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What the Fundraising
300: Rethinking Nonprofits as Businesses: Earned Revenue, Sustainability & Innovation with Pradnya Haldipur
00:24:36
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Pradnya Haldipur
The word nonprofit is not a value judgment.
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Mallory Erickson
Yeah.
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Pradnya Haldipur
It is a tax designation.
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Mallory Erickson
Yeah.
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Pradnya Haldipur
And nonprofit doesn't mean we don't need to bring in money.
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Mallory Erickson
Yeah.
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Pradnya Haldipur
And it's so pervasive. And tell me if this is too far afield, but this concept of what a nonprofit is is so pervasive that when I was doing Career day for my fifth grade son's class, those children had to be taught that you get paid to work for a nonprofit.
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Mallory Erickson
Hey, my name is Mallory and I'm obsessed with helping leaders in the nonprofit space raise money and run their organizations differently. What the fundraising is a space for real and raw conversations to both challenge and inspire you. Not too long ago, I was in your shoes. Uncomfortable with fundraising and unsure of my
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place in this sector.
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It wasn't until I started to listen to other experts outside of the fundraising space that I was able to shift my mindset and ultimately shift the way I show up as a leader. This podcast is my way of blending professional and personal development so we as a collective inside the nonprofit sector can feel good about the work we are doing. Join me every week as I interview some of the brightest minds in the personal and professional development space to help you fundamentally change the way you lead and fundraise. I hope you enjoy this episode. So let's dive in. Welcome everyone.
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I am so excited to be here today with Pradnya Haldipur. Pradnya. Welcome to what the fundraising.
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Pradnya Haldipur
Thank you so much, Mallory. I'm excited to be here. I feel like you are always tackling the things that nobody else is thinking about and I'm thrilled to have the conversation with you.
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Mallory Erickson
Well, I'm so grateful for all of your work in this space and really excited for this conversation. So let's start with you just introducing yourself to everyone, telling them a little bit about your background, and then we'll dive in.
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Pradnya Haldipur
Sure, sure. So I have been a professional do gooder now for the last 30 years. Started out in the arts space and then moved to a software company for a little while and then academic medicine for a long haul and most recently at Doctors Without Borders. And I've since late 2025 started my own consultancy which, you know, I still work with amazing organizations, mission driven, doing extraordinary things, but it also gives me a lot of different viewpoints based on which organization I'm working with and what they're trying to achieve and how I can hopefully be value add for them.
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Mallory Erickson
Amazing. So there's so many different ways, you know, given your experience in that sort of like intersectional lens that you're thinking about funding. And we're sitting in a particularly challenging climate for funding which, you know, I think is pushing some organizations to be innovative or think outside the box or. And others at I think are experiencing this freeze around, sort of like, how do we navigate this moment and move forward and keep our programs up and running? And before we clicked record, we started to talk about the earned revenue lens. So talk to me a little bit about how you think about diversified revenue and with a particular lens on that piece.
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Pradnya Haldipur
Yeah, absolutely. And I will say, I mean, I think you're spot on that these are particularly tumultuous times, right. We've seen, I mean, on a huge scale, right. The demise of usaid, the, the ups and downs in the stock market, the changing landscape of philanthropy in general. But I would argue actually that this question about diversified revenue precedes. We want to pin it to the latest federal administration. We can, but I actually think it precedes that. I started to say that I left academic medicine and then I went straight to Doctors Without Borders, but I didn't. There was a gap in between there. I wouldn't call it a gap when I was in several different organizations, climate, a think tank, an education organization. And each of them in their own way were starting to think about this issue of diversified revenue. And what they meant by it was, oh, we get most of our funding from corporates, so we should start raising money from high net worth individuals. Or the climate organization that was USAID funded and had done very little in terms of attracting other kinds of grants from the federal space. And yes, they too wanted to engage in the world of high net worth individuals. Everybody has been thinking about private foundations in a world where private foundations are reinventing themselves. But the thing I've been thinking about the most, and this is within the last year, but also in the time in these other organizations, is where is earned revenue in all of this? These organizations, if one were to, and please don't gasp when I say this, they are businesses and yes, some would gasp when I say that. And they hold tremendously valuable IP in the, you know, how is that embodied? In the knowledge of their leadership, in the types of programs that they offer, in the data that they are collecting. Name your organization across the board and one could think about IP that could be the basis of an earned revenue strategy. But what I'm encountering is two kinds of organizations. The ones that hadn't thought about that but are willing to take a dive in that are thinking about what they can monetize because ultimately their goal is to stabilize the organization, ensure long term sustainability and they'll be open to all kinds of ways to do that. And then there are the other kinds of organizations, I'm a little sad to say that can't think that far ahead. And not only can they not think that far ahead, but there's a sort of preciousness, if that's a word of no, no, we are mission based. We dare not charge for this thing that really should be available to everybody. And my argument is, you know what, there is an intrinsic value to what you might offer and it doesn't have to be paid for everybody. Right. So one of my current clients actually we are working on a strategy where the earned revenue side of the house would hopefully, if that all goes well, would create a flywheel that just feeds back into the program. So we would not be looking at a monetary return on investment out of. For external stakeholders, for investors. Right. The flywheel is self sustainable within the organization which would allow this wonderful program to charge the ones that can pay, charge the clients that can pay to benefit the. The clients that are within federally insured health centers and cannot pay. And I'll be honest, that's the direction I'd like to see more organizations go in.
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Mallory Erickson
Yeah, it's so I'm like taking notes and nodding because I could not agree more. And I feel like it's interesting, the word preciousness, that is, I was maybe not going to use such a flattering because. Because sometimes I worry that it's a little bit of like our self righteousness.
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Pradnya Haldipur
You know, that is another way to put it. Exactly right.
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Mallory Erickson
And I've done some, you know, this is a different topic, but it sort of sheds some light here. I remember interviewing this researcher out of Stanford many years ago and we were talking about the assumptions that we make about people when they negotiate salaries. That we think that if somebody is extrinsically motivated they don't have as much intrinsic motivation. Right. And we make that assumption, which is of course not true. Right. That there are a million reasons for people to also need extrinsic motivation or be able and to negotiate their salaries. But we pass this sort of moral
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Pradnya Haldipur
judgment on it, and particularly in the nonprofit space, I would argue a hundred percent.
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Mallory Erickson
Yes.
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Pradnya Haldipur
As if wanting to be fairly compensated and have stability for one's personal life, to take care of themselves, take care of their family, be able to live a fulfilling life, must be sacrificed. Work within a mission based organization. And I feel like it's that same mindset that leads to just an immediate shutdown when any discussion of earned revenue is brought up.
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Mallory Erickson
Yes, 100%. Right. It's that same thing. It's that same, like, maybe we feel like our value, we don't want it to be tied to money, but it is tied to money and we don't want to have to talk about it.
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Pradnya Haldipur
Well, and you know, I think that, yes, it is tied to money. Right. What have I been doing most of my career is fundraising. Yeah, fundraising for principal and transformational gifts, no less. And there are organizations that, I've seen this too, maybe take that for granted a little bit. The fact that they can attract gifts of that size and therefore have not been forced to be, I'll use the word entrepreneurial. And you know, to me, engaging in a revenue plan, and I'm going to use that word purposefully because philanthropic revenue is still revenue to engage in a diversified planning. It does support the long term. And I think that the same organizations that hesitate are also the same ones that can't or won't think through a, a strategic plan. And I don't mean like the document that's written down. I mean having aspirations that then require cohesive and strategic thinking and knowing that, you know, and I'm going to say this too, even though it's been my livelihood, philanthropy is not forever. Philanthropy cannot solve all the problems. It's not sustainable. And now, and it used to be government money was considered sustainable, why would the government go away? Oh, well, look, now we've seen that it can. And so my personal belief, if you'll allow me to stay on this soapbox, is those organizations that are willing to be flexible in their thinking and move out of the traditional mores that the nonprofit sector has embraced are the ones that will be successful.
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Mallory Erickson
Right.
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Pradnya Haldipur
The example I can give you is just today, literally today I'm listening to NPR in the morning like I always do, and there was this very interesting story about Planned Parenthood in Sacramento, which is one of the largest Planned Parenthoods. They serve a primarily Medicaid population. You won't believe it. And I raised my eyebrows. And it's funny because when I raise my eyebrows, you can see the lines on my forehead. And what is this Planned Parenthood doing? They are now offering cash based cosmetic procedures to their clientele. The paying clientele. Right. The ones that can come in and get their Botox and can get their fillers and they're thinking about moving into GLP1s and those IV infusions for when you have a hangover and they, it was so interesting because they interviewed this woman who was a client, right. She'd gotten her Botox. She said, I'm gonna pay for it anyway. I'm in my early 50s and this is what I need in my life right now. But guess what? I'd rather go to Planned Parenthood and get it. Because in my early years, they helped me as a young woman with no judgment, with all the care in the world. And this is a way that I can support them and get my Botox and erase the for headlines. But I'm confident that out in the world right now are people that are finding this offensive that Planned Parenthood would do such a thing. And my argument is good for them. Good for them for figuring it out and for embracing a model that, that offers at least a potential for long term sustainability in a time when their federal funding is down, Medicaid funding is down, and they're thinking about the women and families that they serve.
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Mallory Erickson
Yeah. I mean, I think I'm like really in my head grappling with what is it that makes us so judgmental of organizations like that for doing. But then, you know, when an organization, like, I've seen some announcements recently of organizations closing and the outrage that they didn't figure it out, that they didn't. It just feels like we always have something to say. Like we're always unsatisfied with how an organization survives and or thrives or create sustainability. Right. Every donor I've ever met with, what's your sustainability plan? After I give this gift. And in the back of my head was, I was like, I don't know. Hope you want to continue to stay
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Pradnya Haldipur
involved or other donors will want to be involved.
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Mallory Erickson
Yeah.
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Like, so I feel like we are just always caught in this, like, trash compactor of like, everybody wanting us to do everything and nothing that they don't agree with, but also thrive.
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Pradnya Haldipur
Well, it's all in how we describe the sector. Right. What does that mean? Nonprofit. Yeah, it's a tax designation. I saw a brilliant post by one of our colleagues on LinkedIn that pointed this out.
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Mallory Erickson
Right.
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Pradnya Haldipur
That the word nonprofit is not a value judgment.
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Mallory Erickson
Yeah.
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Pradnya Haldipur
It is a tax designation.
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Mallory Erickson
Yeah.
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Pradnya Haldipur
And nonprofit doesn't mean we don't need to bring in money.
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Mallory Erickson
Yeah.
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Pradnya Haldipur
And it's so pervasive. And tell me if this is too far afield, but this concept of what a nonprofit is is so pervasive that when I was doing career day for my fifth grade sons class, those children had to be taught that you get paid to work for A non profit. Wow. There was this perception that people who work for nonprofits are all volunteers. And the core of my didactics that day for first grade through fifth grade was no, you can get paid to be a helper for the rest of your life. That was the word I used. Right. Was not, you can be a nonprofit professional. It was, you can have a job being a helper. And what I wish for the. The young people coming up behind us is that the sector views itself that way, that we do that, which is allowing for the long term, allowing for the sustainable. And there's no shame. And in fact, there's praise for coming up with the innovative solution. But even the sector is not set up that way. Right. I mean, we've talked about the work of a gift officer. The work of a gift officer. Their success is not predicated on coming up with the out of the box idea. It is to engage in what the sector has felt has traditionally worked. And there's not an earned revenue piece of that.
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Mallory Erickson
Yeah. And we don't sell, you know, we don't have examples where we celebrate it either. Like I was thinking about. You have. Sometimes it's what we're taught. Sometimes it's. Yeah, I mean, I think, look, there's a long history in this sector that have set up all these sort of broken mental models for operating in this day and age and surviving in this day and age. And I was lamenting at AFP Icon, like, you know, you have to submit sessions a year in advance. And I was like, this is crazy. Like, things are happening and moving so fast. That means in the year 2025, there were no sessions about federal funding cuts. Like, wild. Right. And then I think we, like, celebrate the types of fundraising that we think are the perfect right way of doing it. Right. The charity water, blah, blah, blah.
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Pradnya Haldipur
And the, I mean, credit to charity water. Right. They've done incredible things. They have, if I'm remembering correctly, formed a partnership with a major influencer. Right. But again, that to me speaks to their willingness.
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Mallory Erickson
Yes.
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Pradnya Haldipur
To be leading edge 100%.
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Mallory Erickson
Right. And when they have done those things, not everybody has been on board, but then it's worked. And nobody pays attention to the things that haven't worked, you know, and so.
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Pradnya Haldipur
And then all of a sudden wants to. Everyone wants to be Mr. Beast's best friend 100%.
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Mallory Erickson
And they're like, that this is the right way to fundraise because it worked for this organization. Instead of being like, hey, our donors are all really different. And I wasn't you know, dissing charity water. But it's like, nobody has the same, you know, few organizations have the same mix, mission, program structure, donor base, network. So, like. But given what you do have, like Planned Parenthood, that's super interesting to me because I can imagine too. I don't get Botox, but, like.
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Pradnya Haldipur
No, neither do I. But now I'm tempted, right.
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Mallory Erickson
So if I wanted to one day, I would 100% go to planned Parenthood. And what a cool way to get to, like, I think women should do whatever they want to do to make their life more joyful and easy and whatever. And if that Botox, I'm like, so for it for them, you know, and so. But what an awesome way for them to get to live out their values as they do something for themselves. And so, yeah, like, and I think it's so interesting, right. There's so many constructs like patriarchy that I think also play in here. Right. People are probably like, oh, that's really disconnected. Right. But it's like, is it like, what is men's health?
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Pradnya Haldipur
Like, what is autonomy over our own bodies?
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Mallory Erickson
Yep.
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Pradnya Haldipur
And doing the things that, as you say. Right. Support us, give us joy, keep us, you know, doing all the things that women carry. Right? Yes. And the other thing I thought was really interesting and got me thinking, right? If somebody from Planned Parenthood came and asked me right now, well, what do you think we should do next? My argument would be, you know what? Take that model, franchise it to every other Planned Parenthood. And while not every Planned Parenthood would have the means to, I have to look into the model. But there have to be businesses in the local community that are offering these services, these cosmetic med spa kind of things. Work with them, Let them do good by providing those treatments on behalf of Planned Parenthood so that it isn't, you know, the physicians at Planned Parenthood that have to be doing that work. So then you have philanthropy plus corporate social responsibility plus earned revenue.
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Mallory Erickson
Yes, right. It is that diversification. It's not you're becoming this, but you are recognizing that especially, I mean, just the fact that there can be so much judgment when so much of a funding model has been taken away. Right. And to give to your point about body autonomy, like organizational autonomy. Right. We're seeing now organizations not have the autonomy that they once had if they are tied too closely to the federal
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Pradnya Haldipur
government and so like, or to high net worth individuals. Right. There's a lot of discussion these days about the impact, positive and maybe not so positive of billionaire philanthropy.
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Mallory Erickson
Yes, right.
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Pradnya Haldipur
Is that another kind of. And bless them all right. We don't want them to stop. But what is the consideration there in terms of another kind of golden handcuffs?
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Mallory Erickson
Yes. No. I want you to tell everyone I know we're out of time and I want you to tell everyone where they can connect and follow along with you. But I heard this quote recently that really stuck with me that said, you know, if innovation doesn't make you uncomfortable, it probably isn't real innovation, like somewhat uncomfortable. And there are plenty of things that are innovative that make me deeply uncomfortable. And I've been trying to say that to myself when I want to jump right to judgment, right, to say like, this is innovation, of course it makes me uncomfortable. Like, you know, that's the uncertainty of it. And also what is going to be required to change the world if that's what we're really here to do.
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Pradnya Haldipur
Exactly. And you know, I would say we need a different word for innovation too. Probably. I think it's too liberally applied. But in answer to your question, people can find me on LinkedIn. I'm the only Pradnya Haldipur. It's easy to find me and my consultancy is there too, if that's of interest to anyone. But really, if anyone wants to keep talking about this subject, I'm around and happy to do it all day.
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Mallory Erickson
Yeah. Amazing. Thank you so much for joining me. Thank you for all the work that you do. I know this is. There's so much more we could talk about, so we're probably going to need to do a round two at some point. But yeah, I'm just so grateful for you.
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Pradnya Haldipur
Thank you so much, Mallory.
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Mallory Erickson
I hope today's episode inspired or challenged you to think differently. For additional takeaways, tips, show notes, and more about our amazing guest and sponsors, head on over to Mallorykson.com podcast and if you didn't know, hosting this podcast isn't the only thing I do every day. I coach, guide and help fundraisers and leaders just like you. Inside of my program, the Power Partners Formula Collective. Inside the program, I share my methods, tools and experiences that have helped me fundraise millions of dollars and feel good about myself in the process. To learn more about how I can help you, visit Malloryerickson.com Power Partners last but not least, if you enjoyed this episode, I'd love to encourage you to share it with a friend you know would benefit or leave a review. I'm so grateful for all of you and the good, hard work you're doing to make our world a better place. I can't wait to see you in the next episode.