From Seedling to Stalwart Key #4: Adopt a Thriving Mindset
May 29, 2025 | By David M. Wagner
Has your organization just been surviving? Could your culture be standing in the way of making the leap to truly thriving?
Abandoning a “survival” mindset turned out to be the key to propelling Second Start into a new chapter of strategic growth and stability.
Four years ago, despite having a staff of 60 people managing 9 educational and employment transition programs, it felt like Second Start was just barely hanging on.
Money was always a concern. Staff salaries were low, with minimal benefits. Business operations relied on manual, in-house processes and outdated systems.
Second Start reflected that mindset in how it priced its services.“We were devaluing our own work,” says Executive Director Bill Mealey. “When you strive to give everything away for free or as cheap as possible, you eventually start to believe your work isn’t valuable.”
Their story mirrors a culture I see in many nonprofits: do everything possible to keep expenses down.
As a result, Second Start was just barely surviving.
Investing in Themselves
That changed when Mealey instilled a new culture of thriving at Second Start.
Bill recognized that, by underinvesting in their business operations, they were limiting how effective they could be.
He directed significant investments in outdated infrastructure, better pay and benefits for staff, and modernized business operations.
And for the first time in years, Second Start raised the prices of some services like daycare – though the price is still well below market.
Some of the results of those investments:
Improved programs (including more secure facilities)
Increased program revenues (no clients pushed back on their rate increases!)
Growth in programs (from 9 to 13) and staff (from 60 to 80)
Higher staff retention
More efficient back-end operations
Talking Money
It isn’t always easy to talk with clients about raising prices or with funders about increasing expenses.
Bill’s messaging hinges on three points: the true value of the services they provide, the real needs of their staff, and what it takes to grow.
“We’ve got 80 families’ lives in our hands,” he emphasizes. “Our people shouldn’t be sacrificing their livelihood just to be able to do this work. They should be able to earn a real salary.”
It seems that some funders are starting to see the value of these investments, too.
“The idea that we don’t spend any money on overhead, all our money goes into our programs – we wore that as a badge,” Mealey says about Second Start’s old culture. “I’m now learning how much that damages our credibility with donors. It undercuts what you need to do to grow.”
Making the Shift
Some questions to consider:
What necessary expenses are you avoiding to keep costs low?
How might an investment in “overhead” increase your capacity to have more impact?
How could you better communicate the true worth of your services (and your staff) to the people who pay for them?
This post is the fourth in a series of case studies highlighting the steps established nonprofits have taken to develop from seedlings to stalwarts. If “surviving” is undercutting your growth, let’s talk about how I can help you determine the right investments you need to thrive and how to communicate that opportunity.
Clear Mission Consulting, LLC, was not involved in the transition detailed above.