As a wealth manager, you are accustomed to analyzing a company's future prospects before recommending an investment in the business. However, you may not be as comfortable offering advice on whether to accept an invitation to join a nonprofit board or donate money to the organization. Understanding the factors that determine whether a nonprofit is strong and sustainable can increase your value to your clients.
TCC Grouphas developed a formula to evaluate sustainability, based on 30 years of consulting to nonprofits. A statistical analysis of the results of our proprietary survey, the Core Capacity Assessment Tool (CCAT), confirms that there are three main factors that predict a nonprofit's sustainability: leadership, adaptability and program capacity. Nearly 15,000 nonprofit leaders at 2,000 organizations have taken the survey.
Organizations that score high on internal leadership and leader vision are significantly more sustainable than those that do not. To achieve long-term success, leaders must take responsibility for developing and communicating the organization's mission and vision, and for motivating employees to achieve its goals.
Leaders of sustainable organizations let go of consistently poor performers, whether paid or volunteer. They also make cost-effective decisions, based on the per-person cost of services in relation to measurable outcomes or behavior changes.
