Business For Free: How Non-Profit Businesses Are Surviving The Economic Slow Down

by Jeremy Longtrain on March 21, 2010

in business

The economic downfall that has been so prevalent and abundant in the past year or so, has claimed the economic lives of countless small businesses, large organizations, and everyone in between. Everything operated and functioning in-and-around money has felt the impact of the decline in profits around the world, which means every business-organizations whose primary intent is to generate income-has receded in relevance, because people are less likely to spend, period.

With everyone so cognizant of the widespread economic problems, it’s no surprise tons of non-profit organizations have felt the detrimental effects just as deeply as the huge corporations. In fact, non-profits have taken even larger hits because their primary source of income, the generosity of others, lessens when economic problems appear. When the economy is in trouble, people save more money for precautionary measures, and give less money, also as a precaution. Altruism is already hard enough to find in the general population when conditions are relatively stable and prosperous, but in a downturned economy, altruism becomes altogether a rarity. It seems to only seep from those who’ve kept a decent amount of wealth.

To counteract the shrinking profits such companies are experiencing, they are presented with few, not a few, but few, options. The traditional methods of extracting money and alluring citizens to donate time and income have become less worthwhile. Fund raisers are common events proven to work in the past, but less people are even willing to visit fund raisers when they know the ultimate objective of the event is to produce money-money given by the attendees.

This means nonprofits must shift their approach to generating and retaining income, as well as maintaining a successful business. One shift that can prove successful is to redirect your focus from outward objectives (getting people to donate), to managing inward objectives (optimizing office efficiency). Offices with poor operational conditions will run into more problems, and naturally produce less work, resulting in sub-par results. Those kinds of offices frequently witness the low retention rates abundant within the nonprofit sector. Yet those retention rates can be increased by accurately evaluating potential hires, making sure they’ll fit well with whatever role they are given, before making them a part of your team.

That evaluation must have another dimension to it that will increase its chances of being an accurate analysis of the candidate: open communication between departments within the business. If everyone has a common objective, and that common objective can be imparted upon a future employee, the employee will likely be a natural fit in his position. But if the Human Resources department, for example, remains autonomous and doesn’t consult the department to which a possible candidate may be assigned, that candidate could disrupt that department’s performance. Open communication is vital to maintaining an effective work environment.

To further increase retention rates within nonprofit businesses, allow employees to exercise a flexible schedule if their obligations seem to overwhelm them. As we know, adult responsibilities are not limited to their careers; they must manage their families’ lives, financial states, etc. Any number of ancillary obligations can actively impede how well an employee works. If he can generate the same amount of work away from the office, while being able to properly oversee his other needs, he will be much more willing to do the work and stay at the company, knowing they care about his entire life, not just his work life.

Sharon Mikrut, also of ezinearticles, composed a piece pertaining to the significance of establishing and maintaining a positive culture within the organization. Unhappy, bored, apathetic workers are far more likely to under-achieve, or not achieve at all. On the other hand, if you discover ways to keep the office in an upbeat atmosphere, employees will be more willing to spend time at work.

To discover more ways to optimize or at least regenerate your business’s past income, plenty of extraneous articles exist relating to the same topic. But many will mention similar ideas that will beneficially impact your entire operation; many of those ideas center on employees, specifically discovering the right fits and keeping the right fits.

Jeremy Longtrain really enjoys penning articles. Whether he’s penning articles about 4 mil poly bags or large ziplock bags, you can bet he’ll do it with energy and insight. When he’s not penning articles, you can find him relaxing with his two cats and wife in Plano, Texas

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