Make Nonprofits Profitable™ | For Nonprofit Leaders Who Want to Diversify Revenue, Build Capacity & Scale to Sustain Impact

Tanja Horan
  • 5.0 (3)
  • Non-Profit
  • Updated Weekly

Make Nonprofits Profitable™ challenges the conventional thinking holding nonprofits back from achieving their full impact. Each episode leaves you with a new perspective, an idea or tool you can actually apply to diversify funding, strengthen operations, and advance your mission. Build the organization your impact demands. By being the business you are.

  1. 1d ago

    EP 17 [BONUS Summer Spotlight] From Teacher of the Year to Earned Revenue Leader with Lori Davis at E3 Alliance

    EP 17 [BONUS Summer Spotlight] From Teacher of the Year to Earned Revenue Leader with Lori Davis at E3 Alliance What does it take to go from special education teacher to leading earned revenue strategy at one of the most respected education collaboratives in Texas? In this Summer Spotlight Force Multiplier episode, Tanja Horan sits down with Lori Davis, Senior Director of the Center for School Transformation at E3 Alliance, to trace her path from the classroom to leading a fee-for-service model that helps Texas schools improve outcomes for students with proven, data-based strategies. Lori has been named District Teacher of the Year and Special Educator of the Year, and completed the Raise Your Hand Texas Harvard Leadership Program. Tanja and Lori met years ago, shortly after Lori joined E3. In their conversation, Lori shares her journey from classroom to leading a nonprofit earned revenue team without prior business background, how the team pivoted when the pandemic and the lessons learned along the way. If you're building an earned revenue model, leading a nonprofit through disruption, or wondering whether you need to be the expert to lead something new, this episode offers practical, hard-won insight. Key Takeaways Don't be afraid to try something new. Prove it with philanthropy first, then scale what works into fee-for-service. When circumstances change, adapt your perspective on measuring success.  Identify your unique capabilities where your team's strengths meet real demand. About Lori Davis Lori Davis is the Senior Director of the Center for School Transformation at E3 Alliance, where she helps lead the organization's work to strengthen education systems so all students can succeed. She leads work that helps Texas districts strengthen instruction, build leadership capacity and improve outcomes for students. Lori works alongside educators, district leaders and E3 Alliance partners to turn data, research and practical strategies into meaningful change for schools and communities. With more than 25 years of experience in Central Texas education, Lori has served as a classroom teacher, special education teacher, district behavior specialist, assistant principal and principal. Her work is grounded in a deep commitment to doing what is best for students while supporting the educators and systems that serve them. Throughout her career, Lori has been recognized as District Teacher of the Year and Special Educator of the Year. She also participated in the Raise Your Hand Texas Harvard Leadership Program. Lori earned a master's degree in Special Education from Texas State University and a bachelor's degree in Special Education from the University of Texas at San Antonio. Connect with Lori: linkedin.com/in/lori-davis-a6b81a40 Email: ldavis@e3alliance.org About E3 Alliance E3 Alliance is a place-based partnership that brings together students, educators, families, schools, businesses, nonprofits and community leaders to improve outcomes across Central Texas. Our mission is to transform education systems through data and collaboration, so all students succeed. Guided by our core values of being trustworthy, resolute, collaborative and intentional, we work to create lasting change from cradle to career. Organization Website: www.e3alliance.org   Websites & Social Company Website: www.tacosa360.com Impact Catapult: www.impactcatapult.com YouTube: youtube.com/@Tacosa360   Connect with Tanja Horan LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/tanjahoran Topics earned revenue for nonprofits, nonprofit fee for service, education nonprofit, nonprofit sustainability, nonprofit leadership, nonprofit scaling strategy, nonprofit funding models, Texas education nonprofit

  2. Jul 27

    EP 16 [Summer Spotlight] Innovating for Sustainability with Emily Ball Cicchini

    What does it take to turn a lifelong love of storytelling into a mission that puts free books into the hands of the families who need them most? In this Force Multiplier episode, Tanja Horan sits down with Emily Ball Cicchini, PhD, Executive Director of BookSpring, to trace her path, from acting and playwriting to a PhD in research, that led her, in 2015, to lead the Austin-based nonprofit working to eliminate book deserts through free books, family reading support, and community partnerships. BookSpring recently marked 50 years of impact. Emily also founded the National Book Access Association to strengthen book-access work nationwide.  Tanja first connected with BookSpring years ago as a member of Impact Austin, when the organization received an Impact Austin grant. Through stories and real examples, you'll hear how BookSpring pushed through pandemic disruption by launching a digital library and a newsletter that now reaches nearly 20,000 families, how the organization built BookSpring Originals, a digital bilingual book line born out of a gap in diverse Spanish-language children's books and a perspective on leading with both data and heart . If you're thinking about book access, early literacy, or how to lead a nonprofit through funding disruption this episode offers practical insight into building something that lasts. Key Takeaways Outputs aren't outcomes. Collaboration needs structure, not just goodwill. Earned revenue should reinforce your mission, not distract from it. A crisis can be the excuse to build what you always wanted. Reframe "cuts" as "leverage" to protect impact through disruption. About Emily Ball Cicchini Emily Ball Cicchini is the Executive Director of BookSpring, an Austin-based nonprofit advancing early literacy through book access, family engagement, and community partnerships. She also founded the National Book Access Association, which connects and strengthens local book access organizations nationwide. Emily holds BFA, MFA, and PhD degrees from The University of Texas at Austin. Connect with Emily: linkedin.com/in/emilyballcicchini Emily's Website: www.emilybc.com About BookSpring BookSpring is an Austin-based nonprofit that helps children and families build lifelong reading habits through free books, family reading support, and community partnerships. Serving children from birth through age 12, BookSpring works with healthcare providers, schools, early childhood programs, and local organizations to create reading-rich homes and communities. Organization Website: www.BookSpring.org Websites & Social Company Website: www.tacosa360.com Impact Catapult: www.impactcatapult.com YouTube: www.youtube.com/@Tacosa360  Connect with Tanja Horan LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/tanjahoran Topics book access, early literacy nonprofit, nonprofit collaboration, earned revenue for nonprofits, nonprofit data and outcomes, nonprofit leadership, nonprofit funding strategy, book deserts, nonprofit sustainability

  3. Jun 13

    EP 15 5 Questions to Connect Nonprofit Strategy and Execution

    You have a new initiative. A new earned revenue stream. A new program. Three weeks in, everyone is busy — but the scope has drifted, the deadline is fuzzy, and status updates sound like "almost done." How did that happen? Most execution problems don't announce themselves. They creep. Scope expands one conversation at a time. Progress becomes invisible. Problems surface too late to fix without pain. The questions you ask before you start — and revisit as you execute — determine whether your initiative delivers or drifts. Through years of leading teams and learning what to ask, I've identified five questions that mitigate risk, keep teams aligned, and set initiatives up for success and drive nonprofit effectiveness. These are the Top 5 questions for nonprofit leaders who want execution to deliver their strategy Key Takeaways •       Control starts with clarity. Document what's in scope AND what's out of scope before execution begins. •       The best project management tool is clear and reinforced communication, not software. •       Track progress in percentages, not feelings. "Almost done" is not a status update. •       "No" is your most powerful word. Use it to protect your team's focus and capacity. •       Respond, don't react. Get to the facts about what happened and why before you take corrective action. Resources Referenced in This Episode •       Project Management Success Essentials — A downloadable resource with essential questions and tips for planning and executing your next initiative. https://bit.ly/Tacosa360-Project-Management-Essentials   Websites and Social •       Company Website: tacosa360.com •       Impact Catapult: www.impactcatapult.com •       YouTube: youtube.com/@Tacosa360 Connect with Tanja •       LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/tanjahoran Topics nonprofit project management, nonprofit strategy execution, nonprofit management, nonprofit leadership insights, nonprofit effectiveness, nonprofit impact, nonprofit growth strategy, nonprofit initiative planning, successful nonprofit leaders

  4. Jun 5

    EP 14 The Art & Science Where Nonprofit Execution Falls Short

    You ask three people on your team how long it will take to build a new earned revenue offering. You get three completely different answers. One pads the estimate to protect himself. One underestimates because she believes she can always do more in less time. One gives you the most realistic, along with what she knows, what she doesn't, and how that affects the timeline. Which one is right? That depends on whether you know your estimators. Bridging strategy and execution is both an art and a science. Most organizations have the science — the frameworks, the templates, the process. It's the art where the gap lives: reading your team, calibrating what you hear, and adapting before a plan falls apart. This episode is about that art.  A practical lens for reading your team's estimating styles — and a framework to help you close the gap between strategy and execution. Build the organization your impact demands. By being the business you are.  Key Takeaways      Undocumented assumptions are risks waiting to surface      Know your estimators' styles so you can calibrate your plan.     "Bigger than a breadbasket" scale: use it when you need a directional estimate. Define small, medium, and large for your org and apply it consistently.      Speak to both the business mindset and human drivers when communicating the plan.       Foster an environment that values: Honest estimates over impressive ones. Documented assumptions and "I don't know yet" aa trusted answer. Resources Referenced in This Episode ·       DOWNLOAD: Top 5 Tips: Effective Product Roadmap & Plan Communications — A practical guide for tailoring how you communicate plans, timelines, and direction to every audience in your organization.  https://bit.ly/tacosa360-roadmap-communications Websites and Social Company Website: tacosa360.com Impact Catapult: www.impactcatapult.com YouTube: youtube.com/@Tacosa360 Connect with Tanja LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/tanjahoran Topics: nonprofit execution gap, nonprofit project management, how to estimate projects nonprofit, nonprofit strategy execution, nonprofit planning and budgeting, nonprofit team management, strategy to execution

  5. May 30

    EP 13 Closing the Execution Gap: Why Good Initiatives Fail to Deliver

    You asked for a tire swing and ended up with a lazy boy hanging from two ropes. The goal was simple: build a tire swing. That was the vision. That was the dream. And yet, by the time that vision traveled from the person who imagined it, to the person who communicated it, to the person who analyzed it, to the person who built it — what came back was something completely different. The tire swing never got built. The original vision was never fully realized. The culprit behind failed initiatives and projects for nonprofit and for-profit organizations is not a strategy failure. It is an execution failure. Specifically the reason for the failure is the bridge connecting strategy to execution was never fully built. Project management is a leadership discipline — not just an operational one. Nonprofit organizations that consistently deliver are the ones where leaders ask the right questions, protect team focus, and remove barriers before they become blockers. The question is never whether you have a strategy. It is whether you and your team can execute it. In this episode of Make Nonprofits ProfitableTM, Tanja Horan opens the Strategy to Execution series with the leadership framing nonprofit executives need before a single initiative or project begins. Using data from the Project Management Institute which finds that only about half of all projects succeed and the Hershey's case study as a real-world anchor, this episode breaks down the four root-cause failure categories where good initiatives consistently fall apart: strategy, planning, leadership, and communication. Each one requires the leadership team first. Build the organization your impact demands. By being the business you are.   Key Takeaways Strategies fail because the bridge between strategy and execution was never built. Connecting strategy and execution is a leadership discipline, not just an operations responsibility. Leadership engagement and sponsorship is more important than any single executor — without it, the project and the organization are at risk. Successful initiatives require teams understand the why behind strategy, aligned objectives and incentives, and a consistent prioritization framework to maintain focus. Execution is a leadership discipline. Organizations deliver when leadership asks the right questions, uses data, protects team focus, and proactively removes barriers. Websites and Social Company Website: tacosa360.com Impact Catapult: www.impactcatapult.com YouTube: youtube.com/@Tacosa360 Connect with Tanja LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/tanjahoran Topics: nonprofit project management, closing the execution gap, why nonprofit projects fail, nonprofit strategy to execution, execution is leadership, nonprofit initiative failure, project management for nonprofit leaders, nonprofit leadership accountability, Make Nonprofits Profitable podcast, nonprofit executive strategy

  6. May 18

    EP12 [BONUS]: Three Checks, One System: The Executive-Level View Nonprofit Leaders Need to Grow & Scale

    Have you ever looked at a handmade teapot and wondered how it was made? Every piece — the handle, the lid, the spout — is crafted individually. Beautiful on its own. Functional on its own. And together they create a system — a teapot. The three diagnostic tools work the same way. In this bonus episode, Tanja Horan brings together the three diagnostic tools introduced in Episodes 3, 6, and 10 — and shows how they work as one connected system. The Readiness Check asks: where are we starting from? The Revenue Mix Check asks: is our funding model working for us? The Systems Reality Check asks: can our operations support what we are building? Three questions. Three vantage points. One picture. Each tool is valuable on its own. Together they give nonprofit leaders the executive-level visibility to move from reacting — to responding and leading. New to the podcast? Start here, then go back to Episodes 3, 6, and 10 for the tool details and downloads. Already listened to the individual episodes? This is the episode that ties them together. Build the organization your impact demands. By being the business you are. Key Takeaways The Readiness Check, the Revenue Mix Check, and the Systems Reality Check are designed to work together as one executive-level system. Each Check answers a different question. Together the three views reveal patterns and potential risks no single tool can. Operational gaps are rarely random — they are often the downstream result of an organizational readiness gap. Clarity drives the right action. Used as a system, the three Checks give nonprofit leaders the visibility to respond and lead instead of react. Resources  •       Episode 3 — The Readiness Check: the five-dimension executive-level reflection on whether your nonprofit is ready to grow. Visit the show notes for the downloadable tool. •       Episode 6 — The Revenue Mix Check: the funding model inventory, revenue runway map, and true-cost view of every funding stream. Visit the show notes for the downloadable tool. •       Episode 10 — The Systems Reality Check: the quarterly six-area operations diagnostic with the working-versus-pain quadrant. Visit the show notes for the downloadable tool. Websites and Social Company Website: tacosa360.com Impact Catapult: www.impactcatapult.com YouTube: youtube.com/@Tacosa360 Connect with Tanja LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/tanjahoran

  7. May 11

    EP 11 [BONUS] With Sasha Crabtrey: Strong Operations Don't Slow Nonprofits Down — They Keep Them Standing

    What does it take to build operations that keep your organization running smoothly and at scale — even in challenging times? In this Force Multiplier episode, Tanja Horan sits down with Sasha Crabtrey, Founder of Remote COO, to explore why operations is not overhead — and what nonprofit leaders can do right now to build a stronger foundation for sustainability and impact. With 25+ years of experience spanning nonprofit operations, small businesses, and leading her own company, Sasha has seen firsthand what happens when programs outpace infrastructure. Growth without systems does not build strength. It magnifies existing problems. Through practical insight and real examples, you will hear why most operational challenges are not about bad leadership. They are about missing structure. Sasha shares why the bottleneck almost always runs through the top, how fractional operational support is one of the most underutilized tools available to nonprofits, and introduces three guiding questions every leader should ask to identify where to focus first. This conversation explores the real challenges nonprofit leaders face. The scarcity mindset around operations funding. The grants lost because processes were not in place. And why fixing the most fragile point first is always the right place to start. If you are carrying too much on your own, reacting instead of responding, or wondering where to start — this episode is for you. Build the organization your impact demands. By being the business you are. Key Takeaways Operations is not overhead — it is capacity, risk mitigation, and insurance for leadership. Growth without infrastructure does not build strength. It magnifies existing problems. Most operational challenges are not about bad leadership. They are about missing structure. Clear ownership and defined workflows free up leadership and eliminate the bottleneck. About Sasha Crabtrey Sasha Crabtrey is the Founder of Remote COO, where she and her team of Core Operations Optimizers help small business owners and nonprofits do more of what they love. After 25+ years of experience in operations and project management — ranging from nonprofit operations to leading her own company — Sasha knows a "normal day" doesn't exist. Remote COO helps leaders pivot, prioritize, and make sure everything important is accomplished with excellence. Sasha's favorite kind of work includes developing strategies that build strong business foundations, handling complex operational challenges, and fostering collaborative partnerships. She is a generous listener, relating to business owners' struggles, providing solutions, and driving productivity. Sasha holds a BBA in Management from Texas A&M University's Mays School of Business and is a graduate of the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Program. Sasha Crabtrey LinkedIn:  linkedin.com/in/crabtrey About Remote COO Remote COO provides strategic and tactical operational support for nonprofit leaders who are carrying too much on their own. Through their Core Operations Optimizers, they embed as a hands-on fractional administrative partner — taking ownership of systems, workflows, and day-to-day execution so leaders can step out of the weeds and stay focused on mission and impact. Remote COO website:  https://remotecoo.com Websites & Social Company Website: https://www.tacosa360.com Impact Catapult: www.impactcatapult.com YouTube: www.youtube.com/@Tacosa360 Connect with Tanja LinkedIn:  linkedin.com/in/tanjahoran Topics: nonprofit operations, nonprofit leadership, nonprofit sustainability, nonprofit strategy, operational excellence, nonprofit capacity building, fractional operations, nonprofit infrastructure, nonprofit growth, scaling nonprofit impact

  8. May 4

    EP 10 Stop Reacting. Start Responding. A Nonprofit Operations Reality Check

    Do you ever have the feeling something is not working — but it is not clear where to start and figure out why? Maybe you know why, and the list is so long it feels overwhelming. Maybe you think we'll address it later. But later never comes. Or maybe the challenge is the mantra, "that is just the way things are done". When everything needs attention, nothing gets attention. And leading from reactive mode is exhausting. In this Momentum Move episode of Make Nonprofits Profitable™, Tanja Horan introduces the Systems Reality Check, a practical quarterly assessment framework for nonprofit leaders to surface gaps and pain points across the core areas of an organization and turns them into a prioritized view of where to focus next. The framework scores each operational area across three dimensions: how well it is functioning, the pain it is causing, and whether it is documented. Then plot the results to identify what needs immediate attention versus what can wait. This is the third and final episode in the 3-part Operations & Infrastructure series. Episode 8 reframed operations as the engine behind nonprofit sustainability. Episode 9 explored how strong operations can be a competitive advantage. Episode 10 gives you a practical tool to assess where you are today and prioritize what to address next. If you are looking for a practical way to assess nonprofit operations, identify what is slowing your organization down, and build a clearer path forward, this episode gives you the framework to get started. Key Takeaways •       The Systems Reality Check is a quarterly framework to surface operational gaps, prioritize pain points, and stop reacting. •       Score each operational area on how well it is working (1–5) and how much pain it is causing (1–5), then plot the results on a simple quadrant. •       High pain, low working is the highest priority quadrant — address it first. •       Document processes that are working, even when they sit in low pain quadrants. Undocumented processes are tomorrow's risk. •       Run the exercise at every level of the organization. The disparity or alignment in scores is the data leadership needs. •       Quarterly is the right cadence. It gives the organization time to adapt and implement before the next review. DOWNLOAD:  Systems Reality Check Tool: https://bit.ly/system-reality-check Websites & Social Company Website: https://www.tacosa360.com Impact Catapult: www.impactcatapult.com YouTube: www.youtube.com/@Tacosa360 Connect with Tanja LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/tanjahoran

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Make Nonprofits Profitable™ challenges the conventional thinking holding nonprofits back from achieving their full impact. Each episode leaves you with a new perspective, an idea or tool you can actually apply to diversify funding, strengthen operations, and advance your mission. Build the organization your impact demands. By being the business you are.

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