How Do We Make Infrastructure Sexy?

At the turn of the century (yes, this century) computers, email and the internet were changing how all of us did our day-to-day work. At the YWCA in New York City, where I was responsible for Development, Marketing, Membership and Communications, it became clear that – in addition to implementing a CRM and using Microsoft Outlook to schedule meetings – we needed an electronic database and sales system to run our facilities and gym membership program.

It seems quaint now, but at the time it was groundbreaking that members could have something resembling a credit card to swipe as they entered the YW, and then staff would see a screen with all that member's information. High-end fitness centers like Equinox and LA Fitness had made the investment, but we struggled to find the money to upgrade our system to be competitive.

The trouble was ... and is ... that infrastructure is not sexy. Your supporters are inspired by what you do, less so by what it takes for you to do it efficiently. I work with nonprofits of every size that are grappling with finding the funds to keep up with the infrastructure demands of running an effective organization in the 21st century.

Heather McLeod Grant and Leslie R. Crutchfield put it well in their book Forces for Good: The Six Practices of High-Impact Nonprofits:

Funding great people and raising ongoing funding are two
significant challenges facing all nonprofits, but there is a third
challenge as well. Within the social sector, organizations are
discouraged from investing in the very things they need in
order to build their own capacity and sustain their impact:
systems and infrastructure. 

That was my reality 20+ years ago at the YWCA when membership card swiping technology that is commonplace today seemed like a futuristic fantasy that we would never be able to afford. It’s even more relevant today as sophisticated fundraising databases, financial management systems, evaluation and assessment tools for program impact, and predictive modeling for direct marketing, high-end fundraising and planned giving are basic tools of the trade.

And now as we enter the 2020s, in addition to systems that advance organizations, nonprofits need systems to protect themselves.

Organizational infrastructure needs to support all facets of your programs, operations and fundraising. It also must be up to the growing demands of legal and ethical compliance. Any organization that hasn’t been schooled on the need for robust HR systems in the face of a #metoo moment just hasn’t been paying attention. And advocacy organizations that are challenging the power structure better be prepared for an “out of nowhere” hack that can compromise your data and your intellectual capital.

It may go without saying that systems are only as effective as the people behind them. Investing in staffing the infrastructure side of your organization is what keeps the engines running.

Nonprofits need to work as a community to educate philanthropists and funders on the essential nature of the back-end systems and the people who run them. It’s a hard choice for organizations when they allocate budget for infrastructure rather than for programs, but it’s a choice that wise leaders have to make.

So, how do we make infrastructure sexy? Let’s get real: we probably can’t. But the need for it — and more of it — is real and growing. What we can do right now is change the conversation about what it actually takes to run an effective nonprofit.