Nonprofit Leaders: Are you aggressively scaling or moderately growing your revenue?
What are the nonprofit leaders whose orgs scale at a higher rate doing differently? . . .
I've witnessed a few distinct themes in the 13 years of my biz. These themes separate those orgs that were aggressively scaling vs. moderately growing.
And before you say it….I know, I know. Not every org wants to scale by 2X or 5X.
About half of my clients come to me to help diversify their revenue first, before scaling! But, most want to grow beyond that 5-7% of growth per year.
Scaling your charitable revenue (especially gen-ops dollars) allows you to smooth out cash flow, invest in retaining your employees, pay solid living-wage salaries, become less dependent on earned revenue, and build a reserve fund. Most nonprofits WANT to do that!
Those distinct themes between aggressively scaling and moderately growing?
Want them? See below ⬇️
🟢Aggressively scaling: Constantly invest in TEACHING their team how to be effective fundraisers.
🟡Moderately growing: Set aside a smaller professional development budget per staff member.
🟢Aggressively scaling: Embrace innovation - take calculated risks with larger rewards.
🟡Moderately growing: Hesitate to invest in anything that feels like a donor might see as risky.
🟢Aggressively scaling: Build relationships with donors over 6-24 months so that you can secure their best gift.
🟡Moderately growing: Spend too much time on events, appeals, and campaigns that produce quick wins but leave money on the table.
🟢Aggressively scaling: Set budget based on the true financial need of your strategic growth plans and learn how to raise to your true need!
🟡Moderately growing: Set budget based on 'a little more than last year' and worry incessantly that you won’t reach it.
Remember . . . If you truly want to 2X-5X your nonprofit’s philanthropic revenue, or even diversify revenue, you must lean harder into the aggressively scaling mentality.
And then invest in your team, systems, and board like there’s no other option. That's where the money is.
Whenever you’re ready, here are THREE things you can do next:
👣 Follow me on LinkedIn where I share insider info daily — the same lessons I teach my clients about attracting larger gen-ops dollars and diversifying revenue.
🍎 Grab FREE Guides + White Papers — download robust resources you can use to push against the sector’s misconceptions, equip your board, and shift your team into High-ROI fundraising.
📈 Work with me to diversify revenue & secure the gen-ops gifts you need to grow. If you’re a business-minded nonprofit CEO with big growth plans but need to make charitable revenue from investment-level donors a bigger part of your budget, you can apply to work with me here.
