Hi, I'm new to PMI and recently became a member here. I love this community of sharp like-minded individuals. I'm a college student learning more about project management to execute some philanthropy projects to help suffering people internationally. I would like to partner with existing non-profit organizations (like Water4) to plant wells in various places. I see that PMI is great for business projects, and I'm wondering how to use the templates and tools for non-profit work. Could I use many of the same templates and strategies from PMI for non-profit work? Does anyone have experience applying PMI principles in executing philanthropy projects?
I have a vision for multi-organization partnerships in suffering communities to encourage sustainability. Strategically unifying multiple non-profits and businesses to execute projects that together uphold a sustainability strategy that strengthens communities is a dream of mine. I would like to start by doing collaborative well digging projects, but in the future, it seems possible with the right knowledge and application (if everything else were in place) to execute sustainability programs successfully.
Your advice is greatly appreciated. I'm definitely inspired by all the wonderful people here and the like-minded community. Thank you!
Good on you for picking such a worthy cause to commit your efforts to!
PMI's PMBOK framework is applicable to any type of project whether it is in the profit or not-for-profit sector. The key is to tailor your approach based on the context and needs of the project. If the project is small and uncomplicated then a lightweight approach is perfectly fine and as complexity increases, your level of discipline and rigor would also increase.
With not-for-profit projects, it is pretty important to ensure there is a solid charter to gain alignment from key stakeholders as there are likely to be some differences of opinion about objectives or approach. A healthy dose of risk management and a whole lifecycle approach to benefits identification and tracking would also be of value.
I agree with Kiron that the principles and methods of PM apply to any type of project.
The ways to organize the work and provide feedback and control loops still apply whether a project generates a profit or not. One significant difference I have found is that you need to tailor your leadership skills depending on whether people doing the work are doing it for the money, or out of good will.
I have witnessed leadership changes first hand that drastically changed whether or not people wanted to be a part of a project or program. If someone is assigned a job they don't like, and their financial stability depends on it, then they are less likely to walk off the job than if they are doing it for a sense of personal satisfaction. For non-profit leadership to succeed, it must focus more on the personal interests of the contributors than the traditional cost and schedule metrics. The focus needs to shift from how to be most efficient, to how to best keep people engaged, even if they're not doing things the most efficient way. Saving Changes...
As Kiron said, there are principles that can apply to different projects. However, you need to be so vigilant to chose the effective ones. Saving Changes...
