Tech startups have many traits that set them apart from larger, more traditional businesses. Lean operations and a focused approach to meeting the needs of customers has become a proven strategy for tech startups, showing that breaking out of the mold is worth the extra effort it requires.
Adopting the habits and flexible mindset of startups is one way a nonprofit organization can level up in terms of fulfilling the organization's mission. To help leaders ensure they are building organizations that most effectively serve their communities, 15 Forbes Nonprofit Council members share practical ways a nonprofit organization can adopt more of a “tech startup mentality.”
Forbes Nonprofit Council members share practical ways nonprofit organization can adopt and embody the mentality of tech startups.
Photos courtesy of the individual members.1. Have An Agile Mindset
Startups must be quick on their toes, flexible, in a constant state of iteration and willing to pivot quickly. Nonprofits can benefit from having an agile mentality by evaluating programs in real time based on objective and quantifiable KPIs that measure how well a program is achieving its goals. Use that data to constantly iterate on the program and improve its likelihood of achieving success. - Dominic Kalms, B Generous
2. Do Your Due Diligence
As a consultant, I've worked with many tech startups in helping them to understand the selection criteria and needs of nonprofit organizations. These companies diligently study the trends, buying habits and needs of their prospective customers. Nonprofits should be just as diligent in developing programs and services to meet the needs of their clientele. - Kimberly Lewis, Goodwill Industries of East Texas, Inc.
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3. Assess The User Experience
Nonprofits should consider assessing user experience. Eliciting feedback from people who regularly interact with your organization is so important. This could include sending online surveys to volunteers regarding their recent experience with your organization or its website. It's also a good idea to have readily available representatives to help answer people's questions and gather feedback. - Gloria Horsley, Open to Hope
4. Be Ready To Wear Multiple Hats
Be prepared to do it all. Delegation is a luxury to most startups, but its absence is not always a bad thing. By continuously communicating with displaced people and partners across Ukraine, our leadership has been able to coordinate aid swiftly. Being knee-deep in all that we do may defy convention, but it allows for speed when resources are few and forms a bond with those we serve that keeps us going. - Jennifer Hill, Refugee Protection International
5. Create A Flexible Work Environment
I believe having a startup mentality in a nonprofit can lead to significant success. It allows for a more flexible operational model that helps to create adaptability and build essential virtues that inspire employees to avoid the status quo. Flexibility in a nonprofit’s workplace can foster creativity and more often leads to successfully achieved goals. - Christopher Dipnarine, 4MyCiTy Inc
6. Prioritize Your Staff's Needs
Nonprofits can become so focused on the work of helping clients that they can lose sight of the importance of being flexible to meet the needs of the moment. During Covid, many nonprofits saw a surge in the demand for services, but there was limited HR support for overworked staff. Adapting to quickly meet staff needs became a priority, with adjustments including remote work policies, self-care days, comp hours, in-office lunches, etc. - Deidre Lind, Mayor's Fund for Los Angeles
7. Pay Your Staff Well
Hire the best and pay them well to stay. One challenge many nonprofits have is that they hire entry-level candidates and train them, but employees leave due to the pay gap. The mentality of how we pay and what we pay our employees who we really rely on to further our mission must change. Many nonprofits lose their best employees, who they spend so much time training and teaching, yet they don’t provide the pay that they deserve. - Sepideh Nasiri, Women Of MENA In Technology
8. Embrace Failure
Fail fast, and don't be afraid of failure! The best tech companies adopt a fail-fast mindset, using the learning process to drive innovation. The process is iterative with a hypothesis-driven approach to developing and launching new ideas. Too often, there is zero room for failure in the nonprofit space, including tolerance from the governing board to embrace and celebrate failure. - Jono Anzalone, The Climate Initiative
9. Understand How Society Is Being Impacted
Nonprofits usually focus solely on the generation of social value. While this is our main mission, we need to also understand the economic value we are generating for society. The best way to create a pitch for what we do is to have a holistic view of the impact we generate to attract more players to our mission. Startups know their value generation, and that is what drives their success. - Pablo Listingart, ComIT
10. Take Risks
Take bigger risks. Nonprofits typically work in safe zones, doing programming that is tried and true while feeling hesitant about trying something completely different. Creating a culture of innovation and pushing ourselves to take one to two big risks can move the mission much further and much faster than staying in our comfort zone for years. - Jennifer Thompson, National Association of Social Workers New Jersey/Delaware
11. Lean On Your Team's Rookieness
Encourage your team members to retain their “rookie smarts” the longer they stay on the team. The idea of “rookie smarts,” from the book with the same title by Liz Wiseman, is that newcomers bring a cache of new ideas and new ways of thinking and doing. Their perspective is usually instinctive. The more “rookie smarts” is encouraged, the more nonprofits will retain a competitive edge and innovative mentality. - Albert L. Reyes, Buckner International
12. Make Technological Investments After Careful Thought
If your nonprofit makes the decision to invest in technology, be sure to hire or contract with the expertise you'll need to select and operate the right technology efficiently and effectively. Too often, nonprofits end up with technology that is too difficult for the staff to use to its fullest extent. - Victoria Burkhart, The More Than Giving Company
13. Commit To Lifelong Learning
Adopting a habit from another sector without understanding the drivers of success in the nonprofit sector is one way some choose to proceed. However, there is a better way through a commitment to lifelong learning about the nature of the nonprofit, service, quality and productivity. Adding customer value through innovation leads to a greater return on investment, mission fulfillment and success! - Jesse Bethke Gomez, Metropolitan Center for Independent Living
14. Let Go Of Past Traditions
Nonprofits are too often handcuffed by their history and must liberate themselves from what they have always done by adopting the hallmarks of scrappy startups. Great nonprofits plan from a blank sheet of paper, craft a compelling rationale for existence, embrace appropriate risk, consider how to enter new markets, allocate resources for growth, ensure great talent and proceed with passion. - Betsy Chapin Taylor, FAHP, Accordant
15. Be Adaptable
If anything, tech startups have begun to reflect more of a typical nonprofit mindset, emphasizing the value of an inclusive team motivated by mission and values. That said, tech startups are masters of adaptation. Adjustments in approach to keep pace with new and evolving circumstances ensure the relevance and effectiveness of your organization’s work in achieving its best outcomes. - Jose Luis Castro, Vital Strategies
