Surveys can be very telling. The 2017 survey conducted by Good Foundations in partnership with PwC entitled “The foundations of a well-run not-for-profit” is no different and sheds a surprising light on the NFP industry as a whole.

The report says that less than 1/3 of those surveyed (28%) believed that NFPs were well run – a drop from 36% in 2015. 28% disagreed that NFPs were well run and 42% fell somewhere in the middle. So it seems that NFPs are doing worse since the last survey was conducted two years ago. Why such a drop?

A lack of internal investment is thought to be one of the major causes of this lack of faith. It’s a bit of a catch-22 because while NFPs want to be seen giving to their cause, they need to have effective staff, good leadership, and innovative systems and technology in place to do that. Internal investment is necessary to ensure that NFPs are hitting their milestones and delivering on their mission. A well-run NFP is more likely to deliver on their goals and create more impact. And unfortunately, internal investment lies at the heart of it.

One survey respondent said, “Poor planning, communications and lack of clarity about future strategy led to several organisational changes which could have been avoided. This cost money as well as staff time which was a distraction from core business.”

The inability to retain qualified staff were a major concern in the survey as was the lack of competitive pay rates and career development. This failure to see that internal investment has its own rewards is having a detrimental effect on NFPs across the board. In fact, 91% felt that it had made a tremendous impact on the retention of critical staff. 94% felt that strong leadership was essential, while 88% saw the need for a strong and balanced board to be useful.

The survey also highlighted other issues such as governance, leadership, collaboration and internal capacity building, all with interesting results.

Some points from the survey included:

- Respondents felt that a leader should commit to a strong organisation culture, be visionary and inspiring and be able to empower staff appropriately.

- Key strengths missing from a nonprofit’s board included technology/IT and marketing.

- 53% felt that a lack of internal investment in the not-for-profit organisation impacted outcomes for their beneficiaries.

Surprisingly, 59% felt that NFP board members should not be paid. One respondent noted, “The fact that well qualified and often very influential people in business and public life are committed to an organisation and prepared to contribute their skill and experience to a particular cause or not-for-profit enterprise sends an important message to the target audience and encourages philanthropy.”

If NFPs were to make one change, the changes noted were in relation to the board (54), staff (39), funding (35) and investment (35).

To read more about The foundations of a well-run not-for-profit, follow the link. It will enable you to see where NFPs can better their position and their reputation.