The Art Of The Start: How Nonprofits Can Be More Impactful From The Outset

Dr. Charles Owubah leads Action Against Hunger USA’s executive team in providing leadership and strategic direction.

From Simon Sinek to Robyn Davidson to Guy Kawasaki, countless leaders, explorers and thinkers have said that starting is the hardest part.

Nike’s suggestion to “just do it” may work when you’re strapping on sneakers, but it’s harder to change your organization or the world. Where do you begin, and how? Here are six things I’ve learned about starting a new project or initiative or changing how things are done.

Wade, don’t plunge.

It’s natural to want to act fast. In some situations, such as an emergency response, you have to. Yet, most often, it’s wise to begin by asking whether you should start at all.

My team has a long track record of innovation and is brimming with new ideas, so I encourage them to consider the costs and benefits as we prioritize potential projects. Since we don’t “parachute in,” it’s also essential to consider the potential for collaboration with local partners, community leaders and government. We also think about the time horizon. From agriculture to research, some results are measured in years and decades.

Dig deep into the data.

Nonprofit leaders are custodians of other people’s resources. We are trusted with funding from donors or shareholders, with organizational assets and with time from staff and volunteers—a limited commodity for everyone. We must use those gifts wisely. Data is key.

When my team wants to offer programs in new areas, for example, we evaluate the level of support required by local communities. We look for areas where few, if any, other NGOs are working. We determine whether and how to adapt our typical approaches by adding extra security training, for example, or gender experts. We also consider the match between our expertise and the ecological, social and political structure, asking whether our know-how is well suited to the local context.

For example, after considerable exploration, we decided to expand our programming to Zambia. In a country larger than Texas, we couldn’t start by offering everything, everywhere, all at once. To identify our point of entry, we considered government priorities, various communities’ current and future hunger risks and the changing climate. We even created a geographic information system (GIS) map of farms onto which we layered data on soil quality. Analyzing the data led us to work in the country’s often-overlooked western region.

Listen.

If you want to change a system, you first need to know how it works. Even if you have a better way, start by understanding the reasons why things are as they are. When people see you taking the time to deeply listen, you not only gain essential insights, but you also build the trust that is needed to begin to make change together. So listen to people as well as to other indicators.

In Zambia, for example, we heard market signals in the form of crop prices and sales volumes. That helped identify 100 potential plants that could be an alternative to corn, which is the dominant crop grown today. We also listened to nature. Corn isn’t native to Zambia, and its shallow roots make it vulnerable to drought. The local ecosystem and changing climate told us to look for plants that could improve nitrogen levels in the soil while diversifying diets.

Listening to all these sources of intelligence helps you identify the most promising path for innovation. You never get in trouble for listening too much.

Ensure there’s skin in the game.

As leaders, we need to translate our vision into action—effectively and consistently. That means engaging others, which is even more effective when they have skin in the game.

Sticking with Zambia as an example, we didn’t just give away farming tools and seeds. We asked participants for a token investment so they would quite literally be bought into the initiative. Just over 1,200 farmers invested their time and labor in trying something new. As a result, they were more likely to stick with the program.

Early results convinced a local leader to offer up 10 hectares of land, another sign of community acceptance. Now, program involvement is poised to grow as others are starting to see results.

Prove it.

It can be hard to convince others to adopt new ways of doing things. Agricultural communities can be particularly conservative since their livelihoods and hunger levels depend on traditional methods of success. It helps to have clear evidence.

In Zambia, we created a demonstration plot to grow traditional crops alongside climate-smart alternatives like cowpeas, a traditional protein-rich food no longer common. Just as we were getting started, Zambia was hit with a drought so severe the government declared a national disaster. Are we going to harvest fewer cowpeas as a result? You bet. But consider that only 10% of traders have corn grain available after more than one million hectares failed. Cowpeas are holding up much better.

This example illustrates why you should start by proving the impact your programs can have, even under challenging circumstances. Even if farmers sell just 10 bags of cowpeas at $120 per 110-pound bag, which seems likely, they should earn roughly double the average annual income.

We’ve shown that change can happen. Surrounding communities said it’s too good to be true. It’s so unbelievable, they said it must be juju. Now, 1,200 farmers can explain how it works. It’s not juju, it’s science. (Juju doesn’t scale.)

Ensure the right energy and mindset.

After considering the above, visualize the end from the beginning. Having a mental picture of the benefits of success—for example, the number of people to be impacted, the transformation within society and how communities might talk about the project—provides energy. It propels you to higher heights to launch the project.

Its associated positive mindset is key to overcoming inertia while also becoming a powerhouse to drive success. Without this mindset, the usual challenges of life can steal the joy of selfless devotion to serve humankind.

So how do you start? Create a bold vision. Begin with the end in mind. Develop the evidence base. Remember that nothing sells like success. And when the time comes, just do it.

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