"I've seen this before-many times, in fact. What you're describing is not unheard of in the nonprofit sector. Founder energy is one of the most powerful forces driving new missions into the world. It can also be one of the riskiest. Many organizations, especially those built from lived experience, passion, and necessity, begin with little more than a vision, a problem to solve."
"I'm a founder of a small nonprofit who is still the executive director and board president after 10 years. We recently moved into our own space, which increased our expenses by $6,000 to $7,000 a month-my decision, because the right space opened up and I had a recent personal windfall and told the board I could handle it. Since then (it's been about six months), we have yet to up our game on fundraising, grantmaking, and program fees to fill the gap,"
A founder who remains executive director and board president personally covered increased monthly expenses after moving the nonprofit into owned space, using a recent windfall and promising the board to handle costs. Personal contributions now range from $3,000 to $8,000 monthly while fundraising, grantmaking, and program-fee strategies lag. The founder asked whether personal investment harms grant or fundraising prospects or signals weakness. Founder energy commonly drives mission startups; founders often act as strategist, fundraiser, operations team, and financial backstop. Such determination can carry an organization surprisingly far.
Read at Nonprofit Quarterly | Civic News. Empowering Nonprofits. Advancing Justice.
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