Identifying Enablers of Nonprofit High Performance Executive Summary
Nonprofit organizations are a vital and growing part of every community in the United States. But they also face difficult times. Myriad challenges have ratcheted up the pressure on nonprofits to both find new sources of income and more effectively use the money they do have.
Within this context, Accenture surveyed more than 200 nonprofit executive directors and board members across a variety of nonprofit segments to get their thoughts on these and other critical issues. Drawing on survey responses and insights from Accenture experts and nonprofit executives, we shed light on the organizational issues that are of most concern to nonprofit leaders—as well as important issues they may not be considering.
Fundraising—and survival— dominate as top-of-mind issues
The survey shows that an overwhelming percentage of nonprofits in the United States are primarily focused on donors and fundraising, with three of the top five issues for survey participants related to simply generating income (Figure 1):
- Expanding the current donor base was the top issue for nonprofits, cited by 77 percent of all respondents.
- Increasing donations from current donors also finished highly in the survey, named by 40 percent of all survey participants.
- Increasing donor loyalty and retention was named by one-third of all respondents, which placed it fifth on the top issues list.
A fourth issue deemed considerably important—and one that likely is tightly tied to fundraising—is recruiting high-impact board members. Just over 60 percent of all respondents named this a top concern, which was enough to place it second on the overall issues list.
Operational Issues Appear to Be Overlooked
However, as they focus on fundraising, most organizations represented in our survey appear to be overlooking ways to improve their own operations and more effectively leverage the funding they have. This is reflected in the low percentages of survey participants citing as top concerns the principal issues related to organizations' key operational areas (Figure 2).
Operating model. Only one-third of respondents indicated a strong focus on pursuing collaborative partnerships with public-sector groups or the private sector, and just eight percent said pursuing a merger with overlapping services or agencies was a major concern. Even more surprising was the nearly unanimous dismissal of outsourcing, cited by just four percent as a top issue.
Information technology. Using IT to reduce costs and improve value was cited by just 31 percent of all respondents.
Marketing. Despite the strong emphasis on donor relations, only 26 percent said applying marketing/ communications techniques to donor contact activities was a top issue. Even fewer—15 percent—were strongly interested in measuring the real benefit of their development and marketing investment.
Organizational performance. Establishing a better model for measuring and reporting outcomes and devising a consistent approach for measuring organizational performance and impact, were cited as top concerns by just 17 percent and 13 percent, respectively.
Service creation and delivery. Small percentages of respondents cited as top issues such service-related activities as establishing benchmarks and key performance measures for programs, reducing the time it takes to introduce a new program or service and improving relationships with suppliers to enhance services delivery.
Workforce/human resources. Human resources and workforce-related issues—such as attracting and retaining volunteers (26 percent), developing a leadership transition plan (25 percent) and cultivating a dynamic and effective culture among board members (32 percent)—do not appear as priorities for the survey respondents.