The Origin Story
Operational reality meets analytical rigor.
The Financial Forest was born from a simple frustration: The advice given to nonprofits rarely matches the math of how they actually survive.
The Question That Started It All
I have spent my career in the nonprofit sector in a variety of roles, from direct service to analytics to senior leadership. I sat in boardrooms and listened to well-meaning experts repeat the same mantras: "Diversify your revenue." "Keep overhead low." "Build 6 months of reserves."
But when I looked at the organizations that were actually thriving, they weren't all following those rules. And the organizations that were struggling? Many of them were trying desperately to follow that advice, and it was breaking them.
I realized we were operating on sector myths, not data.
So, I started my research with a singular focus: to test whether conventional nonprofit financial advice actually predicts success. I analyzed three years of IRS data, starting with Colorado Springs and expanding to 1,648 organizations across twelve U.S. markets.
The result is The Financial Forest, a new framework that proves success isn't about following generic rules. It's about understanding your specific organizational DNA.
Why These Markets?
The research began in Colorado Springs: a mid-sized market with diverse funding models ranging from $100K startups to $65M institutions. Studying one ecosystem deeply first allowed structural patterns to surface that national aggregate data obscures.
The study has since expanded to Augusta/CSRA, Honolulu, Huntsville, Spokane, Boise/Treasure Valley, Tucson, Dayton, Albuquerque, Melbourne/Space Coast, Knoxville, and Anchorage: 1,648 organizations across twelve U.S. markets. These are regional hubs where nonprofits depend primarily on local resources, community foundations, and civic institutions rather than large corporate headquarters or national philanthropic infrastructure. That dependency shapes the financial environment in ways that benchmarks built from major-metro data consistently misread.
What Guides the Work
I believe the organizations holding our communities together deserve more than generic advice, and I believe the way we go about giving them something better matters as much as what we hand over. Two values carry that. Humanity is how I collaborate, and a drive for excellence is what keeps me curious. The scope of an engagement changes every time, but these two do not, and they are what you get when you opt to work with me.
Humanity is the root
I take a human first approach, which means authentic human connection before anything else. Having been a practitioner gives me insight into how sector advice lands and into the difficulties of mission-driven work. I stay optimistic and look for the bright spots, and I extend grace to others and to myself. It's also why I partner with organizations like these, because that's how our communities stay resilient.
Humanity is how I collaborate. I co-build, I ask questions, and I work alongside you, which in practice looks like advisory sessions where we're both involved in discovery as I guide as a thought partner. Deliverables balance strategic aspiration with organizational reality so that no plans are dropped on a client without the means to act on them. It extends to other researchers and industry professionals too, where I give back and share learnings so the whole sector moves forward.
Excellence is the bar
A drive for excellence is present in all I do. It's a high performance mindset and a growth mindset, built on understanding that the work is never finished and that how I approach it makes all the difference. It shows up in iteration and creativity, so that the final product is something we're both proud to share. For the data it means rigorous internal review practices before any finding gets cited.
Excellence is what keeps me curious. My brain doesn't stop moving, so I'm going to return to the data with another question, and I'm going to explore the whys and the hows and the connections in every conversation, without dehumanizing the moment. I hold myself and others to an expectation of excellence, though never without compassion. It raises questions I keep asking: If we want nonprofits at their best in serving communities, what resources are needed to make that possible? What long-held beliefs don't hold up to analytical scrutiny and need to be disrupted?
See what working together looks like.
Explore the ways I partner with organizations like yours.
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