Eight Steps to Surviving Tough Times
Here are 8 steps you can take to weather the economic storm that's blowing across the world.
1. Be grateful for what you have. Things can and often do, get worse; but, for right now, you have what you have and with that you can make a start.
2. Grow your mission. Many organizations that were founded between 1929 and 1935 continue to this day. Focus your attention on growing your mission. If you pursue excellence, money eventually happens. If you focus on money, excellence never happens. As in the best of times, let your mission dictate management decisions.
3. “Dance with the ones who brung ya.” Even as you explore all possible sources of revenue, pay special attention to your traditional donors. Be committed to maintaining old relationships while developing new ones. Have "friend-making" be a criteria for success this year. If your gifts from old friends drop, be gracious and genuinely grateful. When the good times return, your donors will remember your integrity during the dark days. Re-evaluate all gift goals and budget accordingly.
4. Base organizational decisions on policy, not fear or personalities. Strong policies will protect your organization regardless of the state of the economy. Charismatic or strong-willed board members or CEOs do not always know the way out of the woods; they might just be listening to the sound of their own voices.
5. Focus on planning your next three years. You need time to let the dust of the crisis settle. Strategic planning will give you that time while staying busy at a task that is essential to moving forward – planning. Be deliberate about your actions by planning them first. A caveat: do not base your plans on what you currently have; base your plans on what will be. Conceive how your organization might realistically grow and plan to achieve that vision.
6. Actively hope. Know that things change. Hope always leads to action and action always causes change and change either leads the way out or teaches us to take a new path.
7. Stop worrying. The act of worrying is a lot like teaching a pig to sing – the activity wastes your time and annoys the pig. Focus on finding solutions rather than cultivating stress.
8. Take the next step. The leader is the person who can review options, make a decision, and above all else, take action. Action always leads to another decision which will lead to another action. By putting one foot in front of the other, you can walk your organization out of the woods.