Giving Compass' Take:

• William F. Meehan III and Kim Starkey Jonker break down the steps for organizations that are thinking about scaling up to increase their impact. 

• Is scaling up the right choice for your organization? What can you achieve if you scale up that is currently out of your reach? 

• Learn about sustainably scaling up a nonprofit. 

For certain nonprofits under certain conditions, increasing the size of an organization can be a powerful way to increase impact. But we have seen far too many well-meaning nonprofit leaders approach scaling in ways that are misguided and even detrimental.

  1. Start with your business model. Consider, in particular, how you will raise the revenue that you need for scaling. In most cases, the funding partners that will help you scale are the partners that you already have.
  2. Prioritize impact over cost. Your intervention does not need to be the lowest-cost option in your field; achieving impact, rather than saving money, should be your priority.
  3. Clarify your structure. Which functions will reside in each part of that structure depends on the activities that a nonprofit pursues and how it prioritizes those activities.
  4. Build capacity from the start. Successful scaling requires leaders to build the skills, resources, and processes that will be necessary for long-term organizational growth.
  5. Create a growth capital plan. An organization eases the way for ambitious scaling efforts by creating a growth capital plan—or at least a general plan that outlines capital requirements.
  6. Use technology early and often. Scaling service delivery through technology, in our view, is the next frontier of increasing impact in the nonprofit sector.

Read the full article on scaling up by William F. Meehan III and Kim Starkey Jonker at GuideStar by Candid.