Bowing Out Gracefully: How to wind up your organization and live happily ever afterHere’s a tough times year-end quiz: could the change your organization makes be accomplished more sustainably by someone with more human, financial and political capital? Take a deep breath, and say out loud “it’s possible.” Good. You are starting to detach from your conviction that your organization is absolutely essential to human kind. Give yourself a full minute to enjoy the possibility. Keep breathing and thinking “It’s possible.” Very good. You have started down a path that could save your board, staff, members, clients, audience, funders, donors and suppliers time, money and misery. Now imagine you are asking your accountant, your treasurer or any other nearby cold-hearted analyst: How much money do we really have? How much time do we really have? Your accountant answers with a question (of course): If we shut down in three months would we have any debts? You answer yes. Next question: are we reaching our fundraising goals in the timeline we need to balance our budget? You answer no. Are all our funders in a healthy financial position? You answer no (if you answer I don’t know stop reading right now and phone them and ask). Last question: do we have three months of operating expenses in the bank in cash or short term deposits? You answer no. Okay you’re basically unsustainable at this point; but, you could still be in a position to buy some time, which would mean you might not have to change as much as would be good for you and the world. However, you’re demonstrating an open mind so we’ll give you a moment to consider whether you could re-focus your organization, thus making it more sustainable. Close your eyes and imagine you are facing a flinty-eyed planning consultant. She too, begins with questions. First question: which programs are essential to the changes you want to make in society, the community, in people? You answer all of them. She asks could you leave any of your programs dormant for a year? You answer no. She asks could you re-structure your staffing? For example, can a full-time program position be changed to a part-time program and a part-time membership, outreach, marketing or fundraising position? You answer no. She asks could you engage a high-value volunteer to take on strategic and technical roles and help you design a 21st century organization? You answer no. Finally she asks, could some of your programs fit better with the changes other organizations are trying to make? You answer no. She advises you that your score is zero out of five, hands you her invoice and leaves you to the inevitable. It’s time to make the decision to wind down your organization. Start with and do your best to maintain a positive vision; this will make you sound like Pollyanna some of the time; there are worse things to be called. Your positive vision will set an example and help people to see that there are bigger organizational, even sectoral reasons, for the hard decisions. Take a minute and write down the reasons you have chosen to lead this organization. What values have you expressed by believing in it and leading it? Keep this list around and check it at tough moments. Communicate early and honestly with your board and staff. Lay out the decisions you want them to participate in. Choose a level-headed committee of the board that includes your treasurer. Give your advice on what requires urgent action and what can wait until you have done a bit more strategic thinking. Whether urgent or not, also figure out who has to support the decisions and get them involved in the process. The broader the support you need to get, the more time you will need. Try to give staff a fair amount of notice; where feasible provide severance pay. State your support of staffers in their job search and follow that up with something tangible – a referral to a new job posting or a commitment to acting as a reference. Just be sure to do what you have to do; trying not to hurt people isn’t good leadership. Give yourself some space to recognize you are taking a mature but difficult course – you are entitled to extra support as you look after the interests of clients and stakeholders. But don’t expect a lot of thanks for your efforts. You are orchestrating a civilized wind down. If it works well, people should not have to be made aware of, or acknowledge, all the worrying you did to look after them. A not-for-profit organization is simply a means of making change in the world. How change is made changes itself – and new ways of accomplishing what your organization stands for are either already happening or are bound to emerge. Your leadership today will position you well to join that new effort tomorrow. About Kathleen Speakman
About Vantage PointThe mission of Vantage Point is to inspire & build leadership in the voluntary sector. This publication is intended to be a medium of communication and information for the many organizations active in the volunteer and not-for-profit sector. The opinions expressed herein are solely those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect official policy of the Board of Directors of Vantage Point. Vantage Point |
