Not-For-Profit: Are You Ready for Free Money?

In spite of the many experiences and case studies of organizational development among NFP organization, many still believe that lack of funding is the main hindrance to successful program management and completion of projects.

Project managers and consultants however don't count lack of funding as a primary cause of project failures or program development. Their logic is really simple. A good planning session would have already cancelled out programs or projects that are clearly not viable. They never get off the ground in the conceptualization face in the first place.

Project managers or program implementers believe that you simply don't ask funds for projects that don't even pass the conceptualization phase. You'll be surprise by the kind of project proposals NFPs sometimes prepare for funding.

You encounter proposals asking for multimillion funding for projects that clearly cannot be delivered base on what you know about the proponent. If these proposals were coming from entrepreneurs you would think that these projects are really a good excuse for a rip off.

With NFPs you cannot think this way.

You meet really honest people with big dreams of helping the less fortunate, of saving the environment, of protecting children or helping farmers. What I see are people who simply don't know the implication or the enormity of the responsibility that comes along with serious or large funding.

NFP organizations must realize that the real issue is not where to get funding. The issue is not even how much. The real worry for organizations is their readiness to receive funding if it is made available to them.

I suggest that you or the officers or leaders of NFP ask yourselves candidly serious questions about your readiness to receive financial assistance. You need to see, to realize if you or the organization you manage and represent, are prepared for serious funding now.

Before I go out helping NFP organizations, I ask the most influential or most active leaders and members simple questions.

You can start asking yourself these same questions now.

Who do you serve?

What bigger picture will this fund play in your plans?

Where are you going to use it?

How are you going to use it?

What exactly will you spend it on?

Do you know how long it will last?

Do you have a way to keep track of the funds?

Do you know who will be responsible for using and supervising the use of the funds?

Do you have somebody responsible for monitoring and reporting the actual use of the funds?

Do you have an organized paperwork for all of the above?

The answers to these questions will not be solving the most common problems of NFPs but it will be quite an eye-opener for starters. If the answers are honest enough, it will lead most concerned leaders and members to take the necessary action to bring about changes.

Making changes can be daunting but seeing the need is even more difficult to do. It will require a certain amount of knowledge and degree of maturity to do so. Most of the time this will require professionals from many fields of knowledge and expertise.

It will not be easy but if they're lucky enough they can get really good consultants and other experts to volunteer.

I for one will volunteer if the cause is legitimate and the leaders and members are dedicated enough. In so many instances I have stuck out my own neck aside from my knowledge to support causes I truly believe are worth fighting for literally.

The questions above are like mirrors on the wall. You get to see things the way they are if you look hard enough.