Non-Profit Organizations
What Makes Non-Profits Different?
Non-profits are charitable ventures. They are not focused on the bottom line of profit, and they are not trying to grow a company. What non-profits do try to do is pour every drop they can into their purpose – which means efficiency is critical to the achievement of a non-profit’s goals and continued existence. Grants, donations, effectiveness… is all dependent on reputation and effectiveness. In order to convince people to donate you have to keep your administrative costs as low as possible and apply for every grant you can.
Administrative Restructuring
There are many different rules for non-profits vs for-profit businesses. Even the corporation upkeep forms are different. As such, therr are a number of ways in which non-profits should structure their corporations, boards, administration & labour in order to reduce costs and comply with laws specifically geared towards non-profits.
Non-profits are trying to achieve good in the world but the only way that can happen is with a proper structure in place. This way, non-profits are rated well, donors look favourably at them, and as much money as possible can go towards achieving your non-profits objectives.
Labour and Employment Issues
Contrary to popular belief, non-profits have numerous salaried employees in addition to volunteers. However, as with businesses, where there is labour there will be labour disputes.
The best way to minimize costs is to prevent problems. We will work with you to come up with guidelines & structures that will help prevent problems from arising in the first place. Of course, no matter how good any system is, problems will eventually occur. In those instances negotiation and alternate dispute resolution will often be your best bet to keep costs down.
Strategic negotiation where both parties can be brought into agreement means there is a guaranteed result. That means no court, no appeals, and the costs don’t keep rising. Furthermore, agreements can also prevent headlines or news stories that may paint your non-profit in a bad light to potential donors.
Finally, when prevention & negotiation don’t succeed, a properly crafted litigation may still salvage your reputation. Litigation is the most costly option when employment disputes arise, but ultimately when handled by employment experts it can be far less costly to a non-profit than a permanently damaged reputation.