Non-profit organizations are truly special, dedicating their resources to improving our world and making differences. These organizations are full of talented and decent people, well meaning and full of energy.  Whether true or not, fair or not, there is a wide spead preception that nonprofits often lag for-profit in business management and execution.  Based on PMO Advisory’s experience, there are three top challenges confronting nonprofits: 1) inadequate resources; 2) insufficient business savvy talents; 3) poor business execution.

1. Inadequate resources – Almost universally, well-intentioned nonprofits have more they wish to accomplish then the resources they have. At nonprofit, there is an almost infinite and insatiable appeitite to do more but the reality is that resources is rarely if ever adequate.
2. Insufficient business savvy talents – Very often, people who work for nonprofits are attracted to its mission and vision, not necesssarily a bigger pay check. As such, nonprofits often attract fewer business savvy professionals especially in specialized areas such as project management.
3. Poor business execution – Even strong nonprofits suffer from this problem. Even though they achieve their goals, more often then not, there is an incredible cost to their people through working long hours that is largely hidden from view. Weaker nonprofits have a poor record of completing projects on time, within the budget, and deliverying the agreed scope.

Most of the challenges confronting nonprofits are beyond simplye solutions. But there is one solution that address all three challenges – improve business execution through project management. Here are three ways in which improved project management can alleviates these challenges:

1. Doing more with less. Good project management can resource utilization by improving project efficiency (e.g. doing tasks better and faster) and effective (e.g. doing the right work and align with strategy).
2. Energizing people. Developing project management savvy employees can greatly improve their marketable skills, supercharing their motivation, and elevating their contribution to organization’s mission.
3. Improve execution. Project management is more than a set of processes, skills, or tools. It’s also a mindset of optimizing “what’s given” and “what’s possible”! The mantra, “yes we can” is powerful but only when ideas become reality.

PMO Advisory is a leading project management consulting and training company. Our CEO, Dr. Te Wu, have started working with nonprofits in early 2000 including leading major projects at Consumer Reports and Weill Cornell, setting up and improving project management office (PMO) at Collegeboard and American Society of Mechical Engineers, helping organizationsl like Lumina Foundation with evaluation of technologies, and partners with universities like Stevens Institute of Technology and Rutgers University with deliverying project management courses, including certification preparation classes such as the Project Management Professional (PMP).  Dr. Wu was previously a Vice President of Project Management at a nonprofit financial service company, and he is also a professor at Montclair State University and China Europe International Business School (CEIBS). Note: Dr. Wu also worked extensively with for-profit companies as well; for his full credential, connect with him at www.linkedin.com/in/te-wu.

Here are top reasons why nonprofit organizations work with us:

1. We know nonprofits. We have worked in nonprofits in wide range of industries, including advocacy, associations, education (K-12, higher education), financial services, healthcare, public policy, research, and technology.
2. We are a Project Management Institute Authorized Training Provider (PMI ATP), guaranteeing the quality of our offerings.
3. Our trainers and consultants are of the high quality with a wide range of professional certifications. Many of them are also college professors and professional consultants.
4. Our approach to consulting and training can be tailored for the unique culture and challenges of nonprofit.
5. We offer special discounts to nonprofit organizations.