Top Five Priorities for US Nonprofits in 2013

US nonprofits are critical to the economy, social issues, and education in the US. Nonprofits have a challenging position in that they are not allowed to make profits from the products or services they provide. Nonprofits are a special designation of tax exempt business, provided it meets certain specifications as dictated by the IRS.

2013 has already proven to be a challenging year for the US, with two heated battles over the budget derailing the country’s ability to address other issues. In effect, the battles have stalled the country’s progress towards rebuilding its economy. This has affected nonprofits and businesses alike as they have struggled to plan for 2013 amid uncertain economic conditions. Now that the battles have ended for now, the dust is settling, and nonprofits can begin to plan. Here are the top five priorities for US nonprofits to plan for in 2013.

1.  Recruiting Top Talent

Just as their for-profit counterparts, nonprofits need exceptional employees and leaders to help them carry out their missions. Just like the business community, nonprofits are struggling to find the quality of employee they need. This is partially due to the fact that college graduates often lack the needed skills to succeed in the workplace. Another factor is that nonprofits struggle to offer opportunity for growth and development. Many nonprofits are small organizations operating out of one office. There is only so much room for an ambitious graduate to grow within a small organization.

To recruit top talent, nonprofits need to focus on appealing to candidates’ interest in the nonprofit’s mission, finding ways to develop workers through training and succession planning, offering unique perks such as international travel, and finding ways to compensate competitively.

2.  Utilizing Social media and Content

Both for-profit and nonprofit businesses will be focusing on utilizing Social Media and Content to promote what they do. The difference is that nonprofits are disadvantaged because they do not have the resources that for-profit enterprises have to pour into Social Media research.

However, Social Media and Content marketing are even more important to nonprofits. This is because when compared to Brands (for-profit), people tend to feel a stronger emotional connection to the work of a nonprofit. If nonprofits effectively utilize Social Media and Content, they will be able to raise more funds, educate the public about their work, gather membership, and recruit quality employees.

Fortunately, Social Media and Content are not difficult to utilize. Most nonprofits can integrate Social Media and Content strategy into their organizational plans by simply tapping into existing skills and knowledge of their younger workers.

3.  Rethinking Funding

Funding is so much more to a nonprofit than just simply gathering donations or membership dues. In 2013, leaders of nonprofits will have to get creative with their funding. Nonprofits have experienced the brunt of the economic instability in the US over the last several years, and must now focus on protecting their assets.

One shift in thinking is with the management of organizational portfolios. As interest rates on savings have continued to linger at near zero levels, interest in investments has grown. The challenge is that many nonprofit leaders lack portfolio management skills and as such are increasingly using Outsourced Chief Investment Officers (OCIO).

OCIOs are typically contracted by nonprofits to manage portfolios - similar to how a hedge fund manager manages portfolios. Many nonprofits also dictate that investments be made in accordance with their organizations’ mission and purpose.

4.  Calculating the Sequester

As previously mentioned, the US had two budget battles in the beginning of 2013. On February 28, 2013, across-the-board spending cuts were enacted; these spending cuts are known as ‘The Sequester.’ Spending cuts included everything from mandatory unpaid days off for federal employees to cuts to USDA inspections, to a long list of cuts to grants. The trouble with the cuts to grants is that they have been very unclear, and organizations are still waiting to understand whether or not they have grant funding.

Nonprofits that provide medical research and receive federal funding such as the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center were aware the cuts were looming. They, like so many people did their best to encourage Congress to come to an agreement to prevent across-the-board cuts. Unfortunately, their efforts failed and now there will be a 5% cut to National Institutes of Health funding in 2013.

Nonprofits need to act quickly to determine whether anticipated funding will be available. Now that The Sequester has been enacted, this information will become available. Organizations that have been impacted will need to come up with alternative plans to make up the difference in funding.

5.  Earning Public Trust

As nonprofits tend to serve the communities around them, ensuring public trust is key to the success of the organization. Public trust is crucial all entities but especially to nonprofits. Nonprofits rely on community support and donations in order to accomplish their missions and objectives.

Nonprofits need to show high level of transparency, integrity, and evidence of results in order to build community trust. Social Media and content on is an excellent way to earn public trust in 2013. Nonprofits that receive government funding should disclose it, and at the same time differentiate themselves from being a governmental entity. Full and complete reporting of finances to the public in a way that they understand should also be a priority for earning public trust. Ultimately, people want to know that their donations are to a cause they believe in, not administrative costs, not marketing costs, and not employee compensation.

All five of these priorities are interrelated. Talented employees are required in order to earn public trust, manage funding, understand the impacts of The Sequester, and utilize Social Media and content as a means of promoting the organization. Without funding, there cannot be talented employees to promote the organization and accomplish its objectives.

Priorities for nonprofits are a little different than their for-profit counterparts but there are many similarities, most notably the need to use Social Media and the urgent requirement to recruit top quality talent. Leaders of nonprofits will need to focus on these top five priorities to ensure that their nonprofit is sustainable well past 2013.

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Abhipraya Subedi is a seasoned professional, certified nonprofit manager, adjunct professor, chief editor, published author and adult mentor in the Fairfax County Public School System. He constantly focuses on development in the community and supports his community by volunteering his time to many organizations by serving on board and providing fundraising consultation, and donor retention strategy towards sustainable growth.