Nonprofit Sustainability: Going Beyond Initial Funding

Nonprofit sustainability is not just about securing funding but more about long term goals for your programs and fulfilling your mission.

In a recent post that appeared first on Nonprofit Hub, Program Sustainability is Not Just About Funding

More than ever, program sustainability is a concern for nonprofits and the grantmaking organizations that fund them. It’s been estimated that up to 40% of all new social programs do not last long beyond their initial funding.

In order to achieve your goals, you must know: “What your plans are for sustaining your programs when you receive funding.”

Best Practices for Nonprofit Sustainability

Here are some suggestions for attaining long-term sustainability:

• Only write occasional grant proposals as opposed to constant proposals
• Focus on intermediate and long-term goals as opposed to short term goals
• Maintain a stable and skilled staff as opposed to high staff turnover and unskilled employees
• Focus on the mission as opposed to program start-up and fundraising
• Keep on improving activities as opposed to re-inventing them
• Build long-term partnerships and collaborations as opposed to time-consuming relationships
• Receive funding with no strings attached
• Demonstrate program effectiveness
• Demonstrate high credibility with stakeholders

How To Put a Nonprofit Sustainability Plan In Place

Now that we know that nonprofit sustainability is not just about funding, it’s important to have a sustainability plan in place going forward. There are many lessons to learn from how to run your nonprofit like a for-profit business. Without ongoing, sustainable revenue, your nonprofit will not survive.

We’ve put together steps to take to create your sustainability plan:

• Define your organization’s purpose and how it impacts your constituents
• Define the problem your organization solves and then ask for support
• Build mutually-benefitting partnerships with similar organizations
• Develop strategies for cultivating and maintaining partnership relationships
• Develop diversified revenue strategies to ensure continuous income

Creating a sustainability plan is the key to achieving your goals. Consider comparing your nonprofit to a startup for-profit business. There are many similarities and strategies to keep your nonprofit running in the black and not in the red.

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