It’s about the results, not the activities.
In planning, don't jump straight to ideas about what to do.
People get ideas about good things to do to make the world better. If the idea gets traction, it might turn into a new nonprofit organization and launch into exciting program activity. Isn’t that wonderful? Well, maybe, but exciting program activity is not the point. Making the world better in some way is the point. That requires thinking about desired results before thinking about the choice of activities to produce those desired results.
Here are four imaginary nonprofits I invented:
1. “Obligation Cancellation.” Mission: to erase the student debt of deserving graduates.
2. “Vaccination Education.” Mission: to increase vaccination levels in the hard places of the world.
3. “Inspiration Transformation.” Mission: to see people delivered from major depression through the visual arts.
4. “Separation Confrontation.” Mission: to intervene in the space between separation and divorce for the repair of broken families.
All four sound like good ideas (at least to me, anyhow). But each could make the mistake of starting with an idea for an activity rather than starting with a desired result. These questions make for better starting places:
1. What’s the best way to help deserving graduates move forward in life without a nasty debt burden? It might be to erase the debt they’ve amassed, or maybe there are good ways to keep them from getting so deeply indebted in the first place.
2. What’s the best way to increase the vaccination levels in the hard places of the world? It might be education, or maybe it’s a matter of distribution logistics.
3. What’s the best way to see people delivered from major depression? Maybe engagement with the visual arts helps, or maybe it doesn’t, or maybe only a little.
4. What’s the best way to save broken families? It might be intervention between separation and divorce can have a big impact, but maybe when it gets to the point of separation it’s already too late.
Research could help give good answers to these questions, and thus could increase outcomes. I must add:
1. Not everything has to be “the best way” to address some need. It’s OK to launch into activities that are “a very good way.” Most big problems can be addressed in helpful ways from many different directions. Engagement with the visual arts might not be the best way to address depression, but it might be helpful.
2. Some things are worth trying, even if you don’t know yet if they will work or not. Maybe you can’t be sure yet about visual arts and depression until you try things. In the process, you might find which ways to connect depression patients with the visual arts produce the best results.
love, joy, peace … Michael
www.michaeljaffarian.com. I’m a freelance consultant to nonprofits, with an emphasis on research. I’m keen to learn about your organization, and you might be interested in learning more about what I do. Let’s have a conversation. Write to me, people! emichaeljaffarian@gmail.com.
Vol. 1 No. 44