Be Your Own Stimulus

I love Alaska.  It is the one place I’ve always wanted to visit that has so far eluded me.  So, don’t get me wrong when I say this:  finally, something good has come out of Alaska!  In fact, it is so good, I wish I’d thought of it first.  Well, I’d thought of it, and, in fact, even said it; I just didn’t bother to write it down.  What is it?  A warning:  stimulus dollars may not be good for the health of your organization.

What?  Did I just say something blasphemous?  To many, if not all, nonprofits scurrying around seeking a piece of that stimulus action, absolutely, I did.  But let’s stop for a minute and not let the bling of the money blind us:  maybe, just maybe, not every nonprofit should be in hot pursuit.  First, stimulus dollars are time limited:  there are, as of this writing, just over two year’s worth of stimulus dollars available.  Then what are you doing to do?  Rush around for more dollars? Lay off staff?  Eliminate a program?  Not serve your clients as well?  Wait!  Those are all the things folks are doing now to try and make it through this economic nightmare.  So, why, oh why, would a nonprofit elect to put itself—as opposed to having the economy put it there—in that position?

Second, and far more importantly, not every nonprofit is ready for or, quite honestly, deserving of, stimulus dollars.  The Foraker Group, a sister management support group in Anchorage, has directly put the readiness and just desserts cards on the table.  And they should be heeded by all those applying for, as well as those handing out the stimulus dollars.  First, Foraker rightly points out that only those organizations that have a proven (meaning you can actually, duh, prove it!) track record of success and are truly sustainable should apply for and receive stimulus dollars.  What a concept:  let’s not throw somewhat good money after bad organizations. 

Foraker has a four pronged understanding of what a sustainable organization looks like.  Such an organization knows what it is about—it knows its core competencies.  It has a “competent” board that understands its function.  (I’m not a big fan of competence, as it sounds so average, so mediocre.  But I understand the point.)   It has a healthy stream of unrestricted dollars and reserves, and it has strategic partnerships.    If your organization passes this screen, Foraker still has two more screens to go:  that which an organization should have and that which it should not.

Do apply for stimulus money if the organization meets the first screen AND this second:  the stimulus money will support a mission-based function and allow the organization to stay true to its strategic plan.  (Which means, of course, that organizations without a strategic plan should not consider applying for stimulus dollars.  Why?  I’d suggest that a strategic plan is another indicator of a sustainable organization.) 

Finally, do NOT apply for stimulus dollars, regardless of how well the organization meets the first and second screens, if the dollars would:  take the organization off course from its mission, require the organization to start a new program, be a band-aid, and/or stretch the organization beyond its capacity.

In other words, if the board, staff and organization have not done their homework, stimulus dollars are not the solution.  They will only allow an organization to delay the inevitable; they will not allow the organization to fix that which the board and staff won’t do the hard work to fix themselves.  So, nine quarters later, the organization will be in the exact same spot it is now, and it is unlikely there will be a pot of gold waiting for it.