You have to feel for the CEOs of small non-profits, always worrying about payroll, how they’re going to make the next utility payment, or how they’re going to keep the Board happy with steady growth and positive change on empty pockets and slack operational income.

CEOs of small non-profits and their poor finance directors come in every day dreading the checks they have to write and the priorities decisions they have to juggle. Income is never enough, so grants and fundraising are critical but so many grants won’t pay for operational expenses. Grantors seem to prefer to fund projects with short-term outcomes. After all, they have Boards of their own to keep happy.

One of the CEOs we work with recently expressed an interesting thought. He wished out loud that more grantors would set aside their egos and provide long-term socially responsible endowments. Specifically, he wished someone would underwrite putting solar panels on his roof. With net metering, he reasoned he could reduce his utility costs by half. It seems the electricity check each month was his thorn in the side and something as simple as solar would be the equivalent of a perpetual endowment. AND help the environment at the same time.

A strategically thinking grantor could double down on their “do-gooding” by adopting this approach. For example, payroll is perhaps the #1 expense for any small non-profit so they write grant requests that help pay for staff. Imagine the long-term community dialogue and future donor potential from grants that endow a rotating Chair of local scientists, historians, or educators. For some museums, securing a loan is their thorn, especially if their #1 asset may be the collections they can’t ethically leverage as collateral or an old building that a bank doesn’t want to inherit. A grantor who will lend their clout to guarantee a low-interest loan would be golden to a small non-profit. Other social endowments might include perpetual accounts to augment other operational costs, whether for (locally-grown) groceries for the cafeteria, guaranteed admission tickets for underserved families, or to augment employee incentives with a wellness program.