Kevin L. Brown

To get nonprofit funding, be fundable & findable.โ„ข ๐Ÿ’ช๐Ÿฝ๐Ÿ’›

Croatia

About

๐—ง๐—ผ๐—ผ ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐˜† ๐—ป๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—ณ๐—ถ๐˜๐˜€ ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐˜‚๐—ป๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ป, ๐˜‚๐—ป๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฑ, ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐˜‚๐—ป๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ณ๐˜‚๐—ป๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ. Only one in 1,000 nonprofits will grow beyond a small business. Even in the United States โ€” where philanthropic foundations have more than a trillion dollars in the bank โ€” 88% of nonprofits struggle on less than $500,000 annually. Many of you feel like you donโ€™t have the time, team, or tools to succeed in fundraising. Making matters tougher, most Executive Directors were not trained in business and leadership. So youโ€™re not alone in feeling overwhelmed and uncertain. To break this nonprofit starvation cycle, we must tackle the problem differently. If your income has stalled, stop chasing donations. Gather your leadership team and do this instead: ๐—ง๐—ผ ๐—ด๐—ฒ๐˜ ๐—ณ๐˜‚๐—ป๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด, ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ ๐—ณ๐˜‚๐—ป๐—ฑ๐—ฎ๐—ฏ๐—น๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ณ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฑ๐—ฎ๐—ฏ๐—น๐—ฒ.โ„ข Here's the secret. โคต Being fundable and findableโ„ข is your brand. Your brand consists of your theory of change, strategic plan, positioning strategy, and marketing communications. And your brand โ€” not just more fundraising โ€” can fix your fundraising. Brand first, funding second. ๐—ช๐—ต๐˜† ๐˜€๐—ต๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—น๐—ฑ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚ ๐˜๐—ฟ๐˜‚๐˜€๐˜ ๐—บ๐—ฒ? Iโ€™m a social entrepreneur too. Iโ€™m an Acumen East Africa Fellow, alongside hundreds of nonprofit peers. Iโ€™ve started or turned around four businesses. One that scaled to international acquisition, one that failed, and two solid successes. Our own organization Mighty Ally is a thriving nonprofit hybrid funded by grantmakers like Cartier Philanthropy. And weโ€™ve implemented this same Fundable/Findable Frameworkโ„ข with 400 partners in 54 countries so far. Iโ€™m also on the advisory board of two institutional donors: Roddenberry Foundation in the U.S. and Greenwood Place in the UK. Finally, this work is my personal purpose. Iโ€™m the proud father of three girls from China and Uganda, born into the orphan crisis. Iโ€™ve prioritized living and working in three different economic contexts on three continents โ€” growing up in the States (high-income), moving to Uganda (low-income) for four years, and spending the past five years in South Africa, Mauritius, and Malaysia (middle-income). And Iโ€™m motivated by an urgent vision where nobody faces poverty and injustice like my daughters once did. ๐—•๐˜‚๐˜† ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—น๐—น๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ฏ๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ธ fundablefindable.org ๐—ฆ๐˜‚๐—ฏ๐˜€๐—ฐ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ ๐—ฏ๐˜† ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—น kevinlbrown.substack.com ๐Ÿ’ช๐Ÿฝ๐Ÿ’› ยฉ ๐™๐™๐™š ๐™ฉ๐™š๐™ง๐™ข "๐™›๐™ช๐™ฃ๐™™๐™–๐™—๐™ก๐™š ๐™–๐™ฃ๐™™ ๐™›๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™™๐™–๐™—๐™ก๐™š" ๐™ž๐™จ ๐™– ๐™ง๐™š๐™œ๐™ž๐™จ๐™ฉ๐™š๐™ง๐™š๐™™ ๐™˜๐™ค๐™ฅ๐™ฎ๐™ง๐™ž๐™œ๐™๐™ฉ ๐™—๐™ฎ ๐™ฉ๐™๐™š ๐™๐™ฃ๐™ž๐™ฉ๐™š๐™™ ๐™Ž๐™ฉ๐™–๐™ฉ๐™š๐™จ ๐˜พ๐™ค๐™ฅ๐™ฎ๐™ง๐™ž๐™œ๐™๐™ฉ ๐™Š๐™›๐™›๐™ž๐™˜๐™š.

Experience

  • Founding Partner & CEO at MIGHTY ALLY
    2017 - Present ยท 9 yrs 6 mos

    Too many nonprofits are unseen, unheard, and underfunded. So Mighty Ally guides nonprofit brands to maximize funding and advance social justice. From consulting at growth stage to training at early stage to field building at every stage โ€” we guide brands via our Fundable/Findable Framework.โ„ข Including theory of change, strategic plan, positioning strategy, and marketing communications. Weโ€™re a nonprofit hybrid. A catalyst between grantees and grantmakers. With unmatched international perspective for a purposefully small team. Our 10-year target is to guide 5,000 bold brands โ€” with 50% reaching financial fullness โ€” that advance social justice for 500 million people. Brand first, funding second.

  • Advisory Board at Greenwood Place
    2024 - Present ยท 2 yrs 6 mos

    A Big Bang Philanthropy member that provides grantmaking, strategic advice, and outsourced foundation management for philanthropists. Since inception, Greenwood Place families and foundations have given away ยฃ80 million โ€” across all issue areas โ€” to more than 100 charity partners.

  • East Africa Fellow at Acumen
    2020 - Present ยท 6 yrs 6 mos

    Acumen is changing the way the world tackles poverty by investing in companies, nonprofit leaders, and ideas. Acumen has invested more than $128 million in 128 companies across Africa, Latin America, and South Asia. I was selected to complete the year-long leadership development program โ€“ the only American among 150 global fellows.

  • Advisory Council at The Roddenberry Foundation
    2021 - 2026 ยท 5 yrs

    The Roddenberry Foundation makes catalytic, timely investments in original ideas and extraordinary nonprofits who can change the world. Named as one of the Most Innovative Nonprofits by Fast Company, I serve as an advisor with renowned thought-leaders, academics, activists, journalists, and changemakers who provide strategic guidance in support of TRF core programs.

  • Coach at SHONA
    2018 - 2024 ยท 6 yrs

    SHONA is a startup accelerator and business advisor for entrepreneurs across Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, and Rwanda. SHONA grows high-impact companies that have immense potential to contribute to the growth of East Africaโ€™s emerging market economies. I have coached dozens of entrepreneurs through in-person workshops and ongoing advisory.