Surgance is a great investment for the catalytic donor. Our entire organization and our ethos even, is built around a scalable, centralized model of operations that keeps social entrepreneurs and innovators from having to recreate the wheel. The economies of scale that we bring to the market combined with the leverage and legitimacy of the movement are incredibly efficient. Our story is one of innovation and efficiency. We bring business sense to the nonprofit world.

That said, many of you have heard me speak of “The nonprofit starvation cycle” wherein charities become focused more on efficiency than impact in order to keep subjective “overhead” costs low (there is no industry standard for nonprofit overhead or programming costs) so that they can show donors that they are a great investment. This is nonsense. The point is impact! Critical infrastructure investments and a long term focus on growth and impact are absolutely vital to our organization and to the future of any nonprofit desiring to make a difference in the lives of millions.

The leadership at Stanford University in their Center for Social Innovation and through the Stanford Social Innovation Review (SSIR) have been on the cutting edge of bringing this issue to the forefront. Here’s a strong quote that explains the situation found in the Fall 2009 issue of the SSIR, a research based article by Ann Goggins Gregory & Don Howard: “A vicious cycle is leaving nonprofits so hungry for decent infrastructure that they can barely function as organizations—let alone serve their beneficiaries. The cycle starts with funders’ unrealistic expectations about how much running a nonprofit costs, and results in nonprofits’ misrepresenting their costs while skimping on vital systems—acts that feed funders’ skewed beliefs. To break the nonprofit starvation cycle, funders must take the lead.”

Surgance is an innovative, cutting edge nonprofit that is about IMPACT. We are catalysts for transformation and life change in communities all over the country, but we are also working to bring about change in the nonprofit industry by stopping new nonprofit leaders from recreating the wheel with our business model. This is efficient for the donor AND it increases impact. We need catalytic donors that recognize this fact, see the fundamental challenge that Stanford speaks of above, and also realize that Surgance is an investment that is even helping to usher in transformation for an entire industry.

Gregory and Howard go on to say, “Organizations that build robust infrastructure—which includes sturdy information technology systems, financial systems, skills training, fundraising processes, and other essential overhead—are more likely to succeed than those that do not. This is not news, and nonprofits are no exception to the rule.”

What’s the bottom line? The Surgance business model is built on efficiency, but our leadership understands that the point of our work is impact. We will continue to invest in infrastructure and training that allows us to thrive as a global force for good bringing innovative programs for the good of society to the market. If that resonates with you, we invite you to join the movement.

Brian D. Audia
President and CEO

The article quoted above can be read here: http://tiny.cc/62amt