ABSTRACT
Along the same path, but from a different angle, the not-for-profit sector is becoming more entrepreneurial and diversification is the trump card of not-for-profit strategic management. Perhaps more than for-profit managers, NPOs’ executives know that they must find ways to diversify their revenue streams or face permanent fiscal uncertainty or worse. As an example, Blackbaud, the largest provider of fund-raising software based in Charleston, South Carolina, has grown its customer base, maintained and expanded existing customer relationships, introduced additional products, leveraged the Internet as a means of additional growth, and pursued strategic acquisitions and alliances.7 Examples of these acquisitions are the online donor management and advocacy tool eTapestry in 2007, its competitor Kintera’s in 2008, and the Austin-based software company specializing in Internet marketing and business management applications tailored specifically for NPOs’ Convio in 2012.8,9,10 NPOs follow diversification strategies by using the same principle that any other business entities must adhere to: be sure that manageable-size amounts of revenue are associated with different and unconnected sources of funding power.
