Fremantle’s Not-For-Profit Sector – The Case For Strategic Review
by Tim Grey-Smith
There has been something of a community uproar recently with the dramatic closure of Deckchair Theatre, the equally dramatic closure of Kulcha, the leasing ambiguity surrounding The Fly By Night Musicians Club, not to mention the tenuous financial position of several other community organisations. Is this a deliberate attack on our not-for-profit sector by State Government, a result of a lack of community support for the organisations, or just the result of a natural state of affairs, caused by decreased relevance of the organisations in question?
It would be true to say, that most if not all of the above organisations have never gone through any major consititutional or strategic change since their inception. Whilst most commercial businesses would be willing to turn themselves inside out to make more profit, and generally do so every five years or thereabouts, we don’t seem to see the same kind of willingness to make big, necessary, relevance changes in our not-for-profit sector.
While it may be easy to try to single out an individual or organisation to “blame” for this lack of ability to change with the times, in reality it seems to be a combination of executive boards not feeling like they have the remit to embark on major change, as well as staff of the organisations who are legally in no place to do so. As a result, the executive of many organisations will pre-occupy themselves with operational aspects of their entity, rather than looking at larger strategic issues.
One key aspect that new not-for-profit organisations such as Dismantle understand in the current funding climate is that within any not-for-profit, there needs to be a core business unit that for lack of a better term, “pays the bills”. Dismantle has the Bike Dr., Kulcha had a massively under-utilised licenced venue, and Deckchair Theatre had the ability (but not the capacity or will) to licence their side bar “Hobbs”. In a more rationalised arrangement, or in other words one with a “core business unit” the organisation can exist in some form without government support. When it attracts funding, it can program workshops, events and activities, but more importantly, if it loses said funding, it doesn’t put the entire organisation at risk. In the case of both Deckchair and Kulcha, it is true that the final nail in the coffin was the removal of government sponsorship, however their pre-existing financial structure had previously hammered the rest.
Don’t take this the wrong way, readers. I have incredible respect for all those involved in any organisation that I have mentioned, and an incredible amount of dedicated paid and volunteer work has gone into them all. My problem is not with those involved, but with the structure of things. The one thing that I’m starting to realise as somebody who has been a small business owner, a politician, but now just an interested citizen, is that the structures and systems that we live in were not made by God but just made by people who were working within their own flawed system at the time, and the outcomes that we now see were just the best fit at the time, and probably a compromise. To expect perfect, perpetually relevant systems that were created by imperfect people in their own imperfect system at the time is just a bridge too far.
All this said, I have not outlined any solutions. In my past life as a policymaker, there was nothing that annoyed me more than somebody who would point out the all-too-obvious problems of the world, but would sit silent when asked for solutions. One solution of course, is to do nothing. More organisations will fold, some will gain charismatic individuals and grow (until that individual burns out), and some will flop along like they have for a very long time. I think we can do better than this, and for the sake of all those involved with said organisations, I believe we must.
Given that (in my reading of the situation) we have organisations that would see the value in a “relevance check”, or at the very least would like some help in maximising their revenue stream, I believe that as a community we could put a good case to the state government. A one-off fund to resource strategic analysis and workshopping (to those who request it of course) with broad scope but strong foundations in the core values of the organisation. It would do wonders to shore up the sector, as well as reduce further requests for “sustenance” funding. Of course this fund would need to be administered, however a new not-for-profit such as the Fremantle Foundation would be ideal as it has strong corporate governance and active, strong leadership. Ultimately we’re pitching at saving the State Government money in the long run, how could they say no?
Who’s up for it?
NOTE FROM AUTHOR – Welcome to the blog! As with anything posted here, comment and debate is welcomed with open arms. However, only posts that contribute to the debate in some meaningful way will be added. If as a reader you feel the need to throw insults around like a schoolyard bully, there’s plenty of internet for you out there. Contributors are always welcome, email timgreysmith@gmail.com for more info.
Great article Tim!
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For many years Lotterywest has offered grants for exactly this kind of strategic work and relevance checking. Not many community organizations bothered to take up the opportunity, instead spending all their efforts on making ends meet or doing what they see as core business. In today’s world, innovating must become core business for community groups, but so many of them have serious structural and cultural barriers to innovation. There might be an unwillingness to let go of anachronistic ideas by an old guard, and often barriers to change have been deliberately written into constitutions by founders who were fearful of capture by funders or ‘mission creep’. It might need a new generation of startup orgs with an innovation culture hard-wired into their DNA.
You hit it pretty much on the head, Tim. I believe it is essential that not for profit cultural organisations create enough income to keep the ship afloat.
Places like Deckchair very much relied on funding and the amounts they got per bum on seat was quite enormous. But look at Spare Part that seems to be performing very well.
Maybe governments can assist these kind of organisations by giving them mentors to help look at the big picture, rather than just surviving from year to year, depending on the grants they receive.
Not for profits need to learn to make the hard decisions and not believe they can survive on public money mainly.
Great that you started a blog in Freo! We need a more balanced debate in our city!
Roel Loopers
As president of the North Fremantle Bowling Club I feel I can comment from experience and knowledge on what being involved in a ‘not for profit’ organisation is like….but first a little history
The NFBC was founded in 1957 with the premises and grounds being built and established during that year with the first Pennant Lawn Bowls games played in 1958
For the next 30 odd years it flourished with the club being the centre for entertainment and sport particularly for the members and their families and a rich social history followed with lawn bowls as its cornerstone. This exists and will remain relevant and respected today
Since then it was a sad decline for the club like so many others as more alternate venues for sport and entertainment came on stream attracting younger people away from the club
The club has been undergoing slow change since the club withdrew from playing pennants in 2008 due to lack of committed playing members
A ‘boys’ club’ mentality that already existed developed further and the introduction of the smoking in public places legislation and a stricter alcohol harm minimisation policy was not considered part of their thinking by the members who frequented their ‘watering hole’ often daily
As a result these members have since moved onto other places which meet their needs and the club no longer has that ‘anachronistic ideas by the old guard’ barrier….thank you Piers….and has evolved into a community club with the premises and grounds being used as a sporting, recreational, arts and cultural venue for kids’ and adults’ functions
Over the years the club has been very successful with funding from Lotterywest, Fremantle Ports, DSR and CoF et al for sound and lighting, BBQ/outdoor kitchen area, fencing, building maintenance, external lighting and a new toilet facility for folks with disabilities. CoF Officers have been very supportive and helpful with ideas and plans the club has proposed and implemented
Running a small business like the NFBC requires committed and dedicated people to carry out the necessary financial and operational duties to keep the doors open….it ain’t easy
However, it has been, is and will be a challenging path the club must embark on for change and the members will have their chance to engage with the club at its AGM on July 27 @ 10.00am
I believe that the NFBC is up for it and although it has been ‘rambling’ along with ideas of succession of management/generational change the club is ready to move to the next positive phase
‘strategic reviews’ and ‘generational change’ are simply meaningful words
It’s time for action and implementation
So I’ll ask….Who’s up for it?