For Foundations + Funders
Invest in the long-term financial strength of the organizations you support.
Nonprofits are not struggling because of a lack of mission. They are struggling because the traditional funding model was never designed for long-term sustainability.
Foundations have an opportunity to do more than fund programs. You can help build the financial strength, strategic clarity, and adaptive capacity nonprofits need to sustain impact over time.
Restricted funding limits flexibility
Organizations often lack the unrestricted resources needed to adapt, invest, and respond strategically.
Short-term grants do not build long-term strength
One-year funding can sustain activity for a season, but rarely builds durable financial models.
Dependence remains the default
Without support for sustainability work, many nonprofits remain locked in cycles of ongoing fundraising pressure.
Innovation is often underfunded
The work required to explore, test, and refine new revenue models frequently falls outside traditional grant priorities.
THE REALITY
We fund outcomes —but rarely fund what makes outcomes sustainable.
When financial sustainability work goes unfunded, organizations are left to carry long-term structural challenges with short-term resources.
A New Role for Funders
Financial sustainability is not simply an organizational issue. It is a sector-wide challenge shaped by how nonprofit work is funded, structured, and supported.
That gives foundations a unique opportunity: not just to fund services, but to fund the conditions that make those services more durable.
FROM FUNDING OUTPUTS
to funding capacity, strategy, and financial model development
FROM SHORT TERM RELIEF
to long-term resilience and stronger organizational footing
FROM ISOLATED GRANTS
to strategic investment in sustainability across a portfolio
When funders invest in sustainability, they do more than support individual organizations — they strengthen the conditions for lasting impact.
Why Funding Sustainability Work Matters
Investing in financial sustainability work changes what is possible — not only for one organization, but across the broader ecosystem of grantees you support.
Stronger Organizations
Nonprofits gain the tools, strategy, and leadership alignment needed to build more durable revenue models.
Better use of capital
Your funding supports systems and capabilities that can generate value well beyond a single grant period.
Increased Innovation
Organizations are better positioned to identify, test, and refine mission-aligned ideas that traditional funding often overlooks.
Portfolio-level Impact
You are not only funding organizational activity — you are helping strengthen the long-term viability of your grantee ecosystem.
How the SUSTAIN Initiative Supports This Work
SUSTAIN works alongside nonprofits — and the funders who support them — to strengthen the strategy, structure, and decision-making required for long-term financial sustainability.
Our work is designed to help organizations move from dependence toward greater durability through a guided process of assessment, development, testing, and implementation.
Assess
Use the SUSTAINability Readiness Index to understand organizational readiness, strengths, and growth edges.
Develop
Guide leadership teams through structured work to identify and shape mission-aligned revenue opportunities.
Implement
Support concept testing and pilot development that move promising ideas toward sustainable models.
Ways to Partner
Fund a Cohort
Support a group of nonprofits through the SUSTAIN Journey
Assess a Portfolio
Understand readiness across grantees
Support Testing
Fund pilot initiatives
Advance Field-Building
Make sustainability a funding priority
Let’s Build What Lasts
If you are exploring how to strengthen the long-term impact of your funding, we would welcome a conversation.
Together, we can help nonprofits move beyond short-term survival and toward stronger, more sustainable futures.