Few funding sources for your causes

In modern business, many nonprofits depend on government assistance. This assistance may be in the form of grants or part of a matching scheme or to serve as a safety net to run to when the funds are running out. While the government may come to your rescue, it is always good to find many sources of cash to save you from the unnecessary hustle. As a nonprofit leader, you must also understand that only 20% of non-profit funding in the US is unrestricted. Therefore, you must have running programs to put money into before looking for the other 80% funding sources. Unfortunately, many nonprofit leaders do not understand this and will end up struggling to fund their causes.

Collecting data and failing to use it correctly

In the modern nonprofit landscape, over 75% of the charities gather massive amounts of data. This data could be useful in making critical decisions that will help run operations correctly. However, even after collecting data that can help the nonprofit navigate difficulties, majority of them fail to use it correctly. As a leader of a nonprofit, do not just collect data. Before doing so, ask yourself questions such as: What data do we need and from where? How can we use the data we collect? How will the data we are collecting make a difference in our organization? Although asking yourself such questions, go ahead, and implement the data strategy you have. With these questions and the implementation of the data strategy, the data you are gathering will be useful to your business.

Nonprofit employee burnout

Operations of nonprofits depend on the fitness of the employees and their ability to remain focused all through. Sadly, more than half of the nonprofit employees feel nearly or totally burned out as they conduct their operations. This often affects the founders, directors, and executives who tend to bear the weight of the nonperformance of their employees and their failure to deliver as required. As a leader of a charity, always lead collaboratively. Do not be afraid to delegate duties and share responsibilities among your employees, especially during the stressful moments. Also, enlist enough personnel to deal with a specific task at any given time.

Not running operations like a business

Many nonprofit leaders fail to execute the operations of their organizations with seriousness as they would for businesses. This always ends up causing failure as nonprofits struggle to get the attention of the donors. While you will not be operating for profit, you should always take everything seriously. Even as you do your best to manage your operations and finances like a business, put your social impact goals at the forefront. Also, put your business objectives second since profit is not one of the top objectives of a nonprofit.

Spend time preparing your pitch and find good storytellers who are well trained and have the potential to engage and learn about the mission of your nonprofit. Make sure you nail it because this will place you at the right place to receive the type of support you need from donors.