William Foster: Bringing Nonprofits to Scale

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Partner:: UpStart Bay Area
Location:: The Foundation Center
San Francisco, CA
Event Date:: 10.18.11
Speaker:: William Foster
Tags:: nonprofit

Summary: Featuring William Foster
Bridgespan Group Senior Partner and incoming Executive Director of the Jacobson Family Foundation

Co-Sponsored by UpStart Bay Area, the Foundation Center, and the Jewish Community Federation & Endowment Fund

"Bringing to scale" is one of the hottest phrases in philanthropy. In an era of scarcity and competition, in which we rely on nonprofits to not just "do good" but "solve problems," many philanthropic and nonprofit leaders are focused on growing good ideas to a size where they can actually solve challenges. But what does "scale" really mean?

William Foster has written that reaching scale signifies "arriving at a particular point that achieves the nonprofit's vision of success ... scale is not a catchy synonym for growth but really means something particular to the nonprofit's mission."

Building upon a decade of primary research and client work with Bridgespan Group, Foster will lead a dynamic conversation about what nonprofits need to do in order to achieve scale, how their program models relate to their funding models, and philanthropy's central role and common failings in helping nonprofits reach this elusive goal.

Bio

William Foster

William Foster is a partner in the Boston office of Bridgespan, a consultancy that brings leading-edge strategies and tools to the challenges and opportunities facing nonprofit organizations and foundations. He works with direct service organizations and philanthropic foundations on expansion strategy, reorganization efforts, and advocacy initiatives. His clients have been education reform, youth services, community health, and aging-related organizations, including major national affiliate-based networks.

Foster is also deeply involved in the firm's knowledge development, where much of his work focuses on issues related to funding and capital flows in the nonprofit sector. He is the co-author of the Harvard Business Review article, "Should Nonprofits Seek Profits?" and the recent Stanford Social Innovation Review article, "How Nonprofits Get Really Big."