Research Products & Services
From financial monitoring to financial empowerment.
The Financial Forest framework builds shared understanding of what financial health actually looks like, replacing generic benchmarks with seven research-backed archetypes.
Private & Community Foundations
Deepen your partnership with grantees. Know exactly which organizations are built to grow versus which are built to sustain, and support them accordingly.
Banks & Credit Unions
Achieve CRA compliance goals with community investments that create measurable stability in the local nonprofit ecosystem.
Corporate & DOD Partners
Turn "community relations" into measurable resilience. Prove your investment is strengthening the community infrastructure you rely on.
Hospital Systems
Meet community benefit requirements by targeting specific gaps in your local nonprofit network based on clear data.
Nonprofit Leaders
Unlike a financial audit, which focuses on compliance and regulatory reporting, the Financial Health Brief is designed to unlock understanding of your own organizational model and build the strategic capacity to navigate it on your own terms.
Core Services
Ecosystem Profile
The Financial Forest dataset covers ten U.S. metropolitan markets. Funders in emerging markets can commission a new Ecosystem Profile — a full archetype-based analysis of the local nonprofit sector — and receive co-publishing rights to share findings across their grantee network and community partners. The research methodology travels. The data stays local.
For Funders
- Market Intelligence: A data-driven map of your local nonprofit sector built on the same methodology as the published research, before you commit capital.
- Co-Publishing Rights: Distribute findings to grantees, board members, and community partners under your organization's endorsement.
- Research Credibility: Grantmaking decisions grounded in empirically derived findings, not overhead ratios or anecdotal benchmarks.
For Nonprofit Leaders
- Sector Visibility: Your organization is benchmarked against local and national peers using the same methodology applied across all ten markets.
- Shared Language: The archetype framework arrives in your community with your funder's endorsement, creating immediate shared context for financial conversations.
Portfolio Financial Health Assessment
A deep-dive analysis of 10–20 organizations to create a shared map of your ecosystem. The assessment identifies archetype patterns and surfaces portfolio-level risks to help align funding strategy with grantee reality.
For Funders
- Strategic Alignment: A clear view of which grantees are structurally aligned with your funding goals.
- Impact Baseline: The assessment captures a "Day 1" snapshot of financial health so you can measure the actual impact of your support over time.
- Ecosystem Insight: See exactly what is missing in your portfolio (e.g., "We have excellent service providers but fragile infrastructure").
For Nonprofit Leaders
- Validation: Confirmation that their financial reality is a known business model, not a failure.
- Fairer Evaluation: They get measured against peers with the same model, not generic industry ratios.
- Advocacy Data: Language to articulate exactly what kind of support they actually need.
Grantee Strategy Cohorts
A 6-session empowerment program. The program does not build tools for participants. It teaches them to interpret their own financial reality and identify what tools are needed. The curriculum splits focus between Internal Health (operations) and External Narrative (fundraising).
For Funders
- Measurable Growth: Pre- and post-program assessments showing improvements in financial literacy and strategic confidence.
- Resilient Partners: Grantees that understand their business model are better equipped to navigate economic shifts.
- High-Value Connection: You provide knowledge that transforms their leadership, creating a lasting partnership beyond the check.
For Nonprofit Leaders
- Measure What Matters (Internal): Training on how to identify the 3-4 metrics that actually predict success for their specific model.
- Tell the Story (External): Coaching on how to align their fundraising pitch and brand narrative with their financial reality and mission priorities.
- Peer Connection: A safe space to solve problems with other leaders facing similar challenges.
Shared Reality Workshop
A half-day interactive event for your grantees (15-25 orgs). The workshop introduces the Financial Forest framework with live diagnostics in the room. It’s a fast, high-energy way to build a common language.
For Funders
- Ecosystem Snapshot: Aggregate data on which financial archetypes are dominating your room.
- Common Language: You and your grantees can finally talk about sustainability without confusion or jargon.
For Nonprofit Leaders
- Self-Discovery: Immediate clarity on their archetype and the primary risks they need to watch out for.
- Confidence: The relief of knowing their "unique" problems are actually predictable patterns they can solve.
Speaking & Thought Leadership
Keynotes & Sector Education
Research-driven presentations that empower audiences with new perspectives. Perfect for annual conferences, board retreats, or funder network meetings.
- The Diversification Myth: Why revenue stability matters more than variety.
- The Seven Archetypes: A field guide to what nonprofit financial health actually looks like.
- Empowered Leadership: How knowing your archetype transforms decision-making.
- For Board Members: What questions you should actually be asking your ED.
For Nonprofit Leaders
Financial Health Brief
A single-organization research brief drawn from IRS Form 990 data. The Brief identifies your financial archetype, benchmarks your performance against peer organizations in the same archetype, and surfaces the structural patterns that explain your organization's financial reality. Delivered as an 8–10 page report. The research observes. It does not prescribe.
What the Brief Includes
- ✓Archetype Classification: Your financial model identified and profiled against all seven empirically derived archetypes.
- ✓Benchmark Comparisons: Key financial dimensions measured against local market data and the ten-metro national dataset.
- ✓Root Rot Assessment: A review of the four structural stress indicators the research has identified as early warning signals.
- ✓Advisory Summary: A one-page overview formatted for board and leadership conversations.
Strategic Advisory
A select engagement for 3-5 organizations annually. Strategic Advisory begins with the Financial Forest research and extends into active collaboration. Support ranges from advising and leadership coaching to hands-on execution, including feasibility studies, program redesign, and cross-departmental collaboration leadership.
Who We Work With
These engagements are designed for organizations at a critical inflection point. You may be a fit if:
- Your organization is approaching a significant structural change: merger, major new grant, or new business model.
- Your leadership is committed to outcomes measurement and transparency.
- Your team has a bias for solutions-oriented thinking and is ready to act on what the data shows.
Note: Strategic Advisory engagements are often funded through a capacity building grant from an institutional partner, though direct applications are welcome.
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