Managing Your Nonprofit for Resilience

9Implement Lean Risk Management Incrementally

YOU WOULD NOT try to swim from Alcatraz to the city shore at Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco Bay without first learning to swim and putting in plenty of practice. The same goes for risk management. As with any other long‐term effort, you need to take learning about and institutionalizing risk management in your nonprofit one step at a time. The pace of change for your organization depends on your nonprofit's leadership, culture, and financial situation.

This chapter provides an implementation strategy that may differ from other advice you have seen about adopting risk management because this book advocates taking a Lean approach to risk management. This approach focuses on maximizing value while minimizing waste and expenditures.

For those who have read this book from the beginning, the elements of strategy, in summary form, will be familiar because they track the forgoing chapters. This chapter sets out the time line separately so that you can easily share it with your team and stakeholders.

Dip a Toe in the Water

At the outset of a Lean Risk Management journey, you want to plot a path, gather some initial resources, and take first steps toward implementation. Incrementalism is key.

1. Develop a Time Line

Depending on your efforts and the resources you commit, you can expect to develop a functional Lean Risk Management process within about 18 to 24 months.

Of course, you will gain benefits along the way. Some of the early ...