The Next Step: Strengthening Business Practices

Featuring Nile Sisters Development Initiative

Following the monumental step of purchasing its own building, Nile Sisters Development Initiative (NSDI) was propelled into the next stage of organizational maturity. It was time to professionalize its business practices and diversify revenue streams to sustain its growth. SVP knew exactly how to help – they had seen this scenario before with other organizations and had the tools to get the job done. 

Over the past seven months, Lead Partner Lisa Davidson, Partners Andy Kaiser and Joyce Ross, along with Advisory Members Kurt Chilcott and Josh Maher provided NSDI support in Finance and Budget Planning, Revenue Stream Development, and Board Governance. For the past 20 years, the organization has provided career training and counseling for immigrant and refugee women, enabling them to build careers in the healthcare sector and achieve self-sufficiency. Pulling from their professional experience and SVP’s training and resource library, the team facilitated several meetings with NSDI’s leadership to review the nonprofit’s current finance and budget practices, fundraising plans, and existing board structure.

 “The SVP team [was] very professional and dynamic in the nonprofit organization’s world. Also, they [were] very friendly and super nice to work with.” - Elizabeth Lou, Executive Director. 

SVP Partners took what they learned from the nonprofit’s existing operations to offer recommendations and templates for increased efficiency and effectiveness. The team shared best practice resources such as a cost allocation tool for budget planning and tips to negotiate with lenders. They also developed a plan for revenue stream development, including ideas on how to diversify revenue streams and a timeline for implementation. Alongside staff and board leadership, SVP supported the nonprofit in creating board member job descriptions and a framework for new member recruitment.  

At the close of the consulting engagement, SVP left NSDI equipped with templates, training, recommendations, and plans. The nonprofit is now ready to continue to build on its programmatic success in workforce development with strong business practices in place.