There’s a deep-rooted belief that charities should do more with less—that doing good means operating on a shoestring, spending every dollar directly on services, and avoiding anything that resembles traditional business strategy. Things like investing in staff, marketing, infrastructure, or long-term planning are often frowned upon—simply because we’re a nonprofit.

But here’s the real question: what if that mindset is exactly what’s holding back real change?

At Street Culture Project (SCP), we’ve spent over 25 years supporting underserved youth in Regina—and what we’ve learned is this: sustainable impact takes more than passion. It takes investment.

If we want to solve real problems, we have to fund real solutions. That means backing innovation, trusting bold ideas, and supporting the systems behind the scenes—not just the outcomes people can easily see.

Let’s stop measuring worth by sacrifice. Let’s start measuring it by impact.

Dan Pallotta in his powerful TED Talk, “The Way We Think About Charity is Dead Wrong”.

At Street Culture Project (SCP), we believe in a world where every young person has the opportunity to feel safe, supported, and seen. For more than 25 years, we’ve walked alongside youth in Regina—particularly those navigating the impacts of trauma, systemic injustice, houselessness, and marginalization. We’ve built programs that respond to the actual needs of youth, not just what funding guidelines allow. From one-on-one mentorship in our Youth Transitions Unit to the transformative relationships in our housing programs, everything we do is rooted in love, trust, and innovation.

But here’s the truth: real innovation is hard to fund.

Too often, nonprofits are asked to solve the most complex social problems—poverty, mental health, racism, suicide, exploitation—while being held to restrictive funding rules, discouraged from spending on infrastructure, and judged for taking risks. We’re expected to do more, with less, and with perfection.

The tension we live in every day is this: we have bold dreams and visionary ideas that could transform our community—but we’re boxed in by a system that fears funding ambition in the nonprofit sector.

We’re Not Alone—And It Needs to Change

This is exactly the kind of thinking that Dan Pallotta challenges in his powerful TED Talk, “The Way We Think About Charity is Dead Wrong”.

Pallotta argues that the nonprofit sector is held back by outdated beliefs: that charities shouldn’t invest in advertising, pay competitive wages, or take risks. He exposes how this double standard stifles growth and prevents charities from scaling their impact in the way for-profit businesses are encouraged to do.

As Pallotta puts it, “Philanthropy is the market for love, but we’ve been suppressing it.” In other words, the rules that govern how we “do good” are too often designed to make people feel good rather than to create real, systemic change.

This resonates deeply with our team at SCP.

Our Big Ideas Deserve Big Support

What if we could build a youth-designed, community-integrated safety net that caught every young person before they slipped through the cracks?
What if we could train every adult who works with youth in our community to respond with compassion, not control?
What if we could reimagine care—not as a service, but as a movement?

These aren’t pipe dreams. These are visions born from years of lived experience with underserved youth, and from the dedication of staff who choose heart-led work every single day.

But to get there, we need more than encouragement—we need investment.

We need funders who understand that risk, creativity, and innovation are not luxuries—they’re requirements for solving the challenges our youth face. We need support not just for programming, but for the systems, salaries, strategies, and space that innovation requires.

A Call to Action

If you’re a funder, a community partner, a policymaker, or someone who simply believes in a better future for youth—we’re asking you to dream with us.

Don’t just support our outcomes; support our capacity to create them.
Don’t just fund what’s already proven; fund what’s possible.
Don’t just expect impact; invest in the infrastructure that makes impact sustainable.

We’re not afraid of boldness. We’re afraid of what happens to youth if we don’t try.

Dan Pallotta’s message is clear: if we want nonprofits to solve massive, complex issues, we must free them from the shackles of small thinking. At SCP, we’re ready to lead with vision. We just need our community to lead with belief.

The future is waiting. Let’s build it together.