Should non-profits plan to go out of business?

In a recent post, Allison Jones wrote about whether non-profits that want to achieve their missions most effectively should have the aim to eventually close shop.

I don’t think that’s such a great idea.

(Well, in most cases.)

But here’s why: it takes a lot of work to start a new non-profit. Starting a non-profit means starting from scratch. It means having to register the non-profit with the government, developing a website, creating a communications plan, reaching out to donors and funders where no previous relationships exist, starting programs from the ground up, hiring your first staff members. It takes years to get most non-profits to the point where they are well established and ready to roll. It takes a long time for a non-profit to get to a point where they have a sustainable stream of funding, a stable staff, and can finally focus on their programs without worrying that everything’s going to fall apart. It takes a while for a non-profit to begin conducting monitoring & evaluation to see if, indeed, the problem they are attacking is being solved. It’s not easy to get a non-profit to the point where it is effective.

That’s why I don’t think it makes sense for a non-profit to close doors, once all the groundwork has been laid for it to achieve success.

Instead, isn’t it better for a non-profit to start out with a relatively broad mission, and then set a short timeframe within which they must achieve certain goals? Then, to actually achieve their goals in time, and shift their goals (that still fit into their broader mission & vision) to tackle new social problems or goals?

Doesn’t it make more sense for a non-profit that has managed to do the above, to use their successes to woo donors? A non-profit that is so successful in achieving social change is likely to garner lots of funding through effective marketing of their tangible outcomes. This money can and should be directed towards achieving the non-profit’s subsequent challenge, surmounting the next mountain. This is not a time for a non-profit to shut down – but a time for it to capitalize on its successes! Funding is hard to come by in these economic times. A non-profit that shuts down at its pinnacle of achievement, seems to me to be making a big mistake.

The exception, I think, is this: if a non-profit’s mission is very narrow, and once the organization has achieved its mission and goals, it would be a huge, unjustifiable cost & use of resources for the non-profit to try to shift its mission or create new goals. If it imposes an undue burden on the non-profit to have to shift its mission and vision, by all means, the organization might be better off shutting down. But, I don’t believe this is the case for most non-profits. And, this situation can also be combated by starting off with a broader mission encapsulated in more specific, achievable goals.

I believe we need more effective, efficient and results-oriented non-profits in this world. If a non-profit is so effective and successful that it’s able to achieve all the goals it’s set out in a matter of years, by all means, I’d donate to keep that organization alive! I wouldn’t want to see such a great organization die – I’d simply hope that they would begin dedicating their resources and effective methods to another cause, to solving another problem.

There is no shortage of social ills in this world. There is a shortage of truly effective non-profits solving these problems. So I say, we should work to ensure the most effective non-profits are staying IN business.

What are your thoughts?

No related posts.