Going National: How to Grow a Small Non-Profit

A recent article from Stanford Social Innovation Review details how one small non-profit quadrupled in size and operating budget in just seven years. Portland, Oregon-based Friends of the Children, which provides mentors to at-risk youth, had just five locations in 2012, but grew to 20 by 2019. The article describes their service model—pairing a salaried mentor with a school-age child through high school graduation, no matter what—and lessons learned including how they were able to fundraise $25 million for their national expansion. Other takeaways include the importance of investing in quality performance management and evaluation, strong community support, and diversified funding.

Read the article here: 
https://ssir.org/articles/entry/how_a_portland_based_nonprofit_
scaled_from_5_to_20_locations_in_7_years