Results
So many possibilities
When you open your mind to a world beyond philanthropy, the possibilities are endless.
These mission-aligned businesses were created through the SUSTAIN Journey with help from community leaders and volunteers.
Sustainability begins with ..
… a food truck and retail store that sells groovy cookies to train and employ adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities
Sustainability begins with ...
… a for-profit play center that reinforces the nonprofit’s mission: building stronger, healthier families
Sustainability begins with ...
… a social enterprise that offers residents an opportunity to build personal assets and the nonprofit the ability to expand its mission
Sustainability begins with ...
… a startup that uses its agency expertise to help others develop community housing financing solutions
Community Transformation
The SUSTAIN Journey immediately involves diverse leadership across the community and throughout the region.
In a typical cohort, over 125 key community participants become involved in the design and success of the organizations’ sustainable models, driving competence, resources, relationships, and commitment. The process can transform a whole community.
I loved the mission. I wanted to be a part of this. I care deeply about it. But the truth is – there’s no money, no mission. It takes so much energy and focus away from the mission to be out there everyday, every week, every month, beating the same trails, asking the same people for money.
Then we joined the SUSTAIN Journey.
What the SUSTAIN Initiative offers to us is this hope that we can have this source of revenue that is there and is secure so we can actually focus on our mission. And if we choose to go seek philanthropy, it is for another reason – to expand, to scale – versus the necessity of keeping the lights on.