Taking Non-Profits National
Knowing your market and getting local businesses involved!
Most non-profit organizations aim to make a social change in the world with the hopes to become a national brand and even internationally recognized. The road to growth and developing a national non-profit can be tricky as you enter new territories with competing interests and causes.
Hackergal has seen tremendous success in engaging communities from seven provinces across Canada which has translated to over 100 schools joining our mission and engaging 5,000 young girls to learn code for the very first time! We have only begun our efforts to take Hackergal national; we believe in penetrating the markets in which we have engaged is critical in truly becoming a national organization.
Where to start? Finding the right growth market.
The one thing we have learned as we continue to grow from coast to coast is the importance of a targeted market. Non-profits need to seize opportunities that already exist and that align with the organization’s mission and values.
An example from Hackergal: British Columbia — Not only is the size of this market a great place for growth with over 350,000 students enrolled in our prime elementary school market (2016/17 numbers reported by the BC government), it is also a province committed to modernizing the Kindergarten to Grade 12 curriculum to include computer science education. As part of it’s 2015 plans for curriculum modernization, the government committed to introducing computer science in its school curriculum for K-12 providing opportunities for students to gain the basic skills required to pursue technology related careers in the near future.
Another clear market growth opportunity: the province has a vibrant and growing technology sector! British Columbia’s tech sector ranks 3rd in GDP among Canadian provinces as reported in 2016/17 in the Technology Sector Profile 2017 Edition from the Government — this continues to rise each year!
In comes Hackergal!
What next? Get Local Businesses Involved.
The local business community is instrumental in expanding a non-profits growth. Visibility is key to reach not only a new donor base, but also help build the brand grassroots! It is also important for local businesses to get involved as it is a source of new talent and exposing new opportunities to the next generation of leaders. It also helps build strong communities and bridges for profit with non profit.
We believe there are a few tools to get local businesses involved — and Hackergal is working on these:
- Engage in popular events in the community — scope out the local business community scene; seek opportunities to speak at business gatherings such as business bureau, industry related organizations (in our case women in technology, women in business, capital markets to name a few).
- Host an open forum for discussion– this can be targeted where an organization can invite business leaders and corporate executives/recruiters to an event hosted by the nonprofit to discuss a relevant topic and introduce the nonprofit. In our case hosting the thriving tech community of BC to meet Hackergal and some of our Hackergals!
We are coming for you British Columbia! Hackergal is committed to growing its workshops and Hackathon Program in BC this Fall 2018! We will also host an event in early Fall inviting the local business community to learn more about Hackergal!
References:
http://www.bctechnology.com/news/2016/1/18/BC-Government-to-Add-Computer-Coding-to-School-Curriculum.cfm. (https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/education/administration/kindergarten-to-grade-12/profiles/profile-province.pdfhttps://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/data/statistics/infoline/infoline-2017/17-149-bc-tech-sector-profile-2017
