The nonprofit sector in the US encompasses approximately 1.5 million organizations, a significant force employing 10% of the nation’s workforce and expending nearly $2.5 trillion. However, despite its pivotal societal role, nonprofits often grapple with project management issues, leading to performance shortcomings, particularly concerning services for vulnerable populations. A critical analysis identifies the failure to distinguish projects from other work and inadequate resource allocation as central challenges.
Addressing this, Strategic Business Execution (SBE) offers a framework categorizing work into planning, operating, and changing, advocating for clearer prioritization and resource distribution. By recognizing the distinct nature of projects and applying tailored management strategies, nonprofits can enhance project outcomes and organizational effectiveness.
Moreover, the delineation between operational tasks and innovative endeavors within the SBE framework facilitates better management focus and allocation of scarce resources. This approach not only aims to alleviate strain on nonprofit professionals, often burdened by heroic efforts to salvage projects, but also seeks to improve overall project success rates.
Ultimately, effective project management in nonprofits is deemed crucial not only for organizational efficiency but also for ensuring the well-being of those served by these organizations. Adopting SBE principles offers a promising path toward addressing these challenges and maximizing the societal impact of nonprofit endeavors.
This article is a summarized version of the full article that you may read here: https://westfaironline.com/exclusives/improving-the-project-management-performance-of-nonprofits/
Dr. Te Wu
CEO, CPO, PMP, PgMP, PfMP, PMI-RMP)
Prof. Dr. Te Wu is the CEO of PMO Advisory and an Associate Professor at Montclair State University. Te is certified in Portfolio, Program, Project, and Risk Management. He is an active volunteer including serving as the chair of PMI’s Portfolio Management Standard Committee. He previously worked on various standards including portfolio management, risk management and program management for PMI and ISO. As a practitioner, executive, teacher, writer, and speaker, Dr. Wu enjoys sharing his knowledge and experiences and networking with other professionals.