Giving Compass' Take:
- Erin Worsham and Kimberly Bardy Langsam provide a checklist for nonprofits to hone their scaling plan pitch.
- Funders can use this list to guide their own effort. Similarly, this can also shed light on nonprofits' processes that can help you better understand why they are not meeting expectations you may have.
- Read about accelerating readiness for scale.
What is Giving Compass?
We connect donors to learning resources and ways to support community-led solutions. Learn more about us.
We read your application and are excited about your mission and potential to change lives. Great work! But—the dreaded “but”—your project is not right for us at this time.
Not the right fit. Too early. Too unfocused. You’ve probably heard it all, or, all too often, you’ve heard nothing back at all. But what do your funders really mean, and what aren’t they telling you? What makes them hesitate to fund your scaling plan?
We at CASE have spent years researching the challenges faced by scaling social ventures, and are also funders of scale ourselves through the F. M. Kirby Prize for Scaling Social Impact. Building on that experience, as well as on many collaborations and deep conversations with major funders of scale, we have noticed patterns in the concerns that funders identify when evaluating scaling plans. We want to pull back the curtains to help you better understand and address them. Don’t submit your next funding application until you’ve addressed this scaling checklist!
Does your application…
- Define your piece of the problem?
- Think beyond growth?
- Keep it simple?
- Demonstrate learning?
- Avoid the talent trap?
- Show the money?
- Stay close to the problem?
Read the full article about why funders aren't funding scaling plans by Erin Worsham and Kimberly Bardy Langsam at Stanford Social Innovation Review.