Nonprofit organizations are coming to terms with the impact the economic recession is having on their financial sustainability. It is projected that major gifts will be down substantially and that new donor acquisition will be quite challenging.

On top of that, the endowments of foundations have been slammed by dramatic market downturns, resulting in a decrease of funds available to the social sector. In some cases, capital campaigns will be put on hold and perhaps not launched at all.

It hardly feels like the time to try anything new or to test out new creative and innovative ideas. But, in fact, now is precisely the time to reflect, reinvent and innovate. Remarkably, challenging times is when resilience should take centre stage so that your organization does not become constricted with rigidity, but rather continues to thrive.

Resilience is clearly described in the book Getting to Maybe as “the capacity to experience massive change and yet still maintain the integrity of the original. Resilience isn’t about balancing change and stability. It isn’t about reaching an equilibrium state. Rather, it is about massive change and stability paradoxically working together.”

It is a time for constructive and collaborative reflection that will ideally produce life-generating questions. Questions like:

• What does our success in the world look like moving forward?
• What have we learned that best serves our mission?
• If we could wipe the slate clean, what would our programs look like moving forward?
• What are the internal stories we craft to build a culture that reflects our values and our purpose?
• What external narratives can we create that would engage and revitalize our stakeholders in the work we are doing in the world?
• What new connections and opportunities can we identify to energize our work and create new and greater impact?

 

The authors of Getting to Maybe go on to explain why reinvention is essential to sustaining a resilient and relevant organization. “Without those new perspectives, and the continuous infusion of novelty and innovation in our lives, our organizations, and our systems, there is a slow but definite loss of resilience, and an increase in rigidity…The Greek root word for ‘crisis’ means ‘to sift’. Sifting suggests we are letting go of what is no longer necessary but retaining the essence. Resilience represents the capacity to sift: to let go and hang on simultaneously. The challenge is knowing what and how to let go.”

So many of us have a love-hate relationship with change and often default to a place of comfort. But ironically enough, it is this very sense of comfort that can block progress in your organization and wall off access to the release of creative leadership and organizational renewal. It is time to sift through what you do in the world and how you do it, and let go of that which is valued because it is comfortable. It is time to exercise your resiliency muscles.

Pattie LaCroix has provided strategic leadership in crafting integrated communications and fundraising strategies to nonprofits for more than a decade. As CEO of Catapult Media she is passionate about the power of storytelling in engaging your audience and building support for your work. You can reach Pattie at www.catapultmedia.ca.