"Saving The World With Project Management" from the July 2011 Issue of PM Network

24 PM NETWORK july 2011 WWW.PMI.ORG

Saving
the
World
by Sarah Fister Gale
* illustration by ian whadcock

With Project Management
Not-for-profits can do good—
for the world and their own
ROI—by increasing
transparency and accountability.

july 2011 PM NETWORK 25

ot-for-profit organizations severely limit their ability to thrive,
are often created by a group says Kim Sutton, director of FSI (The
of passionate people devoted Foundation for Social Improvement), a
to a good cause. And while London, England-based not-for-profit
they may have the ambition group that helps small U.K. charities
to help those in need, they expand their fundraising skills. “They
often lack the business knowl- want to accomplish something, but
edge necessary to transform pas- they often lack the business structure
sion into a successful portfolio they need to accomplish their goals.”
of projects that make the most of FSI offers consulting and training
frequently limited funds. courses, including a program on project
While the not-for-profit sector management. “Project management fits
may seem far removed from the our vision of helping these organiza-
corporate realm, project managers tions become more efficient,” she says.
can learn a lot from their for-profit In the course, instructors teach not-
counterparts. for-profit groups how to create a project
“Running a not-for-profit is not that plan, set goals, and create a budget and
different than the for-profit world,” schedule.
says Paul R. Williams, PMP, executive Even a simple project plan can help
director of the American Institute for smaller teams stay focused on what they
Innovation Excellence, a not-for-profit are trying to accomplish and enable
organization dedicated to developing them to do more in less time, Ms. Sut-
and sharing best practices in innova- ton says. “And it deters the haphazard
tion management based in De Pere, approach that some small organizations
Wisconsin, USA. “You need short-, have of doing a little of this and a little
medium- and long-term goals,” he says. of that.”
“You need to manage resources and Project management techniques also
measure results. Project management is allow organizations to assess the impact
a part of all of that.” of their efforts. When Ms. Sutton
begins working with a charity, her first
One Size Fits All step is to review a recent fundraising
Many smaller organizations see project project and score it based on its ROI.
management as too complex for what “There can be a lot of burst bubbles
they are trying to accomplish—but at the end of that conversation,” she
they’re missing the big picture. admits, noting that after the cost of
“Project management is what you the event is subtracted from total gains,
make of it,” Mr. Williams says. “You many of these projects return far less
take the pieces that work for you and than the group expected.
scale it up or down to meet your needs.” “They think that because it gave
Not-for-profit organizations that them exposure it was worth the effort,
don’t use formal methodologies for but that’s not the only objective,”
planning projects or measuring ROI she says. “As a not-for-profit, you’ve

A good resource-tracking system
gives you a story to tell. That’s how
you secure continuing support.
—Tue Nguyen, PhD, Institute for OneWorld Health, South San Francisco, California, USA


>>In for the Long Haul
Project management strategies enable not- have the necessary skills and resources.
for-profit teams to proactively address key Planeterra is planning to hire and train
issues and plan for long-term sustainable new local project managers in Thailand,
growth. Peru and Costa Rica, working with the Gap
Planeterra, a not-for-profit sustainable Adventures global team, a sustainability-
tourism organization, recently completed minded travel company that established the
an in-depth strategic planning session to not-for-profit.
support a broader goal to move away from “Many of the people in these communi-
individual one-off projects that are not ties have never written a grant or managed
developed with the larger goals and needs a business,” Ms. Wood says. “Rather than
of the regions in mind. demand that they meet sophisticated crite-
“The focus now is helping empower ria, our project managers will assist them
local people to develop their communities, for the first year to be sure they can achieve
conserve cultures, and create a humane their goals.”
and supportive system for their endeav- The transformation is still being rolled
ors based on a steady cycle of giving and out, though the strategic planning process
investment,” says Megan Epler Wood, the alone has been tremendously valuable to
Toronto, Ontario, Canada-based organiza- the team, Ms. Wood attests.
tion’s executive director. “It helped us take a step back and see
Ms. Wood and her team seek out sus- where we want to go and how to proceed,”
tainable business opportunities that deliver she says. “That perspective allowed us
ongoing economic and social value, such as to set objective goals based on what we
a project to launch a community center in believe is possible.”
Siem Reap, Cambodia that provides voca- For the first time, Ms. Wood says, rather
tional training in cooking and hospitality to than reacting to events and needs, the
young people in the surrounding area, or foundation can be proactive. Along with
an initiative to create a women’s weaving targeting long-term sustainable projects,
co-op in the village of Ccaccaccollo, Peru. Planeterra plans to build up an ongoing
“Our first step was developing the stra- fund for disaster relief.
tegic plan,” Ms. Wood says. That included “Reacting to crises after they occur is
creating a new process for assessing the debilitating timewise,” she notes. “Having a
sustainability potential of initiatives, and sustainable fund means the resources will
determining whether the project leaders be there as they are needed.”

got a responsibility to your trustees to “Quantifiable measures prove project
deliver the best ROI with the resources success.”
you’ve got.”
By building a plan that clearly defines Oversight:
the goals of the project, organizations The Best Medicine
can measure if they have achieved their One of the biggest challenges for not-
objectives. Whether they are attempt- for-profits is securing funding. Project
ing to sign up 100 volunteers or donate management processes are especially
£1,000 worth of food to the needy, useful in communicating with donors
these metrics make it much easier to who want to see where their money is
determine what they’ve accomplished going.
and to communicate those achievements “If you can show that you have
to their benefactors, Ms. Sutton says. a disciplined approach to executing


projects in the field, donors will know port, notes Tue Nguyen, PhD, vice
that their money is not being wasted,” president of research and pre-clinical
Mr. Williams says. “Show them a road development and leader of the diar-
map and a timeline, and it will give rheal diseases program at the Institute
them the confidence to invest in you.” for OneWorld Health. The South San
Having a project management pro- Francisco, California, USA-based not-
cess that tracks where funds come from for-profit pharmaceutical organization
and how they are being used to sup- develops new medicines for children
port your goals also ensures the trust in developing countries with infectious
of funders and their continued sup- diseases.
One of the best ways to secure fund-
ing is to show off successes. “A good
resource-tracking system gives you a
story to tell,” he says. “That’s how you
secure continuing support.”
Project management methodology
helps organizations make better use of
limited resources, and it allows them
to funnel new funds toward their most
successful projects, notes Amy Steets,
program manager at Vitamin Angels, a
Santa Barbara, California, USA-based
not-for-profit that works to reduce
child mortality worldwide by providing
essential nutrients to the needy.
“Project management is extremely
important to us,” she says. “You can’t
run an effective project without man-
aging it and measuring whether you
accomplished what you set out to
accomplish.”
One of the most critical tasks in her
projects is vetting the local not-for-
profit organizations that will distribute
the vitamins. The groups submit grant
proposals to Vitamin Angels, defining
a specific target population, how they
will reach it and the number of children
>>A Helping Hand they expect to help.
The groups that are selected must
The PMI Educational Foundation helps report progress annually, including the
bring the benefits and the power of proj- number of doses given and how those
numbers compare to original goals.
ect management to local communities
If the local groups struggle to meet
and to the farthest reaches of the world their targets, Ms. Steets connects them
for social good. The foundation assists with more successful organizations or
shares marketing ideas, such as reach-
not-for-profit organizations by offering ing out to younger sibling populations
training, tools and methodologies, and through schools and partnering with
other community services providers.
project management maturity resources. “We understand that it’s hard to
Find out more at PMI.org/PMIEF. manage these projects at the field level,


so we try to assist them as much as we
can,” she says.
Project
Managing projects from afar,
though, poses problems.
management
“The biggest weakness a lot of not-
for-profit organizations face is how to
is extremely
ensure what’s supposed to happen in
the field is really happening,” Ms. Steets important to us.
says.
To improve oversight in more remote You can’t run an
areas, her organization is in the process
of building a more robust monitor- effective project
without managing
ing and evaluation component into its
program.
Developing this capacity can be
expensive, but that added accountabil- it and measuring
ity brings value to the project and the The group recently finished phase
organization, Ms. Steets says. one of the project, working with 18 whether you
“Part of our project management companies and approximately 1,500
process is determining whether we are vehicles. Its final benchmark measure accomplished what
using the resources given to us to their showed the companies averaged a 12
utmost potential,” she explains.
It also enables corporate sponsors
percent drop in fuel use and an 8 per-
cent fuel efficiency gain. That’s a sav-
you set out to
to see the value of their donation and
broadcast those achievements to their
ings of 65,000 liters (17,171 gallons) of
gas, according to Dr. Pearse, who is also
accomplish.
own stakeholders, says Merrin Pearse, the owner of Coordinate4u, a sustain- —Amy Steets, Vitamin Angels, Santa Barbara,
PhD, senior environmental officer at ability consultancy in Hong Kong. California, USA
Friends of the Earth (HK), a not-for- “Our ultimate goal is to change
profit environmental organization in the mindset of both individuals and
Hong Kong. corporate leaders towards a sustainable
environment,” he says. By measuring
Measuring Success the impact on fuel use and efficiency,
That transparency and accountability Friends of the Earth can directly cor-
are vital components of Friends of the relate the benefits of its training to posi-
Earth’s recent project in which team tive environmental and financial results.
members worked with local businesses Those numbers also create a great
to reduce the carbon impact of their selling point that Friends of the Earth
vehicle fleets. and its corporate sponsor for the proj-
At each company, the team bench- ect, Standard Chartered Bank, can share
marks the fuel use of the existing fleet with constituents.
over one month and then holds a Metrics help demonstrate that proj-
workshop for all drivers and relevant ects correspond to organizational goals.
personnel on how to reduce fuel use. “The bank wants to be aligned with
Drivers are trained to not accelerate or projects that show it is taking environ-
break heavily, not to idle, to park in the mental initiative and creating financial
shade and to take more direct routes. savings, and Friends of the Earth wants
All organizational staff are also asked to to encourage change,” Dr. Pearse says.
consider whether they can take public By measuring the impact of their
transportation instead of using com- projects, not-for-profit organizations
pany vehicles, and after the seminar is can prove results and show how far
complete, team members measure fuel even a little project management
use over the ensuing month. training can go. PM


"Saving The World With Project Management" from the July 2011 Issue of PM Network

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"Saving The World With Project Management" from the July 2011 Issue of PM Network