3 Strategies to Help Nonprofits Actually Make a Difference

There are advantages to being a nonprofit that many nonprofits do not consider. Massive opportunities to better help more people are lost as a result. Kevin Barenblat, co-founder and president of social impact technology company Fast Forward, shares his thoughts on how nonprofits can effectively engage in nonprofit judo, or a way to turn weaknesses into strengths.

In his research and work, he discovered “patterns in the strategic choices that successful leaders make.” He shared his thoughts with Harvard Business Review. 

1. Segment customers differently 

Reaching underserved populations is the main goal of most successful nonprofits. This kind of dedicated focus on “an underserved market segment, even when there are others who could benefit from the nonprofit’s programs, drives all aspects of the organization’s strategy, pushing successful nonprofits to design the best solutions for that customer’s situation.” 

The nonprofit TalkingPoints is a prime example, according to the article. The mission is to aid student achievement via meaningful connection between teachers and student families through mobile technology. While other companies provide similar services, they are generally designed for higher income users. 

“Founder Heejae Lim wanted to focus on the needs of low-income families of color. While a for-profit would face investor pressure to pursue the most profitable market segment, TalkingPoints focuses on under-resourced teachers, leading to a product strategy that prioritizes translation in 20 languages and doesn’t require a smartphone,” according to the article. 

The organisation’s focus on underserved customers positions it to greatly increase parental engagement in high-needs schools while also cultivating a loyal user base, and acquiring partners who share the same priorities.

2. Create transparency around your products and services 

As the article notes, it is important to build from “openness, goodwill, and the wisdom of crowds.” 

This is another big divider between for-profit and nonprofit entities: sharing ideas, data and processes helps create a multiplier effect for the greater good. “Open-source and volunteer models can be interpreted as weaknesses, but sophisticated nonprofit entrepreneurs turn this to their advantage,” according to the article. 

The example shared: Crisis Text line, which provides continual text-messaging crisis intervention in the United States. The organisation is built around unpaid counselors and it remains free thanks to integrations with the major cellular carriers, who agreed to waive charges for messages sent to the hotline and also omit texts to the hotline from billing records to protect users from abusive family members. 

“The volunteer counselors and corporate product contributions are Crisis Text Line’s nonprofit judo, saving hundreds of thousands of dollars in costs and enabling the exchange of more than 75 million messages with people in crises,” according to the article, which noted that such a model would never work in the for-profit world. 

3. Marketing partnerships are essential 

The amazingly influential nonprofits find unique sales and marketing opportunities that are not available to for-profit organisations. This, in turn, creates remarkable value that doesn’t require an exceptional investment. 

The example shared: The College Board, the nonprofit that administers SAT tests, faced push back that the admissions testing favored students from wealthier families, those who are able to purchase the costly prep classes and materials. 

In consideration of that criticism, the College Board decided to partner with Khan Academy, another nonprofit that is committed to “providing  a free, world-class education to anyone, anywhere.” They launched the Official SAT Practice: free, personalized tools that any student can use to prepare for the SAT and college-level courses. The shared objective served as a catalyst and now, more than half of SAT test takers in the United States from all income levels and backgrounds, use the Official SAT Practice to prepare. The partnership helped more people than either organisation would have reached alone. 

Barenblat believes that while for-profit companies can achieve great things and sometimes generate social value, typical market forces fail to aid in the world’s biggest problems: from healthcare to human rights. 

“We need more leaders and organizations that are equipped to leverage every strategic advantage as they push for impact,” he wrote. “Social entrepreneurs can wield unexpected power if they design strategies that exploit the unique advantages of nonprofit status. Going nonprofit is more than a tax-exempt move; it is a strategy with unique advantages for tackling the toughest social problems of our time.”