CASE STUDY
From near-collapse to $1.5M impact
A HeartSupport turnaround
They were weeks away from shutting down.
The org was dying. And everyone knew it — but no one said it out loud.
HeartSupport exists to reach music fans struggling with mental health — on socials and at shows. But they had lost their focus, and with it, their donors.
Missing Payroll
Two months in a row. The team kept working anyway, donating time just to stay afloat.
$40K Monthly Deficit
A daily cash gap with no obvious way to close it. Snowballed $220k of debt.
Founder checked out
Building a gym. Not in the room. Not in the fight. The mission was running without its leader.
Investor walked — and told them exactly why
"Your founder isn't involved. Your board isn't giving. Your programs aren't research-backed. Your mission isn't focused."
It wasn't a fundraising problem.
It was a belief problem.
And it started at the top.
“The founder had stepped back. The board was passive. The programs were gut-feel, not research-backed. You can't ask people to believe in something the leadership has quietly stopped fighting for.”
— The Nonprofit Turnaround diagnosis
What We Did
We rebuilt belief across four layers:
1
Clear Leadership
Founder re-engaged, board reset
2
Clear Strategy
5-year plan
3
Clear Programs
Research-backed model
4
Clear Systems
Operations + scale
Clarity → belief → execution → growth
A soup-to-nuts overhaul. In under two years.
SECTION 1 — LEADERSHIP
Founder re-engaged
Founder re-engaged. Board rebuilt.
SECTION 2 — STRATEGY + PROGRAMS
5-year plan
First-ever 5-year plan.
Research-backed model
Research-backed peer support model.
SECTION 3 — SCALE + REACH
ML system
Patent-pending ML system.
630K audience
100K → 630K followers.
Millions reached
50M monthly views across platforms.
The moment they stopped asking for survival and started pitching a million-dollar vision.
"A year ago we were having conversations about shutting things down. Now we're making confident pitches — with a straight face — that this is worth a million dollars of your money."
— Jake Luhrs, President, HeartSupport
BEFORE / AFTER
What actually changed.
Near-closure → $1.5M impact in 24 months
$1.5M
Mental health impact
40%
Revenue growth
6×
Volunteer apps
2×
People served
60×
Content reach
"I'm so thankful I was able to find humility. The most teachable men are humble ones."
— Jake Luhrs, President, HeartSupport
If your organization feels stuck, heavy, or unclear, the problem isn't effort. It's clarity.
Start with a belief diagnosis.
01
Diagnose the belief gap
02
Build the clarity systems
03
Activate giving
Nate Hilpert, Founder — The Nonprofit Turnaround