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For years, nonprofits have been asked to do more with less. They are expected to serve growing communities, manage rising costs, compete for workers, and meet increasingly complex regulations, often while operating with limited financial and administrative support. That model has left many organizations stuck in survival mode, spending too much time solving operational problems instead of expanding their impact.
Ryan Dewey Smith, Founding Executive Chairman & CEO of Inperium, a nonprofit supporting organization, believes the environment around nonprofits has become harder to navigate. The problem, he argues, is not a lack of passion, but a lack of infrastructure. In this Executive Q&A, we discuss how Inperium’s approach provides nonprofits with a stronger foundation, allowing them to remain independent while gaining access to shared resources and operational support.
Q: Many nonprofits find themselves constantly strapped for resources, yet are expected to meet growing community needs. What is the fundamental issue here, and how does Inperium aim to address it? Please share some practical examples.
Ryan Dewey Smith: I think the fundamental issue is that many nonprofits are being asked to solve increasingly complex problems without having the infrastructure, resources or scale to do so sustainably. Demand for services continues to grow, while organizations are simultaneously dealing with staffing challenges, rising costs, regulatory complications and pressure to do more with less. A nonprofit can be incredibly committed to its mission and still struggle if it is trying to carry all of that weight alone.
That is one of the reasons I founded Inperium. Our approach is built around the idea that nonprofits do not have to sacrifice their mission or identity to gain the advantages of scale. Through affiliation, organizations can share resources, expertise and infrastructure while continuing to focus on the communities they know best.
Practically, that can mean centralizing functions such as finance, HR, technology, compliance or admin support so that individual organizations do not each have to build and maintain those capacities independently.
It can also mean sharing knowledge. If one organization has developed an effective approach to recruiting or navigating a regulatory challenge, that experience can benefit other organizations within the constellation.
The goal is to make them stronger. When nonprofits have the capacity to operate more efficiently and withstand financial or operational pressures, they can devote more of their energy and resources to the people they exist to serve. For me, that is ultimately what sustainable growth in the nonprofit sector should be about, protecting the mission and building the capacity to fulfill it.
Q: You’ve argued that nonprofit leaders need to rethink how they approach growth and innovation. What can you tell us about your recent partnership with KidsPeace, and how does it reflect this shift in thinking?
Ryan Dewey Smith: I believe nonprofit leaders need to rethink what growth actually means. Growth should be about more than getting bigger for its own sake. It should also be about becoming stronger, more sustainable and better equipped to serve the people who depend on you. That requires being willing to think differently about partnerships, infrastructure and how organizations can leverage their collective strengths.
Our recent affiliation with KidsPeace is a great example. KidsPeace has been serving children, families and communities for nearly 145 years and has built an extraordinary legacy in behavioral and mental health services. Through the affiliation, KidsPeace became part of the Imperium constellation while retaining its mission, identity, leadership and focus on the people it serves. What does change is the level of support behind that mission. KidsPeace gains access to Inperium’s enterprise-level infrastructure, shared services, operational expertise and capital resources. That creates opportunities to strengthen financial sustainability, improve efficiency and invest more deeply in the organization’s programs and people.
To me that represents a different way of thinking about innovation in the nonprofit sector. Sometimes innovation is less about creating something entirely new and more about recognizing that an organization can do more by changing how it operates and who it partners with. When we can combine the strength and expertise of established organizations without asking them to surrender their identity, we create a model for growth that is both practical and mission-driven. That is the kind of growth I believe the nonprofit sector needs to see more of.
Q: There is often resistance when introducing “business practices” into the nonprofit sector. How do you address the skepticism that terms like “metrics” and “efficiency” might compromise an organization’s mission?
Ryan Dewey Smith: I understand the skepticism. Nonprofits exist to serve people not to generate profits, so there can be a concern that introducing business terminology or practices somehow changes the organization’s purpose. But I think that creates a false choice. Strong financial management, meaningful metrics and operational efficiency do not have to compete with mission
I often look at it this way. If you are not measuring what is working, how do you know whether you are having the impact you set out to achieve? If you are spending more money than necessary to deliver a service, that is not automatically evidence of greater commitment to your mission. It may simply mean that valuable resources are being lost to inefficiency.
At Inperium, we use data and performance measures to help us understand where organizations are succeeding, where they are facing challenges and where additional support or investment can make a difference. But the numbers are never the mission. They are a tool for helping us make better decisions about how to accomplish the mission.
The same is true of efficiency. Every dollar saved through better systems or shared infrastructure is a dollar that can potentially be redirected toward programs, employees or the people we serve. That is why I don’t see sound business practices as something nonprofits should fear. I see them as tools that, when applied thoughtfully and with the mission firmly at the center, can give organizations greater capacity to fulfill their purpose.
Q: Inperium is celebrating 10 years in business and $1 billion in annualized revenue. At the heart of your model is a philosophy that feels counterintuitive to many: affiliated organizations keep their independence and identity intact. Why is that principle non-negotiable for you, and how has it driven the success you’re celebrating today?
Ryan Dewey Smith: For me, independence and identity are non-negotiable because that is where an organization’s mission lives. But here is the part I think is often misunderstood, independence and scale are not opposites. When an organization joins the Inperium constellation, we are not asking it to become Inperium. Its name, leadership, culture and mission remain intact. What changes is capacity. It gains access to resources, expertise, infrastructure and capital that can be difficult to build independently.
That distinction is the heart of our model. Too often nonprofit leaders are told they have to choose, stay independent and struggle to achieve scale, or give up their identity to become part of something larger. I don’t believe those should be the choices. Our goal is to give organizations the strength of scale without the loss of identity.
That philosophy has been a major driver of our success. But I’m proudest of what sits behind the success, organizations that have become stronger while remaining recognizably themselves.
Q: Looking to the future, you emphasize “innovation through collaboration.” Can you explain what this looks like in practice and how it might influence both the nonprofit and for-profit sectors?
Ryan Dewey Smith: To me innovation through collaboration means stopping the assumption that we have to solve every problem ourselves. Some of the best ideas emerge when you bring people and organisations together with different capabilities and perspectives.
In practice that can be as simple as sharing technology and talent. Or it can be as ambitious as developing new services by combining capabilities that previously existed separately. The important thing is creating an environment where people are willing to ask, “What could we accomplish together that we couldn’t accomplish alone?”
I think that mindset has value in both the nonprofit and for-profit sectors. Nonprofits understand communities and human needs in ways businesses often don’t. For profit organizations can bring capital, technology, operational expertise and a different approach to scaling. There is enormous potential when those strengths are brought together around a shared objective.
I also think collaboration requires a little humility. You have to be willing to admit that someone else may have a better solution than you do, and then be willing to build on it.
The nonprofit sector is at a crossroads, where the traditional model of constant sacrifice is no longer sustainable for long-term impact. As Ryan Dewey Smith highlights, nonprofits must embrace growth, innovation, and strategic collaboration to thrive. By providing shared infrastructure and operational expertise, organizations can move beyond survival mode and refocus on their core missions.
This shift toward sustainable growth is not about corporatizing nonprofits, but about equipping them with the tools they need to survive and expand their reach. As the environment becomes increasingly complex, the ability to maintain financial stability and operational flexibility will be critical for mission-driven organizations. Embracing these strategies will not only strengthen individual nonprofits but could also offer valuable lessons in collaboration for the broader business world.
To learn more, visit https://www.inperium.org
