The Sustainability Mindset: Using the Matrix Map to Make Strategic Decisions

The Matrix Map—a powerful tool for nonprofit strategic decision-making

Nonprofit sustainability lies at the intersection of exceptional impact and financial viability. The Sustainability Mindset offers nonprofit professionals and board members a step-by-step guide to move your organization towards this intersection. As outlined in the bestselling book Nonprofit Sustainability, "The Matrix Map" is an accessible framework that combines financial and programmatic goals into an integrated strategy. In this next-step resource, the authors detail a rigorous process to develop a meaningful Matrix Map and engage leadership in setting an organization's strategy.

Nonprofits that thrive in today's environment are adaptable with a clear understanding of their impact and business model. This book offers nonprofit boards and staff a framework to do so. Drawing on their in-depth experience, the authors provide an easy-to-follow process complete with tools and templates to help organizations visualize their business model and engage in strategic inquiry. The book provides a variety of illustrative examples to show how the Matrix Map works for all types of organizations. Nonprofit executives and board member are sure to benefit from The Matrix Map analysis.

• Offers step-by-step guidance for creating a Matrix-Map, a visual representation of an organization's business model
• Helps organizations assess how each of their programs contributes toward their desired impact and their financial bottom-line.
• Filled with compelling examples of how The Matrix Map helps nonprofits with strategic decision-making
• Written by the coauthors of the groundbreaking book Nonprofit Sustainability

This comprehensive resource will give any nonprofit the framework they need to make decisions for sustainability and the templates and tools to implement it and help leaders address the challenges inherent in balancing mission impact with financial viability.

About the Authors

Steve Zimmerman is the principal of Spectrum Nonprofit Services based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he provides training and consulting in the areas of finance and strategy for community-based organizations, foundations, and government agencies throughout the country. He is coauthor of Nonprofit Sustainability: Making Strategic Decisions for Financial Viability. He also writes for Blue Avocado, an online magazine for nonprofits, and has written for Nonprofit Quarterly and BoardSource. Prior to starting Spectrum, he was a projects director with CompassPoint Nonprofit Services. His extensive nonprofit experience includes serving as a chief financial officer, development director, and associate director at nonprofits, where he performed turnarounds resulting in increased financial sustainability and programmatic reach. He is a Certified Public Accountant and earned a BA from Claremont McKenna College and an MBA from Yale University.

Jeanne Bell, MNA, is CEO at CompassPoint—a national, nonprofit leadership and strategy practice based in Oakland, CA. She is the coauthor of Nonprofit Sustainability: Making Strategic Decisions for Financial Viability (Jossey-Bass/Wiley) and Financial Leadership: Guiding Your Organization to Long-term Success (Turner). In addition to frequent speaking and consulting on nonprofit strategy, she has co-led a number of national research projects, including UnderDeveloped: A National Study of the Challenges Facing Nonprofit Fundraising and Daring to Lead 2011: A National Study of Nonprofit Executive Leadership. She is a board member at The Nonprofit Quarterly and at the Nonprofit Insurance Alliance of California (NIC).