The million dollar question on every nonprofit leaders mind is how to deal with the ongoing economic downturn. Are we pulling out of it? Is the worst yet to come? How long will it last? And what will be the short and long-term consequences to the business and its fundraising capacity? The uncertainty of it all is incredibly unsettling. I don’t think there is a nonprofit leader that can look at the current economic conditions and say to themselves and their staff – “oh, no problem, been there, done that – all we need to do is X, Y and Z.” it just isn’t going to happen that way because no one has been down this exact road before.

Why? Because the confluence of events and trends is simply unprecedented – that’s’ why. We are in unchartered territories and no one, and I mean no one, has the silver bullet.

Some of us will unwittingly take the right approach by gauging the trends, making adjustments, strategizing and being either aggressive or conservative to a more or lesser degree. Others may be very methodical and believe they are setting the right course only to find themselves in a tougher situation in a year or so. But most of us will simply be a deer in the headlights.

So, now that I have confirmed your worse fear – that there is no exact right or wrong answer to the challenges you face – I hope I have also presented the consoling fact that you are not alone and that you are not the only person out there staying up at night pondering the future of your organization and its success/failure.

But what now? We know it’s tough. We know it’s going to take a great deal of brain-power and will-power to stick with it and stay optimistic in order to get through these tough and uncertain times.

A few thoughts.

First, we need to keep calm and realize the forces at work are the reality of life at the present moment. We can’t think about the good old days nor can we think about the perfect future. And we definitely can’t bemoan the present. The present is where we live and it’s our job as a senior executive to roll up our sleeves and earn our keep. The solutions to the challenges are our responsibility – if not us who; if not now when? So, man-up, as they say, and keep your eye on the prize.

Second, double our strategic focus. Review every facet of our charity. The staffing, the processes, the way we fundraise, the general way we do business, but most importantly we need to review and modify or re-energize HOW we fundraise and HOW we conduct business and HOW we provide our services to those we serve. Are we as efficient as we can be? Are we getting the most bang for our buck? Are there new and better ways we could be approaching the day to day aspects of our work? Basically, like an Olympic coach working with her Gold Medal athlete we need to challenge the status quo and chase away any hint of mediocrity at any level of the organization.

DO NOT tolerate mediocrity for one second. It’s poison.

And thirdly, we need to be entrepreneurial and transformational in our approach to running the nonprofit business. We can no longer rely on the tried and true. We must try new things; reinvent ourselves if necessary; push the envelope and build a first class business model that is efficient, effective, and sustainable.

And lastly, and perhaps most importantly, we need to focus all our energy on stewardship. We all know it’s harder to get a new donor then it is to hold on to a existing loyal supporter. Once you realize this fact you will want to put more energy into holding onto what you have rather than finding new supporters. What does this mean to the organization? A lot in a big way. It means acknowledging the gifts in a more meaningful and substantial way; it means focusing on customer service; it means developing a more comprehensive acknowledging process; it means making the donor feel like she is the most important person in the world to your organization and profusely thanking them over and over again while keeping them incredibly well informed about the successes of your organization.

By hanging on to the existing donors and focusing less on getting new ones you will save funds and become more efficient and effective while doing it. The once the economy and the cost of acquiring new donors is more favorable you can return to the tried and true methods of finding and retaining more great donors to add to your core constituency. At the end of the day, you will end up with a stronger support base that is less costly to maintain.

Read this article to learn more about the troubles nonprofits face during these troubling times: http://www.rrstar.com/businessrockford/x560343683/How-nonprofits-are-weathering-the-economic-downturn