer, heart disease, mental health, and other health issues continue to plague legions of Americans.
• HIV/AIDS continues to be a major problem in the United States; every 9 1/2 minutes someone in the United States is infected with HIV and for African-Americans and other blacks, HIV/AIDS is a leading cause of death.8
And these are just examples from the United States. The challenges for our fellow citizens across the globe are multiplied many times over by comparison.
While nonprofit organizations cannot and should not solve all of these problems, we do play a significant role in making a difference in the quality of life for millions of people. Children, families, and adults are living in conditions that are unacceptable, and we need to make more of an impact. And we need to do better than incrementally more. We need to somehow create breakthrough improvements in these intolerable conditions.
Staff and volunteers in the nonprofit sector already work very hard. The questions this book considers are: How can we work together even more creatively and strategically? How can we invent breakthrough improvements for those we serve through our missions? The intention of this book is to provide a process that nonprofit organizations can use to create breakthrough strategies that will make very significant improvements in our collective mission impact to improve the quality of life for others.
While we do work very hard, I believe that we in the nonprofit sector still have tapped only a tiny portion of our collective creativity and that great ideas are out there—waiting to be invented—that can help us make even more of a difference than we are currently.
And, of course, the preceding examples just begin to touch the myriad of other causes and issues that nonprofit organizations serve to make a difference for others, including those serving the environment, disaster relief, cultural interests, public interest groups, religious commitments, member associations, and more.
The strategy development process that is explained in this book is based on my more than 30 years of experience in the nonprofit world as a practitioner, academic, volunteer, and consultant. My unique blend of experiences gives me a practical perspective on strategy while also applying cutting-edge concepts—such as strategic intent and systems thinking—that are used primarily in the corporate world.
Much has been written about strategic planning for nonprofits. My approach is much different, and it is unique for three key reasons:
1. It shows nonprofits how to measure their mission impact and focuses the creation of strategy around increasing that impact to fulfill unmet needs, which is the organization’s mission gap.
2. It uses an aspirational mind-set to set vision and strategic stretch goals, which lead to the development of a breakthrough strategy—a strategy to close the mission gap as effectively as possible. Most strategy processes result in plans for incremental improvements.
