12. Six Challenges for Nonprofits & Businesses in 2021

The Freelance Factor: Business Growth Strategies

You can find more resources and articles from Rachel at www.copperhiveconsulting.com.

Rachel and her team at Copper Hive Consulting offer consulting packages and coaching to churches and nonprofits with a focus on operational strategy and structure, including marketing. She also has an expansive network of freelancers who specifically prefer serving nonprofits and with whom she shares contract position opportunities. Schedule a free discovery call with Rachel to find the right coach or to share your job opportunities with the freelance network.

Resources

Your Next Five Moves: The Art of Successful Business Strategy

The Culture Code: Secrets of Highly Successful Groups

https://www.notredameonline.com/resources/nonprofit-leadership/six-challenges-facing-the-nonprofit-sector/

Welcome to 2021! I know it’s already been a few weeks, but maybe this is the first time you’re tuning in. I think we all have high hopes for this new year like never before. 2020 was a wild ride and fingers around the world are crossed that it will be more stable and predictable. Although I don’t know exactly what you have faced as an individual and as a leader, I’ve spoken to enough business and nonprofit leaders over the last three months to understand the challenges of last year and how that has influenced your strategy for this year.

I am thrilled to tell you about my newest team member! My zone of genius is really more on the consulting side - digging into your business or nonprofit, identifying operational weaknesses and help you devise and implement a strategy to hit your goals and increase your impact or revenue. I’m probably a little too much of a bossy pants personality to be a great coach, but I felt like this was a missing factor at Copper Hive.

So I’m introducing you to Doyle Dunn, our executive leadership coach. You can read all about his career and experience at copperhiveconsulting.com/services, but I will tell you that after 30 years as a Navy officer and chaplain, this guy is a powerhouse. He has coached me professionally and I’ve known him for quite a while. When he left his most recent fulltime position at Christian Union, an ivy league college ministry I snagged him and basically begged him to help serve my clients with leadership coaching. He is ready to meet with you and help you tear down any wrong beliefs about yourself and set you up for great success. You can connect with him at copperhiveconsulting.com/contact.

I ran across an article from the University of Notre Dame that presented six challenges for nonprofits, so I decided to tackle each one on today’s show. I really enjoy hearing from you so you can always DM me on Instagram @copperhiveconsulting with questions or comments on the show.

https://alford.com/category/blog/

The Alford Group is a consulting firm for nonprofits. Their founder, Jimmie Alford, said that nonprofit donations peaked in 2007 and would take ten years to return to that level. At that time he outlined 6 challenges that are still applicable to nonprofits in general, but perhaps more so just because of 2020.

1. Fiscal challenges. While we previously may have dealt with pre-existing patterns, many of those patterns are being disrupted
2. Competitive Standing.
3. Effectiveness. (Next week’s episode explores KPIs…)
4. Infrastructure. (utilize resources to buil a solid infrastructure)
5. Legitimacy. (public skepticism, distinguish from the bad eggs)
6. Growth. Continue to make a positive impact

I once heard of an elite runner who would only choose a single focus for each training season. Maybe it would be strength for the year. Perhaps he wanted to perfect his form to minimize exertion. Maybe he needed mental strength during the last ten percent. Whatever it was, that was the north star. He certainly didn’t forget everything else but that primary focus. However, developing that one characteristic kept him on target and allowed him to become really, really good at that thing.

What is the area that your organization needs to make the main thing this year? If you don’t already know, take these six categories to your leadership team and decide what is going to be your win for 2021.

My strength is in taking your marketing to the next level and strengthening your overall business strategy, so I would love to serve you in those areas and you can connect with me at [e-mail] or on Instagram @copperhiveconsulting. If you have other areas of growth to work on, I have a network of other consultants and freelancers who can not only strategize with you, but support you through each stage of implementation.