There is no one-size-fits-all funding model for a nonprofit. 

Even organizations working in the same space may need a very different mix of funding sources. The giftings of your staff, location, donor base, and the kind of work you do all shape what will best serve the mission. 

Every funding source also comes with things it enables and things it requires.  

A grant can exponentially grow the capacity of a program, but it may also require new reporting systems or include specifications that change your programming. Earned revenue can create flexibility, but developing it requires staff capacity and the ability of those you serve to pay for it. Golf outings can be effective, too. But they require you to host a golf outing, which is, well, a golf outing. 

None of these sources are inherently better than the others. The question is whether your funding mix fully enables your mission. 

That question becomes especially important when you see a mission-critical opportunity that does not fit the ways your organization is currently funded. You know the work that needs to be done. You may even know the kind of person who could do it. But the role may not fit an existing grant, your current donor base may already be carrying a lot, and pursuing another major funding source would require time and capacity your team does not have. 

Adding support-based staff could let you build the role your mission requires and develop a new source of funding beyond your existing network. 

Most nonprofit leaders can identify work that is important to the mission but difficult to attach to a traditional funding source. It may be an outreach position focused on a particular neighborhood. It could be an internship or residency that helps an emerging leader develop their calling and skills. Maybe you need someone who can build relationships with local churches, young people, or community partners. 

Support-based staffing allows you to begin with the role the mission requires, rather than only the role your current funding allows. With Reliant's training and coaching, the staff member develops a team of financial partners who share the desire to see that work happen and want to help make it possible. 

This can be especially helpful for relational roles that do not fit neatly into a grant proposal. How do you measure the value of being present in a neighborhood for years? How do you write a quarterly metric for the trust that slowly develops between a ministry leader and a teenager? How do you quantify the conversations that happen because someone kept showing up? 

Some of the most important work in our communities moves at the speed of relationship. That does not mean the work lacks meaningful outcomes, or that organizations should not evaluate it. It simply means the timeline and value of the work may not align with the requirements of a particular funding source. 

Support-based staffing can create room for someone to remain present long enough for relationships to grow. It allows them to focus on work that fulfills your organization’s mission, even when that work is difficult to fit within your current funding model. 

Support-based staffing can also help an organization move beyond its existing funding network. With our training and coaching, the staff member develops a support team from within their own relationships instead of relying only on the organization’s current development channels. 

Nonprofits often return to the same donors, grants, churches, and institutional partners. Those relationships are at the heart of why the ministry is happening, but there are limits to how much those partners can give. Staffing is often one of a nonprofit’s largest expenses, so adding another position can mean asking the same group of people for significantly more. 

A support-based staff member begins with a different network. When they share the work God is doing through the ministry and the part they will play in it, potential partners encounter the mission through someone they already know and trust. 

When it comes down to it, people often give to people. 

They understand this person’s passion and are excited about the meaningful work they will be doing. Through that relationship, people who may never have encountered your organization are introduced to a specific part of its mission and invited to help make it possible. 

The staff member’s partners give, pray, encourage, and follow their work. They begin to care about the people the staff member serves and the larger mission that wants to continue serving them. Over time, the organization’s community grows alongside its staff. 

Support-based staffing does not replace the organization's existing development work. Grants, major donors, earned revenue, church partnerships, and other sources will continue to be important parts of the funding mix. 

But when a mission-critical role does not fit that current mix, support-based staffing adds another possibility. Your team does not have to generate all of the new funding through the same development channels it is already working hard to maintain. 

Instead, you can invite someone into the work God is doing and equip them to build a new team of partners around that mission. That may be how the next mission-critical position moves from an opportunity you can see to work your organization is finally able to pursue. 

What role could your organization pursue if funding were not the first limitation? 

If you have a mission-critical position that does not fit neatly into your current funding model, support-based staffing may be worth exploring. Reliant can help you think through whether this approach could fit your organization and equip a staff member to build a team of financial partners around the work.