"sustainability does not = doing the same thing"

MY TITLE IS A QUOTE FROM Nelson Layag of CompassPoint, who commented on Rosetta Thurman's post about the future of nonprofit service/professional organizations. The whole discussion struck a chord with me, but that quote just leapt off the screen.

(The Andy Warhol quote I found on flickr is no slouch either.)

If there's ever a time for nonprofits to seek new approaches and opportunities, I think this is it. Much of what we've depended upon to sustain us -- audiences, donors, programs, endowments, networks -- are now dwindling or shifting or are far too narrow or shallow. To approach planning for the next year or two with the idea that more of the same, but implemented with fewer resources, is somehow a sustaining tactic just seems like so much whistling in the dark.....or spitting in the wind.

This morning I read about the perils of a west coast history museum that now, after more than two years of trying to sustain the loss of significant local government funding, is ready to re-envision itself. "We are paralyzed," the director said the day before a public meeting to announce plans for divesting itself of some of its historic buildings (they operate a history museum, a children's museum, three historic house museums of which one is a farm, as well as other spaces that are rented for functions). The organization also has in its care a million or so artifacts and a huge archive. Their public "plan" is to become self-sustaining. We'll see.

I recall some years ago another museum whose main benefactor said it was pulling the plug if the museum didn't reinvent itself. The savvy director developed a bold new plan and got the benefactor to buy in (and buy) a complete revamping of the physical space, reinstallation of the collection and new programming initiatives. The funding, while less, did not go away. The director's challenge then became sustaining the momentum (which I think is quite different from sustaining the institution or sustainability).

What's one thing you need to do away with that could put your organization on a more sustainable path?

Photo: Change from estheticcore

Comments

Three Most Important Nonprofit Executive Director Soft Skills

If you were asked to narrow down the list of executive director qualifications to the three most important, which ones would you identify? Would the list consist of soft skills, hard skills, or some combination? Would your list be based on the great ED you are or one you've worked for, or would it be your wish list for the ED you haven't been fortunate yet to work for? This was an assignment in my recent online class in leadership and administration for the American Association for State and Local History . I asked the class to review three-five advertisements for museum directors and analyze what these listings intimated about the organization’s past experience, current focus and goals, and future aspirations. Then, I asked the class to identify what they consider to be the three most important qualifications they would look for in a director. (Okay, so there's more than three if you dissect my three big groups.) Soft skills outnumbered hard skills, although

Back in the Saddle

MY LAST POST WAS NOVEMBER 2012, A LIGHT YEAR AWAY it seems, that marked the beginning of a long push toward completing a manuscript on history museum leadership with my co-author, Joan Baldwin. We finally submitted 350+ pages to our editor at Rowman & Littlefield this week. If all goes well, we expect the book to be available in early 2014. It's taken us two years to get to this point, so six more months or so of revision and production don't seem too long to wait until we can hold the final product in our hands (and you can, too!). The project put a lot of things on hold, including this blog. I'm glad to be back writing about intentional leadership -- leading by design -- for nonprofit boards and staffs. Certainly, my thoughts are now informed by the forthcoming book, in which Joan and I posit that nonprofits need to focus resources on leadership, not just management. Most cultural nonprofits are at a crossroad, as is the sector in general, where nothing is qu

What Would Make You Turn Down an Invitation to Join a Board?

THERE'S SO MUCH WRITTEN ABOUT RECRUITING BOARD TALENT, I thought I'd spend a little time thinking about it from the prospect's point of view. Clearly, there are boards where the line is long to get on them. But what would make you turn down an invitation? Here's a short list to get the conversation started: 1. You've had no prior exposure to the organization. Your immediate reaction is "did you pull my name out of a hat?" (Is that lady in the picture the head of the Nominating Committee?) Seems as though there must be a hidden agenda at work (like you're rich and once you become a board member you'll pour all your resources into the organization) or the organization is simply looking for any warm body to fill a seat. 2. The organization doesn't have a good reputation. There's something to be said for street cred. An organization that's floundering may be strengthened by your participation or you may find yourself sucked into

Leading by Design

Search This Blog