Trends that are becoming mainstream, affecting most associations and charities, need to be high on the list of issues for strategic discussion and action by nonprofit leaders. These trends are pronounced and are becoming more significant. The question becomes how influential they will be in shaping organizational agendas through 2015.

I see five trends that are worthy of strategic focus by boards and staff leadership in 2012 and 2013. They are not in any particular order.

Communication: Jack of all media, master of many

Technology and relatively open communication have been increasingly major forces politically and socially for years. Egypt (when access to the Internet was not turned off) and the occupy movement are two examples from 2011.

While a lot of social media content may be fluff, social media undeniably enable everyone to access just about everything in real time. There is no filter other than what someone, somewhere, has decided to communicate/post/tweet, and no controls apply other than technology constraints. The growth of social media as channels to engage constituents and stakeholders is exciting and empowering, but it continues to be perplexing to many nonprofits as they race to keep up, let alone stay ahead.

Nonprofits everywhere are looking at their communication strategy, the resource implications once a strategy is developed, and the realization that there is no one-size-fits-all approach. Effective communication requires multiple channels to reach across generations and the internal resources to generate current information quickly, 24/7.

Immediate response, fast decision-making on messaging, and less control (protection) of information are not traditional strengths for most nonprofits. Many nonprofits still struggle with strategic questions (What end is served with this approach?) and key issues, including how best to communicate, to whom, when, and how much it will cost.

A recent article actually suggests that engaging on social media does not make sense for every nonprofit, and there is still the hard reality that senior, busy executives are not going to check in with Facebook or Twitter every day (or every week).

Arguably, social media are now so mainstream it is archaic to define it as a trend. The force to be reckoned with is the imperative that all nonprofit leaders continue to evaluate and strategize on how best to disseminate information, engage with their stakeholders, and meet growing societal expectations for fairness, openness and transparency.

Transparency: WikiLeaks is coming to a boardroom near you

With more available information, the expectation is created even more information. How it looks is that nonprofits — like all organizations — are increasingly expected to be more transparent.

The focus everywhere is on how decisions are made and how money is spent. Society believes in a world with WikiLeaks, where no information can or should be hidden. Even the founder of Facebook has suggested that privacy is a dying concept.

Ontario’s e-Health issue brought the consequence home for Ontario nonprofits, where now more thorough and competitive selection processes for suppliers is a requirement. Ontario has also had recent examples where the government has proactively intervened by telling governors of self-regulated organizations (nonprofits with members) to shape up or face extinction.

Nationally, the Canada Revenue Agency has brought considerable scrutiny to nonprofit organizations that are viewed to be operating profit centres (e.g., trade shows) and, therefore, perhaps not staying within the mandate that justifies the provision of tax-exempt status in the first place.

Members and other stakeholders are increasingly expecting to have a direct voice and a real influence on decision-making. An example could include groups within a membership organization creating petitions on Facebook to build opposition support for a decision made by the organization’s representatives (whether a union executive or a governing board).

The implications for nonprofit leaders include deciding on the resource investment that will be necessary to determine what appropriately stays private as well as managing stakeholders who view transparency as a right rather than an expectation.

More engaged boards: Governance reformation is here

Accountability and scrutiny breeds more attentive governing boards.

At a recent meeting a businessperson (an MBA in financial services) observed that nonprofit executive directors “too often hand-select the directors they want on their boards.” My response was that if those days ever did exist, they are rapidly ending.

Quality governance is the focus everywhere and, frankly, so it should be. True leaders in 2012 do not avoid the scrutiny of the people who actually own the organization. Fortunately, outstanding programs are preparing increasing numbers of people in government, business, and the nonprofit sector to understand and carry out the duties of a well-functioning governing body.

There are many articles on the roles and responsibilities of directors and boards at CharityVillage®. The place to start is the understanding that the board has a legal responsibility for the organization and the board decides who will be the chief staff executive, not the other way around. Directors are becoming better informed and educated about governance and this reformation is an unstoppable force. Nonprofit executive directors who saw the board as an unfortunate distraction are now seeing that there is zero tolerance from board for the “tail wagging the dog” approach.

Mergers: Demonstrate value or face a shotgun wedding

Corporations are asked to support nonprofit organizations in many ways: partnership or sponsorship money; membership dues for their professional employees; staff volunteer time to serve on committees or support for charity projects. The more engaged boards (or the CEOs) of those member companies are increasingly asking about the return on investment. Fortunately, a lot of nonprofits have a convincing case to make for ongoing support. In some cases, however, members are seeing better value by consolidating support into one or more highly effective nonprofits, rather than scattering resources across several.

Examples include retail trade associations in the nonprofit sector. Here are three examples: The Canadian Shoe Retailers’ Association, The Canadian Retail Hardware Association, and The Canadian Council of Grocery Distributors. As stand-alone organizations they no longer exist. In their heyday they were successful and supported by hundreds of members. Today, retailers in these sectors have turned to larger organizations with considerable capacity, specifically the Retail Council of Canada. Some may call it a merger, an outright demise or even achieving economies-of-scale. In any event, the members decided to place their trust in other organizations.

This trend may be below the radar for nonprofit leaders but it is out there and, if not resulting in more association or charity mergers, will certainly result in tougher questions about the ROI (defined in real terms) being delivered to members, sponsors, and donors.

Demand for services: Whether more or less, it’ll be tough to deliver

Governments are facing serious fiscal constraints and focusing on the most important economic priorities in society. As the result, very important work that government can no longer afford to pay for will increasingly be left to others to deliver or will fall away altogether. It means that organizations will see more demand for their good work.

Not all nonprofit organizations are created equally, however. While some charities will struggle to keep pace with growing demand for their good work within communities and by individual Canadians, business and professional associations are more likely to see the demand for their services decline.

There are many trends within this trend. One is the attitude of the next generations (already adults) who view career and profession as something other than a straight path and lifelong calling. Individuals will continue to graduate as accountants, engineers, lawyers, teachers, and veterinarians, but as their lives evolve they may see themselves moving out of their profession, into new ones, back again, and then setting new career directions again. The engineer becomes the franchise owner of the coffee bar. Then she becomes the manager of the trade association. The veterinarian leaves the practice altogether and becomes a stay-at-home-mom.

A second trend, as I have noted in prior articles, reveals businesses with increasing accountability to offshore parent corporations who question the value in maintaining support for a local nonprofit. While I have not seen evidence that all support of nonprofits ends from the domestic subsidiary, there are increasing numbers of nonprofits who must respond with a different value proposition (e.g., more online, borderless education and more government relations). It also requires a re-thinking of the very concept of membership as individual members re-think to what groups they belong and for how long.

There are many forces shaping the nonprofit sector that present real strategic challenges for nonprofit leaders. The prudent response is to ensure that boards of directors and senior staff devote time to a serious discussion about what these trends are, what they mean to the organization, and how best to respond. That investment will help equip organizations to capitalize on change and see it as opportunity. The best strategic planning meetings ensure the really tough questions are out in the open and the focus of robust debate (backed with good research and information).

Content is © Jack Shand and is reprinted with permission.

Jack Shand, CMC, CAE, is president of Leader Quest, a management consulting firm providing expert advice to not-for-profit organizations since 1997. Leader Quest specializes in executive search/staff recruitment, strategic planning, governance, and organizational reviews. Jack can be reached at 905-842-3845 and 1-877-929-4473, or jack-at-leaderquest-dot-com.