The principles and paradoxes of sustainability
One of the core principles of sustainability is that it is about more than just money. Finance is only one of the sustainability challenges faced by not-for-profit organisations – and their funders.
The yes/no paradox – or the over-inflated balloon
The first paradox is that many organisations are not unsustainable because they have missed or said ‘No’ to new opportunities. Actually, it’s more common to have sustainability problems because they have said ‘Yes’! Ironically, funding, tenders, referrals, partnerships (etc.) can pull organisations out of shape. They can compromise quality, reduce capacity, deplete reserves by not covering their costs and so on.