Why Nonprofits Should Care About Losing E.T.

Stories from the L.A. Times, The Seattle Times, and NPR, among others, have described the funding problems of the SETI Institute in Mountain View, CA.  The Institute now lacks sufficient funds to operate the monitoring arm of the Allen Telescope Array, a field of radio dishes that scans the skies for signals from extraterrestrial civilizations.  

According to the Seattle Times, “the timing couldn't be worse,” as “1,235 new possible planets had been observed by Kepler, a telescope on a space satellite.  Fifty or 60 of those planets appear to be about the right distance from stars to have temperatures that could make them habitable.”

Sound familiar?  Ever have funding for a program in jeopardy just when you thought it could do the most good?  

The elephant in the room is the results.  SETI has been around since 1984, with 42 radio dishes scanning deep space since 2007, and not a peep has been heard from E.T.  

What nonprofits can learn from this is that results do matter.  Yes, federal funding is tight.  Yes, California is in crisis.  And yes, there is still a chance that a white knight will appear before June 1^st.  But the big question remains: who else is willing to fund an idea?  A vision?  A goal, no matter how lofty and wonderful – when there is the possibility that there will be no results?

Funders like to see results . They want E.T.  Or at least progress.  

As a nonprofit, be sure that you are the best storyteller of your results – your successes, what you’ve learned along the journey.  The best way to secure and continue funding from donors is to show them how their dollars have made the world a better place.