A non-profit organization focused on creating a lasting difference in their community one neighbor at a time, CommunityAid had created quality jobs, offered an affordable shopping
experience, and supported other non-profit partners serving the local community. They were doing great work for their community, but the business side of things was another story: complete chaos.

When their new CEO, Steve Sullivan, was two months into the job, he realized they weren’t going to make their next payroll. With a lack of data and insight, he felt like he was “flying blind in a $20M organization with 400 souls.” He described it as scary and overwhelming.Hundreds of people were counting on those paychecks to take care of their families, and other nonprofit organizations were counting on CommunityAid funding to continue serving their mission.

Looking for a trusted resource

Steve went looking for a trusted resource to help him get clarity and set the path forward – no more flying blind, not making payroll, or feeling overwhelmed. Rather than search endlessly for the right person to fit his needs, he turned to TurboExecs.

Collaborating to create clarity

At TurboExecs, we love working with mission-driven, aligned organizations that love what they do and make a difference for their clients and customers. Excited to help them keep making a huge community impact for decades to come, we helped them identify the metrics they needed to focus on, figure out the story behind the numbers, and use those numbers and story to get clear on the direction they wanted to go in and how to get there.

We collaborate to create clarity. And the best part? We do it with joy and trust – the first words that come to mind for Steve Sullivan when he thinks about working with us.

For us, establishing trust is key. Only through trust do our clients get to that highest level of profitability, execution, and transformation. That’s the real secret to our success.

From “Oh my goodness, I don’t know if we’re going to make payroll” to “Oh my goodness, look at our EBITDA.”

The clarity CommunityAid got from their numbers was unmatched. From “Oh my goodness, I don’t know if we’re going to make payroll” to “Oh my goodness, look at our EBITDA,” they finally knew exactly where they were going on a one, two, three and more year time frame (and how that all connected to their bottom line). They understood everything from the impact of their decisions on their profits to their margins on Monday versus Friday.

“Gaining this level of insight was a game-changer for CommunityAid.” – Steve Sullivan

But wait, it gets better. One of their biggest tangible results was repeatability around EBITDA performance: a fancy way to explain that they started generating a consistent performance level around profitability before philanthropy. That was super important to them because they gave away 10% of their revenues every year, and other nonprofits depended on their contributions. They can now give away that money with
confidence knowing their revenues, operations, and EBITDA performance are all consistent.

That level of clarity, performance, and confidence has allowed them to further their critical mission. We helped them fix their present day situation, lay out a strategy, and launch a foundation that can help all kinds of nonprofits in their region.

“It’s been transformational for us.” – Steve Sullivan

With a regular EBITDA of 28-29%, they went from a dying organization to an exceptionally profitable one. Now, they get to take those profits and apply them not only to their employees but to their other mission, providing for nonprofits in the homeless and food insecurity space.

Takeaways for your business

Here are a few simple-but-not-easy things from our work with CommunityAid that you can implement in your business

1. Take baby steps.
2. Control how many levers you’re pulling, and pay attention to the results of them.
3. Create trusted relationships to make real progress and drive change.

If you’re considering outsourcing financial management and activities but you’re on the fence…

The outsourcing is a lower risk play. I wish someone would’ve told me that. It was a lower risk play because TurboExecs has the opportunity to plug and play with multiple resources to get you what you need, rather than relying on one resource to come in. So it’s that plug and play, it’s that collaboration that if someone would’ve said up front, I probably would’ve moved even quicker.” -Steve Sullivan

And that’s a wrap!

Working with mission-driven companies is what we love the most. We are privileged to help CommunityAid in having a huge impact on their employees, customers, and the communities they serve. With the ripple effect that radiates out from their immediate actions, who knows what other positive impact will be created? Cue the goosebumps.

If you’re a $2M+ professional services or non-profit organization struggling to get the timely financial reports you need to function, call us. TurboExecs gets things back on track and puts you in the driver’s seat with more management horsepower for your business – just like we did for CommunityAid.

717.925.3270
info@turboexecs.com
www.turboexecs.com