What Is Parkinson’s Law — and Why Should Nonprofits Care?

Have you ever heard of Parkinson’s Law?

It’s a simple idea: work expands to fill the time available to do it.

In practice, this means that without clear boundaries, deadlines, or structure, tasks tend to grow larger, take longer, and consume more resources than originally intended.

Most nonprofit leaders have seen this happen at least once — often without realizing there’s a name for it.

This matters for nonprofits because, unlike for-profit organizations, nonprofits are guided first and foremost by a mission — not profit. That’s a strength. A powerful mission creates focus, motivation, and momentum. It propels people to work harder, stretch further, and do meaningful work that matters.

But the absence of a profit motive also means there’s often less natural pressure to constrain time and spending. And that’s where Parkinson’s Law can quietly work against even the most well-intentioned organizations.

Three Common Ways Parkinson’s Law Shows Up in Nonprofit Financial Management       

1.      Spending too much on the right thingsMission-aligned programs continue to grow because they “feel right,” even when costs outpace results. The risk isn’t bad intent — it’s inefficiency.       

2.      Spending money on the wrong thingsSide projects, one-off grants, or legacy activities consume time and dollars without clearly advancing the core mission. This is the risk of effectiveness and mission drift.       

3.      Spending too much time on accounting and reporting

Without structure, routine financial tasks expand into time-consuming cleanups, pulling staff away from mission-critical work.

Practical Solutions That Create Healthy Boundaries       

•       For inefficiency:Zero-based budgeting — requiring programs to justify their costs from the ground up — helps ensure that mission-aligned work stays cost-conscious.        •       For mission drift:A formal review and approval process for spending introduces governance discipline, making sure dollars follow strategy, not convenience.       

•       For administrative overload:Treating accounting software and standardized templates as a necessary upfront investment reduces manual effort and permanently frees staff time for higher-value work.

The takeaway

Mission energy is a nonprofit’s greatest asset — but structure is what keeps that energy effective and sustainable.

Parkinson’s Law isn’t a flaw in nonprofits; it’s a reminder that even purpose-driven work benefits from clear financial boundaries.

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