Anna Taylor
The Power of Monthly Giving

If you're looking for the most effective way to support nonprofits, especially those just getting started, monthly giving is a game-changer. It's not just about convenience; it's about creating sustained, meaningful impact for organizations working hard to grow with limited resources.

Why Monthly Giving Matters for Nonprofits

Monthly donations provide predictable income, allowing nonprofits to plan ahead, budget wisely, and invest in programs that create real change. For early-stage nonprofits, that kind of stability can be transformational. Many of these organizations are led by passionate founders doing the work themselves, often without dedicated fundraising staff. They’re juggling service delivery, operations, and growth, so every dollar that doesn’t have to be spent on fundraising counts.

That’s where monthly donors come in.

Anna Taylor
Fueling Nonprofit Growth: Highlights from the ...

The need for bold, innovative solutions has never been greater. We’re constantly inspired by the nonprofit leaders we support—big thinkers tackling big challenges in education, healthcare, social justice, and more.

Our programs give early-stage nonprofits the funding, mentorship, and expert connections they need to grow. While pitch competitions and matching gifts make a splash, alumni gain significant strategic support from the incubator and alumni programs.

founder story, spotlight
Mindy Ong
Cultivating a Healing Movement Through ...

Heroic Gardens is a nonprofit that provides free gardening services to U.S. veterans in Philadelphia and the surrounding suburbs of Pennsylvania, Northern Delaware and South Jersey. It also operates a virtual program in 24 states, including Alaska and Hawaii. Founder Collie Turner shares her story behind its creation and the lessons learned along the way.

The seeds for Heroic Gardens were planted many years ago, somewhat unexpectedly. While caring for her grandmother, Collie discovered that her grandfather’s military death benefits had never been claimed. After a frustrating three-year journey of navigating the VA system, she met a local veteran who took time out of her regular role helping veterans secure housing, to help get her grandmother’s application reviewed and approved. This woman’s kindness sparked a question in Collie’s mind: How can I give back?

Cultivating a Healing Movement Through Horticulture
Anna Taylor
Dr. Kristin Joys on Nonprofit Internships

In her role as the Director of Social Impact & Sustainability at UF’s Warrington College of Business, Dr. Kristin Joys has connected us with MANY of Greater Sum’s most cherished interns. When we gathered to discuss internships earlier this summer, she shared some tips for successful, meaningful experiences with interns. Dr. Joys has given permission for us to share them more broadly here.

Build Your Fundraising Dream Team (Part 1)

Fundraising works best when it isn’t a solo job. One person trying to handle everything from prospecting and outreach to events and stewardship can only carry it so far. Building a volunteer fundraising team helps spread the workload, expand your reach, and bring new energy and ownership to your mission.

This two-part series walks through how to build that team. In Part 1, we’ll break down the key roles volunteers can play across your fundraising efforts. In Part 2, we’ll share how to recruit the right people, match them to roles, and keep them engaged along the way.

Greater Sum’s Virtual Incubator for Nonprofits

why our virtual incubator focuses on money and storytelling

At The Greater Sum, we’ve learned that two skills matter most in the early years of running a nonprofit: financial strategy and storytelling. Why? Because your key task as a start-up nonprofit is getting other people on board. You need them to understand what it takes to do the work. And you need them excited enough to commit to supporting it.

That’s why our virtual incubator for nonprofits focuses on fundraising strategy and nonprofit storytelling. You’ve got to be comfortable and confident talking about money—how much you have, how much you need, and what you’ll do with it. And you need to tell your story clearly so potential funders, partners, and volunteers see the value of investing in your mission.

In this video, you’ll hear from Executive Director Anna Taylor how our virtual incubator program helps leaders strengthen those skills and build real capacity for growth:

The Greater Sum’s virtual incubator is free, fully online, and designed for start-up nonprofits that are already doing the work and ready to grow. You can find the 2026 program dates on our Incubator page.

The Grant Scorecard Your Nonprofit Can Actually Use

When resources are limited, the smartest move isn’t chasing every grant; it’s focusing on where you’re most likely to succeed. A grant scorecard helps you make those choices with intention, ensuring that the time and energy you invest are aimed at the best opportunities for your mission.

Rather than relying on gut instinct, a scorecard gives you a practical way to weigh which grants are a strong fit and which ones may not justify the effort. It helps you stay strategic, not scattered.

Building a Grants Pipeline from Scratch

Grants can be an important ingredient in your nonprofit’s funding mix, but sustainable funding takes more than throwing spaghetti at the wall and hoping something sticks. Submitting a few applications here and there might land you a win once in a while, but real, long-term success comes from building a system: a grant pipeline.

A strong pipeline helps you plan ahead, pace your workload, and stay focused on the funders most likely to support your work. It keeps your opportunities simmering at different stages, so you’re not constantly starting from scratch or rushing to meet a deadline at the last minute.

The Power of Monthly Giving

If you're looking for the most effective way to support nonprofits, especially those just getting started, monthly giving is a game-changer. It's not just about convenience; it's about creating sustained, meaningful impact for organizations working hard to grow with limited resources.

Why Monthly Giving Matters for Nonprofits

Monthly donations provide predictable income, allowing nonprofits to plan ahead, budget wisely, and invest in programs that create real change. For early-stage nonprofits, that kind of stability can be transformational. Many of these organizations are led by passionate founders doing the work themselves, often without dedicated fundraising staff. They’re juggling service delivery, operations, and growth, so every dollar that doesn’t have to be spent on fundraising counts.

That’s where monthly donors come in.

Which Grant Is Actually Worth Your Time?

Grants can be transformational for nonprofits, but only if they're the right fit. With so many options out there, it’s easy to fall into the trap of chasing every opportunity you hear about. The truth is: not every grant is a good use of your limited time.

At The Greater Sum, we help early-stage nonprofits sort through the noise. Here’s a practical framework for deciding which grants are worth pursuing and which ones you can safely set aside.

Nonprofit Jargon Cheat Sheet

If you’re new to grant writing, the language can feel like learning a whole new dialect. Acronyms show up everywhere. Terms get tossed around like everyone already knows what they mean. And honestly? Sometimes even people who've been at this a while still have to double-check.

At The Greater Sum, we believe language shouldn’t be a barrier to funding. So here’s a simple, grant-seeker-friendly guide to the most common terms you’ll run into, roughly in the order you’ll likely meet them.

Fueling Nonprofit Growth: Highlights from the 2024 Annual Report

The need for bold, innovative solutions has never been greater. We’re constantly inspired by the nonprofit leaders we support—big thinkers tackling big challenges in education, healthcare, social justice, and more.

Our programs give early-stage nonprofits the funding, mentorship, and expert connections they need to grow. While pitch competitions and matching gifts make a splash, alumni gain significant strategic support from the incubator and alumni programs.

,

Cultivating a Healing Movement Through Horticulture

,
Cultivating a Healing Movement Through Horticulture

Heroic Gardens is a nonprofit that provides free gardening services to U.S. veterans in Philadelphia and the surrounding suburbs of Pennsylvania, Northern Delaware and South Jersey. It also operates a virtual program in 24 states, including Alaska and Hawaii. Founder Collie Turner shares her story behind its creation and the lessons learned along the way.

The seeds for Heroic Gardens were planted many years ago, somewhat unexpectedly. While caring for her grandmother, Collie discovered that her grandfather’s military death benefits had never been claimed. After a frustrating three-year journey of navigating the VA system, she met a local veteran who took time out of her regular role helping veterans secure housing, to help get her grandmother’s application reviewed and approved. This woman’s kindness sparked a question in Collie’s mind: How can I give back?

Alumni Spotlight: FreeFrom

The Greater Sum supports innovative nonprofits across our focus areas of community, health, education and environment in hopes that these nonprofits will expand and scale. 2020 Alumni organization FreeFrom is changing the conversation about gender-based violence and financial abuse.

Founder Sonya Passi visited Greater Sum’s January board meeting to give an update on how the organization has grown since receiving Greater Sum funding in 2020.

Free Non-Profit Incubator Program LIVE in Jacksonville, FL!

Strange things are afoot here at Greater Sum headquarters. After three years and seven virtual cohorts we are doing an in-person version of our non-profit incubator. This pilot program will take place in Greater Sum’s home town, Jacksonville, Florida.

The program consists of:

  • Self-paced curriculum focused on financial sustainability & pitching your nonprofit

  • Weekly peer discussion to reinforce what you’re learning and expand your knowledge of local resources

  • 1-on-1 coaching calls with Greater Sum volunteers

  • Pitch training, coaching, and feedback

The self-paced incubator curriculum will still be offered online, but the weekly peer chat will be in person here in JAX. I couldn’t be more excited to combine two of my favorite activities: talking shop and drinking coffee in my neighborhood.

Here’s the scoop…

Dates: August 8th through September 12th (Tuesday morning meetings)

Audience: founders of start-up non-profits in Jacksonville

Cost: ZERO. NADA. NOT A DIME. (why? Greater Sum helps founders build financially sustainable non-profits, and we know what start-up non-profit budgets look like.)

Application Deadline: July 20th

Graduates of the incubator are eligible to participate in Greater Sum’s pitch competition. You can learn about past winners HERE, and watch last year’s pitch competition on our YouTube channel.

Hosting this series in person is a new adventure for TGS, and I hope you, dear reader, will help this opportunity find its intended audience. If you know a non-profit founder in Jacksonville who would love to connect with fellow founders and subject matter expert volunteers, send them our way!

PS - if you’re thinking to yourself, “I wish this was taking place in MY town,” don’t give up hope! Our goal is for Greater Sum and partners to be able to offer incubator series in a variety of locations.

Founder Story: Art Prevails Project

Darius V. Daughtry is the founder of Art Prevails Project, a nonprofit based in South Florida with a mission to strengthen communities - particularly those that are underserved and historically disadvantaged - by investing in people through literary and performing arts. On May 9th, he joined Greater Sum Advisory Board member Kimberlee Nicole Smith & Executive Director Anna Taylor to present at the PEAK Grantmaking Conference on “Supporting Early Stage & Grassroots Nonprofits.”

EVERYDAY GIVING

Do you consider yourself a philanthropist? The Greater Sum Foundation posed this question to a few of our friends and supporters to find out their views on giving. More than half of those surveyed felt that they were not philanthropists. As one put it, “to me, a philanthropist is someone who is able to make a transformational gift. I consider myself a giver.” The responses were illuminating and shed light on how people view philanthropy.

Support and Guidance for New Nonprofits

Are you leading a nonprofit startup and juggling demand for your services with fundraising and paperwork? Greater Sum’s free virtual incubator program may be just the help you need, in a format designed to fit into your busy schedule.

The incubator covers nonprofit accounting, funding models, earned revenue, and branding via a self-paced curriculum, and brings together nonprofit leaders and industry mentors for lively group discussions and individual coaching sessions.

Here’s what past participants have to say about the program:

“We can confidently say we are better able to serve our mission because of this experience.”

“It's given me some confidence to know our growing pains are "normal" and manageable.”

“It is encouraging to get to know other young organizations at a similar stage in development.”

“There is so much to do but having your support and network made it easier and helps to keep me encouraged.”

Greater Sum is offering three sessions in 2023: January/February, March/April, and May/June. Graduates of the incubator are eligible to participate in our Fall 2023 pitch competition. Apply HERE!

What's your YES?

Each year, about 64 million Americans - one-fourth of the adult population - are invited to volunteer. For many, volunteerism is a source of great joy and satisfaction. In fact, the National Institutes of Health has found improved mental and physical health in folks who volunteer. April is National Volunteer Month, and nonprofit organizations across the US are celebrating their volunteers and asking more people to get involved with their causes. If you’ve found volunteering less joyful than you’d hoped, or even just an obligation, I’d like to have a word with you this month.

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