The most common question our team hears from nonprofit professionals encountering Agile for the first time is: “Where do we even start?”
It’s a completely understandable question — and our answer often surprises people. Because the truth is, many nonprofit organizations are already practicing Agile in meaningful ways. They’re just not using the Agile label for what they’re doing.
When I teach nonprofit professionals about Agile for the first time in our training courses, one of the first things we explore is how many Agile ways of working are likely already present in their organizations. To make this tangible, I send participants on a scavenger hunt after day one of class — with a friendly contest to see who comes back to day two having found the most Agile-aligned practices in their own organization.
The results are always eye-opening. And they almost always shift how people feel about Agile: from “this is a foreign framework I’ll have to fight to adopt” to “this is a language for things we already value.”
I’d love for you to take the same challenge.
📥 Before you start, download the free Getting Started with Scrum Checklist — a practical guide for nonprofits beginning their Agile journey — so you know where the scavenger hunt leads.
Why Many Nonprofits Are Already Agile Without Knowing It
The Agile framework is rooted in four core values, originally articulated in the Agile Manifesto in 2001. These values were developed by software practitioners — but they describe ways of working that mission-driven organizations have been practicing for decades, long before “Agile” became a buzzword.
Nonprofits, by nature, tend to be people-centered, adaptive, and community-focused. That is already Agile thinking. The scavenger hunt below helps you see exactly where those values are already alive in your organization — so you can build on what’s working rather than starting from scratch.
The Nonprofit Agile Scavenger Hunt: 5 Steps
Step 1 — Review the 4 Agile Values
Start by familiarizing yourself with the four values at the heart of the Agile framework. Each one has an “over” — meaning the left side is what Agile prioritizes, while the right side is not ignored but is considered secondary:
- Individuals and interactions OVER processes and tools In nonprofits: Your team prioritizes direct conversation, relationship-building, and human connection over rigid approval workflows or bureaucratic processes.
- Working product OVER comprehensive documentation In nonprofits: Delivering a working program, a completed grant section, or a usable service to your community matters more than producing exhaustive planning documents before anything is built.
- Customer collaboration OVER contract negotiation In nonprofits: Ongoing feedback and partnership with the clients, communities, and funders you serve matters more than locking down every detail in advance.
- Responding to change OVER following a plan In nonprofits: When community needs shift, when funders change priorities, or when the unexpected happens — an Agile organization adapts its plan rather than rigidly executing the original one.
📥 Download the free Value Facilitation Guide to help guide a structured team conversation about which of these values already resonates most with your organization.
Step 2 — Audit Your Calendar
Look at your calendar for the past month. Look for meetings, events, check-ins, and celebrations that help your team operate in alignment with any of the four Agile values.
Some examples of what to look for:
- A weekly team check-in where people share blockers and priorities (Individuals and interactions)
- A client feedback session built into a program cycle (Customer collaboration)
- A debrief meeting after an event or project milestone (Responding to change)
- A team celebration of a completed deliverable, however small (Working product)
Write down each one. Each counts as one item for your scavenger hunt total.
📥 Curious how the Scrum framework structures regular team touchpoints? The free Scrum Event Checklist outlines all five Scrum events and how each one is structured to reinforce Agile values.
Step 3 — Walk Your Physical Space
If your team works in a physical office or program space, take a slow walk through it — especially the areas where your team primarily works and gathers. Look for physical items that help your team do their work and that align with the four Agile values.
Some examples of what to look for:
- Bulletin boards or whiteboards where team priorities are posted visibly (Working product / Individuals and interactions)
- Sticky notes used for brainstorming, planning, or tracking tasks (Responding to change)
- Client or community photos, quotes, or testimonials on the wall (Customer collaboration)
- A shared calendar or project board visible to the whole team (Individuals and interactions)
Write down each one. Each counts as one item for your scavenger hunt total.
Step 4 — Review Your Digital Tools
Whether your team is fully remote, hybrid, or fully in-person, take stock of the digital tools your organization uses regularly — for communication, project tracking, document sharing, or making work visible to each other.
Some examples of what to look for:
- A shared task board in ClickUp, Asana, Trello, or a similar tool (Working product / Individuals and interactions)
- A Slack or Teams channel where the team shares progress or blockers in real time (Individuals and interactions)
- A shared Google Drive or project folder where work is visible to all team members (Working product)
- A survey tool used to gather community or client feedback (Customer collaboration)
Write down each one. Each counts as one item for your scavenger hunt total.
📥 Thinking about how to make your team’s roles and work more visible? The free Scrum Role Chart helps your team map out who does what — and see how existing roles already align with Scrum.
Step 5 — Tally Your Results
Add up everything you wrote down across Steps 2, 3, and 4. How many items did you find?
What Your Scavenger Hunt Results Mean
Found very few items (0–3)? That’s a useful and honest starting point. It may mean your organization has more traditional, process-heavy ways of working — or it may simply mean that Agile-aligned practices exist but aren’t yet named or celebrated as such. Either way, you now have a clear picture of where to focus your earliest change-management conversations. Start small: identify one calendar item or one digital tool that already reflects an Agile value, and use it as your opening example when introducing Agile to your team.
Found a moderate number (4–8)? Your organization has meaningful Agile-aligned practices in place. These are your proof points — the real, in-context examples you can use to show colleagues that Agile is not a foreign concept but an extension of things that already work. Each item you found is one less item you need to “sell” in a change-management conversation. Build from these strengths as you introduce more formal Agile practices.
Found many items (9 or more)? Your organization is already deeply aligned with Agile values, even if the vocabulary is new. You are in an excellent position to move quickly toward a more intentional Agile practice — with a team that is likely to embrace the framework because it will feel like recognition rather than disruption. The next step is giving those values a shared language and a structured framework for applying them consistently.
The most important thing to remember: no particular number guarantees the success of your Agile journey. But every item you found is a foundation to build on — not a gap to fill.
📥 Ready to think about sustainable team practices as you build on your findings? Download the free Sustainable Pace Guide — it uses real data to help you and your team work at a pace that is both effective and sustainable long-term.
What to Do Next With Your Agile Scavenger Hunt Findings
The scavenger hunt is a starting point, not a destination. Once you know where Agile values already live in your organization, the next step is building on them intentionally — and inviting your team into that conversation.
Here’s a simple next step: share the four Agile values with your team and ask them to do the scavenger hunt themselves. Compare notes. Where do you all see the same things? Where do you see different things? That conversation alone is an Agile-aligned practice — individuals and interactions over process — and it plants the seeds for adoption.
📥 For a comprehensive guide to building organizational buy-in for Agile, download the free Building Buy-In for Agile in Your Nonprofit — it covers how to introduce Agile to your team, address common resistance, and move toward adoption step by step. And if you’re ready to go deeper, the Glossary of Scrum Terms — written specifically for nonprofits — will help your team speak the same language as you build your practice.
Also explore these related posts:
- Why Agile Is the Secret Weapon for Nonprofits
- 4 Advantages of Having a Scrum Master in Your Nonprofit
- The Value of a Product Owner in Nonprofits
- How NewBoCo Founded a Nonprofit Using the Scrum Framework
I always love to hear what people find on their Agile scavenger hunt — please share your results in the comments below!