Check out upcoming offerings including Strategic Partnerships for Nonprofits: Fresh Approaches to Building Scale, Impact and Sustainability” and “Business Planning as a Strategic Tool for Fundraising.”
Read moreHighlights of 2015 and Groundwork for 2016
Public Interest Management Group’s work is about building strong and sustainable nonprofits, and helping our clients adapt to change and grow. We draw on effective management practices and use analytic methods to build and test scenarios. Our clients are moving forward through data-based strategies, inspired leadership and savvy operations. These will be big themes in 2016 too
Read moreWhat is a “Learning Organization” and Why Should We Care?
Just like you and me, organizations and their employees will stagnate if they don’t learn, grow and evolve as the world around us changes... What drives evolution? One driver, we can hypothesize, is becoming a “learning organization,” with the ability to gather and process data, and using this information to adapt. In other words, learning manifests itself through informed decisions and constant adaptation to a changing environment.
Read morePilot Study Yields Benefits for Oregon Nonprofits
In partnership with the Nonprofit Association of Oregon, PIMG completed a pilot study of the new Success Factor Analysis methodology for assessing nonprofit organizations. Participating nonprofits found the process valuable in crafting strategies for improvement. Further, the data collected in the project sheds new light on which practices are and are not associated with organizational success.
Read moreIdentifying the right consultant
Nonprofits do their work in three ways – the efforts of staff, volunteers and, when appropriate, contracted professional services. There are times that hiring a contractor makes sense,...But how do you know you’re hiring the right consultant for the job?
Read moreThe Essence of Effective Organizational Strategy
Having a strategic plan in and of itself does show a statistical correlation with success. Public Interest Management Group has studied a variety of nonprofit organizational success factors, part of our Success Factor Analysis methodology. The most successful organizations are clear about what they’re trying to accomplish and why, and the validity of the methods they’re employing.
Read moreClient Focus: Washington Water Trust – Scaling up, Fighting the Effects of Climate Change
PIMG client Washington Water Trust is an organization that uses creative approaches to preserve streamflow, restore habitat and fight back against drought conditions. The nonprofit's leadership has recognized a need to grow to meet needs that are expected to increase in the years and decades ahead. Public Interest Management Group worked with the Water Trust to develop a business plan for growth through the sizzling summer—a backdrop that could not have been more dramatic.
Read moreA Little Secret about Understanding Financial Data…
There’s a myth in our culture that more information is better. More can be better, but only to a point. If you know nothing, you’re usually at a disadvantage. But if you are overloaded with information, you may be worse off than knowing nothing. You don’t need more information, you need the right information.
Read morePartnerships are Good. Says who?
Working together may generally be effective for nonprofits, but it's not the best approach in all cases. Collaboration and partnership are means to ends, not ends in themselves. The generalization is just a starting point, and key is to do some critical thinking, and be sure any partnership is set up for success.
Read moreNonprofit Association of Oregon—an Innovative Force in the Pacific Northwest
The Nonprofit Association of Oregon (NAO) is partnering with Public Interest Management Group on a pilot project for PIMG’s new organizational assessment process, Success Factor Analysis. Executive Director Jim White believes that, “this pilot fits perfectly into this need for measurable results. It will help nonprofits understand their business models and operate effectively, and help us all understand best management practices.”
Read moreScaling Up vs. Staying Small
Is bigger always better? It depends. Based in part on Public Interest Management Group's Exploratory Analysis of Nonprofit Success Factors report, this blog explores the impact benefits of scaling-up while considering the ways smaller nonprofits excel. One size does not fit all.
Read moreHow do we know what works? Introducing “Organizational Assessment 2.0”
In an effort to help Public Interest Management Group clients understand what actions can most productively move their organizations forward, we sought an objective basis to determine needs and the importance of different practices in promoting the success of a nonprofit. The result is a fresh approach to organizational assessment. We detail our methodology in a just-released paper, Success Factors for Nonprofit Organizations.
Read more“Business Model Makeover” and Strategic Partnerships Seminars kick off 2015 in Portland and Seattle
New workshops explore the economics of nonprofit organizations and several practical techniques for assessing the strengths and weaknesses of business models. Nonprofit business models are more complex than those of for-profits. In our sector the formula can be multi-faceted, with some services subsidizing others by design. Nonprofits need to be intentional and shrewd about how the model is assembled.
Read moreBuilding Trust by Living It
Partnerships are all about trust. But building trust isn't as easy as it sounds. One organization sets an example by playing the long game with its supporters--foregoing short-term benefits in favor of deep relationships that will bring long-term benefits to all parties.
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Starting at the End
What you do next should be a function of where you're ultimately going. That seems simple, but envisioning an ultimate endpoint for an organization can be deceptively hard to do. A thoughtful new article offers a framework to consider different "endgames" for nonprofits. This has implications for how we think about organizational strategy and the issue of "scale."
Read moreInnovation—Separating Truth from Hype
Our culture seems to love the idea that big innovations and charismatic innovators drive change. But most good ideas and most useful innovations are, in fact, incremental. The world we know is the product of systematic, continuous improvement, not huge jumps. This is how innovation happens in the nonprofit sector. We should recognize and celebrate small, non-headline improvements, and exercise caution in embracing big new ideas or people who claim to have “the answer.” The next generation comes from all of us.
Read moreClient Focus: Food Lifeline is Thinking Big about the Future
Food Lifeline is Washington State’s largest hunger relief agency, and a leader in antipoverty strategies in the Pacific Northwest. Public Interest Management Group has supported this effort by helping Food Lifeline secure a site that will meet operational needs for decades to come, and develop partnerships with organizations that can complement Food Lifeline’s capacity. The new site is just south of Seattle, in the Riverton District. Projected to open in mid-2015, Anna Constant, Food Lifeline’s Director of Operations, is excited about the new facility and the larger concept of the Hunger Solution Center
Read moreWhen Do Mergers Work?
Merger has gone mainstream in the nonprofit world. But this doesn’t mean that mergers are foolproof, or even the right solution to all problems. If you are considering a merger, thorough programmatic, operational and financial analysis can help clarify the potential for a successful merger.
Read moreClient Focus: Oakland Startup Takes a Fresh Approach to Academic Achievement
Starting and growing an organization is no simple matter. Learn how Public Interest Management Group helped Harold Pearson, founder of Student Program for Athletic and Academic Transitioning, use financial modeling as part of a strategic planning process. Thanks to financial modeling, Pearson could chart a successful and sustainable course for his new organization dedicated to enhancing high school graduation rates for student athletes and preparing Oakland youth for college.
Read moreData for Decisions—a Search for the Third Dimension
Nonprofit leaders are bombarded with information throughout each day. Some of it is important, some is interesting, and a lot is neither. Information is only as good as what we get from it. Unfortunately, a lot of what we get is noise. The problem is that the more background noise, the harder it is to hear the important idea or the cry for help. The key is to identify three-dimensional metrics that help tell us the real story about the organization and where you’re headed.
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