Moving Beyond the Grant
Is it too early for 2018 predictions? I’ll go out on a limb and predict that figuring out how to cobble together the dollars you need to run your nonprofit isn’t going to get easier in 2018. If you’re looking to grow or expand the number of people you serve or deepen your impact, let’s face it, you’ll have to get creative.
Getting Creative
What if instead of competing for the same (or dwindling) slices of the philanthropic pie, our local Austin community could unlock new funding that expands the overall amount of what gets dished out? There are new tools and vehicles to fuel growth out there, and Mission Capital wants to help local nonprofits and funders tap into these new sources of funding to scale creative, proven approaches. That’s where our new research brief, Beyond the Grant: Unlocking New Funds to Grow Your Organization, comes in.
Beyond the Grant demystifies what is known as “alternative financing,” unpacking the why, the what, the when and the how of such strategies:
Why – the value proposition or the "why" for alternative funding strategies
What – the various financial tools and resources that can be unlocked
When – the times a nonprofit or funder might find a particular tool to be a good match
How– how to overcome barriers to successfully secure or deploy this financing
If your nonprofit generates a meaningful amount of earned revenue, within a program or the organization as a whole, Beyond the Grant will be of particular interest to you. The presence of a revenue-generating program may make your organization eligible to funders seeking to make an impact investment beyond traditional grants.
Moving Forward
Mission Capital wants to see more “matches” between revenue-generating nonprofits ripe for new infusions of capital and funders ready to deploy their dollars. Getting there will require:
Raising awareness among nonprofits and funders alike about this emerging trend.
Building the capacity of nonprofits to prepare successful “investor ready” proposals for financing.
Building funder capacity to determine if new financial tools are right for their giving priorities.
Champions (individuals and organizations) who can shape the vision for Austin's local ecosystem.
We’re excited to share Beyond the Grant with you! We hope you’ll join us for upcoming community conversations in 2018 as we work together to unlock new financial capital in Austin. Download Beyond the Grant today.