Non-profit leaders can, at times, put their organizations in a precarious position. Taking on causes which fall outside of what they truly do best is one way this occurs. As Sofia Crisp has learned, just because funding can be easily found doesn’t mean a new cause should be immediately embraced. To avoid suffering the woes of mission creep, the mission and core competencies of the organization must be fully considered first.
In this Series, My Non-profit Journey: What I Wish I Knew When I Started, eight leadership wishes shared by Sofia Crisp with Your Outcomes Well are being explored.
- Crisp is the Executive Director/Founder of Housing Consultants Group (HCG), Greensboro NC.
- This blog post will explore: Avoiding Mission Creep.
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Sofia Crisp
I was originally going to title this post “Jack of All Trades, Master of None”. In reflecting further about this, a more fitting label I feel is ‘the woes of Mission Creep’. Often, for non-profits, this involves considering (or acting upon) causes which are not in line with their organization’s Mission.
What is Mission Creep?
- When activities outside the core competencies, as stated in an organization’s Mission Statement, are considered, planned, or taken. Drifting into such areas is where non-profits, I feel, begin to have problems. While the cause appeals to a non-profit leader’s heart, it isn’t in line with their organization’s Mission or Vision. While the funding for the cause might be abundant, it isn’t in sync with the non-profit’s formal Mission.
- While a non-profit’s Mission may evolve over time, the changes should be carefully considered. Making seat-of-the-pants, misguided Mission Statement tweaks, to fit a cause you’re hastily considering, isn’t I feel the way to grow and prosper.
Let me talk about two periods of time, during my time as Executive Director of HCG, which will shed some light on what I’m talking about.
During the mortgage banking crisis (2007) there were a lot of funds available through federal, state, and private resources. This was, as well, a very high-profile crisis. The time and effort of my non-profit are, however, focused mostly on different areas of housing than these funds were designed for. While doing work in this loosely fit within our general purpose, it was not a close fit for our core purpose. My decision: I consciously chose to let the bandwagon pass on by. Some others made a different decision during the crisis.
I’ve seen many other non-profits, which were ever so loosely linked to housing issues, join in on chasing the funds the crisis sparked.
- However, they often, I’ve observed, encountered the woes of Mission Creep. They were following the money and not following their original mission or their passion. Additionally, these non-profits often did not have the expertise within their staffs to do the new work well; they weren’t working in their gifts. The Outcome: The organization as a whole was marginalized. Why? Because it became readily apparent that they were ‘out of their league’.
More recently, over the last five years or so, non-profit funding streams in housing have changed. It would have been very easy for me to simply follow the money. With a good grant writer anyone can do it, right? You simply see a compelling cause, which is gaining increased funding support, and just jump on the bandwagon! The path of least resistance, however, in such situations is not the path to the best outcomes. Like the early period just described, the best-funded causes may not be the right ones for a non-profit leader to embrace.
In the Greensboro NC area where my non-profit is located, some of the greatest needs are homelessness and hunger. Our area, in recent years, is off the charts in both these areas. Let me be very clear and say this now: I have a very strong sentiment for anyone that goes to bed hungry, especially children. However, that’s not my ‘passion’ as the leader of my NC non-profit. In short, caring for a cause doesn’t mean it’s wise for a non-profit to make it part of what they do.
- Our agency, by the way, keeps a list of all the area resources for families experiencing any number of problems, but we are the resource for housing education, sustainable housing needs, and services for dislocated workers. That’s it. Anything else is outside of our organization’s Mission.
Mission Creep and better outcomes
I’ve noticed something about non-profits which venture outside of their core competencies. They often have an ineffective project that lacks the enthusiasm needed to make it work well. Quite simply, while they have the dollars for the particular project, their outcomes are weak. Some leaders will, before jumping on the bandwagon, rush a tweak of their organization’s Mission Statement. The current popularity, or funding resources, for the ‘hot’ cause is just too hard for them to pass up.
In contrast, people passionate about a cause make the work look effortless!
- In turn, they have positive outcomes which funders appreciate. Non-profit organizations that support causes which fall within their formal Mission fall into this group.
When a non-profit suffers from Mission Creep, they don’t devote sufficient time or resources to master their core activities. The result: ‘Jack of all Trades’ satisficing, not better outcomes. Don’t satisfice; stay true to your Mission and your staff’s proven capabilities and gifts. In the long run you will, I believe, be glad you did. You’ll avoid Mission Creep.
LEARN
- Discover your passion. Define your mission. Follow your purpose. In both the periods Crisp describes, it was clear she could have taken a path which didn’t closely follow her non-profit’s purpose or mission.
- The circumstances and the environment may affect your organization, but it shouldn’t fundamentally change your underlying mission.
- For any changes which are made within your non-profit, big or small, ensure that you have the requisite skills within your staff to support the change. If a well-considered change in your Mission does move you to take on a new cause, that’s a mission change not Mission Creep. As Crisp endorsed in a prior post (Working in Your Gift), be sure that your staff (and yourself) are always working in your gift – so the changes you make succeed.
GROW
The reality today is that non-profits are increasingly being forced to operate their organization more like for-profit organizations. As such, whereas non-profits seek grants and private donors to fund and sustain their organization, a new business -a start-up- in many cases is seeking seed money from different sources, including Venture Capitalists or Angel investors.
What are some of the things which a Venture Capitalist/Angel investor seeks in a start-up?
1 – Most critical is the management team. Have they succeeded previously in their endeavors? Put another way: Can we trust them to give us a good return on our investment?
- Here’s an interesting question to ask yourself, as it relates to your non-profit too. As you grow, evolve, and deal with uncertainty, change, and the current circumstances, how will your non-profit organization respond? Will you simply cut and run following the latest wave? In doing so, you’ll have abandoned your purpose.
- If the answer is yes: Have you demonstrated the ability, skills, and necessary passion to truly change course successfully?
2 – Domain Expertise: A deep knowledge of your space that you wish to operate in. Many start-ups (for-profit) have great “skills” and “abilities, but lack an understanding of the market.
- How does that relate to your non-profit? You most likely got involved in your non-profit because it, in some way, spoke to you at a deep level. As such, it fueled your passion and created a desire for a deep understanding of your space.
- Now when Mission Creep rears it’s ugly head, will you still have the domain expertise of the new path you’re seeking to travel? Because, if you don’t, the greatest reason for success, the passion that fosters a deep understanding (domain expertise), is now gone. Therefore, you’re chasing funds to a place where you aren’t equipped, intellectually or logistically, to excel!
- Even if you make a prudent, fully-considered change in your Mission, as opposed to a misguided tweak of that statement, an unchanged understanding of the new cause will put you at a disadvantage.
- Have you been able to resist the Mission Creep temptation?
- Is your non-profit fulfilling it’s mission in most of what it does?
To thrive as a non-profit leader, it’s wise to follow your true passion and purpose, as specifically defined in your organization’s Mission Statement. With such a focus, you’ll avoid the woes of Mission Creep described by Sofia S Crisp in this post.
In closing, remember this: Successful non-profits don’t treat their Mission Statement like an Etch-A-Sketch ©! Let the causes which aren’t mission-driven be done by others.
The journey of one non-profit leader, Sofia Crisp, continues next week.
Your Outcomes Well
(to be continued)
Photo Credit: Jerry Worster/flickr (CC BY-NC 2.0)
Your Outcomes Well
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