Connections Matter

There is an old spiritual—Dem Bones—whose lyrics assert:

“Dem Bones, dem bones, dem dry bones

Toe bone connected to the foot bone

Foot bone connected heel bone

Heel bone connected to the….”

Well, you get the idea.  Every part of the skeleton is connected to another part of the skeleton, and only if each part is connected can the skeleton support the body and, as the song says, “walk around.”

This isn’t so different from the way nonprofits actually work. The actually here it’s important.  Unless each piece fits into the next, there can be no sustainability, no growth.  Too many nonprofits, alas, aren’t able to “walk around”.  They limp along, serving far fewer clients and communities than have need, and  they never are quite  able to become truly transformational.  And transformational, my friends, in what nonprofits should aspire to be.

Connecting all the pieces of a nonprofit is such a good starting point.  Administration should be connected to programs and they should be connected to fundraising, and fundraising should be connected to marketing.  Above all, everything should be connected to the mission.  That means that the board and the staff should all be passionate about what the organization’s purpose is.  And should all be working toward a similar vision.

Vision is one of those things that has many definitions.  For some organizations, it is what happens when they accomplish their work.  A food pantry may envision a world where no one is hungry;  a literacy organization may see that world where everyone can read and write.  In short—they typically see a world where what they do no longer is needed.

Another way to look at vision is what the organization will look like in the future.  usually the near future.  How will they be structured in order to fulfill that mission? This, really, is what strategic planning is all about.

Too often, we get mired in the minutiae of how we are going to do something.  We isolate.  We think that it is our index finger that presses that button or flicks that light switch.  But in reality, that finger is connected…and if each of the parts of the whole aren’t in alignment, then that finger might not be able to turn on that light or start that machine.

Great planning must start with a great vision that marries what outcome you are hoping for (yes—No hunger! Great medical care! Arts that feed the soul!) along with a reality check of the resources you would need to accomplish that vision.  If you don’t have the resources, what is necessary in order to get them?  It is wonderful to want to ensure that no one in your community will go hungry (for example), but to do that, you must have the staff and volunteers who will be able to procure the food, distribute it, make sure those who are experiencing food insecurities in your community know where you are and how they can access your services.  Of course, you have to have the money to pay for the staff—which very well might require dedicated staff to raise those funds, and a way to reach those who might provide the funds.  You must have the wherewithal to manage the money you get. You’ll need a facility to store and distribute the food and the ability to maintain the facility and what is inside.

Your strategic plan should show all this.  And then, on an annual basis (or maybe twice a year, quarterly, whatever fits your culture best), create a careful road map that will get you from where you are at that moment, to your next destination.  Maybe that is renting a facility instead of owning it; renovating something instead of building anew.  Whatever it is, clearly lays out the roadmap for getting from point A to point B and understands that there may be washed out roads, unexpected vistas. And that the toe bone is connected to the foot……