Survival vs. Sustainability

As the daughter of two writers, I gained early on a deep appreciation for words. I learned early on the power of words and how subtle—and not so subtle differences—could be made by the mere substitution of one word for another.  Meetings can energize or enervate, and I worry for those who equate the outcomes. 

But my worry ascends to angst as I consider all of those in the nonprofit world who are making the mistake of seeing survival as a synonym for sustainable.  They are two very different—at once subtle and quite glaring—states of being.  One easy to achieve on many levels, the other a constant work in progress.  

Events all around the country are touting themselves as providing the forum for learning the secrets to survival:  hear from the experts, learn the smartest tips, gain special insights!  And folks are clamoring to attend, eager to learn all that they can on how to survive and fearful that if they don’t attend, that will be the session that hands out the silver bullet.   

But let’s be honest:  survival is easy.  We survive if we keep our doors open, though staff has been decimated to one, the number of clients served reduced by 90% and the one remaining staff and several volunteers are burned out to a crisp.  But our doors are open!  We have lived to see another fiscal year, complete another Form 990 (though this year we can use the EZ Form; oh, what good fortune!), elect another class of board members.  We are a shadow of our former self, we threw an awful lot of people off the island, but we are alive; we did survive!  But now what?  What comes after survival? 

Sustainability, on the other hand, is hard, and nothing comes after it; it is never over and done but, rather, always there.  Obviously, we cannot be sustainable if we cannot or do not survive.  But sustainability is so much more than survival.  It is having the capacity to withstand the down times without losing the essence of what the organization is and the ability to fulfill its mission. 

It is having the human resources—from staff to board members to other volunteers—who are flexible and innovative, calculated risk takers and level headed thinkers, who can strategize for the good times while including buffer plans for the bad times, all the while not compromising the mission.  It is looking not at the next month or even next 12 months hoping to just get by, but rather looking at the next 36 or 40 months with strategy for evolution.  If it is living at the edge, it is living at the edge by conscious choice, a result of that evolutionary strategy, and never by default.  Sustainability is knowing that you will be around to weather the next economic crisis because you have developed that strategy already. 

Survival is a crap shoot; sustainability is anything but.  What people should be working on now—even in, or especially in, this economic mess–is not mere survival, but sustainability.