Charities Must Develop New Approaches

To the Editor:

How many times have you sat in a planning meeting where at least one board or staff member will invoke the “let’s not reinvent the wheel” mantra?

The life span of this metaphor for business as usual should come to an end. The monumental factors hampering the not-for-profit community are going to require some thoughtful wheel reinventing.

Reducing costs, making that extra call, expanding your base of support, and curtailing services will be of some help but do not answer to the long term. Rather, and the sooner the better, members of the not-for-profit community need to engage in creative planning to identify and implement innovative and nontraditional means of service delivery that facilitate stability and longevity. As The Chronicle has reported, some agencies have gone into business for themselves to reduce the impact of economic downturns and donor eccentricities.

However, going into business is costly and is not the only course of action for today’s and tomorrow’s not-for-profit service providers.

Innovative partnerships and resource sharing; mutually beneficial fund-raising and development initiatives; innovative use of computer-based, distance-learning, and telecommunication technologies; expanded and more responsible roles for loaned executives, interns, and volunteers; and conjoining of missions are only some of the approaches that can help not-for-profit organizations to fulfill their missions while providing for agency longevity.

The issue is not to anticipate different outcomes from existing modes of service delivery and development. This is a waste of time and resources, neither of which are in abundance. Rather focus your energies in planning and implementing strategies that are unique to your agency, your circumstances, your resources, and your desired outcomes.

The only problem with reinventing the wheel is that you have to work at it, and work at it diligently. Research, self-assessment, and risk taking are essential elements of this endeavor. Rather than looking into the mirror for answers, open the doors, draw the shades and curtains, and look elsewhere for new and reinvigorating opportunities and solutions.

So the next time a colleague indicates that they “don’t want to reinvent the wheel,” ask them why. They are costly, have to be rotated to insure unilateral regular wear, require refilling from time to time, invariably will go flat when you are running late, will probably suffer a blowout the day after the warranty expires, and will invariably cost more when replaced. Subsequently, “reinventing the wheel” may not be all that bad an idea.

Mark Torres
Torres NFP Consulting
El Paso