Not For Profit

Through years of partnering with Not For Profit organisations to deliver great outcomes, we have come to know the sector intimately.

NFPs are facing seismic changes in their environment:

• Increasing donor expectations of transparency around program delivery and efficiency of operations
• Changing government funding mechanisms and regulation (think NDIS and changes to ACNC)
• A large number of NFPs with strong value propositions competing for limited funds
• Changing donor preferences for channels of communication and engagement
• Economic uncertainty putting pressure on other revenue streams and donor discretionary spend
• Rising input costs, especially relating to highly skilled staff
• Generally weak internal systems for customer engagement and fundraising

SPP has helped many NFPs respond to these challenges with impactful change through close partnership.  Most NFPs are choosing to adopt a mix of defence and attack.

Defensive strategies:

• Improve operations through process improvement and systems upgrades
• Protect core markets by focusing on funding bids on heartland programs
• Influence government through stronger advocacy capability

Attacker strategies:

• Develop sophisticated marketing campaigns to donors and other funders
• Enhance donor relationships through improved CRM capability
• Seed new services and platforms in strong growth areas
• Drive improved outcomes from commercial operations

In addition to our general approach to close partnership with clients, SPP has developed a specific methodology for working with NFPs.

• Investing greater time in buy-in at the front end of the project
• Ensure project objectives are clearly agreed
• Seek to truly partner with key team members for effective delivery
• Be clear on how project outcomes will be measured (reach, impact and social outcomes)
• Respect the cause
• And lastly: be happy to be different – bringing a corporate mindset to the NFP environment is good!