Project summary

We're looking for funds to help subsidize some of our primary programs to make them more accessible to small and grassroots organization in impactful spaces. These funds will be used for orgs in one of the following areas:

• AI safety

• Animal welfare

• X-risk / longtermism

• Environmentalism

To solve the problem of capacity-constrained impactful organizations, we've developed a few solutions that have a demonstrated and measurable impact on organization capacity. While orgs can pay for these services, they often don't - and we'd like to make these core services accessible to newer and cost-constrained organizations.

The primary objective of these programs is to remove obstacles that restrict organizational growth. The earlier we provide interventions, the longer organizations can operate at peak effectiveness, which results in more impact overall. Your counterfactual dollar spent can have an exponential impact on many impactful organizations!

The programs we'd like to subsidize include:

Operations / Management Consulting:

• Description: Individualized 1-on-1 coaching sessions providing targeted operational guidance based on organizational needs; this also includes assistance with process and workflow development

• Results:

  • Organization: Immediate operational improvements through targeted problem-solving and workflow optimization

  • Staff capital: Enhanced leadership capabilities and decision-making skills for sustained organizational growth

• Cost: $302 / organization (assuming an average of 2 sessions)

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Operations Accelerator:

• Description: A 6-month program designed to strengthen nonprofits through comprehensive operations training and implementation. Link to syllabus

• Results: 

  • Organization: Substantial increase in organizational stability, impact, and growth

  • Staff capital: Increase in skilled and growth-ready operations professionals and leaders

Program Cost: $12,050/cohort ($2,008 per organization/$1,004 per participant)

Note: This is also available in a 1-1 format, at a direct cost of $894 per organization

Operations Trainings:

• Description: A series of actionable webinars providing training on highly relevant topics, designed to give organizations quick access to knowledge they can implement.

• Results: Organizations gain actionable knowledge to quickly strengthen their organizational effectiveness.

• Program Cost: $2,596 / webinar; $26 / organization (assuming an average of 100 organizations in attendance or viewing later)

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How will this funding be used?

The funding will be used to pay for the staff time required to implement these programs. For a look at our full budget, including our cost-effectiveness ratings and salary breakdowns per program, see this sheet

Who is on your team? What's your track record on similar projects?

The Organization

WorkStream Nonprofit was founded in 2023 by Deena Englander to address a critical bottleneck in the nonprofit sector: a lack of access to affordable, expert operational support. The organization builds on the work of its predecessor, WorkStream Business Systems (founded in 2011), which began serving the Effective Altruist community in 2022. By establishing WorkStream as a nonprofit, we have removed price as a barrier to participation, allowing us to provide critical capacity-building services to the organizations that need them most.

WorkStream has been running these capacity-building programs successfully for over a decade, and we're looking for support to make it more accessible for early interventions for high impact organizations.

The People

Deena Englander, Executive Director and Founder

Deena brings extensive expertise as a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt with experience in workflow development, data analysis, and business intelligence. As founder and CEO of both WorkStream Business Systems and WorkStream Nonprofit, and director of the EA Services Directory (EASE), she helps organizations streamline critical processes and build sustainable systems. WorkStream's multifaceted approach reduces inefficiencies, increases scalability, and helps organizations maximize their mission's reach and effectiveness.

Laura Miller, Programs and Operations Manager

Laura leads our Programs and Operations divisions, specializing in program coordination and implementation. She excels at improving organizational operations through strategic technology integration, helping organizations enhance their program delivery, streamline operational workflows, and leverage technology solutions to increase efficiency and effectiveness in their mission-driven work.

Penina Adler, Tech and Finance Manager

Penina leads our Bookkeeping + Technology Systems Implementation divisions. She specializes in delivering comprehensive financial management services while enhancing business operations through customized CRM implementation. Penina helps organizations maintain accurate financial records, streamline accounting processes, and leverage technology such as CRM systems and project management software to connect customer data with financial insights for more informed decision-making.

What are the most likely causes and outcomes if this project fails?

If this project fails, it means that the trajectory for young organizations will remain slowed and/or inefficient. Whereas the price of action can be measured in dollars, and the impact will be organizations that increase their impact significantly, the price of nonaction is counterfactually very high.

How much money have you raised in the last 12 months, and from where?

None. We're currently operating as leanly as possible and are using the limited profits from our income generating activities to self-fund.