How to Make Non-Profit Boards More Effective in the Post-COVID19 Era
(Transcript of Dr CC Tan’s response to a question at Singapore Institute of Directors’ Governance for Outstanding Organisational Directors (S-GOOD) programme 2022)
I would like to answer this question in the context of the world in which we find ourselves right now. Firstly, the unmet needs of the world have become more complex and unpredictable – the Covid19 pandemic and future ones – leading to all sorts of future healthcare needs, war in Ukraine giving geopolitical instability, dislocation of the global economy with a new iron curtain coming down over Russia, worsening already existing shortages of fuel, food and other commodities, higher and longer inflation, slower growth, less inclusive growth, widening of the socio-economic divide, reversal of climate change amelioration initiatives (reversion to fossil fuels) etc.
Secondly, resources for non-profits are diminishing at a time when needs on the ground have become greater and the cost of finding structural solutions is much higher than simply providing goods and services.
Non-profits have to adapt in ways that are not easy. And it can only be done if boards take the initiative to make paradigm shifts in their organisations. I see 3 shifts that will be necessary:
Firstly, with ground level needs ever increasing, we need at least a proportion of non-profits to move away from providing goods and services to backfill unmet needs, to increasing human resilience on the one hand and solving problems through socially innovative upstream interventions that help to obviate these needs. In other words, to work at empowering the people being served to rise above their needs through education and training for jobs, improving mental wellness, improving their social problems at the personal and family level etc., so that they and their children can better participate in the economy and be more self-reliant.
I understand that this is a big ask from both non-profits as well as the people served. So it won’t happen overnight and it won’t happen across the board. There will always be people who continue to need backfilling support. Hence there will continue to be a need for a slate of non-profits to continue providing goods and services to those in need. But for those non-profits who have the capacity to do so, they should try to move up the value chain of interventions.
Secondly, with needs becoming more complex and with a burgeoning number of non-profits doing their best to provide goods and services support, it is self-evident that non-profits operating in self-contained silos is not the best way forward. Some are better at one thing and some at another. But if each tries to do everything for their constituents under one roof, there will be a huge amount of duplication, unhealthy territorial competition over overlapping needs and diversion of effort to the detriment of the things they actually do very well. Resources, which are already getting scarcer, are being wasted.
What’s emerging is also the realisation that sectors need to integrate better to serve clients better. For e.g., social welfare must involve health and must involve wellness aspects involving sports, arts and culture.
What is needed is another paradigm shift, for non-profits to collaborate and coordinate better with one another. The current model is for non-profits to work independently. This should change. And to open non-profits to a new era of collaboration and coordination will need the boards to change the culture of the non-profits.
Another dimension which may need to be opened up is the concept of public-private-non-profit partnerships. The ability to work at the trisector level will be even more important, since issues such as sustainability, inclusivity and health security are “wicked” problems, that is, complex and without obvious simple solutions and will require a whole of society approach. One such approach would be the concept of social impact bonds.
I understand how difficult this can be, with each organisation having its own vision and mission, its own stakeholders and supporters and its own flag to fly. Ideally, large non-profits can become coordinating organisations, bringing into the fold other organisations. But this is difficult to stomach for many organisations. I’m glad to see from Robert’s presentation that NCSS believes in such collaborations and will encourage non-profits to make these mindset changes.
I may not have answered the question on how to make boards more effective for their own organisations, which is a whole subject in itself, but I’ve chosen to highlight how boards can make their organisations more effective for the community they serve.
How to Make Non-Profit Boards More Effective in the Post-COVID19 Era
How to Make Non-Profit Boards More Effective in the Post-COVID19 Era
(Transcript of Dr CC Tan’s response to a question at Singapore Institute of Directors’ Governance for Outstanding Organisational Directors (S-GOOD) programme 2022)
I would like to answer this question in the context of the world in which we find ourselves right now. Firstly, the unmet needs of the world have become more complex and unpredictable – the Covid19 pandemic and future ones – leading to all sorts of future healthcare needs, war in Ukraine giving geopolitical instability, dislocation of the global economy with a new iron curtain coming down over Russia, worsening already existing shortages of fuel, food and other commodities, higher and longer inflation, slower growth, less inclusive growth, widening of the socio-economic divide, reversal of climate change amelioration initiatives (reversion to fossil fuels) etc.
Secondly, resources for non-profits are diminishing at a time when needs on the ground have become greater and the cost of finding structural solutions is much higher than simply providing goods and services.
Non-profits have to adapt in ways that are not easy. And it can only be done if boards take the initiative to make paradigm shifts in their organisations. I see 3 shifts that will be necessary:
Firstly, with ground level needs ever increasing, we need at least a proportion of non-profits to move away from providing goods and services to backfill unmet needs, to increasing human resilience on the one hand and solving problems through socially innovative upstream interventions that help to obviate these needs. In other words, to work at empowering the people being served to rise above their needs through education and training for jobs, improving mental wellness, improving their social problems at the personal and family level etc., so that they and their children can better participate in the economy and be more self-reliant.
I understand that this is a big ask from both non-profits as well as the people served. So it won’t happen overnight and it won’t happen across the board. There will always be people who continue to need backfilling support. Hence there will continue to be a need for a slate of non-profits to continue providing goods and services to those in need. But for those non-profits who have the capacity to do so, they should try to move up the value chain of interventions.
Secondly, with needs becoming more complex and with a burgeoning number of non-profits doing their best to provide goods and services support, it is self-evident that non-profits operating in self-contained silos is not the best way forward. Some are better at one thing and some at another. But if each tries to do everything for their constituents under one roof, there will be a huge amount of duplication, unhealthy territorial competition over overlapping needs and diversion of effort to the detriment of the things they actually do very well. Resources, which are already getting scarcer, are being wasted.
What’s emerging is also the realisation that sectors need to integrate better to serve clients better. For e.g., social welfare must involve health and must involve wellness aspects involving sports, arts and culture.
What is needed is another paradigm shift, for non-profits to collaborate and coordinate better with one another. The current model is for non-profits to work independently. This should change. And to open non-profits to a new era of collaboration and coordination will need the boards to change the culture of the non-profits.
Another dimension which may need to be opened up is the concept of public-private-non-profit partnerships. The ability to work at the trisector level will be even more important, since issues such as sustainability, inclusivity and health security are “wicked” problems, that is, complex and without obvious simple solutions and will require a whole of society approach. One such approach would be the concept of social impact bonds.
I understand how difficult this can be, with each organisation having its own vision and mission, its own stakeholders and supporters and its own flag to fly. Ideally, large non-profits can become coordinating organisations, bringing into the fold other organisations. But this is difficult to stomach for many organisations. I’m glad to see from Robert’s presentation that NCSS believes in such collaborations and will encourage non-profits to make these mindset changes.
I may not have answered the question on how to make boards more effective for their own organisations, which is a whole subject in itself, but I’ve chosen to highlight how boards can make their organisations more effective for the community they serve.
Send us a message