6 Tips to Improve Your Non Profit’s Managerial Effectiveness

In light of festering recessionary pressures, improving management productivity is currently a topic of no small importance. But much of the business press focuses primarily on for-profit corporations.

However, non-profits constitute a major segment of our economy. Data from the Urban Institute's National Center for Charitable Statistics point to over $1 trillion in revenue for the non-profit sector. Those familiar with the field know that the IRS has registered close to one million public not-for-profits and private foundations.

Despite this data, many nonprofits struggle to with improving their managerial effectiveness. If you are a professional in the non-profit field, here are six insights that have been proven to improve performance.

1. Use virtual meeting technology

Even with the recent drop in fuel prices, travel remains costly in this recession. New developments in Internet and phone technology are making it increasingly easy for nonprofits to save on travel expenses and increase coordination. Desktop sharing apps are becoming easier to use and allow nonprofit managers to instantly create virtual meetings across geographically spread out groups. Additionally, free conference calling companies are allowing nonprofits to cut their conference call bills and develop better group dynamics and improve coordination with external nonprofits.

2. Use online networking tools

Whereas conference calling helps facilitate communication amongst known colleagues, online networking tools can help expand your horizons. Everyone may be a twitter about twitter but the truth is that online social networking services have a serious purpose. Savvy nonprofit entrepreneurs are leveraging Twitter, Linked and Facebook to create networks of supporters who share their philosophy and goals.

While the word "networking" frequently gets a bad rap, the simple fact is these networks can provide more than merely financial support. Crucially, they also provide the psychological support which is so vital to maintaining enthusiasm amongst leaders as well as volunteers.

3. Focus discussions on data driven decision-making

Nobody likes sitting in an endless meeting. But without clear guidelines to make decisions, analysis paralysis in the familiar result.

One of the most important trends in the last several years affecting nonprofits has been the escalating reliance on evidence driven decision-making. Excel makes it easy to run regressions; the more important decision is what data to include in your decision set.

Nonprofit managers can apply the same techniques to determine what works and what does not work. Increasingly, the hurdle for quality decision-making is rising and thus reliance on conjecture is being systematically replaced by empirical data to justify decisions.

4. Stay focused

The best nonprofits are ones that stay tightly focused on their mission and do not allow their staff and leadership to get enmeshed in peripheral goals. Most nonprofits operate under significant resource constraints. Examples abound of nonprofits that strayed from their core mission and ended up under performing on both the periphery and the core.

5. Match it

Even in these difficult times, many companies offer corporate matching of employee donations. Most folks know if their employer will match gifts to qualified nonprofits. Less well known is the multiplier effect of securing promises from supporters to match the donations of smaller contributions. And even less well understood, but equally important, is the significance of generating commitment for your cause from unaffiliated individuals who contribute through the workplace.

6. Develop a lobbying strategy

Many nonprofits believe that lobbying is best left to for-profit enterprises. While that may be true in some situations, many successful nonprofits have developed a real advantage through smart lobbying strategies. Whether to secure necessary reforms in public policy or the backing of public leaders, lobbying can be an effective way for nonprofits to accelerate traction.

The good news is that these tips are not expensive. Whether its deploying conference call services, or other communication and networking tools, nonprofits can improve their performance through these 6 tips.