The Cure for NMS

(part 1 of 6)

The Chronicle of Philanthropy recently reported that a high turnover rate in fundraising professionals is costing Nonprofits a lot of money. The article was based on a study by Penelope Burk, president of Cygnus Applied Research., In a presentation to the Association of Fundraising Professionals at their annual conference in Vancouver, Burk relayed the results of a survey she conducted with over 9,500 nonprofit professionals, where she determined that the average tenure of a fundraiser in a particular organization is 16 months – not even a year and a half – hardly time to even understand the mission, much less develop any real relationships with donors.

Burk give several causes for this problem; including low pay rates, lack of internal promotional opportunities, and overly taxing professional schedules. From where I sit, each of these issues are symptoms of a larger disease, one that infects not just fundraisers but the entire operation. I call it the Nonprofit Martyrdom Syndrome (Henceforth to be known as NMS). It’s a horrible and virulent disease that has plagued mission driven organizations for a long time.

We all know the signs of stress in our efforts to make the word a better place – donations are down, the economy is struggling and government is in gridlock. All of the usual paths for funding are worn thin. Ms. Burk offers basic prescriptions for her identified concern – higher pay, more flexible schedules, a more direct path to senior management. To me, each of those remedies is like cough syrup. They’ll moderate the symptom, but they won’t cure the disease. But there is good news.  Recent successful trials show that there may be a cure on the horizon for this debilitating ailment. And it comes from the gathering storm that is Social Entrepreneurship.

A few weeks ago in Oxford, over 1,000 leaders in this growing movement gathered for the 9^th annual Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship. Jason Saul recently reported on this year’s gathering, observing that in his opinion,a new brand of social entrepreneurship is emerging – he calls it version 2.0. In this second wave, there is an open understanding that it’s ok to expect an economic return for a social good, that metrics and measurement are no longer optional, and a program that meets a social need is not enough. While attending this amazing event, I even one voice in this field loudly calling for every social benefit organization to aim to be out of business within 30 years of its founding. His point was that if you can’t fix a social problem after 30 years in a community, you should be ashamed of yourself. A huge challenge, and one of the many signs of a creeping case of NMS.

Just like any other disease, NMS comes in many forms. In the same way, specific treatments need to be adjusted to the specific symptoms of the disease. So there is no single cure-all for NMS. Nonetheless, these new ideas may present a course of for the struggling nonprofit.

As an aside, you may have noticed that I use two different terms – nonprofit and social benefit organization. That’s on purpose. Nonprofits are major industry, representing upwards of 10% of the economy and under significant pressure. Social benefit organizations are a new breed that is smaller, less fully formed but perhaps more resistant to the debilitating effects of NMS. It’s also important to note that not every nonprofit suffers from NMS. And even if the disease is present, much good work can still be done. But imagine how much more good we could do if we were healthy and free of NMS.

Over the next few weeks I’ll take each of these symptoms in turn. I’ll show you specific signs of the various strains of NMS, and then provide concrete steps you can take to cure each of them without sacrificing your mission focus.

Modern medicine has made great strides in our lifetime. Cancer, to name one of thousands of examples,  is no longer an automatic death sentence. The means by which we care for each other in society are poised to make a similar leap forward. It can be done. We can cure NMS in our lifetime. Help is on the way.