Nonprofit organizations invest significant time and effort in fundraising — refining gala scripts, crafting grant proposals and maintaining a strong social media presence. But behind the scenes, a steady stream of procurement dollars quietly supports day-to-day operations: shredding documents, landscaping, printing materials, maintaining internet service — everything that keeps the organization running.
At Ronald McDonald House Charities of Hawaiʻi, we began to ask a straightforward question: Can this spending do more than pay for services? Can it also support the mission of another organization? We’ve found that the answer is yes, and we’re committed to putting that idea into practice.
We had the opportunity to implement this idea when we needed to shred banker boxes of records that required secure destruction and digital scanning. We decided to hire Abilities Unlimited, a local nonprofit that trains adults with developmental or physical disabilities in real-world jobs. Their shredding crew visits a couple of times a month and is very efficient and comes with their own supervisors (who we do not have to pay). I can vouch for the impact, as my nephew is on that crew, and his monthly paycheck gives him a sense of accomplishment and self-worth that most of us take for granted.
A few months later, the owner of our longtime landscaping vendor decided to retire, and we could have hired the usual commercial outfits. Instead, we contacted Habilitat, a recovery program that maintains its operations through a portfolio of vocational enterprises, including landscaping. Our two properties require a fair amount of landscaping and their crews have been up to the task. They have been very responsive to all of our needs.
Experiences like these upend the tired notion that buying from a nonprofit vendor is a mercy contract. I would argue it is the opposite. Abilities Unlimited pounds through documents, and Habilitat has done our green spaces proud. Both provide the same services, and are responsible, so the work is seamless and doesn’t demand extra time or effort. When I watch these workers, I see the pride that they take in what they are doing. They are very concerned about not just doing the job, they want to do a really good job.
For us, hiring these organizations yields three layers of benefits. It provides jobs for those who need them. We get services that we need. And the third impact is the greatest one: there is a compounding effect, in that we operate on donations, and our donations not only go to support our mission, in this instance, they are helping other mission oriented nonprofit organizations. That is one multiplier effect that has paid off in so many ways for us and these organizations.
I don’t get excited about expenses. As the head of an organization, I am always trying to hold the line on expenses and/or reduce them. This is different. These are the kind of expenses that make cents (and sense). This is not charity, it is business. In our experience, the cost for these services is competitive, if not more than competitive, but I think there is a bigger picture and greater good here, and at the same time, we are getting professional services we need and would have paid for anyway.
State directories list dozens of mission-driven vendors, offering everything from catering and printing to custodial and facilities support. Hire one and you do more than check a task off the list; you hand someone a job and a sense of belonging. Lanakila Pacific handles catering, printing and embroidery; Goodwill Hawaiʻi covers custodial and more. You won’t need to switch every contract, but even choosing a few turns routine spending into measurable impact — no regrets, just results.
Again, think of your donation as being turbocharged. A donation to us helps pay for accommodations, transportation, meals and activities, and that keeps a family close to a hospitalized ill child. Because our shredding dollars are landing at Abilities Unlimited and our landscaping dollars flow to Habilitat, that same gift simultaneously helps adults with disabilities earn a paycheck and supports addiction-recovery programming. One contribution, three missions advanced — a built-in impact multiplier that even the savviest donor would applaud.
Nonprofits exist to plug the gaps many times where the free market and government often fail to fill. For us to make an impact, all we had to do was redirect the money we were going to spend anyway. That is truly one of the few times I get excited about expenses. Next time you need a service that one of these nonprofits provides, think about hiring them and watch your dollars double the impact.
