Sarasota Opera Selected to Participate in Entrepreneurial Opportunity

March 13, 2023 – Sarasota

Sarasota Opera will work to strengthen its entrepreneurial capacity and increase its mission impact with earned-income strategies developed and implemented through its participation in Margin & Mission Ignition, an opportunity presented by The Patterson Foundation.  

As one of four regional organizations selected for Margin & Mission Ignition, Sarasota Opera will work with No Margin, No Mission, a social enterprise and national consulting firm engaged by The Patterson Foundation, over a 30-month process. No Margin, No Mission will work with each nonprofit to develop and implement business plans to generate revenue and support their efforts in the community.    

“We are looking forward to building our capacity through participation on The Patterson Foundation’s Margin & Mission Ignition initiative,” said Sarasota Opera’s General Director Richard Russell. “By diversifying our revenue streams, we hope to strengthen our ability to present world-class opera to our community.”  

 Throughout the process, the organizations participating in Margin & Mission Ignition will come together to learn from and share with one another based on their experiences.  

 “We have learned that diversifying revenue streams does more than strengthen the financial viability of nonprofits — it can also build organizational capacity,” said Debra Jacobs, president and CEO of The Patterson Foundation. “Previous participants of Margin & Mission Ignition have developed and implemented earned-income plans that advance both their missions and impact. The Patterson Foundation is pleased to work with these four organizations who have demonstrated the leadership, willingness, readiness, capacity and culture for success.”  Margin & Mission Ignition is part of The Patterson Foundation’s Nonprofit Thrivability initiative. This initiative connects nonprofits with expertise and resources to learn concepts like strategic decision-making while adopting and implementing entrepreneurial principles to generate enough revenue to support and eventually grow their operations.  

For more information about Margin & Mission Ignition, please visit thepattersonfoundation.org. Join the conversation on social media by using #TPFMarginMission.  For more information about Sarasota Opera, please visit SarasotaOpera.org.