Question

Using concepts from funding models, how can they refocus its activities to generate funds to continue the work of the organization?

Answer 1

What’s required is a funding model, which we define as a methodical and institutionalized approach to building a reliable revenue base that will support an organization’s core programs and services. As Dr. Tiffany Cooper Gueye describes above, adopting and organizing around one such funding model put $17-million BELL (Building Educated Leaders for Life) on the path to financial sustainability and growth.

A funding model has three defining characteristics:

1. Type of funding: The model typically revolves around a single type of funding, such as government or individual, which constitutes the majority of the organization’s revenue and which the organization invests disproportionately in developing. Other smaller sources often play complementary supporting roles but are not the focus of investment.

2. Funding decision makers: Within that principal source of funding, the model focuses on a particular set of people who dictate the flow of funds—perhaps government administrators or a few wealthy individuals.

3. Funder motivation: A funding model takes advantage of the natural matches that exist between funder motivations and a nonprofit’s mission and beneficiaries. These motivations range from altruism to collective interest to self-interest.

analyze your organization’s current approach to funding: assessing the reliability of your existing sources of funds, crystallizing why current funders support your efforts, and evaluating your fundraising capabilities. This diagnostic will help you identify strengths a future funding model could build on as well as weaknesses that may put certain funding models out of reach or signal the need for specific investments. This knowledge will help you home in on funding approaches that may be a good fit for your organization going forward.