Beyond the Budget: Building Your Nonprofit’s Forever Fund

with Maya Tussing, Fairlight Advisors

An endowment isn’t just a practical financial tool for larger organizations; it’s a powerful signal to donors, grantors, and the community that your organization has the stability to weather economic storms and fulfill its mission for years to come.
In today’s challenging funding environment — with government grants being cut, foundations pulling back, and individual donors becoming more selective — having a substantial, long-term funding source provides far more than just funding security. It represents resilience, vision, an abundance mindset and a commitment to enduring impact.

This session covers different types of endowments, why more organizations need them, a case study on how they help, and how we invest sustainably, socially responsibly and appropriately for a nonprofit. We will share why doing the upfront work to seed a quasi-endowment can signal to donors that your organization is serious about funding your future. Like the nonprofit that struggled to find a major donor to fund an endowment, so the organization funded a flexible board designated fund of $350,000. This initiative was viewed positively by their community who rewarded them by contributing an additional $3m over the next three years. Depending on time, we can talk about what boards need to do to prepare and questions to consider before doing it themselves or hiring an advisor.