Today is an age of innovation for many industries. The entire landscape of seemingly well-known sectors of business has been turned on its head with dramatic changes that bring a whole new way of operating within said industry. Take a look at Uber or AirBnB for example; these firms have ensured their long-term survival by taking advantage of the “sharing economy”. By not tying up significant capital in inventory, property, and material assets, these firms can maximize their profit while greatly reducing their risk.
Just as for-profit businesses must adapt to remain competitive, non-profit organizations must learn to adapt to the changing values held by our society in order to get their share of aggregate donations. If these organizations plan to be existent in the long-term, they must shift towards a more sustainable model of business, not simply relying on donations from the public to keep their budgets satisfied. Individual giving to charitable organizations accounts for a majority of annual donations in the US and in order to continue to receive donations, non-profits must enhance their ability to connect with donors one a deeper level and understand their behavior.
Individuals are, on average, donating more money to charitable causes than ever before. Just because people are giving more however, does not mean it is becoming easier for non-profit organizations to solicit donations and continue to stay afloat. People are slowly, but surely, becoming more wise in their giving, with the trend learning towards making larger, more concentrated donations less often over the course of a year. To become a worthy recipient of these donations, non-profits must express to potential donors that their gift will have a significant impact on a cause the donor personally cares about.
I witnessed the lack of sustainability of several well-operated non-profit organizations during a visit to Haiti, where NGO directors I met pointed out the fact they had a difficult time scraping together their budget every year. In order to help solve this problem on a micro economic scale, I created the Honey for Haiti Project(www.HoneyforHaiti.org)
The Honey for Haiti project deeply values sustainability, which is rooted in our philosophy, and works to solicit donors who believe sustainability is the key to surviving in the non-profit industry. Every year, hospitals, orphanages, schools, and other non-profit firms across our globe struggle to keep their doors open due to donations going to larger, more corporate non-profit organizations. By implementing agriculture based sustainable development project, we can ensure the long-term survival of these wonderful, impactful organizations and replicate systems that can be used to assist other NGOs around the globe. We are working to create our own model of sustainability as to be able to continue to serve non-profits who are creating systemic change around the globe. So far, is has truly been a grassroots effort, and we are grateful to the Arpin Group, Cardi’s Furniture, and the Renewable Now Network for engaging in our project and connecting is to individuals and firms that are willing to join us in our goal of improving the global non-profit space.
I bring up this example to encourage my fellow millennials to involve themselves in the non-profit industry. Each and every day, innovation and a shifting public opinion of charitable giving changes the industry and there is plenty of room for empathetic, creative, and goal-oriented millennials to make a real impact on the world and some of the most needy individuals who share our common home. By implementing social media, internet, and other skills that come naturally to our generation, we can work to reach more focused groups of individuals than ever before. Using their knowledge of the behavior and values of fellow millennials, our generation can truly create long-term sustainable infrastructure for amazing non-profit organizations and ensure they will continue to make an impact on the lives of those in need for decades to come.
