Nonprofit Sustainability: Making Strategic Decisions for Financial Viability Making Strategic Decisions for Financial Viability

Praise for NONPROFIT SUSTAINABILITY

"This is much more than a financial how-to book. It's a nonprofit's guide to empowerment. It demystifies mission impact and financial viability using The Matrix Map to provide strategic options for any organization. A must-read for every nonprofit CEO, CFO, and board member."
--Julia A. McClendon, chief executive officer, YWCA Elgin, Illinois

"This book should stay within easy reaching distance and end up completely dog-eared because it walks the reader through a practical but sometimes revelatory process of choosing the right mix of programs for mission impact and financial sustainability. Its use is a practice in which every nonprofit should engage its board once a year."
--Ruth McCambridge, editor in chief, The Nonprofit Quarterly

"Up until a few years ago, funding and managing a nonprofit was a bit like undertaking an ocean voyage. Now, it's akin to windsurfing--you must be nimble, prepared to maximize even the slightest breeze, and open to modifying your course at a moment's notice. Innovative executive directors or bold board members who want their organization to be able to ride the big waves of the new American economy must read this book."
--Robert L. E. Egger, president, DC Central Kitchen/Campus Kitchens Project/V3 Campaign

"Most nonprofits struggle to find a long-term sustainable business model that will enable them to deliver impact on their mission. Thanks to Jeanne Bell, Jan Masaoka, and Steve Zimmerman help is now in sight. This book offers practical, concrete steps you can take to develop your own unique path to sustainability without compromising your mission."
--Heather McLeod Grant, consultant, Monitor Institute, and author, Forces for Good: The Six Practices of High-Impact Nonprofits

"At last! An urgently needed framework to prepare leaders to meet head-on the persistent twin challenges of impact and sustainability. This is a practical tool based on good business principles that can bring boards and staff members together to lead their organizations to sustainable futures."
--Nora Silver, adjunct professor and director, Center for Nonprofit and Public Leadership, Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley

"Together, Jeanne Bell, Jan Masaoka, and Steve Zimmerman equal wisdom, experience, and know-how on sustainability and lots of other things. Buy, read, and learn from this terrific book!"
--Clara Miller, president and CEO, Nonprofit Finance Fund

"Wisdom, experience, and know-how. Buy, read, and learn from this terrific book!"
--Clara Miller, president and CEO, Nonprofit Finance Fund

The book helps nonprofit executives and board members design strategies that combine financial and programmatic realities to put together a mix that will deliver the highest impact with the highest financial sustainability. Readers will understand the concept of an organization-wide business plan and be offered specific, step-by-step tools to help them develop, modify, and adopt plans. This is not, however, a book that focuses on process: it is a content-heavy book with analyses of various earned income types, fundraising income types, and quantitative tools for analysis. the Matrix Map we introduce is unique, as is the identification of five archetypal business strategies for organizations. Organizations of many types will find this useful, easy to understand and implement--whether used as a training tool for new staff or for board members, as part of a strategic planning process, when cutbacks are needed, when programs appear to be getting diminishing returns, and/or when the funding model isn't working the way it used to. Chapters will cover:       What Is Sustainability?       How to Approach Traditional Strategic Planning       Revenue Strategies       The Dual Bottom Line Matrix       Mapping the Matrix       Types of Contributed Income, Related Earned Income (and leveraging these against each other)       The Board Member's Role               Archetypal Business Plans