Nonprofit Hub Radio
Whether starting a nonprofit or taking an existing cause to the next level, The Nonprofit Hub Radio Podcast is about breaking down how nonprofits can grow. Each episode features an interview with a sector star with insight, stories, or ideas that can take your nonprofit from good to excellence. Join host Meghan Speer every week to make your good go further!
Nonprofit Hub Radio
Why Nonprofits Need Both a Strategic Plan and a Business Plan
In this episode of the Nonprofit Hub Radio Podcast, host Meghan Speer is joined by Dr. Bill Flores—speaker, author, consultant, and former university president—for a timely conversation on leading nonprofits through turbulent times. Drawing from decades of hands-on nonprofit leadership, Dr. Flores challenges organizations to stop “driving blindfolded” and instead embrace strategic planning, business planning, and creative adaptation in the face of uncertainty. Together, they explore why so many nonprofits struggle without clear plans, how leaders can refocus on strengths and core supporters, and what it takes to build sustainable revenue beyond grants alone. This episode offers practical wisdom, encouragement, and a clear call for nonprofit leaders to think differently, plan boldly, and invest in their own leadership development as they work to change the world.
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Speaker 3:Welcome back to the Nonprofit Hub Radio Podcast. I'm your host, Megan Speer, joined today by Dr. Bill Flores, who's a speaker, an author, a consultant, a past university president. He's got a laundry list of accolades of descriptors that we can use to describe him. Bill, welcome in. Glad to have you here today.
Speaker:I'm glad to be here. Thank you for inviting me.
Speaker 3:Yeah, my pleasure. So obviously, I just kind of scratched the surface there about some of your background. Uh, but tell the audience a little bit about yourself and what led us to this conversation today.
Speaker:Well, let me say that I have been involved with nonprofits uh most of my life. I've I have worked for private companies, but you know, the reality is that I was raised in a family that really believed in giving back. And uh we were not a wealthy family. In fact, much of our life was poor. But we believed that you know, my parents strongly believed that you know, whatever we had we should share. And that that came out of my mother uh was raised Catholic, as I I was baptized Catholic, my father Baptist. And so I was raised in both of those traditions, and we often worked with the one church or the other to help others. And I remember early on uh helping feeding people that were affected by a flood in San Diego. Uh I grew up in San Diego, California. Um later on when I was in my teens, um, my parents got involved in working on um housing issues and affordable housing, and and were active in a petition effort to uh get funding for affordable housing. So I went around, got petitions, learned uh to advocate, and uh you know, to see that that uh it's not just about giving, it's also about changing conditions, changing laws, changing practices. And so I got very interested in public policy. When I went to UCLA, got my bachelor's degree at Stanford, I got a master's and started on a PhD. And I immediately started working with uh nonprofits in San Jose, California, which is where our house was. Um, when I got married, my my wife and I lived in San Jose. And I worked with the local diocese, and I actually established a nonprofit in my early 20s to work with immigrants and refugees. And over the diocese, my goal was not for me to run the nonprofit, but to get volunteers and some funding and to have the diocese take it over. Catholic charities took it over, which was my goal. But I was worked on boards, I uh served on a few boards, and then in in my mid-20s, I actually helped to get funded a few nonprofits and ran a health center. And uh that was in crisis, as a matter of fact. It literally was not gonna make payroll, but I was appointed, and so I had to uh work desperately to help us get an emergency loan. We had to lay off some people and close some sites, but within two years, we were, you know, we were actually not only in black, we were making a profit and substantial change. And so I learned a lot about that ever since then. With after I got my PhD, I have worked with and assisted uh nonprofits in one way or another.
Speaker 3:That's great. So the topic at hand today, and it kind of piggybacks off of what you just said, because you clearly have experience in leading nonprofits during maybe some turbulent times. So I think that's kind of the where we're gonna head in this conversation today. I saw some slides from a presentation that you had given, and one of the first slides asked the question Is your nonprofit driving blindfolded? Let's start there. What did you mean by that? And how do we know if we're driving blindfolded and then let's let's decide whether we should or should not be?
Speaker:We did a workshop. I'm on the in Houston, we do a nonprofit uh conference each year called the Power Tool for Nonprofits Conference. This year we had over 850 people come in, and I led a workshop on turbulent times. And I, as a matter of fact, I had a slide, uh the very first slide was of a tidal wave approaching.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker:And uh, and you know, we the very first question we ask is how many people feel that they're just standing there waiting for this wave to come crashing on them. And so one of the things that that I you know we talked about is that only about 50% of nonprofits have a strategic plan, and less than a third have a business plan. And really, at this point in time, uh you it's gonna be very difficult to survive without a plan that brings in revenue and diversifies revenue, but also updating your strategic plan to this changing environment. You cannot continue to drive blind. Uh, you have to be able to look at what's out there, the how the road has changed, how there are cliffs ahead, yeah, uh, you know, and and be prepared. But also take advantage of shortcuts and different roads and very different paths, because this is going to be a time of adaptation, of mobility, of creativity, and of finding opportunities. And that's what I'm trying, that's what I try to help nonprofits do.
Speaker 3:That's so good. So, what would be some characteristics then? If somebody's listening, right, because here we sit at the beginning of 2026, right? We have a whole year ahead of us. I'm sure there are some people who maybe came off of year-end giving season not quite getting the revenue they would have hoped for. I'm sure there are some folks listening who are going, yeah, I honestly don't know how we're gonna get through this year. There's too much coming, all of this change, et cetera, et cetera. What are some characteristics of organizations that are driving blindfolded? And what is what are some characteristics of like, no, this is what we need to be doing instead?
Speaker:Well, one of the things that I've really encouraged that some of the nonprofits that I work with, or that I through my students, because I teach nonprofit management, strategic planning, grant writing, and fundraising, et cetera. And I urge and all of the nonprofit, all of the students have to work with nonprofits to assist them in developing their plans or their fundraising or any other project. But what I really advise nonprofits right now is uh I want you to think about what opportunities, what are your strengths? What do you do really, really well? Who are the people that support you and are drawn to you because of your mission? And let's focus on them. Let's get that core of supporters and then reach out. And I've also tried to get nonprofits, I'm working with one that I'm board president of, and we've begun to think because we were facing a 60% cut uh because of federal funding. And uh, you know, it's it's it's hard to continue in under those circumstances. So we we decided to really re-examine what we were doing and refocus. And uh we're now in the process of develop we've had an app, we're working on developing the app, but also using it for fundraising. And uh we've also made some international partners and had an international conference, and so we are actually very close to some very large fundraising goals. I encourage nonprofits to think out of the box and to not just do what they've always done because the challenging times require that you think of new ways of doing things while staying with your core, staying with your mission and keeping your vision. The vision is how you want to change the world. That's what draws people in, and but also it draws supporters in. They share that that passion. So, how do we draw them in? How do we expand the people that support you and that want to give to you?
Speaker 3:So good. So I'm I'm thinking about, I think there's probably two groups of people in our audience, right? Who are listening to this or having reactions to this conversation. There's probably lots more groups than just two, but I can see very two very distinct reactions. One is I don't even know where to start. Like I don't, I know where what we've been doing, I know we have to change it. I don't even know where to start or how to how to build those partnerships, how to think outside of the box. I just know what we've always done. And there are probably some who are saying, yes, that all sounds well and good, but our funders and our donors aren't gonna like it, or our funders and our donors are gonna push back and we're kind of slave to the dollar over here. So I could see where people might get frozen in two different ways in response to that. So let's talk to the first group. If you were, if you're going, yeah, that sounds great. I really don't know even how to what the first step might be to getting out of the box or thinking about it. Where what would you recommend as like a first step, a second step? What where how do we do it?
Speaker:Well, first of all, I suggest that they most organizations need to really look at their strategic plan. A lot of them don't have one, you know, 50% do not have a strategic plan. Yeah, or they had one, but things have changed dramatically.
Speaker 3:Or it's a really nice binder that sits on a shelf somewhere that nobody actually even knows what's in.
Speaker:Nobody even knows what it is. Yes, that happens all the all the time. And so, you know, I help them, but I also urge them get a consultant, get somebody that can help you, but also take a strength-based approach. Look at your strengths, look at what you do well, and look at the people that are drawn to you already, your stakeholders. Engage them. Don't just try to do it on your own. Think with them about what you can do to really expand. When we've done that, what it's opened the door so that people start thinking about yeah, you know, this is something we haven't done, but we really should be doing. I asked them, for example, where have you left things on the table? Where are things that you know, if you had what tomorrow you had the ability to stop doing what you're doing and to think about something that you always wanted to try but haven't? What's holding you back? How can how if you try this, how might it change your organization? How might it bring in new revenue? How might it open the door for new uh stakeholders and donors and supporters, board members, etc. And you know, that thing that approach, for example, this one organization that we're working with, we're now, you know, we've in addition to developing an app, uh we're developing a uh a game that and working with gamers to get kids more involved and more engaged, but also it's going to generate revenue. So that didn't come out of my head, it came out of other people as I sat down there brainstorming, they said, Well, how about if we try this? And at first everybody said, Oh, that's ridiculous. But then somebody said, You know, I know somebody who does this for a living. Let's bring them in and talk. And so by doing, by just sitting and brainstorming and also allowing yourself to try things different, it opens the door. And then you can plan and and make a new path.
Speaker 3:So good. One of the things, and I I kind of want to loop back to something you said at the beginning of the show, too. If there is, if anyone has listened to this podcast for any length of time, the thing that everyone is probably super tired of me saying is that nonprofit is just a tax status. Right? It's still an organization still has to be run like a business. And somewhere along the line, I feel like we've lost that mindset a little bit. So it's my personal mission in life to get people thinking more business-minded about the way they run their organization. But at the top of the show, you said, yes, organizations don't have that strategic plan, but they also don't have a business plan.
Speaker:And a business plan is critical.
Speaker 3:Yes. So let's talk about that. I want to kind of level set just a little bit.
Speaker:Absolutely.
Speaker 3:Help us understand, first of all, help us understand the difference between a business plan and a strategic plan. And then let's talk about it because I do think, man, that business plan piece is so critical and we miss it so often. So help us understand the difference and then why we need to make sure we have both.
Speaker:Well, ideally, when you develop a strategic plan, you develop a business plan, or you look at your existing business plan and make a change. The difference is a strategic plan, it looks, it does a SWOT or a SOAR analysis, looking at the opportunities, your aspirations, you know, the results that you want to build, et cetera. You look, you do an environmental scan, you decide what your goals and metrics are, and you measure. But a business plan helps you fund that. It keeps your organization alive, it sustains it. Too many organizations depend on you know, one or two big donors and some grants. And unfortunately, what happens is the real cost of running the organization isn't being met. Operational expenses often, you know, foundations they're interested in something new in China and you know they'll fund you for three years and move on to something new. Well, it continues to fund that. And they expect you to fund it. Well, that's great if you have revenue, but most organizations don't. So a business plan helps you to not now a budget is different. A budget is what your expenses are and what your revenues are. A business plan actually looks at the nonprofit as a business. It says, What is the niche of our of your organization? That's different. What do you do that's your value proposition that is something that you offer that other people don't, or a way you offer it that is different. It looks at how are you marketing? Who are your ideal clients or stakeholders? How do you draw them in? And in fact, it leads to a marketing plan. It leads to a fundraising plan. But it also identifies potential revenue sources other than the grants, other than one or two dollars. You want to have a plan to fundraise. I I this last week I did a and every year I do uh a presentation on fundraising and resource development for the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities and for their leadership development program. And it surprises me how few academic leaders understand fundraising. That's okay. You know, they didn't you don't take that in a PhD program, so but you've got to learn it somewhere. But it's it's a similar in nonprofits. Nonprofits, you know, you learn on a job and you struggle. Nobody teaches you HR, nobody teaches you how to write a grant, you know. Uh maybe you maybe you did you did that, but nobody teaches you how to write a business plan. And that's where you need help. You also need help to develop a marketing plan to put your organization out, not just on social media, but in various channels, to begin to draw people to you that will support you, expand your volunteers, expand the people that are going to support you and that are going to write checks for you.
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Speaker 3:I actually just had a conversation with somebody, and I ultimately said the same thing that you just said. But the way that I phrased it was that I believe personally, I believe the nonprofit executive director is one of the most unrealistic jobs that has ever existed. Because you are expected to know HR and finance and fundraising and marketing, but you are also expected to run a program effectively and evaluate those programs and have the outcomes over here. And we don't train you for any of those things. You can't there's no training. We're just you're just expected to know how to do top-level executive function business skills with no training whatsoever. It is completely unrealistic. So if you're listening and you are the executive director, please know we get it. We see you.
Speaker:Well, and that's actually what we formed a master's of nonprofit management at UHT, at the University of Downtown, because uh we actually were working with nonprofits, there are a large number of nonprofits in UHC. And we realized that there's masters of business administration, but it's how to make profit. It's how to grow your profit. Yes. And that's very, very different than how to build an organization based on passion, based on wanting to change the world, based on what how to do good and serve the public. And then how to run it, how to fund it, how to be able to draw people in to build it. And to grow and change. And so that's why we developed the Master's Program. And it's out of that program that we wrote the book that I presented on, which is called Nonprofit Management, Moving Your Organization from Where It Is to Where You Want to Be. That just came out in July with Kendall Hunt. And the we deal with how to develop a plan, how to think strategically, how to do marketing, how to develop a business plan, et cetera. Because we did a survey and found out people just didn't, you know, it wasn't us that were saying these are the things you need to know. It was them telling us these are the things we need to know. And so we incorporated into the master's program and into the book. And in fact, nonprofit professionals helped us in designing the program. Some of them teach in the program, and some of us helped uh develop the book.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's great. I'm gonna I'm gonna give a little spoiler here, Bill. You're gonna be the first to hear it. We have a Nonprofit Hub has some really exciting news coming out probably within the next two to three months about some additional resources and learning around that exact thing for a nonprofit community. So stay tuned. Nonprofit Hub has big exciting announcements coming here in 2026 that absolutely hit what you're just talking about because it is such a need. For so long, we have neglected to educate and give the resources needed to these nonprofit professionals while at the same time asking them to literally change the world. It is super unrealistic. So I I am all for all of the books, all of the courses, all of the exciting announcements coming because it is about time that we invest in nonprofit professionals and help them get what they need to be able to do the work that's required.
Speaker:And I encourage nonprofits, whether it's in our program, another program, get a certificate on nonprofit leadership. Get a certificate on fundraising.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker:You know, get your staff to get a certificate on grant writing. Do train United Way has trainings for uh board members, new board members. You know, encourage your board members to participate in those trainings. Too many times, nonprofits, the board doesn't know what its responsibilities are.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker:The fact that it has fiduciary and governance responsibilities. So learn what they are. And you know, don't try to teach someone yourself. Learn and turn to experts. And so I congratulate you on what you're doing and uh encourage people to to turn to you just as I encourage them to turn to our master's program at Global.
Speaker 3:So good. Okay. So I one last question before we move to wrapping up here. Sometimes, as you know, that turbulent time very much comes out of a crisis, right? There are certain things like you know, when we talk about government funding, right? These are things that happen, we can kind of see that tidal wave coming. Or maybe there's, you know, something in the the government that we see or litigation that comes through, there's something that we can see. We know it's working its way through the system and we see that wave approaching. If we find ourselves in maybe a crisis of a turbulent time, we got smacked by a wave we didn't see coming. What's our what's your best advice to folks there? If it, you know, there are plenty of things, obviously, we talked about with the marketing plan, with the communication plan, with a business plan, strategic plan. All of the plans are good and help us move forward out of those long-range kind of turbulent times. But if somebody is getting smacked with like a an out-of-the-blue crisis, what's your wisdom there for how to best move forward and how to kind of regroup as leaders?
Speaker:Well, I I always urge nonprofits to realize that we're not alone. You know, Houston is an example. There's floods here all the time.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker:Um, you know, and sometimes it takes is all it takes is four inches of rain and street flood. You know, it it of course we've had uh Harvey that you know was practically a biblical storm that went on for 30 days, you know. Uh the these kinds of things you cannot predict. And neighborhoods are destroyed. People lose everything. Uh you know, they they attempt to rebuild afterwards. But I tell people, all right, think about that. What happened? Neighbors came out and helped each other. They went in their garage and got a raft and and went around and rescued people from the rough. Neighbors rescued dogs. The community opened up buildings so that people could sleep. People gave food and clothing to others. So people respond. We need to find those people that respond, but also allies other nonprofits, companies that support us. Think about the potential partners out there. Think of people that are doing things that might be like yours but different. How can we align? You know, when I was in Santa Barbara, uh, I was working with Antioch University, and some nonprofits approached us on a few issues, and we said, well, they were having financial problems. So my suggestion was have you ever thought about buying collectively? Bringing down the price of costs because you all need, you know, certain things together. How about doing that? How about some sharing accounting? Because you're all small organizations. So we created partnerships that would allow them to reduce their costs and increase their efficiency. Also, you know, AI right now is a tool for that. As long as you control it and don't let it control you.
Speaker 3:So good. Uh Bill, this has been fantastic. And I think, especially again, as we're starting a new year, to really get folks thinking strategically about how they're going to move forward through it no matter what comes. So I appreciate all of your wisdom and counsel on that. Uh, as we move to close, though, every year we have a question that we close all of our episodes with. And this year, we're focused on some professional development. So, if there, what is a resource that you would recommend, whether it's a book or a podcast or an article that you have read that would be really helpful for nonprofit leaders? I certainly you can recommend yours. I'll put it on the list myself. But what's the thing that maybe you read?
Speaker:I'm recommending my book. Yeah. This is nonprofit management, moving your nonprofit from where it is to where you want to be. That's Kendall Hunt, and it came out in July. I urge you to do that. But, you know, I also look at statewide and regional advocacy organizations, like the National Council of Nonprofits. There's, you know, in Texas, of course, we have the nonprofit power tools conference. We on the statewide in Texas, we have the Texas Summit every other year. We bring nonprofits together. We have a council of nonprofits called Texas Nonprofits Strong. And we uh we collect data, we give reports. The candidate has some excellent data on nonprofits and is now providing that data through its its support's members. So use the resources. There are regional councils, national councils, state councils, join those. Look for advocacy groups that you can work together. You know, right now it's important that we make policy decisions, that we help to government to address issues like health care, like food insecurity. In fact, we have so many people that so many kids that are starving or go to bed hungry. Let's address those issues. Let's do it together. And even if that's not the what your nonprofit focuses on, we all have an opportunity to find other things that we can work together on. And so I encourage you to advocate, build coalitions, and take the time to also develop your own leadership skills by taking workshop certificates and reading books.
Speaker 3:Fantastic. Uh Bill, this has been an excellent conversation. Thank you so much for sharing. I think it's a very timely conversation as we start this new year. So thank you so much.
Speaker:Well, thank you. And I wish you uh a wonderful 2026 and wish the audience a great new year, but also know that things are gonna they're gonna get better. Yes. We're gonna make them better together.
Speaker 3:Oh, I love that. Well, my guest has been Dr. Bill Flores, who is again a speaker, an author, a consultant. Definitely check out his book for nonprofits. It would be a great encouragement to a lot of leaders. This has been another episode of the Nonprofit Hub Radio Podcast. I'm your host, Megan Spear, and we'll see you next time.