The ramp is underfunded.
The annual budget balances, but the monthly cash path does not.
For nonprofit leadership teams
Know whether your initiative works before you keep funding it.
We turn one strategic initiative into an editable operating and financial model, a direct go / no-go recommendation, and a leadership business case presentation your team can defend.
Most sprints $30K–$45KTypically 10–12 weeksDedicated expert leadsEditable file transfer
THE INITIATIVE
Should we open a second service site?
- Break-even volume
- 78%
- Base-case volume
- 61%
- Ramp cash gap
- $420K
- Hiring trigger
- Stage 2
RECOMMENDATION
Reduce the first-year footprint and make the second hiring wave conditional.
Your mission still needs a business model.
The recommendation is the product. The model earns it.THE COST OF GETTING IT WRONG
A strong initiative can still be a bad commitment.
A new program, contract, site, or structure can move demand, staffing, funding, and cash at the same time. If those assumptions live in separate files, leadership is not evaluating one coherent initiative.
THE QUESTIONS LEADERSHIP CANNOT LEAVE TO INSTINCT
01Can we afford the hire—and when?
02What will this program earn next quarter?
03What does the service actually cost to deliver?
The unit economics are upside down.
More volume creates more activity—and a larger loss.
Hiring gets ahead of demand.
Fixed cost arrives before contracts, referrals, or reimbursement do.
Leadership is working from different facts.
Program, finance, development, and operations are using different assumptions.
WHO ACTUALLY DOES THE WORK
The people you meet build the case.
Every standard sprint is led by Troy Groenke and Trevyr Meade. When an initiative needs additional senior review, that person, purpose, and role are named in the scope before you sign.
Projected expenses reduced during a major growth initiative—without slowing growth.
Hidden opportunity surfaced while rebuilding the operating model for a $15M business line.
The people in the first conversation stay involved when the model and handoff matter most.
Selected results from the senior team's broader work—not promised Sprint outcomes.
MODEL LEAD
Trevyr Meade
Financial + operational modelingBuilds the integrated initiative economics, reconciles source data, tests scenarios, and makes the model usable by leadership.
Chicago Booth MBA · finance, technology + operating systems
INITIATIVE LEAD
Troy Groenke
Strategy + leadership recommendationFrames the leadership question, pressure-tests tradeoffs, leads the recommendation, and translates the model into action.
Two successful exits · Chicago Booth MBA · nonprofit operator
AVAILABLE SENIOR REVIEW
Paul Phillips
Economics + leadership judgmentWhen included in the scope, adds independent financial rigor, stress-tests strategic tradeoffs, and helps turn complex economics into a practical leadership case.
Former KPMG partner + COO/CFO · co-author, Making Critical DecisionsBuilt in real nonprofit operating work.
The approach comes from connecting program economics, staffing, budgets, forecasts, funding, technology, and operating assumptions into one traceable leadership view. Your scope names the people responsible for every part of the work.
THE INITIATIVE ECONOMICS METHOD
Start with the initiative. Build the case around what must be true.
We begin with the initiative leadership is considering, the operating and financial conditions it depends on, and the evidence needed to recommend the next move.
- 01FRAME
Define the initiative.
Set the scope, timing, material commitment, leadership question, and the conditions that would change the answer.
OUTPUTInitiative charter - 02BUILD
Connect the economics.
Link demand, revenue, funding, full cost, staffing, capacity, and cash to the same drivers.
OUTPUTIntegrated initiative model - 03STRESS-TEST
Pressure-test the case.
Test the scenarios, thresholds, and assumptions that could make the initiative unworkable or change the recommended path.
OUTPUTBreakpoints + scenarios - 04ALIGN
Make the leadership read explicit.
Turn the evidence into a direct recommendation, the conditions attached to it, and the next commitment or test.
OUTPUTLeadership action package
WHAT THE INITIATIVE CASE HAS TO ANSWER
Leadership does not need more math. It needs a clear read on the initiative.
Is the initiative viable?
The economics of the proposed change—not just the annual budget.
What breaks first?
Cash, volume, funding, staffing, or capacity thresholds.
What must be true?
The material assumptions, owners, sources, and unresolved proof.
What should leadership do next?
Go, modify, pilot, defer, or stop—with the reasoning attached.
THE FLAGSHIP ENGAGEMENT
One initiative. One connected model. One direct recommendation.
The Initiative Business Case Sprint is built for a consequential program, site, service line, contract, or operating-model change. It is a focused case tied directly to the economics and the leadership action.
INITIATIVE BUSINESS CASE SPRINTFLAGSHIP
Know whether the initiative works—and what has to be true for it to succeed.
One fixed-scope engagement that connects the initiative design, operating model, financial model, and leadership recommendation.
Request a fit review01Clarifies the baseline
Current-state baseline
A reconciled view of how the program, service line, contract, or site works today.
02Makes full cost visible
Unit economics + full cost
The direct cost, shared infrastructure, contribution, and useful unit behind the work.
03Connects the core schedules
Integrated pro forma
Income, funding, staffing, startup cost, and monthly cash using one set of drivers.
04Surfaces the breakpoints
Scenario + breakpoint panel
The cases worth comparing and the point where the proposed plan stops working.
05Makes assumptions traceable
Source + assumption register
Every material number tied to a source, an owner, or an explicit open question.
06Turns evidence into action
Leadership-ready initiative package
A direct recommendation, editable model, leadership presentation, and next-step action plan.
Visible logic. Editable files. A direct point of view.
Every material conclusion points to a source, an owner, an assumption, or an explicit open question. If the evidence cannot support responsible modeling, we say so before the full build and identify what is missing.
A predetermined green light.
No guarantee of leadership approval, funding, savings, revenue, forecast accuracy, or mission impact.
THE STANDARD SCOPE
Keep the initiative bounded enough to test.
- One organization and one defined initiative
- One primary operating model
- The scenarios that can materially change viability
- Leadership, finance, program, and operations input
- Working model, initiative case, and handoff
SCOPED WHEN NEEDED
Some initiatives need a bigger operating layer.
- Major data cleanup or primary research
- Multi-entity or multi-site consolidation
- Staffing, role, and operating-model redesign
- Additional leadership or stakeholder facilitation
- Ongoing implementation
Your team brings the initiative, source data, and the people who own the assumptions. We do the synthesis, reconciliation, model build, stress test, recommendation, and leadership package. The working cadence and expected client participation are set in the scope before kickoff.
TYPICAL INITIATIVE BUSINESS CASE SPRINT
$30,000–$45,000
Typically 10–12 weeks · fixed feeThis fixed-fee range covers one organization and one defined initiative. Multi-site, multi-entity, primary-research, accelerated, or implementation work is priced separately. You see the exact team, schedule, working cadence, data requirements, and exclusions before kickoff. If that investment is not proportionate to the initiative at stake, this is probably not the right engagement.
FIT MATTERS
Bring us a consequential initiative. Leave room for an honest answer.
MODEL THISGOOD FIT
Leadership is evaluating a real commitment.
- A new or expanded program, site, service line, or contract
- A funding, revenue, staffing, or operating-model change
- A material initiative with a real leadership deadline
- An executive sponsor and finance partner who can engage
- A team willing to accept modify, pilot, defer, or stop
START ELSEWHERENOT YET
The conditions for a useful model are not in place yet.
- A grant narrative that only needs editing
- A broad strategic plan with no bounded initiative
- A conclusion the model is not allowed to challenge
- No owner for the numbers or access to source data
- A promise of funding, approval, savings, or forecast accuracy
THE 60-SECOND READINESS CHECK
Is this initiative modelable yet?
Five questions. No fake score and no email gate.
01
Can you describe one initiative leadership is actively evaluating?
02
Could getting the initiative wrong create material cash, staffing, or mission risk?
03
Is there a leadership sponsor and a finance owner?
04
Can the team provide current financial and operating data—or identify what is missing?
05
Will leadership change course if the evidence says it should?
REQUEST A FIT REVIEW
Bring us the initiative.
Tell us what the initiative is, what leadership needs to know, and when the next commitment is due. We will review it and tell you whether a custom business case is the right next move.
- 1
You describe the initiative and timing.
- 2
We assess fit, evidence, and likely scope.
- 3
If it fits, you receive the scope, fee, and schedule before kickoff.
THE FIT STANDARDIf the initiative cannot yet support a responsible business case, we will say what is missing.
BEFORE YOU APPLY
Useful questions. Direct answers.
An annual budget can show a balanced year while hiding a cash gap, an impossible ramp, an underpriced service, or hiring that arrives too early. The business case connects the operating drivers to income, funding, and monthly cash so the initiative can be tested.
Sometimes. Internal finance should own the numbers and stay central to the work. This engagement is most useful when the initiative crosses program, operations, development, and finance—or when leadership needs a neutral model and a direct recommendation before a high-stakes commitment.
Messy data is common. We separate what is sourced, estimated, inferred, and unresolved. If the available evidence cannot support responsible modeling, we say that early and identify the smallest data or proof gap to close next.
Avoiding or reshaping a bad commitment is part of the value. A useful result may be go, modify, pilot, defer, or stop. We do not treat approval as the only successful outcome.
Most single-initiative sprints run 10–12 weeks and are fixed-fee projects between $30,000 and $45,000. Larger or unusually complex work is scoped separately. You receive the exact fee, schedule, working cadence, data requirements, and exclusions before kickoff. There is no percentage of funds raised.
A named leadership sponsor, a finance partner, current financial and operating data, access to the people who own the work, and the willingness to revisit an assumption when the model disagrees.
Your organization receives the agreed editable files, visible formulas, documented drivers, and a working handoff. The model is built to be used after the engagement ends.
No. Forecasts remain estimates tied to stated assumptions. We commit to visible logic, editable files, and a direct recommendation—not a predetermined approval, grant award, revenue result, or mission outcome.
Troy Groenke and Trevyr Meade lead every standard sprint: Troy leads initiative framing and the leadership recommendation; Trevyr leads model architecture, source reconciliation, and scenario analysis. Any additional senior specialist is named in the scope before kickoff.