Build Your Nonprofit Up, Even When Things Look Down

Stories of struggling businesses and growing individual needs are omnipresent. The housing and investment markets collapsed. Unemployment ballooned to long-forgotten levels. Bank credit seized up and became increasingly difficult to obtain. These factors, among others, contributed to a 31.4% increase in US business bankruptcies through the third quarter of 2009 as compared to the same period from the prior year, according to The Administrative Office of the US Courts. Nonprofit organizations -- such as health care delivery, education, arts and culture, human needs, and social welfare -- represent a significant portion of the economic engine of this country, although they measure success more by quantitative metrics such as people served as opposed to bottom line growth. Now may be the time when business relationships of different forms represent an opportunity for many not-for-profits to enhance financial and operational stability and broaden their reach and impact.