You Canned Do It!

I am a nonprofit consultant, and one of my clients recently shared this story which I wanted to share with anyone struggling at their own nonprofit (especially during EOY):

When my client started his food nonprofit 12 year ago, they were your typical small, scrappy, underfunded organization. They gave out food, but had no real storage so they had canned goods stacked EVERYWHERE. The floor of the “office” was so sloped that if he picked up his feet, his office chair would roll across the entire office and straight into the bathroom! It was ROUGH.

Flash forward to today, and they are now one of the largest nonprofits in their city. They moved out of the old office long ago, and have just finished construction on their THIRD building. The Obamas even came to visit! It took time, and a lot of luck, but now he finally feels like they made it.

Oh, and the shabby old office with a sloped floor? It’s now a cool dive bar!

- Mark

Washington, D.C.