The 501c3 Dilemma

Sitting in a regional meeting all day on behalf of the Mayor's Office with Pennsylvania community action agencies, I realize the driving force behind the creation of the 22,000 non-profit organizations in Philadelphia -FUNDING. Good men & women with an idea or desire to address a problem in the community run out and start a non-profit. Those in leadership are led, like dogs after a rabbit, by the change in focus of government & private funding sources. Did it occur to these do-gooders that if there focus was on being effective & building capacity ...maybe the money would come to them??

Okay, those of you in non-profit leadership are cursing my name right now. But, before you send me to hell, answer this: why did you get into community service/advocacy? Do you (today) believe that you can be effective? What's stopping you? My professional opinion is that capacity (the ability to effectively provide a service with measurable outcomes) is your greatest challenge due to insufficient funding. Why? Because your organization is one of many claiming to address the same issue. It may be a bit unpleasant to hear, but creating a duplication of an existing service does more harm than good:

• Funding/resources are diluted as they are divided among numerous "service providers," placing them all in a position of being under-capitalized.


• "Service providers" are encouraged to report false information for the sake of maintaining their funding, keeping resources from the effective organizations who need those dollars most.


• The women & men in need of said services are left in their current condition, having received little more than eloquent lip service.

This is exemplified repeatedly throughout the community. In Philadelphia there are dozens of non-profits focused on ending violence, yet there has been no visible turn in the statistics until Commissioner Charles Ramsey went to work. There are even more organizations focused on literacy & education for "at-risk" youth, yet outside of Education Works & Philadelphia Academies who is actually having an impact as the drop-out rate stands at 38%, and the average reading level of our high school graduates is 7th grade. As a strategist, I would like you to journey with me for a moment as we look at this from the business perspective.

A fundamental rule in the venture capital community with regard to the vetting of new concepts is to ask 'what is the need that this concept addresses?' Every successful business is centered on addressing the needs of a specific market. The business plan notes what the market demand is, what percentage of that market the entrepreneur expects to capture as a customer base, what the competitive landscape is, how the business will profit by serving that market, and how the business plans to grow.

Now for the revolutionary idea: the same goes for non-profits. Identify who you wish to serve. Document: map out exactly how you plan to serve this demographic of the community. Identify who is already serving them effectively. Analyze the potential for collaboration of your concept with this effective organization (a Win/Win tactic ~note: this requires humility versus ego). In the absence of a potential collaboration, do your homework on what it would cost, and what the infrastructure needs are for you to be effective at addressing this issue. By then, having worked through these points, you will have a good idea of the funding required to make it happen. You would have freed yourself from the rat race of chasing today's funding source. Instead, you would pursue funding solely on the basis of managing and growing your organization in the aim of effectively serving your market -the community.

The Self Concept

The self concept. ...sounds simple enough.
The concept of self. The way you see yourself. The center from which you operate.

There are deeper, more intrinsic facets of the self concept which are vital to the true success of the entrepreneur, community activist, even the politician. These facets are the focus of this dialogue you and I are about to have.

Let us begin with "what you believe about yourself."
Generally, the way the world sees us has both a direct, and an indirect effect on how we see ourselves. Direct in that we too often adopt the way we are seen by others as a measure of how successfully we are portraying the persona we wish them to see. Indrectly because while rarely stated, the perceptions of others often create in our own minds questions of our identity. Why?
From birth we begin to learn how to act and react to certain stimuli. More importantly, we begin to develop our definitions of self, family, friends, enemies, and most importantly love.

Love, how we define it, perceive it, and interpret the presentation of it by others is all centered on if & how much of it we have for ourselves. If I don't love me, then much like a house of cards, any and all relationships (clients, contractors, employees, collegues, friends, etc.) will be just as void. The love of one's self allows us to interact and operate in our daily lives from a place of power & positive energy: the source of character. It is important to note that personality may afford you an opportunity, yet a lack of character is sure to lose you the long-term relationship.

Character: the ability to consistently live life based on your core values [proactiveness defined]. The question has long been asked: "is character developed or displayed by the trials of life?" It is my position that character is displayed, not developed by challenges. This is verified by the focus of this conversation. It is from the self concept that you and I address every situation in our lives. If we love & respect ourselves (a natural outgrowth of living a value driven/ principled life) then our foundation is secure, and our means of addressing challenging situations is clear. An understanding of self and your true position in said situation (Point A) affords you the ability to plot a direct line to Point B: the solution.
In the absence of character we find the individual void. Life becomes a zero sum game, where everything is a competition and everyone is seen as an adversary. Such is not the case.

As a strategist, it pains me to see women and men with passion & drive to succeed in lack of the key element required to do so: vision. It is the one thing that cannot be taught. Vision is the ability to, recognizing the goal as Point B, clearly describe (in detail) said goal. Yet, in the absence of a positive self concept the ability to do so is greatly impaired. While it is clear that there are anomalies in every paradigm (Ted Turner being the anamolie in this one), an individual is more likely to experience success when they have a healthy self concept, are clear on their Point A, and are passionate about reaching Point B (a good strategist can assist them in connecting the two).

The paradigm shift.

Okay.

This is neither my thesis, nor a discussion of the inner workings of some new Star Trek episode. Instead, this is a discussion on the importance of flexibility as my clients navigate the ever changing world of business.

The paradigm shift is essential to successfully navigating the daily tasks required to achieve your long term success. Allow me to begin with the clarification of the term as to avoid any misunderstanding: Paradigm -the position from which you view & deal with your current environment.

In order to effectively deal with each interaction (with bankers, partners, employees, invoicing problems, or unforeseen challenges) the entrepreneur must first have a full and clear understanding of her / his current position. Having a clear understanding of your identity, your strengths, weaknesses, passions, and dislikes will afford you the ability to be more objective. How? Simple. If a situation presents itself as an obstacle to the success of your revenue model, yet happens to require a skill you know you lack, you have three options:

1. Go buy "Skills I Lack for Dummies" from the bookstore, and hope you get it right.



2. Allow your ego to take the lead; filing bankruptcy later is just what that ego needs.



3. Seek help.

Without going into nuclear physics, we can all agree that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line.

It goes without saying that if you are not clear on "Point A" (where you stand, skills you possess, resources you require...), it is not likely that you will successfully reach "Point B."

So why are we talking about paradigm shifting? There is a major misconception with the Point A to Point B conversation. A large number of individuals see themselves as Point A, and their goals as Point B. This is incorrect. Point A is the position which your reality demands that you take as you discern the desired outcome of the situation (whether your 10 year goals, or collecting a 45 day old accounts receivable). The "this is me" defense has no place in a world where the value assigned to who you are is a product of the context you find yourself in at the time (client, employer, mother, son, etc.).

The ability to be flexible in your approach and honest about your capacity is vital if long term success is of interest to you.

Methods of adjustment: Personality versus Character; a concept I welcome you to read further into via Stephen Covey's work "Seven Habits of Highly Effective People."

Personality is the method of adjusting to our environment which you are surely familiar with as self help books pushing quick fixes to issues that reside in your core are peddled by every bookstore, and self-appointed motivational speaker in town. Smile. Eye contact. Listen for the objection before responding. These tactics may work in the short term, but long term success requires long term relationships which you're not going to build by throwing around a fake smile.

Character is the method of adjusting to our environment by dealing with people and situations by the unbreakable values which define who we truly are. When you smile, mean it. When you give eye contact, do it because you care enough to pay attention to what they have to say. When you listen, hear every word they say and ask questions to gain understanding.

It is from our core/ our character, that we find ourselves at Point A, and in a much better position to discern where Point B is, and more importantly how to get there. Paradigm shifting, when operating from your core, is simplified (as you have chosen to elevate above the plane of the zero-sum game).