3 C’s for Nonprofit Survival in Tough Economic Times

1. Core mission and competencies – Make sure your focus is tight on the core services and programs that are critical to your mission and don’t sacrifice their quality. Now is not the time to be all things to all people, but to prioritize and stay within bounds.
2. Collaboration – Most of our organizations have competitors and we spent time, energy and money fighting over the same donors, the same resources, the same audiences, when we could be more effective collaborating strategically rather than competing.
3. Communicate with your key stakeholders; don’t stop fundraising and don’t apologize for it. Let them know what’s going on clearly and honestly, without hysteria or desperation and be concrete about what their support will do. (These principles work when times are good, too).