Fund Impacting Planning™; Fund Resiliency

We are living in an economic and cultural blizzard. The world around us is a whirlwind of news and noise, and the pathway forward is murky at best. According to the accelerator Praxis in a March 2020 article,1 a cornerstone to this community throughout the pandemic, “due to the complex and interconnected nature of our society and economy, the majority of businesses and nonprofits are ‘effectively out of business’ as of today, in that the underlying assumptions that sustained their organization are no longer true.” Business is not going to return to the old, pre-pandemic normal. We need to forge a new way. A stronger way.

For individuals, small businesses, and nonprofits, the old adage ‘luck favors the prepared’ is playing out in spades. Those built on sure foundations of clarity of mission, planning, self-reflection, and strong fiscal management (including savings and diverse investment portfolios) will be poised to not only survive, but even thrive. Unfortunately, this is a rare position for too many for profit and nonprofit organizations, particularly those who are startup to emergent.

Despite great loss, each downturn brings the opportunity for bold impact. We enjoyed an 11-year run of a strong stock market, filling many storehouses. If that is the position you are in, it is time to open the silo doors to fortify organizations you know are doing good work but need upgraded thinking and/or processes to weather the next storm . Where should you park your philanthropic funds in this crisis – and, arguably, other crises?

Park it with catalyzers. Park your money with catalyzers who strengthen fiscal security and catalyzers who strengthen emotive appeal. As you park your money with catalyzers, diversify. Catalyzers include:

Those who incite new business (e.g. accelerators)
Those who teach fiscal management (e.g. accelerators, education, and financial literacy programs)
Those who help organizations define their impact and plan for success (e.g. nonprofit storytellers, marketers, and public relations agencies)

In propping up just one catalyzing agency you will be a.) supporting progressive thought leadership amongst those with a prophetic sense of what’s to come b.) supporting sustainable, scalable operations and c.) creating a virtuous ripple effect for 5, 10…50 other nonprofits through each catalyzer. Your initial investment, philanthropic or otherwise, in one catalyzing group can impact a whole chain-link of nonprofits that will be fiscally fortified for the next storm.

In our new normal, it may well take the linking of arms, as those walking through a blizzard, to accomplish maximum impact.

Author: Lauren Dillon, Founder and Chief Collaborator of Triad Resource Group, an organization that catalyzes other organizations to become the one donors love to fund by helping them define their ultimate success, map their way to that success, and operationalize it at every level.

Source

1. Praxis Labs, March 20, 2020. https://journal.praxislabs.org/leading-beyond-the-blizzard-why-every-organization-is-now-a-startup-b7f32fb278ff

Lauren Dillon, Founder & Chief Collaborator

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