Photo by Romain Vignes on Unsplash
I left the world of corporate strategy in 2016 to start my own consulting business. In the early days, I took on a few strategy projects for legal-focused, Atlanta-based nonprofits. The most valuable lesson I've learned about strategy in the past five years has been from working with nonprofits. Yes. I've worked on $B businesses, have an MBA, and become a better strategist through nonprofit projects.
I walked into this work with my shiny, big company ideas about growth and scale. As a businessperson, my tendency is to grow profits and reach big audiences. These nonprofits were in the business of saving lives, restoring dignity and fighting injustice. I genuinely believe in the power of diverse points of view to drive innovation and change. A female solo-preneur with a business, marketing, and entertainment background in a room full of lawyers, social workers, and policy advocates was a recipe for a change!
Why is scale the holy grail? A bias toward growth.
For years, I've followed the guiding principle that no idea is worth the effort if it can't scale. One boss regularly asked the question, "is the lemon worth the squeeze?". In short: bigger = better.
Often, nonprofit advisors, from boards to big donors, also hold a traditional view of scale. When asked what growth looks like, the default answer is to "become a national organization" or "to scale our programs to a larger footprint." Nonprofits find it easier to justify expansion and attract investment in new programs serving new populations. They find it harder to attract investment in efforts that deepen or innovate their current mission.
Ask the question, "How can we grow our impact?" not, "How can we scale?"
The first nonprofit strategic plan quickly tested my bigger = better business mindset.
I recall one of the critical tenets of business strategy: the first and fastest result comes from growing in existing markets with existing customers - before taking on new markets, customers, or products. In assessing these nonprofits, I realized that there was still PLENTY of high impact work still to be done in their backyards.
Impact and growth can come in many forms: Serving existing clients in new ways or changing policy to stem problems upstream and using education and communication as tools to influence scope and scale. These are all viable strategies but require redefining growth and a different approach.
For both organizations, we landed on a core strategy to have a more holistic impact on the current population rather than scaling nationally. The leadership teams had the unsexy job of persuading stakeholders to reach for better, not bigger, deeper, not broader.
Focus as a path to growth.
One of the nonprofits I refer to in this post is the Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation. AVLF is the largest provider of pro bono legal services in Atlanta. They focus primarily on victims of unsafe housing and domestic abuse in Fulton County, Georgia. AVLF wanted to craft a strategy to help refine their brand and chart a path for growth. I quickly realized that their clients' problems were more in-depth and more systemic than I ever imagined (as is often the case with any nonprofit).
As our guide, we used the 2001 book by Bo Burlingham, "Small Giants. Companies that choose to be great instead of big". The book captures insights of 14 "small giants" who intentionally choose to stay small - from Clif Bars to Osprey to Righteous Babes. Leaders of these companies faced a choice about how far and how fast to grow. They redefined what success means – to be small AND the best at what they do.
"The leaders of these firms have made the deliberate decision not to grow if that detracts from their other business or social goals." Bo Burlingham.
After much examination and collaboration, the leadership team: Michael Lucas, Marty Ellin, and Elizabeth Finn Johnson, decided to "double down" and strengthen AVLF's impact within the current footprint: to offer more holistic programs to their existing population. To be great, not big.
The funny thing? They grew. Not overnight, but over time, AVLF tripled in both funding and staff in about half the time anticipated. But wait, you said growth wasn't the goal?
Choose great, not big.
By focusing on doing fewer things better, AVLF confirmed its mission. They served as trusted stewards of measured investments, both human and financial. Their focus led to successes and, eventually, to national recognition as a model for innovation. I don't think they could have achieved this with a "growth for growth's sake" goal.
I recently completed a strategic plan for the Southern Center for Human Rights, a nonprofit working for equality, dignity, and justice for people impacted by the criminal legal system in the Deep South. Their strategy led to a similar realization – that doubling down on their mission in the Deep South and striving for systemic change would yield the most impact.
Both organizations are top of mind for me as the pandemic and racial injustice ravages our city and state. AVLF is helping restore stability to families who find themselves either without a home or unsafe in their homes. SCHR is fighting the myriad of health and justice issues in our prison system. AVLF and SCHR are on the front lines fighting against the backdrop of a health pandemic and sweeping racism.
They choose to be great, not big. Both decided that focus was the path to growth. They chose to remain strong, local and contained. I thank these nonprofits for the lessons they taught me, a seasoned strategist, about walking the line between focus and growth.
If you feel moved to donate to the mission of these organizations, follow the links here:
AVLF Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation
SCHR Southern Center for Human Rights
What choices are you making or not making?
Building strategy is about making choices and weighing tradeoffs. Making choices is the essential job of leaders, and these choices are the cornerstone of strategy. Not choosing is also choosing; to maintain the status quo.
What examples do you see in the world of small, great companies or nonprofits? What tradeoffs do you make in your business to be a "small giant"?
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