Giving Compass' Take:

• The sign of a high-performing nonprofit organization is one that can implement a coaching culture that helps them to manage change successfully.

• How can donors recognize when nonprofit leaders are effectively managing and even spearheading change in their organizations? 

• Learn more about how nonprofits can work productively to achieve results. 

Like organizations in any industry, nonprofits constantly face change. We navigate through leadership transitions (often annually, depending on our boards’ election cycles), introduce organization wide strategic shifts and adapt to new technologies and regulations.

Minute and wide-scale changes are inevitable, but they’re not always easy. Change initiatives can make a workforce nimbler and more efficient, but they may also threaten to derail the overall mission. After all, uncertainty and fear of the unknown can cause tremendous pushback.

Successful change management initiatives hinge on communication, leadership and planning. So, what makes the difference between organizations that thrive in times of change and those that don’t?

A 2016 survey from the Human Capital Institute (HCI) found nearly 80% of leaders said their organization was in a “constant state of change.” An even greater percentage of organizations reported that those change management attempts were unsuccessful.

This is a scary statistic, considering that “change is a new constant.” So, what can be done to ease the pain and engage employees in the change process? It is surprisingly simple: When employees see change as something that’s happening to them instead of something they’re an active partner in, they are more likely to resist it. That’s why it’s vital for leaders and organizations to focus on people -- not just tactics and logistics--when rolling out a new change initiative.

A major indicator of being a resilient, high-performing organization is the presence of a coaching culture, which also correlates to better talent selection and profitability compared to industry competitors. Indeed, we found that organizations classified as “high-performing” have greater change management capabilities and report greater confidence in their employees’ change capabilities.

Read the full article about high-performing nonprofits by Magdalena Nowicka Mook at Forbes.