By Deo Mwano
Nonprofits exist to address pressing community needs. Yet, too often, their strategies reflect a tension between two competing priorities: solving the problem at hand and preserving the organization’s sustainability. While stability is important, the incremental deployment of resources to ensure longevity frequently prevents nonprofits from making transformative change.
Incremental Deployment vs. Maximum Impact
Many nonprofits deploy resources cautiously, spreading them thin to extend their operations. While this approach supports organizational survival, it rarely addresses problems at the depth or scale required. Incrementalism maintains the status quo—it allows an organization to exist, but it does not necessarily enable it to solve the issue that inspired its founding in the first place.
Imagine if nonprofits reoriented their strategies to maximize impact by deploying more resources directly to the communities they serve—even if that meant serving fewer people at first, or even reducing their own lifespan as organizations. The question is worth asking: what would it look like if more nonprofits operated with the mindset of working themselves out of existence because the problem they set out to solve had been eliminated?
The Case for Shifting Perspective
Solving deeply rooted community challenges requires concentrated resources, focus, and a willingness to prioritize impact over preservation. When nonprofits approach their mission with the lens of maximum disruption—rather than incremental service—they create conditions for systemic change.
Unfortunately, a review of many nonprofit financials tells a different story: a significant share of budgets is dedicated to administration and workforce management rather than direct service delivery. This imbalance limits an organization’s ability to drive lasting change. If more nonprofits could redirect resources toward frontline solutions, communities might see measurable shifts in long-standing issues.
Why “Working Yourself Out of a Job” Should Be on the Table
Not every nonprofit needs to operate with the goal of eventual closure. But more leaders should wrestle with the possibility. Some of our communities’ most entrenched problems—poverty, inequity, violence, health disparities—require the maximum deployment of resources right now to be meaningfully disrupted. Sustainability should not become a shield for under-resourcing the very problems nonprofits were created to solve.
Nonprofits should be striving to:
Allocate boldly. Direct more resources to high-impact interventions, even if it limits organizational longevity.
Balance differently. Ensure that operational expenses do not outweigh investments in direct services.
Reframe success. View “working yourself out of a job” as a marker of mission fulfillment, not failure.
Closing Thought
Communities don’t need nonprofits to simply exist—they need them to solve problems. By shifting priorities from preservation to impact, nonprofit leaders can create real disruption, maximize resources, and bring communities closer to the outcomes they deserve.
The DMC Community Transformation Team brings over 25 years of combined experience, collaborating with nonprofits, cities and towns, grant makers, and other nonprofits to make a positive impact. DMC has successfully created programs and campaigns that bridge diverse communities, addressing root causes of problems and facilitating sustainable solutions.