Nonprofit is Not an Excuse: Professionalism and Running a Business

Having worked with several nonprofits over the years, one of the most common statements I've heard to try to explain away everything from an unbalanced budget to gross mismanagement is, "We're just a nonprofit." At one organization, a grumbly sarcastic general manager would often growl, "What part of nonprofit don't they understand?" assuming that bill collectors, staff who expected to get paid, and donors who were expecting a response were somehow all unreasonable to anticipate professionalism from a (gasp) nonprofit organization. In case you're confused about which side of the issue I stand on, I maintain that operating a nonprofit is managing a business and clients, donors, vendors and everyone else has every reason to expect professionalism and good faith management and community relations.

The fact that a nonprofit organization exists to provide a service or product for reasons other than making a profit, doesn't mean that general business practices don't apply. As a matter of fact, I think nonprofits should have a heightened sensitivity to providing professional service delivery and interacting with staff, clients, and individuals in the community with care, consideration and responsibility. After all, most nonprofits really do depend on funding from various sources - including the public - and there needs to be some accountability for how those funds are being spent.

Unfortunately, nonprofits are often managed by unqualified or under-qualified personnel - people who are either founder/directors, or friends of founder/directors, or those who will work cheaper than the standard expected wage in the field. This problem is not limited to start-up and small community organizations, large organizations can also be operating under a culture that says, "We're a nonprofit and we're doing good work, we can't be expected to be good business people too." Additionally, board members may be unsure about their role or responsibilities. And, let's face it, we're all human - so the fact that personality and politics come into play in nonprofit management seems to be a dirty little secret - but in reality, amateur operation procedures and mismanagement are more common than anyone on the inside wants to admit.

For starters, nonprofits should adhere to all laws and basic businesses operations. Workable budgets should be established and taken seriously, vendors and staff should be paid on time (or arrangements made and adhered to), laws should be respected - whether they are laws governing employee relations, safety, taxes, or zoning. Nonprofits are not exempt from following laws and regulations. Forms should be filed, taxes paid and any other general requirements of operating a business in your city and state.

Additionally, staff should be trained and expected to return phone calls, use basic customer-service skills, treat clients, donors, and others who come in contact with the agency with professionalism and respect. This expectation needs to be established as part of the organization's mission. Making excuses for negligent or unqualified employees (especially those in management positions) is detrimental to the ability to successfully provide services, performances or whatever it is your nonprofit does.

Try to establish policy for operations, including a grievance plan and how to prioritize service delivery in case of changes (changes in funding, laws, service population, etc.) Being a nonprofit is no excuse to float day to day in crisis mode or without a plan. A nonprofit is a business delivering a product to the community just as any other and operations and personnel should behave accordingly.