How To's
How nonprofits can meet community expectations with limited resources
When you’re managing a non-profit, the vision is often big, but headcount (and budget) might not be. This tension between available resources and community or organizational expectations is one of the biggest challenges facing nonprofits. It can sometimes make growth seem risky, even when students are lining up to enroll in your classes or camps. Fortunately, limited resources don’t have to reduce your impact.
With efficiency and time saving tools, nonprofits can meet public and organizational demands without overextending their current resources. And we’re not just talking about software. Nonprofits also need internal structures and policies that liberate small teams to do big work in their communities.
Based on our decade of experience helping nonprofit arts and community education organizations register students and grow their programs, we’ll share our top advice for maximizing your limited resources so you can meet (or even exceed) community expectations.
Keep your team happy and effective despite limited resources
Your team is your most valuable resource. It might also be the most limited. More than 74% of nonprofits report job vacancies, predominately in public-facing positions. Yet, every employee and volunteer brings a deep well of experience and contacts to your organization. Set your team, and your organization, up for success by following a few key guidelines:
- Encourage restful time off through both policies and actions
- Provide training and perks that show you value staff
- Offer as much flexibility as you can with remote work, flex schedules, and cross-training
- Model healthy work habits so employees will follow your lead
- Take time to praise and thank your team members for a job well done
You don’t need showy gestures or lavish gifts to keep your team happy and avoid nonprofit burnout. What really matters is the culture and policies you create. Those have a direct and daily impact on team output to help you meet community expectations.
Create processes and procedures that grow with you
Establish standard operating procedures and document processes so team members don’t waste energy figuring out how to do tasks. Writing SOPs gives employees and volunteers more independence. It empowers them to get work done and frees up valuable energy for more creative projects so you can use your limited resources wisely.
The following questions can help you identify tasks that need SOPs:
- Is this a task we do daily? Weekly? Monthly?
- Is the task basically the same each time? Ex. registering a student for improv camp
- Is this a task that only one person on the team knows how to do?
- Do most new hires or volunteers need to know how to do this?
- Are there rules, regulations, or laws that govern how this task can be done?
- Do staff often have questions about this task?
- Would the organization struggle if everyone stopped doing this task?
If the answer to any of those questions is yes, that task probably needs an SOP. Our guide to how to write a standard operating procedure can help.
Engage across your community to build a support network
Nonprofits exist to help their communities, but the support flows both ways. Nonprofits also gain valuable volunteer hours, in-kind donations, financial gifts and other resources from their communities.
There are at least three areas every nonprofit should consider when building a community support network.
- Local businesses. Partner with local businesses through community sponsorships, venue partnerships, and speaking opportunities. Working together helps to weave your nonprofit into the broader community.
- Volunteers. Your volunteers can provide more than time. They often have contacts, talents, and resources they’re willing to share. All you have to do is ask!
- Current participants in your programs. Patrons and students have their own web of helpful connections. They have friends, families, and coworkers who might also be interested in participating, volunteering or donating to your nonprofit. The best way to get referrals is to ask. So make sure you have a system in place to ask for referrals from current participants.
Your nonprofit is better prepared to meet community expectations when it’s fully enmeshed in your community. Look for opportunities to build connections wherever possible.
Invest in tools that automate and simplify processes
Community members expect your services to be available when and where they need them. Meet that expectation by making common processes like class registration online accessible and mobile friendly. CourseStorm can help. Our robust yet simple class registration and payment processing software automates everyday processes like:
- Registration: Empower students and parents to register one person or a whole group with an online, mobile-friendly class registration process.
- Taking payments: Payment processing is integrated into the registration process, plus automated payment plans mean you never have to chase students for payment.
- Marketing emails: Automated class marketing emails let registrants know about upcoming programs that are similar to those they’ve enjoyed in the past.
- Class cancellations and refunds: Cancel, reschedule, and issue refunds with a click of a button. No phone calls required.
- Waiting lists: For growing programs, automated waitlist management is critical. With CourseStorm, waitlisting kicks in the moment your class fills and automatically notifies list members when there’s an opening.
The more you can simplify and automate, the more time team members have to work in and with the community. With mobile friendly systems and integrated payment processing, you meet community members where they are and when they need you.
Resources may be limited but your nonprofit doesn’t have to be
Balancing community expectations with limited resources can feel like a big challenge. But if you put into practice the strategies outlined here, you’ll increase your organization’s capacity by leaps and bounds.
The right tech can be a major help. If your nonprofit runs classes, camps, or events, get CourseStorm to simplify the registration process for your community and save 100s of hours for your staff. Connect with our team and learn more here.
Natasha Wahid
Natasha is a seasoned marketing leader with a curious mind and a passion for storytelling and community. A mission-driven person, Natasha has spent the majority of her career in industries that impact people, including HR and education technology. A firm believer in lifelong learning, Natasha is currently sharpening her roller skating skills and dusting off her Italian.