By Julie Simpson

Director of Nonprofit Strategy and Capacity Building, TCC Group

For years, funders have encouraged nonprofits – at a certain stage in their development – to scale, replicate, or expand their efforts. While most nonprofits are interested in expanding the good they do in the world (i.e., outcomes or impact), this should not be confused with simply expanding their activities, or increasing the number or intensity of their programs or services (i.e., outputs).

When faced with the difficult choice of how to “grow their impact” – that tension of innovating with new program models, or improving the ways in which they are delivering their services and potentially expanding their reach – nonprofits (and their boards) need to assess whether they possess the capacities necessary to grow or scale successfully. To fully appreciate the best pathways on which they should move forward, strategic nonprofits consider how they must effectively work in relationship to all social sector actors – and to ensure that their decisions are fueled by a democratically derived data collection process. Mechanisms must be in place for all stakeholders to weigh in on whether, and in what ways, a nonprofit can meet constituent needs.

A nonprofit can only engage successfully with others when it has honed its adaptive capacity. This means it has the ability to monitor, assess, respond to, and create internal and external changes – financially and programmatically – within its ecosystem. Two other key capacities play a large role in an organization’s overall sustainability: Leadership – including the clarity of an organization’s mission and vision, as well as accountability; and Program Capacity –adequate staff, knowledge, and facilities to run efficient programs (as identified in TCC’s Sustainability Formula).

As our social sector problems only become more intense and complex, we must acknowledge our mutual interdependence on others within our ecosystems. When and how we need to grow is completely influenced by what we are growing for. Only when we acknowledge and understand our roles within our ecosystems, engage readily within them, and increase the internal capacities we need in order to stay authentically engaged, will we truly appreciate when that “growth moment” is upon us, and when “new and shiny” is truly in order.

To learn more about a nonprofit’s readiness to grow or scale, and how to balance funder or board expectations with internal capacity needs, join us at the “Is What’s New Always ‘Shiny’ and Better?” session on November 17 from 2:30-4:00pm ET at the Independent Sector Conference in Washington, DC.