The trouble with making predictions is that they come back
to haunt you later. However, my discussions with a range of Executive
Directors, Board members and professional fundraisers has revealed some consistent
points of view which I feel confident about.
It will be no surprise that top of everyone's list is the
financial impact our weakened and still weakening economy will have on the not-for-profit sector.
Unfortunately, this is one time when trickle down economics does actually happen
and as the corporate funding sources battle with their own significant
challenges, community support and donations are already shrinking and will
continue to do so. This may mean the disappearance of some smaller charities and
not-for-profits whose support base is restricted to one or two energy sector
sources who can no longer make the
donations.
The survivors will be those who have had a broad base of
donors and who have not been dependent on one or two sources for the majority
of their funding and who also, perhaps, have many individual donors who are
able to keep donating through difficult times. However, one thing that donors
have often asked about and may now have to happen as a means of survival, is
sharing of services and consolidation of charities who all operate in the same
area but focus on different issues. For example, there are myriad organizations
dealing with homelessness, and many of them deal with different issues around
the same concern. There are several organizations dealing with different
aspects of addiction and rehabilitation, and it may now be the case that they
all have to consolidate and share resources, and this can be done without
compromising each organization's focus or integrity. I believe that in 2016 we
will see donors looking for that kind of different thinking from charities and
not-for-profits and territorial or turf wars within a specific sector may spell doom for some organizations.
Finally, Boards will have to be more active, work harder and
think differently. Governance will still
be a key role of course, but without actually stepping into the operational or
Executive Director’s areas, Boards will
need to make connections, seek innovative revenue sources and even social
enterprise or for-profit opportunities. I believe Boards in 2016 will no longer have space for place
holders or other non-contributors as they struggle to find strategies and plans
that require different thinking than was necessary when money was easier to get
with $110 oil.
Blane Hogue (click to see Blane's profile)
Principal
