RUNNING HEADER: SUBSTAINABILITY AND NON-PROFITS

Sustainability and Non-Profits: A look at Twelfth Avenue Baptist of Emporia, KS

Alexandra Ewy
Tarek Mhiri
BU 530XA
SWOT Paper
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I-Introduction and Background:

Running a non-profit is a struggle, no matter the situation of the economy. It often times
relies on people donating money to strangers, or limited government grants and funding.
Different non-profit organizations operate in their own way, depending on what their mission is
and how much the public empathizes with their cause. For example, many organizations oriented
around research or technology have to seek funds from the public sector due to their lack of
emotional pull. This can lead to inconsistency based upon political regimes and other political
factors that are outside of an organizations control. Being economically and socially sufficient
and sustainable are two tasks that the majority of non-profits have to face. While not as large as
an issue for non-profits, due to the nature of their work, as it is with for-profits, being
environmentally sustainable is another task that organizations should try to accomplish. When
looking towards the local Emporia community, there are several excelled non-profits and
organizations that could be looked at. This analysis focuses on one organization devoted to
helping its members and the community.

Twelfth Avenue Baptist Church in Emporia, KS was founded in 1962. It was created by
two ESU professors who met at ESU until their building was finished. The organization is
affiliated with the Kansas Nebraska Convention of Southern Baptist, and this affiliation is what
allows Twelfth Avenue Baptist to retain their tax-exempt status. Should they ever decided to
move away from the doctrines of the KNCSB, they would not only lose their tax status but also
the land that the church is on since the organization enabled the local branch to build the church
when they were first established back in the sixties (12thave.org). They are currently operating
successfully, relying on donations from members in order to pay personal salaries and fund
outreach programs. However, before going deeper into the church and how they operate, it is
important to first understand how non-profits operate both socially and economically in order to
properly analyze Twelfth Avenue Baptist.

I-Sustainability strategies for Non-Profits

1-Economic Sustainability for Non-Profits:

In order to successfully analyze Twelfth Avenue Baptist Church and their economic
situation and how they operate, it is important to first understand how non-profits operate and
stay in business, as well as some of the issues and hurdles they face. A key accounting principle
is making more profits than you have in costs, but then how do non-profits get finances and keep
the doors open? There are several different ways that non-profits stay operational, depending on
their mission and how they structure themselves.

Some non-profits, like Make-a-Wish, are able to rely on peoples emotions in order to get
donations. These organizations often rely on getting donors at every income level by appealing
to them on a basic emotional level that is relatable for everyone. Other organizations rely on
donations from people that have used their services in the past. This would be like Planed Parent
Hood or a clinic, appealing to people who have benefited from their services and would like
others to have the same opportunity moving forward (Foster,2009). In this same thread of
thought, Churches and other organizations get donations from members that continually benefit
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from the non-profit. These members are often compelled to donate because it is a large part of
their day to day and donating to the organization would directly benefit them.

The non-profits that rely heavily on donations face a whole different slew of obstacles
than those that rely on grants. While there is often stiff competition for them, grants take into
account costs that may accumulate over a process and do not expect immediate results more
often than not. On the other hand, many donors want to see the immediate tangible effects of
their donation, like a new well in a poor country or a house rebuilt after a tornado. The reality is,
though, that like most organizations a large part of non-profits costs are simply things like
utilities and employee salaries. These are not causes or reasons for most people to donate
though.

Another avenue that non-profits can take, besides direct donations, is the path of grants or
government assistance. For many companies, the work they do is not one that is integral to
peoples everyday life or that is very appealing to a wide portion of the population. While they
can attract big ticket donors or government money, the average person would not be compelled
to donate to them over other organizations that are more relatable (Foster,2009). However,
politics and other matters can often get in the way of companies receiving grants or funding even
being offered. Depending on the administration and grant process, funding can be low or require
expensive lobbying. They may also be competing with other organizations with a very similar
goal or message, forcing them to find a way to differentiate themselves.

Finally, there are large organizations, like Habitat for Humanity, that rely on local
branches and volunteers to keep their organization going. Each affiliate of the organization is
different from one another, with individual policies and regulations that allow them to be flexible
to their local area (habitat.org). By having local branches and relations, they are also able to
keep in touch and relevant with people across the nation without having to large blanket national
marketing campaigns like many for-profit companies have to. They are also able to do localized
fundraising that specifically targets independent communities that is more effective. Volunteers
are also easier to gather when they can see the direct result of their actions within their
community for many years to come.

When analyzing non-profits and how they remain economically relevant and feasible, an
important distinction made in the non-profit sector is that beneficiaries and the people that
organizations help are not customers in the traditional sense that they are with for-profit
companies, with a few exceptions. While money is solicited from donors, these may not directly
be the people that see dividends from the funds. Finding ways to help people and finding ways
to get money are two separate actions that require additional planning and strategies. This adds
another layer of complexity and effort, eating away more resources that are diverted from the
organizations mission.

Finding ways to cut costs, without sacrificing the operations goals, should always be in
the front of a non-profits mind. Renting a cheaper space, or mailing out postcards instead letters,
is an example of how a company could shave off the little of a cost without making major
changes to their plan or organization. Unfortunately, more often than not the focus is outward on
making more money and getting more donors, without looking inward and seeing what could be
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change on the inside. Sometimes organizations also think that everything they do is in the best
interest of the group or groups they are trying to help, without stepping back and truly evaluating
their cost-benefit analysis for the actions.

2-Social sustainability

The main purpose of a non-profit organization is to create a change on the level of an

individual or a group of individuals through its service/activities. In order to achieve this change,
pragmatism is the key word. In elaborating the programs/ activities, being pragmatic is a must to
be able to choose the right activities for the right social class/group. It is also important to be
pragmatic in order to be able to reach your target benefactors in an efficient way and to be
achieve high impact. Creativity, good management practices and again, pragmatism is the best
way to achieve that sought social impact in order to make people life easier. Nonprofit
sustainability requires a complete change of thinking and a total mindset transformation.
Through the last years, many successful non-profit organization emerged and created that
High impact on society through many strategies. They are summarized into 6 main strategies:

1. Serve and Advocate: Organizations may start out providing great program and they
add policy advocacy to acquire government resources and to change legislation in order to
achieve high impact. Other nonprofits start out by doing advocacy and later add grassroots
programs to supercharge their strategy.
The nonprofit Self-Help, based in Durham, N.C., presents an excellent example of how
combining advocacy with service can result in greater impact. Self-Help began by giving home
loans to clients often poor, minority single mothers who did not qualify for traditional
mortgages. Predatory lenders tried their best to undermine its work. In order to counter them,
Self-Help organized a statewide coalition in North Carolina and lobbied to pass the first anti-
predatory lending law in the country. Through its advocacy efforts, it has created far more value
for the countrys most vulnerable populations by protecting them from predatory lenders.

2. Make Markets Work: High-impact nonprofits have learned that tapping into the power
of self-interest and the laws of economics is far more effective than appealing to pure altruism.
The New York-based organization was founded in the late 1960s by a group of scientists who
lobbied to ban the use of DDT, and its informal motto for years was sue the bastards. Over
time, however, the nonprofit became known for a different and initially more radical
approach: working with corporations to change their business processes and become more
sustainable.
The nonprofit worked with McDonalds in the 1980s to make the fastfood giants
packaging more environmentally sound. Since then, Environmental Defense has worked with
hundreds of companies from FedEx to Wal-Mart Stores often scaling its innovations to
change practices in an entire industry.

Changing the industrys practices and helping large companies reach historically
underserved markets.
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3. Inspire Evangelists: High-impact nonprofits build strong communities of supporters

who help them achieve their larger goals. They value volunteers, donors, and advisers not only
for their time, money, and guidance, but also for their evangelism. To inspire supporters
commitment, these nonprofits create emotional experiences that help connect supporters to the
groups mission and core values. Habitat for Humanity, located in Americus, Ga., exemplifies
this ability to create a larger community and inspire evangelists for its cause. That model
includes enlisting supporters in the very core of its work: building homes for the poor.
Participants work alongside the future residents of the home, and in the process live out their
values while becoming advocates for the housing cause. These evangelists, in turn, recruit their
friends and colleagues, expanding the circle of supporters outward.

4. Nurture Nonprofit Networks: Although most nonprofits pay lip service to

collaboration, many of them really see other groups as competition for scarce resources. But high
impact organizations help their peers succeed, building networks of nonprofit allies and devoting
remarkable time and energy to advancing their fields.
Other high-impact nonprofits harness the power of networks. In some cases, they
formalize their networks through an affiliation structure, such as YouthBuild USA or Americas
Second Harvest. Regardless of whether they have formal or informal affiliates, all of these
nonprofits help build their respective fields through collaboration rather than competition. They
share financial resources and help other nonprofits succeed at fundraising. They give away
their model and proprietary information in an open-source approach

5. Master the Art of Adaptation: High-impact nonprofits are exceptionally adaptive,

modifying their tactics as needed to increase their success. They have responded to changing
circumstances with one innovation after another

Share Our Strength has been exceptionally adaptive. Bill Shore started the Washington,
D.C.-based nonprofit by mailing letters to food industry celebrities to raise money for hunger
relief. Although he received a few checks, he found that professional chefs were much more
enthusiastic about donating their time and talent to a local tasting event. After the success of a
single event in Denver, Share Our Strength abandoned its direct mail campaign and launched the
Taste of the Nation series now a national success in more than 70 cities. It has raised millions
of dollars for hunger relief, and many other nonprofits have copied it.

6. Share Leadership: They distribute leadership within their organizations and

throughout their external nonprofit networks, empowering others to lead. Leaders of high-impact
nonprofits cultivate a strong second-in-command, build enduring executive teams with long
tenure, and develop large and powerful boards.
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3-Environmental sustainability

Here are some facts in regards to environment sustainability that might surprise the average non-
profit owner;
The average nonprofit office worker disregards 175 pounds of high-grade paper per
year.
Business use 2 million tons of paper in copiers each year.
A faucet with a slow leak can waste more than 10 gallons of water a day. A single
leaky toilet can waste as much as 100 gallons per day.
Energy star monitors have power management features and consume up to 90 percent
less energy than conventional monitors.
Fax machines can reduce their annual electricity costs about 50 percent.
A simple tune-up can increase the energy efficiency of your furnace by 5 percent.
If a commuter car in the United States carried just one more passenger, we would
save 600,000 gallons of gas and reduce air emissions by 12 million pounds by 12
million pounds of carbon dioxide every day.
An improperly tuned car produces 10 to 15 times more pollution than a tuned one.
(Adrienne,T.H.(2010) Nonprofit Guide To Green,NewJersy,Willy)

As it is clear above, small things can have big impact. Especially, for a nonprofit
organization, since cash inflow is based on donations. In order to optimize the cash outflow and
to find a balance between implementing the desired programs and being green. The first thing to
do is to collect internal data through many the free and available tools. There are many options
for an organization to collect information. Listed below are just a few options for non-profits to
utilize:

Data Playbook (Shusterman Foundation)

Tip sheets and other free evaluation resources (Point K Learning Center - Innovation
Network)
Charting Impact (Independent Sector, BBB Wise Giving Alliance, and GuideStar).
Logic Model Development Guide (W.K. Kellogg Foundation)
PerformWell offers tools, such as sample surveys and assessments, for human service
organizations to use to evaluate outcomes.
Measuring Outcomes (US Dept. of Health and Human Services, Compassion Capital
Fund)

The second, a nonprofit should focus on are things that are energy consuming and how
they can make strides in being more efficient. The types of energy consuming activities are
listed below:
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Materials Material used by weight or volume

Energy Direct energy consumption by primary
energy sources
Water Total water withdrawal by source
Biodiversity Habitats protected or restored
Emissions, effluents Total direct and indirect GHG
and waste emissions by weight
Products and Percentage of products sold and their
services packaging materials that are reclaimed by
category
Transport Significant environmental impacts of
transporting products and other goods and
materials used for the organizations
operations, and transporting members
of the workforce

Once, we have available charts describing in a clear way the main anti green energy
consumer sources, we can start the green plan and it should be focused on 3 parts:

1. Focus on the 20% that will make 80% of the difference

2. Incorporate best practices and advances into the green plan
3. Ensure that the plan is comprehensive but manageable

One example of these practices is the Metropolitan Denver affiliate of Habitat for
Humanity (Habitat for Humanity of Metro Denver, or HFHMD) has improved the energy
efficiency of its homes by working with researchers from the National Renewable Energy
Laboratory (NREL). Together, they have created a series of energy-efficient demonstration
homes.
In 2004, HFHMD partnered with NREL for a third time to design and build a
demonstration home. This time, however, the partners set out to build a zero energy home. It
would be designed to produce as much energy as it consumed over the course of a year. To meet
this goal, the design would include attributes such as building envelope efficiency; passive and
active solar features; and efficient equipment, appliances, and lighting. NRELs managing
partners at the time, the Midwest Research Institute, Batelle, and Bechtel Corporation, sponsored
the home.
The 1,280-sq.-ft., three-bedroom home was completed in September 2005. Once built,
NREL researchers monitored the homes energy production and use, and found that the home
actually produced 24% more energy than it consumed over the course of a year, on a source
energy basis. The following chart shows their progress and the data they have collected.
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III-Sustainable SWOT Analysis: 12 Ave Church

Economic SWOT:

Strengths:

Compelling Cause: The churchs rallying cry for donations is one that is personal and
emotional to many people as spiritual causes are very close to many peoples heart.

Continuous Member Involvement: This is not an organization that does not see members
regularly or has to rely on emails. They see them at least once a week on Sundays, often times
more for special interest groups or those on committees.

Immediate and Tangible benefits from Donations: Member and beneficiaries can be one
and the same in this circumstance. Keeping programs running and church doors open allow for
donations to have tangible impact.

Member review of budget: The member review of the budget allows for an array of
viewpoints on finances and for some controls to be in place.

Weaknesses:
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Limited Donation Base: There are only so many people that the church can recruit or
illicit donations from. Eventually they will flat line on numbers.

Other Causes Pull Members Away: While the church is immediate to many people, they
can have other more emotional or personal causes that pull parishioners away or limit the
donations they can give to the church.

Personnel Costs: It may be hard for members to justify giving large amounts of money or
continuous amounts of money to pay for someone elses salary.

Evaluation is only once a year: This does not allow for quick changes or flexibility. Also,
the review by comity could lead to church politics or member politics getting in the way of
financial decisions.

Opportunities:

Lower Utility Costs: While they have already looked to changing out light bulbs, the
church could look at lowering other utility costs. One example might be landscaping fees or
perhaps heating and cooling.

Expand Member Base: While there is a limited base they can recruit from, they still have
room to grow and expand. By perhaps reaching out in their community projects or finding ways
to get their name out there more, they can expand their reach.

Affiliation ties: The church can take advantage of its ties to its member organization and
use this to gather more resources or tools for members and organizations.

Threats:

Economic Hard times: Like any organization, the Church is subject to hard economic
times that would strain finances. They are especially vulnerable since they rely on donations,
which would dwindle in times when cost of living or unemployment rises.

Lack of Involvement from members: If people are not involved or do not show up or
donate to the church then they suffer. It is also harder to show members the tangible benefits of
their donations or volunteer efforts if they are not present or involved.

Loss of members: Losing members to re-location or perhaps a change of religious

affiliation is another threat that would cost them donations as well as volunteers that lower
personnel costs.

Social SWOT:
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Social model: Befriend Then Preach

Strengths:

Gender Equity: More than 50% of employees are women

Large Geographic Dispersion of Members: A wide base of followers due to the excellent
geographic location. The Midwest is mainly Christians, giving them a large area of followers to
draw from.

Local Relationships: Close relationship to many local and deeply connected institutions
(eg: Emporia State University- Red Cross)

Heavily Involved: They have a wide range of activities ( worship service, bible studies,
family, marital counseling, international student activities, day care) and are also ingrained in the
community due to being established 50 years ago.

Weaknesses

Lack of Online Presence and Awareness. They have a very weak online presence. There
is an incomplete website and very little presence on social media.

Limited Communication: Choice of Ear to mouth as only way of events and activities.
Limits scope of communication

Assessment: There is a distinct absence of tangible and measureable techniques to

measure social impacts. They are not using software to keep track of social impacts,
success/failure of an activity/service.

Opportunities

Grow Physical Presence: They could expand territory of action. They are current limited
to Lyon and Chase counties.

Fundraising: Be more creative for fundraising events (green fundraising)

Improved Assessment: Use of modern techniques to track social progress/impacts using

software and other resources to gauge how programs are going.

Threats

Non-involvement: Missing potential future donators/followers due to lack of

social/online exposure to keep followers engaged and up to date on the church and their
activities.
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Declining Programs: Lack of financial resources due to insufficient donations (need to

increase numbers of followers/donators)

Unawareness: Missing potential benefactors due to lack of exposure

Environmental SWOT

Strengths

Utilities: They have made several strides to cut down on the electricity used at the
Church. These changes include;
-Use of thermostats for indoor temperature control
-Use of motion activated light switch

Carbon Footprint: The Limited number of owned cars (just 2 vans) reduces the amount
of gas and fuel the church uses. And gives members an option to carpool to events or social
programs.

Recycling: They recycle plastic waste. We know this due existence of recycling centers
and the communitys effort as a whole to be greener.

Tracking: Ability of tracking systems for the consumption of electricity and the
elaboration of quarterly charts

Weaknesses

Water Measurement: Absence of any measure to reduce water consumption

Group Mindset: Absence or any policy to encourage/promote eco-friendly culture within

the organization

Printing: Excessive use of printing machine (use of paper)

Tracking Co2: There is an absence of CO2 footprint tracking that could further allow the
organization to see their impact and how their actions effect the environment.

Opportunities

Mindset: To promote eco-friendly culture during activities or worship services

Planning: To create and implement green plan that is implemented in the whole
organization
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Draw in new Donors: Create green to implement eco project and attract new kind of
green donators

Cooperation: Work on neighborhood organizations with similar goals. This can further
the reach and impact of projects, as well as reduce the cost and resources needed by the Church

Grants: Search for state and governmental programs to finance eco-project with social
purposes

Threats

Utilities: To lose opportunities in cutting costs. They could miss out on changing or
switching over to new technology that could save them money, losing money in the long run.

Missed Opportunities: To lose partnership opportunities to work on those projects with

other organization

Grants: To lose sponsorship opportunities to work on those projects from governmental

agencies

Awareness: To lose a precious opportunity to preach and educate people on being

environment-friendly

Recommendations

Increase their donations baseline (donors pool) by using other way of marketing
Mapping the area in order to know potential followers, benefactors or donators
Adopt eco-friendly habits by enabling the current green plan (they have one)
Adopt pragmatic criteria to measure their social impact (eg: create charts displaying the
evolution of the number of followers)
Plan for an energy shift for the next 5 years and predicting its cost
Check available State and Federal programs for green sponsorships
Work with other Non-Profit and try to learn or transpose their experience (through
missionary trips for instance)
Educate followers about the advantages eco-friendly habits

References
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Foster, W., Kim, P., & Christansim, B. (2009, Spring). Ten Nonprofit Funding Models (SSIR).
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Hart, T., Capps, A. D., & Bauer, M. (2010). Nonprofit guide to going green. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.

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The 2002 NREL Denver Habitat for Humanity House, April 2005 NREL/TP-550-36150
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http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects/SolarHomes/36150_affordable_2002_habitat.pdf

The Nonprofit Starvation Cycle (SSIR). (n.d.). Retrieved December 07, 2016, from
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