BIG's Blog: Strategic Agility

A leader in the fundraising community was comparing the success of a start-up nonprofit to an established program in the same field. My response to this was that you can’t compare a start-up to an established program. This reason is based upon strategic agility.

What is strategic agility? An online business dictionary states:

"The ability for companies to stay competitive in their business by adjusting and adapting to new innovative ideas and using these ideas to create new products and services as well as new business models."


In established organizations, the day-to-day operations become predictable. The need to change is not considered unless a process is truly broken. Innovation is usually not a part of the corporate chemistry. In comparison, the start-up has a culture that allows for flexibility, is open to and looking for new and exciting ideas...making the environment agile.


As the world of nonprofits is challenged to look at a new way of doing business, established organizations must have the capacity to identify and capture business opportunities more quickly. The changes and innovations that affected other industries may affect nonprofits too. Leaders should seek out knowledge from industries with similar experiences to help the organization remain or become agile again. Those who collaborate together with a clear purpose can rid the organization from uncertainty and be more competitive today and into the future.

-Gail 

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