INTRODUCTION

You have created your nonprofit organization because it saw the need in its community and was inspired to meet this need. But to do it well, not to pay the nonprofit of the bills, unfortunately. For this to happen, you need to consider your nonprofit organization as a business and manage it in this way.

This means that you need to be clear about the public in the same way that a company is clear about its customers. You need to establish your brand. You need a marketing plan. You need a budget. And the policies, procedures, and processes that are required.

If you are a company and don’t have an audience, a brand, a budget, and a marketing plan, you may not sell your products or services. It also means that you cannot win money or make a profit. Isn’t this defeating the purpose of starting a business in the first place?

In the same way, if you are a nonprofit organization that does not have these essentials in place, you can’t raise the money it needs to fund its programs. And this does not help anyone.

Therefore, you might be wondering, “exactly, How can I run my nonprofit like a business?”

And here is the answer, which could be the essential part: You need to make decisions based on data and fact, not feelings and emotions.

This is easier to do if you sell, for example, donuts. But when you work with people or animals in danger, it can be very difficult to make decisions based on numbers more than their love for the people or pets you want to use.

I’m putting in the day.

But you still need to wear the hat of a business owner and understand the best way to run your nonprofit organization as you are the owner to have the resources you need to help these people or these animals.