focus NONPROFIT <strong>INNOVATION</strong>: CREATING SPACES by Eileen A. Ruby Setti Ruby & Associates Innovation cannot take place without creating the spaces necessary for it to happen. MY PATERNAL GRANDMOTHER stood as tall as the average fifth grader. The daughter of an Iowa farmer, a teacher, mother of four and the wife of a small businessman, Grandma was wicked smart. She was certainly intelligent enough to earn a teaching degree from Iowa State Teacher’s College in the mid-1930s, but what set Dorothy Ruby apart was her ability to creatively solve problems. For example, late one evening when my father was 15 years old, he was attempting to hoist the engine out of his prized 1947 Ford. He was making such a racket in the garage that my grandmother investigated the source of the commotion. The engine was two inches short of clearing the car because the low garage ceiling prevented the hoist from lifting the engine any higher. The engine was stuck, and my father was stumped. Grandma wiped her hands on her apron and assessed the situation. She asked her son how the hoist operated and what he had already tried to solve the problem, and listened intently to his explanation. Thinking for a few seconds, she smiled and gave him two directives: Let some air out of the front tires to gain enough clearance for the hoist to free the engine from the car—and stop making such a loud ruckus! OBSTACLES TO NONPROFIT <strong>INNOVATION</strong> The word innovation is used often in today’s economy. Companies must innovate—or strategically predict changes in their market and efficiently transform their products, services and processes to remain competitive— and it’s no different for nonprofits. Research indicates that nonprofits coordinate innovative responses to complex social problems like homelessness, illiteracy, poverty and obesity; however, they struggle to continually innovate over time as social problems erupt and evolve in our communities. Social scientists identify several obstacles preventing nonprofit organizations from ongoing innovation: • First, and likely foremost, is funding. Historically, charitable contributions in the United States have remained fairly constant, but the number of nonprofit organizations and the breadth of community services the sector offers has increased exponentially in the last two decades. The result is an extremely competitive fundraising market in communities across the country. In response, organizations fight to hold onto existing programs to which funders are dedicated, rather than exploring new efforts requiring new funding streams. Innovation is perceived as expensive and risky. • Staff and board leadership are stretched thin. The effort to maintain daily operations often supersedes long-term sustainability efforts. People are busy! Planning retreats, environmental scans, information gathering, skill building and training are labor-intensive and often ignored in favor of short-term management and governance issues. The organization’s focus is on daily operations rather than innovating towards the future while also managing daily operations. • Often, the structure of a nonprofit makes it nearly impossible to innovate. Nonprofits operate with limited staff and resources, thus prohibiting their ability to create or modify. Innovation is ignored merely because existing resources barely sustain existing services. • Finally, nonprofits have a tendency to resist change. The idea of innovating or changing a program or service is perceived as a direct threat to the organization’s mission and the people it serves. Furthermore, many nonprofit leaders are averse to implementing new management or administrative practices because it feels too “for-profit-like.” THE SPACE FOR <strong>INNOVATION</strong> In light of these obstacles, how does a nonprofit organization become more innovative? By creating the spaces necessary for innovation. • The Problem Space. Take a good, hard look at your organization and your community. Where are the problems? These areas beg for innovative thinking, but they must first be identified. Question your internal and external stakeholders and listen, listen, listen. Then consider transforming your organization, collaborations or bringing the issue to the 84 InterBusiness Issues -- January 2016
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