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Hi! Thank you for joining, my name is Laurent  Sevigny and I'm the CEO and co-founder of QRius   Pay and Lead Strategist at QRius Consulting.  In this video we're going to explore why   nonprofits need to rethink the business plan.  We're going to look at four common mistakes   nonprofits make when creating business plans,  and what you can do to avoid them. If you've   been in the nonprofit world long enough, you've  likely heard or read about somebody saying that   nonprofits should be "run like a business", and  sure, generally, that's a good philosophy to have.   A business isn't viable if its expenses always  exceed its revenue, and the same logic applies   to nonprofits as well. Your revenue streams, like  fundraising, should cover your operational expenses.  There's also a lot nonprofits can learn  from tried and proven management practices   from the for-profit sector. However, there are  limitations to this thinking. Non-profits are   not businesses, and they require their own set  of strategies and approaches in order to be   successful. A lot of nonprofits use business plans  as part of their strategic thinking, and a business   plan is a great tool to help you organize and  structure yourself to achieve your goals. Now if   you're using a standard business plan template,  you need to remember that these were designed   for for-profit businesses. Here are the four things  non-profits commonly miss in their business plans.   First your customer analysis should include both  your clients and your donors. Your clients are   the individuals who you help support through your  cause, and your donors are the individuals who help   support your cause. Understanding the differences  between each group through your customer analysis   is important as you'll likely need to develop  different strategies for each. Second, you need   to identify your sources of support. A good  non-profit plan will have both a high impact   cause with demand, and supply of funding and  resources from donors and supporting organizations.   Third, you need to define your programs in  more detail. Your programs are the heart   of your organization. They deliver the products  and services that help you achieve your mission.   Clearly defined programs with operating models,  budgets, and measurable outcomes not only help you run   a better non-profit, but can sometimes be necessary  inputs to certain sources of funding, like grants.   And fourth, you need to define your fundraising  plan. The vast majority of nonprofits rely on   fundraising to support their operations, whether  through donations, in-kind gifts, or grants.   You need to develop a strong plan and approach to  develop sustainable fundraising revenue streams.   Now that we've covered the four most common  mistakes, I need to highlight that a strong   non-profit business plan includes program models,  a fundraising strategy, budget and financials, human   resources and organizational capabilities as its  core pillars. You need to also remember to include   your people, process and technology throughout  the plan. Thank you for watching, I hope you found   this useful. If you'd like to learn more about  nonprofit strategic planning, please contact us   at QRius Consulting or join our Facebook group  called Nonprofit Resources, see the links below.   Keep doing the amazing work that you're  doing and stay tuned for our next video!