How to foster a culture of innovation

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Charities have confronted myriad challenges in the past five years. COVID-19 brought the sector to a standstill. High inflation and the cost-of-living crisis led to increased service demand and decreased funds to meet that demand. Geopolitical crises continue to impact the sector. And, as we too often neglect, climate change remains perhaps the most pressing issue of our time.   

But, amid so many challenges, through necessity and experimentation, we’ve witnessed a sector willing to innovate. That innovation has given non-profits access to untapped possibilities, allowed them to raise funds during economic hardship, and bolstered their ability to provide for communities. Innovation has helped charities rise to the occasion: to survive and to thrive.  

In this article, we explore a new report from Blackbaud, Nonprofit Insights: Culture of Innovation, which offers insight from industry experts and sector success stories to empower charities with the tools to innovation. The insights, ranging from creating a failure-friendly culture to adopting a lean agile strategy, will help non-profits embrace innovation and face the challenges of the future.   

What is a culture of innovation? 

Culture is the foundation of non-profit organisations. A great organisational culture needs intentional maintenance, affording your employees and stakeholders a continuous sense of purpose, one they can embed and spread to donors, stakeholders, and communities they serve. 

Blackbaud splits innovation into distinct categories: sustaining innovation enhances existing processes, while disruptive innovation creates a new market through new services or products. Not all creative, or new, ideas constitute innovation. Innovation, by its very nature, must be useful.   

A culture of innovation puts innovation at the centre of organisational culture. It asks leaders, employees, stakeholders, and donors to share ideas. It ensures everyone, regardless of position in the organisation, feels confident asking questions, brainstorming, and starting conversations.  

A successful culture of innovation provides so many benefits. Non-profits will improve problem-solving and decision-making, enhance adaptability and resilience, increase user satisfaction, promote collaboration and communication, and recruit and retain the best talent. A culture of innovation provides benefits to every part of a non-profit, supporting sustainable growth.  

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How to foster a culture of innovation 

To foster a successful culture of innovation, Blackbaud’s report suggests developing key characteristics, such as: strong leadership, opportunities for collaborative working, an environment of curiosity, an atmosphere of trust, and room for failure. Such a working space will allow non-profits to yield the benefits of innovation and forge a more sustainable future. 

The report goes into detail on how to achieve the above, relying on commentary from 11 industry experts across the global non-profit space. In the opening chapter, for example, Dr Adrian Sargeant, Co-Director of the Institute for Sustainable Philanthropy, warns against innovation for the sake of innovation, but suggests that innovation formed out of strategy, with the right degree of risk mitigation, allows charities to respond to their environment and grasp opportunities. 

Charlotte Sherman from the Chartered Institute of Fundraising shows how non-profits often find innovation daunting. But she explains how non-profits can overcome that feeling by integrating innovation in your strategy, establishing the form you want innovation to take, putting supporters at the heart of innovation decision-making, and taking a holistic approach to measuring success.  

Rebecca Williams, Senior Customer Success Manager at Blackbaud Europe and Pacific, touts the joys of a failure-friendly culture. She argues that non-profits should aim to fail fast, fail smart, and fail safe, and offers top tips to make that happen. She says you can set the parameters of failure, utilise feedback loops from supporters, and create a culture that empowers teams to fail. 

Experts offer a treasure trove of innovation advice. That advice is substantiated in the report by a series of innovation success stories. The stories include Queen’s University Belfast’s journey to data-driven decision-making, The Breakthrough Mental Health Foundation’s shift to a growth mindset, and The University of Manitoba’s success at adopting change management processes. 

You can read in detail about all of the above success stories, as well as advice on cultivating an innovative culture, in the Blackbaud Report. The hope is that your organisation can find some inspiration, perhaps take on board essential guidance, and foster your own culture of innovation.