Philanthropic Diversification
This module focuses on diversification of philanthropic and foundation support. Participants will explore strategies for expanding funding streams beyond traditional sources, including cultivating relationships with new institutional funders, corporate foundations, and private donors. The session will cover practical approaches to aligning funding opportunities with organizational priorities and building long-term sustainability.
DATE
Friday, May 15, 2026
TIME
10:00 am - 11:30 am CST
PRESENTERS
Managing Director at Envoy
Salomon Moreno-Rosa
Salomon is a Managing Director at Envoy. He uses his background and expertise in nonprofit administration and policy development to inform nonprofit operations, philanthropy, and strategic planning engagements that help drive organizational goals and advance local outcomes.
Alejandra Piers-Torres
Manager at Envoy
Alejandra is a Manager of Strategy & Philanthropy at Envoy. She brings experience in local government, public/private partnerships, and program development to support social impact initiatives. Alejandra holds a BA in International Relations and Hispanic Studies from Brown University.
Rothschild Toussaint
Associate at Envoy
Rothschild is an Associate in the Strategy & Philanthropy sector at Envoy. He brings experience in economic development, affordable housing, research, and policy analysis. He employs a mixed methods research and data-driven approach to tackling social challenges. He holds a BA in Economic Geography from Dartmouth College.
Session Agenda
-
Welcome & Ice Breaker​
-
Review of Last Module​
-
Module 6 recap
-
Guest Speaker​
-
Breakout / Discussion​
-
Closing and Next Steps​
Nonprofit Structure Resources
Fiscal Sponsor
The document provides an overview of fiscal sponsorship as an alternative way to forming a nonprofit corporation. It explains how fiscal sponsorship allows projects to operate under an existing nonprofit's tax-exempt status, reducing administrative burdens while enabling fundraising and program execution. It outlines the benefits, drawbacks, and steps to establish such an arrangement.
The document serves as a guide for nonprofits acting as fiscal sponsors, emphasizing the importance of understanding their roles, legal responsibilities, and potential risks. It outlines best practices, models of fiscal sponsorship, administrative processes, and considerations for aligning with sponsored projects' missions while maintaining oversight and discretion over funds.
The document explains fiscal sponsorship as a means for non-tax-exempt projects to access charitable funding through an IRS-recognized 501(c)(3) organization. It highlights the fiscal sponsor's roles, including fiduciary oversight and financial management, and outlines benefits like tax-deductible donations and administrative support. It also discusses legal compliance, written agreements, and scenarios where fiscal sponsorship is beneficial.
The document provides an in-depth exploration of Comprehensive Fiscal Sponsorship (CFS), a model where a nonprofit integrates unincorporated projects into its structure, offering administrative, legal, and operational support. It explains the benefits of CFS, such as cost savings, risk management, and focus on mission-driven work, while addressing misconceptions and emphasizing its role as a sustainable alternative to incorporation or merger for nonprofits.
The document provides a step-by-step guide to starting a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, covering feasibility assessment, building a foundation with a mission, vision, and board of directors, filing articles of incorporation, obtaining tax-exempt status through IRS Form 1023, and maintaining compliance with state and federal requirements. It also includes tips on sustaining operations, ensuring proper governance, and managing financial records to retain tax-exempt status.
The document serves as a comprehensive toolkit for starting a nonprofit organization, covering foundational steps such as conducting market research, crafting mission and vision statements, drafting articles of incorporation and bylaws, and forming a board of directors. It emphasizes alternatives to starting a new nonprofit, the importance of market need assessment, and strategies for governance, funding, and community engagement to ensure organizational success and sustainability.
For Profit Structure Resources
General
The "Entrepreneur Toolkit" document outlines key considerations and strategies for entrepreneurs at various stages of their business lifecycle, from formation to liquidity and beyond. It includes guidance on establishing advisory relationships, structuring businesses, tax and estate planning, equity compensation, succession planning, and charitable giving.
The document serves as a guide to selecting a business structure for farmers markets, explaining the differences between sole proprietorships, partnerships, LLCs, corporations, nonprofits, and cooperatives. It highlights key factors such as liability protection, taxation, and decision-making authority, and emphasizes the importance of actively adopting a suitable structure to align with operational goals, reduce risks, and meet legal requirements.
The document provides a detailed guide to forming corporations and LLCs, covering topics such as liability protection, tax savings, professional identity establishment, and compliance with state and federal requirements. It outlines the steps for selecting a business structure, filing articles of incorporation, appointing directors, and maintaining corporate formalities, while highlighting MyCorporation's services for business formation and management.
The document discusses the importance of aligning organizational values with employee values and strategy to enhance performance, satisfaction, and retention. It outlines a five-step process for achieving values alignment, emphasizing inclusivity, strategic alignment, and meaningful employee engagement.
The document provides a comprehensive guide for financial services institutions (FSIs) to develop effective governance operating models. It emphasizes translating governance frameworks into actionable structures, processes, and responsibilities that enhance oversight, risk management, and regulatory compliance. The model includes four key components: structure, oversight responsibilities, talent and culture, and infrastructure. It outlines steps for design, implementation, and continuous improvement to align governance with strategic objectives and stakeholder expectations.
The document, from the U.S. Small Business Administration, outlines various business structures, including sole proprietorships, partnerships, LLCs, corporations (C corps, S corps, benefit corporations), nonprofits, and cooperatives. It explains their implications for taxes, liability, and operational requirements, helping entrepreneurs choose the structure best suited to their needs. It also highlights the importance of consulting with professionals to navigate legal and tax considerations effectively.
LLC
The document provides instructions for understanding the federal tax implications of Limited Liability Companies (LLCs), particularly those associated with tax-exempt organizations. It explains key considerations, such as the tax treatment of single-member and multi-member LLCs, conditions for disregarded entities, and compliance requirements for tax-exempt LLCs. It includes a model information letter for addressing federal tax inquiries and highlights the importance of aligning LLC activities with the tax-exempt purposes of its owner to avoid jeopardizing tax-exempt status.
The document explains the importance of operating agreements for Limited Liability Companies (LLCs), highlighting their role in governing financial and operational decisions, clarifying verbal agreements, and protecting limited liability status. It outlines key components such as ownership percentages, voting rights, responsibilities, and profit distribution.
B Corp
This document is a detailed guide for small enterprises aiming to achieve B Corp Certification. It outlines the certification process, including completing the B Impact Assessment, meeting performance and transparency standards, and adhering to legal requirements. It provides step-by-step instructions for data collection, verification, and certification, emphasizing stakeholder governance and ongoing improvement. The guide also offers strategies for overcoming challenges, engaging internal teams, and leveraging the certification for external communication and business growth.
This guide provides entrepreneurs with a comprehensive overview of Certified B Corporations and Benefit Corporations, detailing their distinctions, benefits, and challenges. It outlines the steps for certification and incorporation, emphasizing the importance of social and environmental accountability, transparency, and legal considerations. The guide includes practical advice for navigating the certification process, managing resources, and aligning business practices with stakeholder-focused governance while addressing the evolving legal landscape of these designations.
This handbook provides a practical guide for businesses to use their operations as a force for good, emphasizing social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency. It outlines the benefits of B Corp certification, including enhanced credibility, employee engagement, and investor attraction, while detailing the certification process, impact assessments, and strategies for improving corporate sustainability and mission-driven practices.
Resources
Roadmap for Aligning Funding Priorities
This document outlines a strategic approach or aligning state and local entities with federal funding opportunities, particularly under programs like the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act. It provides actionable recommendations for improving readiness, capacity building, cross-agency collaboration, and community engagement to secure and implement federal investments effectively. The report also includes planning tools and checklists to guide funding alignment with state priorities and equity goals.
Data Preservation
This guidelines provides a comprehensive framework for preserving at-risk environmental and climate data. It covers planning, imaging, digitization, quality control, and metadata creation, with a focus on standardizing processes across institutions. The guide emphasizes the importance of data rescue for maintaining long-term scientific integrity and supporting informed decision-making.
This guide offers a step-by-step workflow for rescuing and preserving at-risk federal datasets. It includes methods for identifying vulnerable data, using web archiving tools like the Wayback Machine, documenting metadata, and organizing rescue events. The document emphasizes collaboration, open access, and the urgency of safeguarding data critical to environmental and public policy.
This report highlights how political interference and inadequate funding jeopardize the integrity of federal statistics and public data systems. It discusses specific risks to data access and quality, outlines the societal importance of trusted data, and provides recommendations for strengthening the resilience and transparency of U.S. data infrastructure.
This peer-reviewed paper defines "data rescue" as identifying, preserving, and sharing valuable but at-risk environmental data. It outlines a 7-step process—prioritization, team creation, metadata development, compilation, cleaning, archiving, and sharing—and underscores the importance of open science and ethical data stewardship (e.g., Indigenous data sovereignty). It uses real case studies to illustrate the scientific and financial costs of data loss and the benefits of long-term preservation.
Developing a Multi-year advocacy and Funding Strategy
This self-assessment tool helps nonprofit organizations evaluate their current advocacy capacity and readiness. It includes checklists and rating scales across leadership, strategy, partnerships, communications, and policy influence. The tool encourages organizations to identify strengths and areas for growth to improve advocacy outcomes over time.
This guide outlines a practical process for building effective advocacy strategies, including identifying goals, conducting internal and external assessments, mapping stakeholders, and planning actions. It includes worksheets and templates to guide users through strategy formulation and execution, with attention to power dynamics, messaging, and measuring success.
This toolkit focuses on designing and managing policy advocacy campaigns from start to finish. It covers theory of change development, stakeholder and risk analysis, communications planning, and monitoring and evaluation. It’s especially useful for civil society organizations looking to align long-term goals with political and policy realities.
Designed for agencies and direct service providers, this toolkit provides a step-by-step guide for launching advocacy efforts in support of mission-aligned policy change. It includes planning checklists, communication strategies, staff engagement tips, and advocacy event planning templates, tailored for organizations newer to policy work.
This robust toolkit supports nonprofits in building internal advocacy capacity, engaging elected officials, and influencing policy. It offers practical tools such as meeting scripts, policy engagement plans, and coalition-building strategies. The guide promotes relationship-based advocacy aligned with organizational mission and values.
This framework walks users through 10 key steps of effective advocacy planning, from issue selection and stakeholder targeting to partnership development and evaluation. It includes interactive worksheets and templates that help users align goals with action, while tracking progress and adapting as needed. Designed with public health in mind, it’s flexible across sectors.
Strategy Data Rescue and Preservation Initiatives
The Data Rescue Project is a grassroots initiative launched in response to the potential loss of public federal data, particularly related to climate, environmental, and scientific research. It offers tools, guides, and event kits to help volunteers and organizations organize "data rescue" events, archive vulnerable datasets, and promote open access to government information.
EnviroDataGov is the official site of the Environmental Data & Governance Initiative (EDGI), a research and advocacy group focused on federal environmental data access, policy monitoring, and public accountability. It provides reports, data justice resources, policy briefs, and documentation of changes to public environmental data during political transitions.
FindLostData.org is a searchable public archive for datasets rescued from at-risk government websites. It serves as a decentralized repository cataloging federal data (e.g., from EPA, NOAA, USDA) that may have been altered, removed, or hidden, helping researchers, journalists, and the public re-access critical information.
This BlueSky page serves as a curated starter pack for newcomers to the Data Rescue Project. It compiles quick-start guides, mission overviews, volunteer opportunities, and links to key tools and resources needed to support data preservation efforts, particularly for those organizing or joining local rescue events.