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

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

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Nonprofit Sustainability Best Practices

Here are some suggestions for attaining long-term nonprofit 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

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How To Put a 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

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Bottom Line

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.

Want to read more? Check out these insightful articles:

• What Is Nonprofit Stewardship and Donor Designation
• How to Increase Nonprofit Funding Using Accounting Software
• Why Accounting Is The Key To Nonprofit Sustainability
• Surviving COVID-19: Nonprofit Sustainability Plan
• How Operating Like A Startup Grows Nonprofit Revenue
• 4 Digital Event Management Strategies for Nonprofits
• Nonprofit Internal Controls: How To Prevent Fraud

Did you find this article useful? We welcome your thoughts and comments.