Business strategy has been my focus for more than 20 years. The most popular area of business strategy is “competitive strategy.” In the business world, we often adopt the language of sports or warfare — “How do we win?” or “How do we beat our competitors?” We often approach the market with a zero-sum mindset — for our company to gain a customer, all of our competitors have to lose that customer.
But does this approach make sense for mission-driven non-profits?
For many non-profits, their survival depends on their ability to attract donors, volunteers, and clients. Realistically, non-profits are competing to win the commitment of these decision makers. That doesn’t mean that your mission will be best served by having a “winner take all” competitive mindset. Often we do better to find ways to “win together” to achieve our mission to its fullest.