3 Ways to Lead in 2021:
Leadership matters now more than ever. There’s no doubt 2020 was a rough year. But unless we make some changes, 2021 will be no different. Regardless of how you voted or where you stand on a lot of the tensions taking places in our country, healing and unity is absolutely necessary.
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, concerned citizens can change the world. Indeed it is the only thing that ever has. —Margaret Mead”
Nonprofits and organizations (when done right) represent the best in humanity. When a group of people gather together to solve an issue, to help someone in need, to heal something that’s broken, this is beautiful thing. But it’s also a necessary thing. We have to do this. If we don’t invest ourselves into suffering, suffering persists and grows and will eat us up like a disease.
Nonprofits matter. But more importantly, their leadership matters.
So how do we lead in 2021?
1. Set the Bar.
We have to set the expectations. What are we trying to accomplish? And why? What are the stakes? What is the attitude?
2020 was chaos. Nonprofit organizations have a responsibility to change the narrative. You have the power to set a new course. It starts with our standards and how we interact with our communities. You have to be the good in the middle of the ugliness. It may seem like that’s a lot of pressure, but it’s actually an honor.
It starts with our standards and the attitudes we have behind closed doors. 2020 was far worse because we were so divided on everything. We let the narrative split us in half. This is where we make a huge difference in 2021. We can lead by having the right attitude. As hard as this may be, we have to set the bar. With our teams, ourselves, and our communities.
Practical ways to set the bar:
Create the new standard of 2021. And write it down. Make it a statement. This is our mission. In your offices, in your homes, to your donor and volunteers; give them a physical card stating what the new standard of 2021 is. “This is our mission of 2021.” Put it in writing. Give it power. Now remind yourself everyday, even as things get tough. What are your goals as an organization? How do we get there? This is also part of your marketing. What do our communities need to see from us? (This is an extremely important question to ask. Spend time thinking about it.)
What’s your language? What’s your message in your marketing? When volunteers are around? How are you communicating and what are you communicating? Again, we live in a divided world. It doesn’t matter what we think is true or not true, the danger is the negativity and its ability to distort all truth. Covid is more relevant than ever. Are we complaining all the time about wearing masks? Are feeding the negativity? Or are we leading in the right way? As difficult as things may be, when we focus on the negative, it takes away from the positives. Negativity can suck the life from a room. I personally don’t want to be involved in something where people are complaining all the time.
Set the bar.
2. Lead by Example.
This is clearly the next step. We can set the bar for our staff and our communities, but if we aren’t leading by example, it’s all for none. If we want people to follow us, if we want the world to change, we have to lead the way by example. If we want people to give, then we need to give. If we want people to volunteer, then we need to be there too. If we want partners and sponsors, then we need to partner and sponsor with other organizations.
Sometimes as nonprofits, we get so used to asking for others to help our cause, we forget we can use our organization and platform to help others.
Let’s say an organizations may close because they lost funding. Or maybe they’ve had to cut programs. But your nonprofit is doing well enough. What happens if you help this organization out? What happens if you pay their rent for a month or sponsor them with monthly donations to save a program? This is a community thriving. This is believing in the value of other causes as much as our own. It’s a wonderful thing.
I’m not saying you have to give a lot, but reach out and see if there’s something you can offer other organizations in your area. We have to work with each other, not against each other. Sometimes we look at other causes and we see how well they are doing versus ours or maybe the other way around. This is natural. But it doesn’t mean we can’t help one another succeed.
Again, lead by example. Do the best you can.
3. Adapt.
We have to be willing to adapt if we want to succeed. 2021 will need more adapting than we can imagine, just as 2020 forced us to adapt. We are going to have to find ways to get funding, to reach businesses and potential sponsors. And we have to do it safely.
Areas to Adapt for 2021: (everyone will have something different)
Safefy. Covid will still be very relevant in 2021. Are we taking the right precautions to protect our staff, our communities and ourselves. This is part of leadership. We have to make sure we protect the people on our teams. Do we not value their health, their abilities, or their contributions? Of course we do. So let’s do our best to protect them. Work from home, spread out the offices, invest in protective barriers or comfortable masks. If you don’t have the funding, this has to be part of your fundraising.
Online presence. We have to shift our focus to being more online. It’s frustrating because so many of us rely on face-to-face interactions and fundraising. But now we have to make adjustments. We can take this time to work on our social media presence, our email campaigns, and online interactions. If we don’t, we risk losing a lot.
Fundraising. For 2021, we have to get creative. How can we raise money online? How can demonstrate our worth while being safe? This is going to be a challenge, but it’s very possible. GoFundMe has used an online platform to raise millions of dollars over the years. When we use story in the right way, we can have the same results.
Example: My wife is an ICU nurse. This pandemic has hit her hospital and her team hard. We put together a fundraiser to show our support. We raised $2,000 in a week with a small amount of people. We bought 100 meals and put together 74 gift bags with plans to do a little more. Why did this work? Because people are seeing and experiencing Covid. They’re heard the stories of what nurses are going through. They felt for them. How we experience life influences these things. We have to demonstrate our causes and why they matter too. (We will have more pointers on how to do this in the future). We did this all online, safely, and successfully. It’s very possible.