COVID-19: The accelerator of nonprofit transformational change

Hindsight, operational agility, and cause commitment are no longer enough to maintain relevancy and sustainability

The COVID-19 pandemic may have surprised the nonprofit sector. The new health and safety protocols, shelter-at-home directives, household, and corporate financial stress, brought to the forefront the challenges of organizational design and complexity in many nonprofit organizations.

As we begin to exit the pandemic, nonprofit leaders should consider how to use the challenges borne from the pandemic as the impetus to plan for change that will enable the relevancy and sustainability of their organizations. This will require a planned change approach designed to maximize cooperation and minimize the tensions between the various constituencies within the organization. Here are a few things to consider at the forefront of such a program:

Plan for perpetual new realities. The COVID-19 pandemic may be the necessary accelerator for rethinking the structure and operations of nonprofit organizations. Society is changing, and although nonprofit organizations are essential for civil society, how they operate in service may need re-evaluation. Nonprofits typically have systems and structures designed to serve the…