Help NGOs Be Great (Part 3)
Editor’s Note: We are heartbroken by the widespread devastation wreaked by the wildfires in LA and are thinking of all our readers who are impacted. We take some solace in the mass outpouring of support we’ve seen from individuals and organizations alike, and we’re grateful for this community dedicated to making climate progress so we can prevent and/or mitigate further disasters.
This week, as we continue our focus on helping NGOs accomplish even more, we come to you with a cautionary tale. Readers often ask us a version of this question: Isn’t it enough that NGOs set 5-year goals? Do they really need annual milestones and to rigorously measure progress against them? After all, they are not publicly traded companies with quarterly reporting targets, and they already have so much to do.
And to that I answer: Don’t be the next New Coke.
On April 23, 1985, the Coca Cola Company—one of the most sophisticated consumer goods companies in the world—announced that they were changing the formulation of their namesake product. Coke would be replaced with “New Coke”—a sweeter version intended to outperform rival Pepsi (which was winning blind tests).
Guess what happened next?