Keeping up with AI and an uneven labor market is challenging enough for corporate leaders. For nonprofit executives working with tighter budgets and leaner teams, it can be extra daunting.
“It’s tricky for everyone right now, but for those guys, it’s actually very tricky,” Scott Kleinman, co-president of Apollo Asset Management and chair of the Apollo Opportunity Foundation Board.
The foundation is addressing the challenges nonprofits face by providing 28 organizations with a version of the playbook Apollo uses with its over 190 portfolio companies, which include Yahoo Inc. and Shutterfly.
That includes access to experts, leadership training, and a built-in network. The foundation also provides funding based on factors such as the organization’s budget size and impact metrics. Apollo has so far provided over $13 million to grantees and committed to $100 million in funding over the next decade.
The foundation, which launched in 2022, offered Business Insider an exclusive look at its biennial summit in October, where grantee leaders mingled with Apollo executives and sat in on panels led by subject-matter experts.
Applying its portfolio playbook
Kleinman said the foundation provides the same type of support it provides its portfolio companies, including operational guidance, data and digital transformation, talent management, and recruitment.
“That is the crux of our foundation. Of course, it involves capital.” Kleinman said, adding that the “real-value add” is the deal team.
Each nonprofit is paired with a deal team of five to 10 employees from Apollo or Athene, which merged with Apollo and provides retirement services. Employees build relationships with the grantees to perform pro-bono projects, source board opportunities, and provide strategic advice.
The foundation also holds monthly virtual training sessions to discuss topics like AI, leadership transitions, culture, real estate, fundraising, and succession planning.
Beyond the funding
At the October leadership summit, Apollo’s chief economist Torsten Sløk discussed the labor market and how organizations can adapt to it, while the firm’s chief financial officer talked about the factors nonprofits should consider when growing their organizations. The summit also included working sessions for grantees and their Apollo deal teams.
The support Apollo offers grantees can be anything from fundraising skill-building to succession planning, said Lauren Coape-Arnold, Apollo Global Management’s global head of citizenship and executive director of the Apollo Opportunity Foundation.
She said the partnership starts with reorganizing boards to ensure strong governance, because an organization’s success ultimately comes down to strong leadership. That may include sourcing candidates to consider for the board of directors or advisory board members.
“Who is the leader? Do you believe in the leader? Are they someone inspiring the team to move forward?” Coape-Arnold said.
What nonprofits need
Jane Veron, cofounder and CEO of Acceleration Project, a nonprofit that helps small business owners said that support included identifying 35 processes the organization could eliminate or modify, from onboarding and technology to client data capture.
For example, instead of having her team read through notes on a client’s business challenges, Apollo is helping build an AI tool to do that work. It’s also building asynchronous training tools to streamline consultant onboarding.
“Apollo helped us identify priorities,” Veron said, adding that the list includes “very micro and tactical” fixes.
Reuben Ogbonna II, the cofounder and executive director of The Marcy Lab School, a one-year program that is an alternative to four-year college, said that meant revamping his school’s curriculum to reflect the shifting roles of software engineers.
He said Apollo’s deal team helped them recognize that technologists need to work more closely with business leaders and integrated more business and industry context into the curriculum. The program also included additional cloud fundamentals and foundational DevOps knowledge, based on the team’s input, he said.
That sort of hands-on support is the goal, said Kleinman. “Not just to write some checks and get some photo ops, but to really make this a two-way street with our employees.”