How Scarcity Thinking Holds Nonprofits Back

By Nell Edgington

socialvelocity.net

There are many things that hold the nonprofit sector back, not the least of which is a lack of money. But perhaps a bigger impediment is the scarcity thinking that may actually contribute to that lack of money.

Most nonprofit leaders, their staffs, board members, and even funders automatically think that resources will always be scarce. It is such a profound psychological impediment because if your assumption is constant deficiency, then you will never try for more.

But shifting this nonprofit mindset from never having enough (scarcity), to endless potential (abundance) could transform the sector.Scarcity thinking is dangerous because it demonstrates a destructive fixed mindset. Carol Dweck’s pivotal 2006 book, Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, describes two ways that people view their abilities, a fixed and a growth mindset, and I think her approach holds great insight for the nonprofit sector.
A person with a fixed mindset believes “that your qualities are carved in stone,” whereas a person with a growth mindset believes “that your basic qualities are things you can cultivate through your efforts.”

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