{"id":505,"date":"2020-09-09T20:25:42","date_gmt":"2020-09-09T20:25:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/divi.ameravant.com\/nonprofitkinect\/?p=505"},"modified":"2022-12-14T20:29:31","modified_gmt":"2022-12-14T20:29:31","slug":"covid-is-endangering-nonprofit-sustainability-demanding-new-skills","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nonprofitkinect.org\/covid-is-endangering-nonprofit-sustainability-demanding-new-skills\/","title":{"rendered":"COVID is Endangering Nonprofit Sustainability, Demanding New Skills"},"content":{"rendered":"
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According to the\u00a0<\/span>American Alliance of Museums<\/a><\/span>, more than half of all museums have less than six months of operating cash on hand. Many others in the social sector are in the same boat. Boards, nonprofit leaders, and funders are paying closer attention to sustainability during these challenging times.<\/p>\n But what are we looking for when we assess an organization\u2019s level of sustainability?\u00a0<\/span>Nonprofit Quarterly<\/a><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>says there are two main components to sustainability: financial and programmatic. They define sustainability this way: \u201cSustainability encompasses both\u00a0financial sustainability<\/em>\u00a0(the ability to generate resources to meet the needs of the present without compromising the future) and\u00a0programmatic sustainability<\/em>\u00a0(the ability to develop, mature, and cycle out programs to be responsive to constituencies over time).\u201d<\/p>\n For most nonprofits, financial sustainability is closely linked to programmatic sustainability. Assessing the financial side tells only half of the story. Therefore, leaders must consider both aspects when evaluating their organization\u2019s sustainability.<\/p>\n SmartBrief<\/a><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>explains, \u201cThe COVID-19 pandemic has created an environment of hyper-uncertainty for social sector organizations, as the economic crisis has weakened nonprofits at the very time when demand for their services is skyrocketing. Many nonprofits have emerged from the initial stage of crisis response but are still struggling to identify what they should do next.\u201d<\/p>\n Foundations and other nonprofit analysts talk about the importance of maintaining resilience and achieving sustainability.\u00a0<\/span>Beth Kanter<\/a><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>who writes a popular nonprofit blog, says, \u201cResilience is defined by most as the ability to recover from setbacks, adapt well to change, and keep going in the face of adversity.\u201d In the nonprofit sector, resiliency is framed as both a leadership skill for nonprofit professionals as well as organizational capacity. A higher level of resilience and organizational capacity are key components of solid sustainability.<\/p>\nCOVID challenges add an extra layer of complexity to measuring sustainability.<\/strong><\/h3>\n