As a social activist, I understand the mechanics and complexities of development work. There is nothing more fulfilling than working for an organisation whose sole purpose is to improve a specific development area troubling society.
It is no wonder, then, that the sector is often full of passionate, purpose-driven people who want to change the world. We manage to gain the support of others who back our causes with money, skills and other donations and in this way, non-profit outfits can grow to be sizeable organisations, both in terms of the number of employees as well as annual budgets being administered.
The bigger the NGO, the more complex its operations, financial controls, programmes and teams can be. This is when they need to apply business principles to solve complex social problems. Never has this been more important. The financial crunch that Covid-19 brought to commercial enterprises has also been felt by NGOs and showing financial fitness to funders and partners can make or break a for-good organisation.
I want to focus on five key and non-negotiable areas for NGOs:
- Professional staff members: NGOs need staff who are proactive and can think on their feet. Competent staff understand that there are individual, departmental and organisational key performance indicators that must be met, that excellent delivery is non-negotiable, meeting deadlines is essential and an impeccable work ethic is necessary. NGOs should not tolerate non-performance and should be strict on hiring the right people for the job.
- Cut the frills: This speaks directly to understanding your core business. What problem is your organisation solving and what methods are being used to solve it? Once this is clear, everything else is a “nice-to-have” and small amounts can add up over time. These could be branded items such as T-shirts, caps or costly monthly licences or subscriptions. Unchecked service providers could easily be charging more than 50% of market prices. There are a lot of frills and we must declutter. It is costly not to do so.
- Pro bono work: Some NGOs are good at using their status to get services for free, while some don’t do this at all. Non-profits would be surprised at the number of companies, professionals and sometimes even government departments that are willing to provide services to NGOs pro bono. I believe we don’t ask enough. Our collective efforts go towards the upliftment of the country, and we all stand to benefit from the work of different NGOs. Asking for preferential rates and free services should be a regular practice.
- Partnering: NGOs don’t partner enough. This is well known and is spoken about a lot more than it is actioned. Partnerships mean we leverage each other’s resources and skills for greater impact. There are a lot of like-minded NGOs working in silos where collaboration would make more sense. The end goal is not which NGO implemented the most programmes or had a presence in the most provinces; the goal is how many lives have been improved by our collective efforts. If we keep our eyes on that goal, we will be able to see the many ways in which we can work together to benefit the communities we serve.
- Not everything is free: There is untapped opportunity that is not explored by most NGOs and that is to sell some of their goods and services to a different segment of the market. This is not always feasible, but where it is, and the effort to sell the goods and services does not outweigh the benefits, then it should be considered as a way to diversify income and increase financial security.
That said, NGOs will always be different from commercial enterprises. We are differently constituted. But there are principles that we can borrow that will lead to better management of staff and programmes, better financial controls and expenditure as well as better planning and innovation.
We should be open to doing things differently, better and more efficiently. We have a responsibility to demonstrate our impact to donors and beneficiaries. We also need to be able to change with the times as we grow.
• Xhakaza is the CEO of the Nal’ibali reading-for-enjoyment campaign. Having taken up her position weeks ahead of the Covid-19 pandemic, she is using her business insights to steer the organisation through the recession. For more information about the Nal’ibali campaign, or to access children’s stories in a range of SA languages, visit www.nalibali.org and www.nalibali.mobi or find them on Facebook and Twitter: @nalibaliSA
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