Are you tired of singing the song of "never enough" in your nonprofit?

Do you have an appetite for turning over every rock and producing unprecedented results like never before in your organization?

I've been where you are. I was a nonprofit Executive Director with gigantic dreams in a small community.

Here's exactly how I took the budget from $100K to $1MM+...

I decided my target was a million-dollar budget. At the time, I was operating at about 30% of that number. We needed a rock-solid foundation of revenue that we didn't have at the time. I set my sights on tripling the good the organization was doing, and it was “do or die” for me.

I decided to confront the cost of success. I remember saying to a Board member, "When we cross the million-dollar mark, we will be challenged in ways we can't even imagine today. We will be faced with criticism, jealousy, and slander. We will be knocked down in ways we could never imagine before we had the money to do this amazing work. I don't know what those issues will be, but I know what their roots are. I know what money does to people. And I'm here for it."

I decided to keep my million dollar target quiet. I never shared my goal with anyone in my circle. I shared it in another community with people who had no ties to my other lives. I knew it was real to me, yet so fragile that if I were challenged or got pushback, it could've been crushed by someone with emotion or an agenda. I kept it quiet so it could grow. I knew I had to lay the groundwork for people to believe it. The last thing humans need is another great idea that never lands or happens.

I answered all the "what ifs" along the way. I made it easy for the Board by answering all the what ifs of the project, the strategy, the campaign - whatever it was. "What will their what ifs be?" I knocked out every one of them when I presented a concept and I got the Board comfortable with the "what ifs" none of us knew. There will always be more "what ifs."

I was immovable when it came to contingencies. I remember one gritty Board meeting I attended. The budget was presented, and I said, "The most important line in this budget is not here. The line you must approve is contingency, and it must be 10% of the total budget." Today, that number is 15% and represents a pocket of money you can reach into when that great idea hits the room. Otherwise when great ideas hit, "that’s not in the budget" is an excuse to do nothing. And nothing changes.

I rewired my thinking...and everyone else's. The formula for nonprofit success is 30% courage to spawn innovation, energy, time and space to create; 30% willingness to execute what you created; 30% innovation trying new things; and 10% Board and Staff to believe in and execute it. Most nonprofits spend 90% of their efforts focused on the Board and Staff. The reality is that when you take the focus off people's ever-changing feelings, you can get a whole lot done.

I nurtured a tolerance (possibly even a mild appetite) for failure within the organization. In 99.99% of nonprofits, there is no willingness to say, "This could fail, we'll try it anyway." Failure contains all the variables that ultimately make things thrive and produce.

I looked for what people wanted, and I gave it to them. I watched what humans participated in, what they talked about, and what they asked for. And then I said - "How can I create a miniature version? Because if they like doing that, they can do a version with us and see what it would be like." There is no need to create something new. Go out and watch what's being done already. Bring it home to your organization, and scale it. That's the secret.

I got rid of the shelf. Here's what happens... we have ideas, and we have a way of working. We fall in love with it, and we get married to it. All of that sits on a shelf in the organization, and we return to it every year. Do you want a total transformation? Then get rid of all the ideas and strategies that have been sitting on your shelf. In fact, take down the shelf altogether. That's what I did. That shelf is why nothing has changed in your organization.

I eliminated the annual budget. If you're still doing a budget for a year, you're at the back of the race. Do your budget for a quarter. Three months. An annual budget is one of those things you need to take off the shelf. 90 days is a LONG time when you're on the move.

You can't blame the economy, and you haven't tapped out the dollars in your community. I had to confront this, too. You have everything you need. Will you do it this time?

Sheree Allison merges the worlds of fundraising, marketing, and leadership combined with an entrepreneurial spirit to train and develop nonprofit leaders who are committed to building a world class organization. Connect and learn more about her "rags to riches" nonprofit success story, her book, and her weekly column at www.shereeallison.com.

Homepage photo by Randy Tarampi on Unsplash.