Author: Peter Cantelon, Executive Director
Working in the Non-Profit sector helping to finance initiatives that, in one way or another, contribute to the reduction of poverty throughout Winnipeg and Manitoba is one of the most gratifying roles I have ever held.
If you ask most people who work in the sector either on the front-line delivering programs and services or as an intermediary like Jubilee Fund, they usually echo the sentiment.
What you do not hear very often publicly (and even behind the scenes in peer gatherings) is the struggle related to those moments when you have to say no to an opportunity or an initiative, or, the absolute worst when you have to say no to an individual.
The longer a person works in the Non-Profit sector the more familiar they become with the deep needs and also with the enormous potential to resolve even the most long-lasting problems. As you gain a broader and deeper view of the landscape you begin to see the pieces that, should they all come together, would finally move us toward the goal of poverty elimination, ending racism, reversing climate change and more.
The only thing that stops a person from rushing headlong toward the goal is the fact that in every instance the solutions require a long-term vision. They need the people and service organizations to be there over the long haul.
This key need contributes to how non-profits make decisions about how to support, what to support and who to support. It is easy to become overwhelmed with the need and want to solve all problems all at once.
In reality having 100 Jubilee Funds would not be enough to solve the poverty problem in Manitoba (but it would be a good start).
Too often good people and good organizations fall to the crush of trying to do too much by going well beyond capacity. When this happens employees burn out, turnover rates increase, costs go up dramatically and the viability of the organization is undermined.
Knowing the significance of the issues faced the goal is to ensure organizations like Jubilee Fund are here in 25 or 50 years continuing to erode the foundations of poverty through impact investment and social finance initiatives.
All of this feeds the difficult decision to say no sometimes. There are times when a financing opportunity comes that has staggering vision but lacks the ability to demonstrate long term viability. A choice to say no to such an opportunity is a decision seeking to avoid helping an organization or a person dig a hole that they cannot climb out of.
Often saying no is also saying let us help you along the path to a place where it can be a yes. We will lay out the reasons for a no and what the organization or person can do to get to a yes.
Then there are times when the no has nothing to do with the opportunity and everything to do with available funds. These are the worst. When we have to speak to a non-profit’s executive director, a social enterprise’s CEO or an individual and honestly tell them we would love to help you but we just don’t have the funds right now – it is especially challenging.
In these circumstances we do our best to network opportunities with other prospective partners and sometimes try to build unique financing partnerships where multiple parties can provide the funding to lighten the load on everyone.
There have been times when we have developed very innovative and highly trust-based financing packages that make a Yes work for both the organization and Jubilee Fund – the Harriet Street Affordable Senior’s Housing initiative is an example of this.
Ultimately, Jubilee Fund’s goal is to be here for the long haul. As such we seek to grow our investments and donations so that we have more to work with, making it less likely we have to say no for funding reasons.
It is never easy for a Non-Profit to say no. But sometimes that no means a larger yes in the future. Sometimes it happens to ensure there will be a future.