3 ways to help your non-profit run more efficiently

Charities and non-profits are experiencing a volunteer crisis.

• Fewer people are volunteering.
• Volunteers are not staying as long.
• Volunteers don’t have as much time to devote to the organization.

​I don’t have a fix for the lack of volunteers. But I do have suggestions for making charities and non-profit organizations more efficient, so they can still deliver excellent programs and services with fewer people.

I’ve been involved with charities and non-profits at every level, from contractor to project-specific volunteer to the board of directors. I have learned what drains their resources and frustrates their volunteers and leadership, leading to high turnover.

Here are 3 ways to help your charity or non-profit run more efficiently and stay on mission.

1.   Rewrite your bylaws in plain language

• Make it easier for new board members to understand the organization’s structure and limitations
• Eliminate the need for people to struggle through legalese clauses to find the answers to their governance questions
• Increase transparency to build trust with volunteers, regulators, donors, and clients

2.  Create clear policies and procedures 

• Reduce onboarding time by providing guidance for new volunteers and anticipating their questions
• Maintain consistency and ensure that everyone is following the rules
• Make sure all of your activities align with the organization’s values
• Create an easier, faster decision-making process to move projects forward efficiently
• Build a culture of accountability

3.   Provide detailed, plain language manuals and guidelines 

• Speed up the planning processes for projects and events
• Reduce the number of requests and questions for board members
• Capture organizational knowledge so that it survives staff and volunteer turnover
• Ensure that no steps are skipped, or executed too late, so that last-minute scrambling doesn’t happen

Bonus suggestion

Creating or rewriting these documents can be a big task if they are not in good shape already. You may be able to find grant funding to pay a writer or consultant to help improve your governance documents.

Not sure how your documents stack up or how to improve them? I’d be happy to review them for clarity and usability. I can also take on the rewrites in collaboration with your board. Get in touch through my contact form.

(This post was originally published on LinkedIn.)