What If We Funded Nonprofits Like Startups? Nonprofit MBA 8.18

In a world where startup ventures are celebrated for their risk-taking, innovation, and scalability, the nonprofit sector often finds itself stifled by outdated funding models, rigid expectations, and chronic underinvestment. But what if we approached nonprofit funding with the same mindset we use to launch tech companies? What if we treated nonprofits not as charity cases, but as mission-driven startups with bold visions, entrepreneurial energy, and the potential to scale?

In a recent episode of the Nonprofit MBA Podcast, host Stephen Halasnik of Financing Solutions sat down with Greg Harrell-Edge, nonprofit strategist and former Executive Director of the Harold Robinson Foundation, to explore this provocative question. Their conversation reveals a powerful reframing of how we view nonprofit organizations—and how transformative the sector could become if we embraced a startup-style funding philosophy.