In 2009, Bridgespan Group surfaced a troubling phenomenon in their essay, “The Nonprofit Starvation Cycle.” It distilled the widespread challenges that nonprofits face to function effectively, noting that a vicious cycle starts with “funders’ unrealistic expectations about how much running a nonprofit costs” and results in “nonprofits misrepresenting their costs while skimping on vital systems—acts that feed funders’ skewed beliefs.” The article goes on to note that if the cycle is ever going to be broken, “funders must take the lead.” In our experience, both grantees and funders must work together to break the ‘starvation cycle.’
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At Mission Throttle, we provide both funders and grantees with the necessary tools to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of mission-driven organizations, thereby creating sustainable community impact:
FUNDERS: Mission Throttle partners with funders and their grant partners to develop business strategies that strengthen organizational infrastructure and create opportunities for financial sustainability, growth and scale.
MISSION-DRIVEN ORGANIZATIONS: Mission Throttle provides a wide range of Advisory Services tailored to help mission-driven organizations achieve sustainable social impact. We use an evidence-based approach to develop creative, market-based strategies.
Stabilization: Due to capacity constraints, many mission-driven organizations are unable to create the necessary infrastructure to support long-term strategic growth. Through a range of business analytics, we partner with our clients to create solutions that lead to financial and operational stability.
We assist grantees that:
- Operate with a structural deficit
- Lack an outcome tracking framework
- Lack an integrated service model
- Have a high concentration of funders
Growth and Scale: Organizations that have diverse revenue streams are more likely to be financially sustainable and therefore, achieve greater impact. We assist our clients to leverage their existing programmatic strengths to create financial resilience. We can also work with these clients to develop and implement strategies that unlock new forms of capital and create investment opportunities.
We assist grantees that:
- Have diversified sources of revenue
- Have cohesive logic models
- Understand their programmatic outcomes
- Have strong leadership and Board of Directors
Mission-driven organizations have tremendous desire and expertise to accelerate the impact of their programs, yet many lack access to sufficient financial and human capital to scale their initiatives. By providing these organizations with the capital and opportunity to access advisory services, both parties can work toward breaking the cycle that prevents sustainable social change.
For more information on how your organization can access tools to better serve the community, contact us at info@missionthrottle.com