{"id":949,"date":"2009-11-12T16:35:42","date_gmt":"2009-11-12T21:35:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cspcs.sanford.duke.edu\/?p=949"},"modified":"2023-04-12T16:36:14","modified_gmt":"2023-04-12T20:36:14","slug":"undermining-ourselves","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cspcs.sanford.duke.edu\/2009\/11\/12\/undermining-ourselves\/","title":{"rendered":"UNDERMINING OURSELVES"},"content":{"rendered":"
November 12, 2009<\/span><\/div>\n
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In subtle ways, those of us in the nonprofit sector contribute to the lack of appreciation for its strength when we act as though every good idea came from outside it and simply import the language and frameworks of business.\u00a0Worse, doing so often leads to poor management choices and reduced effectiveness, because the sector needs frameworks that are responsive to its distinctive context and purpose.
\nIronically, the person to make the most cogent argument on this topic in recent years is a business guru, Jim Collins, in his terrific monograph\u00a0Good to Great and the Social Sectors: Why Business Thinking Is Not the Answer<\/a>. \u201cWe must reject the idea\u2014well intentioned but dead-wrong\u2014that the primary path to greatness in the social sectors is to become \u2018more like a business.\u2019 Most businesses\u2014like most of anything in life\u2014fall somewhere between mediocre and good,\u201d he writes.\u00a0\u201cSo, then, why would we want to import the practices of mediocrity into the social sectors?\u201d Why indeed.
\nIt always surprises me the degree to which people in foundations believe we at the\u00a0Center for Effective Philanthropy<\/a>\u00a0(CEP) are seeking to import \u201cbusiness practices\u201d to philanthropy.\u00a0We\u2019re not.\u00a0We\u2019re trying to improve the effectiveness of foundations through better data\u2014and insights gleaned from that data. That\u2019s not a \u201cbusiness\u201d idea.
\nOur surveys of grantees that provide comparative assessment data to foundation leaders through our\u00a0Grantee Perception Report<\/a>\u00a0(GPR) tool aren\u2019t \u201ccustomer service\u201d surveys.\u00a0Customers pay for a product or service; grantees receive funding from foundations.\u00a0The analogy to customers doesn\u2019t make sense.\u00a0When my colleagues and I developed the GPR, which has now been used by some\u00a0200 foundations<\/a>, our model (admittedly also an imperfect analogy) was surveys of students at colleges and universities conducted by a nonprofit that I had some knowledge of as a result of past positions in higher education.
\nAt CEP, we believe that establishing clear and specific goals, developing strategies to achieve those goals, and defining performance indicators to gauge progress along the way are the essential elements of effectiveness in philanthropy.\u00a0And I think it\u2019s tougher in philanthropy to accomplish this than it is in business. As Warren Buffett said when he announced his gift to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.\u00a0\u201cIn business, you look for the easy things to do. In philanthropy, you take on important problems, and it is a tougher game.”
\nDespite how tough it is, we in the nonprofit sector have many successes to point to, including those I mentioned in yesterday\u2019s post. And there are many others.\u00a0Why, for example, did we leave it to McKinsey to tell\u00a0the amazing story of a small nonprofit called the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI)<\/a>\u00a0that spurred hospitals to innovate to reduce by 100,000 the number of lives lost through preventable medical errors?
\nMcKinsey trumpeted this as an example of innovation from which business could learn. But I have never once heard it mentioned at a foundation or nonprofit conference (and I go to many). We undermine the sector by not telling our stories of success more forcefully.
\nWe need to tell both the individual success stories and also the collective story of the sector\u2019s importance.\u00a0Thankfully, there are some organizations pushing hard to change this, like the\u00a0Philanthropy Awareness Initiative<\/a>\u00a0and the\u00a0Communications Network<\/a>.\u00a0I also have great respect and appreciation for organizations such as\u00a0Bridgespan<\/a>: created by Bain & Company, the corporate strategy consulting firm, it nonetheless operates with humility and a deep appreciation for the distinct challenges facing nonprofits. Indeed, it has helped build a better knowledge base for the sector that is increasingly informing practice.
\nAs we work to articulate our successes, let\u2019s not cede the push for higher performance, innovation, and greater impact\u2014the push for excellence\u2014to anyone.\u00a0Indeed, this has always been the quest of the most effective nonprofit leaders!\u00a0It isn\u2019t a new concept, or a concept that needs to be imported from outside the sector.\u00a0It\u2019s at the heart of what the best of the nonprofit sector has always been about.
\nDisclaimers and Disclosures:<\/strong>\u00a0The views I express here are entirely my own.\u00a0They are of course very much informed by my perspective as president of the Center for Effective Philanthropy but we have had spirited debates among our board and staff on the very issues I discuss in these blog entries.\u00a0CEP\u2019s mission is to provide data and create insight so philanthropic funders can better define, assess, and improve their effectiveness and impact.\u00a0It should be noted that several of the foundations I cite as examples in this blog, including the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, have been clients of CEP\u2019s and have also provided grant support to the organization.\u00a0A full list of our funders, by size of funding, can be found at\u00a0http:\/\/www.effectivephilanthropy.org\/about\/about_funders.html<\/a>.
\nTomorrow’s post: Will the Real Nonprofit Sector Please Stand Up?<\/em>
\nWednesday’s post:\u00a0The Attack from Within.<\/a><\/em>
\nTuesday’s post:\u00a0The Attack on Philanthropy.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Phil Buchanan<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

November 12, 2009 In subtle ways, those of us in the nonprofit sector contribute to the lack of appreciation for its strength when we act…<\/p>\n

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