“Organizations don’t need you to save them, they need you to bet on them.”
Nonprofit partners are frequently guiding us on ways to collectively support them throughout the year, not solely on Give Miami Day. The truth is that many of our nonprofits in Miami operate with precarious financial stability while continuing to show up daily for our community. More than half of Miami-Dade nonprofits have three months or less of cash on hand to manage their expenses. Nearly a quarter of nonprofits faced budget cuts last year, with likely more to come.
Earned revenue is one avenue for diversification that we have seen Miami’s nonprofits become more open to. Earned revenue is income a nonprofit generates from its existing assets and talents to reduce its dependence on donations and grants. The 1,400+ nonprofits who participated in last year’s Give Miami Day told us that they are looking for ways to supercharge the work they are already doing by powering their bottom line – with nearly one-third saying innovative financing models were their #1 need.
Local funders are listening. The Frederick A. DeLuca Foundation, a leading funder in the nonprofit capacity-building space in South Florida, became intrigued by the idea of investing in nonprofits’ potential to create earned revenue streams. Organizations with earned revenue are better positioned to adapt, innovate, and sustain their impact over time. Earned revenue also creates stronger, more resilient organizations that are less dependent on any single funding source and that are better positioned to meet urgent and evolving community needs. What the DeLuca Foundation realized is that private philanthropy and individuals alone cannot fill the widening gap in the funding landscape as government funding continues to shrink, and they were eager to see how earned revenue might be able to help.
DeLuca Foundation partnered with consulting firm 20 Degrees to create the Rev Up SoFlo program and help South Florida nonprofits diversify their funding by selling mission-aligned products and/or services. The 21 nonprofits in Rev Up SoFlo’s pilot worked with 20 Degrees over six months to each design and launch an earned revenue strategy. And in early June, the first nine nonprofits came together at the FIU College of Business to share their concepts with a room full of peers and funding partners.
The ideas pitched demonstrate Miami nonprofits’ creativity and ambition, combined with their ability to use their valuable experience and expertise to design products and services that can benefit an even wider audience. Below, we are thrilled to share some of the incredible concepts designed by Miami nonprofits. They are now seeking investment in their projects to be able to get them off the ground.
Be Strong International
Mission: Strengthen relationships and foster meaningful connections among family members, friends, co-workers, and community members.
Pitch: Bringing Social Yaks to the Corporate Market – Offering companies a workplace experience that guides participants through conversations designed to strengthen trust, communication, and meaningful connection.
Investment Needed: $150K to expand. Watch the pitch above.
Mission: Free Peer Support Groups for children, young adults, and adults after the death of a loved one.
Pitch: Workplace Wellness and Grief Support for Employers – Workshops, consultations, education, and long-term grief services to help employers care for team members before and after a loss while strengthening workplace culture and productivity.
Investment Needed: Seeking $75K to build the infrastructure. Watch the pitch above.
The Education Fund
Mission: Maximize every child’s potential and to ensure that each one graduates with every opportunity for success.
Pitch: Licensing the Food Forest Model – Respond to demand from teachers and administrators by licensing its proven food forest education framework into the classroom.
Investment Needed: Seeking $250K a year for 3 years to launch. Watch the pitch above.
Guitars Over Guns
Mission: Empower young people through skills and experience in music, mentorship, and the arts to build greater potential in their futures.
Pitch: GOGO Live! – Deliver world class entertainment and drive social impact for businesses in South Florida.
Investment Needed: Seeking $50K for marketing materials. Watch the pitch above.
Kristi House
Mission: Protects children from sexual abuse, trafficking, and other childhood trauma — providing therapy, fighting for justice, and working with the community to stop abuse before it starts.
Pitch: Human Trafficking Training for Hospitality Companies – Offer hospitality companies interactive human trafficking training to help them move from awareness to confident, informed action.
Investment Needed: Seeking $100K to launch. Watch the pitch above.
Lotus House
Mission: Provides shelter, resources, and multi-faceted, comprehensive supportive services to help 1,450+ women, youth and children annually.
Pitch: Expanding the Thrift Chic Boutique – Partnering with estate planners to offer paid furniture pick ups, bringing pieces directly to the women and children at Lotus House, with remaining inventory sold at the boutique.
Investment Needed: Seeking $25K for infrastructure. Watch the pitch above.
At The Miami Foundation, we see the power and possibility of creating space for nonprofits to think more expansively about their funding models. We are now working with 20 Degrees to offer an expanded group of local Miami nonprofits the opportunity to begin exploring earned revenue strategies, as well. Stay tuned! We’ll keep you updated as those ideas turn into social enterprises worth investing in!
In the meantime, and if you are as energized by the power of nonprofit earned revenue models as we are, we invite you to get involved:
- Consider providing a start-up grant to one (or more!) of these promising ideas.
- Be a customer or refer a customer to these nonprofit social enterprises.
- Champion the importance of nonprofit earned revenue with your network.
- Join us at a future Rev Up SoFlo showcase to hear nonprofits’ brilliant ideas. Click here to let us know if you are interested.