I help mission-driven organizations grow their revenue without losing their way.
For the past decade, I have worked alongside the leaders of nonprofits, social enterprises, and mission-driven businesses — organizations where the work genuinely matters and where the pressure to grow revenue is in constant tension with the commitment to stay true to the mission. That tension is where I do my best work.
I came to this work through an unusual path. I spent the early part of my career inside large organizations — leading marketing and strategy functions, managing budgets and teams, watching what happened when growth became an end in itself. The results were often good on paper. Rarely were they satisfying.
The organizations I found most interesting were the ones where the leaders had made a different bet: that doing the work well and growing the work's reach were not in conflict. That mission could be an argument, not a constraint. That the most effective way to build an audience was to have something worth saying.
I started working directly with those organizations about ten years ago — first as a consultant, then as an embedded advisor, then through longer engagements where I was effectively a part-time member of the leadership team. What I learned in those engagements became the intellectual foundation for Field Notes: one lesson at a time, from actual work, with no pretense that it applies equally to every situation.
The newsletter is not a product. It is a record of what I am learning. If it is useful to you, that is worth knowing. If it leads to a conversation about working together, that is how most of those conversations have started.
The organizations I have seen do strategy well share one characteristic: they are willing to be specific about what they are not going to do. Not in the passive sense of neglect, but in the active sense of refusal.
— Field Notes, Issue 18: The Strategy TrapSelected Engagements
| Organization | Focus | Outcome | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Regional Land Trust Nonprofit · Conservation | Revenue strategy overhaul — moved from event-dependent model to content-led major donor acquisition. | +62% major donor growth over 24 months. Individual giving became primary revenue stream for first time in org history. | 2023–24 |
| Workforce Development Org Nonprofit · Social Services | Strategic planning — diagnosed org-wide goal/strategy confusion; rebuilt three-year plan around a single theory of change. | Board approved focused plan with two programs discontinued. Leadership team reported strongest strategic clarity in org's 15-year history. | 2022–23 |
| Social Enterprise · Food Systems B Corp · Revenue-Generating | Marketing architecture — built content and distribution system from scratch; eliminated three underperforming channels. | 3.4× email list growth. CPL reduced by 40%. Marketing spend reallocated entirely to two highest-performing channels. | 2022 |
| Community Health Foundation Nonprofit · Health Equity | Leadership advisory — supported ED through organizational transition, strategic repositioning, and board relationship restructuring. | Organization emerged from 18-month transition with new theory of change, refreshed board composition, and first surplus in four years. | 2020–22 |
| Education Nonprofit Nonprofit · K–12 | Revenue diversification — designed and launched earned-revenue line adjacent to core program; built financial model and go-to-market. | New revenue line generating $340K annually within 18 months. Now 22% of total organizational revenue. | 2021 |
How I Work
Diagnosis Before Prescription
Every engagement begins with the same question: what is the real problem? Not the presenting problem — the underlying one. Most organizations know their symptoms. Few have named the diagnosis. That comes first.
Constraint as Creative Direction
The organizations that do the most with the least are not better resourced. They are better at refusing. I help leaders get specific about what they will not do — because that decision is what makes everything else possible.
Craft as Argument
The way you show up in the world is itself a claim about what you value. Sloppy strategy, careless marketing, and vague communication are not neutral — they undermine the mission. Precision is a form of respect for the work.
Background
What's Next
Let's find out if
we should work together.
Most of my engagements start with a conversation about whether what I do is actually what you need. That conversation is worth having. If it leads somewhere, good. If not, you'll leave with a clearer picture of the problem.