Strategy in strange times: What not for profit leaders need to consider in a crisis context

In the unprecedented pandemic context, not for profit leaders need to consider strategy and business model implications for today’s demands and tomorrow’s subsequent fallout.   

Will donors give? Will government funding have to shift?  Will demand jump? Will new services be required?  What business and funding model will we need post crisis? 

To help cut through the noise, we have developed a set of essential questions that leaders need to be considering at this time in order to ensure resilience through the unknown: 

Strategy

• Does your strategy need to pivot, considering the immediate changes in the external environment? 
• Are certain cohorts of your beneficiaries needing more from you than others because of the impacts of COVID-19? 
• What role should you be playing in all of this and where can you partner for sharing resources, demand and creating impact? 
• Do your face-to-face services need innovation in preparation for potential isolation? 
• Can digital integration enhance your offering and mitigate risks? 
• What capital do you need to unlock for these changes and what should you prudently preserve for future times?  

Business model

• Are your funding streams diversified to mitigate against risks of delayed contracts?
• Are your private sector partnerships secure as the business community tightens its belt?
• Have you engaged with your philanthropic supporters to gauge the level of help they might be able to provide? 
• What’s the right timing for donor campaigns to avoid fatigue?
• Do you have any IP or other assets that could provide an alternative stream of income if commercialised?
• Can you restructure any existing contracts to change payment terms if you can’t deliver the value promised in the short-term? 

Government engagement

While governments across Australia are “paused” due to COVID-19, this breathing space allows proactive organisations the opportunity to review, develop, and catch up with advocacy and engagement fundamentals. 

• Have you considered your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats? 
• Have you undertaken essential mapping across the different government stakeholder groups (executive, legislature, central agency, policy department, political party) to accelerate your government engagement journey in 2020? This proactive approach will ensure you are all set to influence and advocate in a systematic and impactful way once we’ve ridden this storm.  

Prudent leaders and directors are not just handling today, they are reviewing their forward plans, budgets and operating models for the post crisis tomorrow. 

We are helping many organisations nut through the above questions, and as an impact-led business, we are committed to the sector and helping it prepare for post crisis. 

To this end, we are currently offering a range of complementary and discounted offers for not for profit organisations, centred on critically assessing strategy, business models and government engagement. This is our way of pitching in. 

If you are interested in finding out more about these offers, please contact Felicity Green at felicity@sparkstrategy.com.au