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Building a financially sustainable purpose-driven business that is also making an impact in a sustainable, long-term way can feel extremely daunting as a business owner.
There’s the constant tension of feeling like you are being pulled in 100 different directions, wearing ALL the hats, and that your organization lacks the time and resources needed to achieve your goals.
Most of the time, it all comes down to funding. You know you need more capital or more sales in order to hire the right expertise and the right partners that you need to grow.
As the Co-Founder and CEO of The Adventure Project, Becky Straw is familiar with the common feeling of trying to keep everything in life and in business in careful balance, but Becky’s leadership philosophy has helped her to build and lead a financially sustainable organization doing amazing work despite these common struggles.
Prior to The Adventure Project, Becky spent three years helping to launch charity: water, an organization bringing drinking water to people in developing countries. Becky has consulted for UNICEF’s Division of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene, and graduated from Columbia University with a master’s degree in International Social Welfare.
Becky has so much knowledge to share about leading a purpose-driven company with a nonprofit model — specifically how to create a truly sustainable organization. From finances and funding to programs and partnerships — Becky has so much wisdom to share.
Becky’s insights are also extremely valuable for entrepreneurs with for-profit models because her insights will challenge you and open your eyes to a new way of thinking for your business too.
In Today’s podcast episode, you’ll learn:
- The problem of viewing philanthropic programming costs as more important than operational costs
- How philanthropic programming can become more sustainable by focusing on entrepreneurship education, capacity building, and economic infrastructure
- How to use data inside of your organization to streamline operations and engage your community
- Why every founder’s role should be focused on fundraising/selling and storytelling and not programming
Important links from this episode:
The Adventure Project
An Inside Look at Business-Minded, Data-Driven, Heart-Centered Philanthropy In Action with Becky Straw co-founder and CEO of The Adventure Project — Issue # 15 of Rank & File Magazine
