HAWAI'I'S NONPROFITS
Leaders of nonprofits learn to adapt in uncertain times
By Kelvin H. Takata
Last week, Christina Cox, president of KCAA Preschools, sat down to craft a letter to the parents of the children in the seven preschools that she oversees.
The letter addressed what has been on everyone's mind — war and its repercussions. Her message to them was clear and reassuring: We are prepared to respond to a war-related emergency in the unlikely event that one should occur. Your children are our first priority.
"We're trying to do everything we can to make sure that our children are safe," Cox said. "In the past, our emergency disaster plans focused on natural disasters. After Sept. 11, one of our board members arranged for us to visit a preschool on a military base, and we were able to include some of the procedures we learned there into our plan."
In addition, Cox provided parents with materials on how to talk to children about war, and updated emergency contact records at all sites.
Not every event or change in circumstance is as dramatic as the war in Iraq. However, nonprofit leaders like Cox who reflect on the impact of external conditions and trends on their organizations can be proactive in the midst of uncertainty to stay focused on their mission.
According to a three-year capacity building program study by the Hawai'i Community Foundation, the ability to adapt and respond to changing conditions can improve a nonprofit organization's existing programs and infrastructure, making it more resilient to meet the challenges head on. This kind of adaptive capacity includes organizational characteristics such as learning, innovation, collaboration, responsiveness, evaluation and shared leadership.
The days of an organization designing a program with the intention of operating the same way for a number of years are probably gone.
Adaptive capacity reflects newer management concepts that are based on discontinuous change — being attuned to the needs and desires of constituents, and then attempting to anticipate these needs.
The challenge for the Blood Bank of Hawai'i is to maintain Hawai'i's blood supply — no matter what.
Similar to KCAA Preschools, the Blood Bank of Hawai'i's disaster preparedness plan focused on natural disasters, but Sept. 11 made them realize that disasters can come in many forms and immediately took steps to broaden their plan.
"If war and its effects are long term, the Blood Bank needed to determine how to maintain a supply over a long period," said Dr. Robyn Yim, president and medical director of the Blood Bank of Hawai'i.
"We thought about what we would need in order to operate and make sure that our clients would get what they need," Yim said. A lot of planning took place and different angles were explored. Issues such as Neighbor Island access and airport transportation were addressed.
As a result, blood testing, which was previously performed on the Mainland before Sept. 11, was brought back to Hawai'i, and extra blood supplies have been brought in from the Mainland.
Sept. 11 also brought up an interesting situation for the Blood Bank — the overwhelming volume of blood donors who wanted to help. "We are fortunate to have a generous community here," Yim said. "Those long lines (after the attacks) showed the best of people and our community spirit."
Yim explained, however, that a plan had to be developed to manage the influx of donors in relation to the limited shelf life of collected blood.
Current events in the world are clearly going to have an impact on us in Hawai'i. Our Legislature is struggling to find adequate resources to address the changing demands on government.
Nonprofits that are able to view these challenges as an opportunity to innovate and adapt are likely to be those that will find themselves in a stronger position when conditions improve.
Establishing partnerships, redesigning products, adjusting services, assessing customer needs — strategies that make sense at any time, have particular resonance today.
Although no one can predict what will happen tomorrow, the community relies on the nonprofit sector to be there. The need for the sector to be flexible and vigilant in order to respond to whatever might come our way is essential now, more than ever.
Kelvin H. Taketa is president and chief executive officer of the Hawai'i Community Foundation. E-mail him at kelvin@hcf-hawaii .org.
