The Aspen Institute

The third forum in FIELD‘s sustainability series explores how ACEnet (the Appalachian Center for Economic Networks) is using earned income as a strategy to achieve greater sustainability. ACEnet has long earned income from its business incubation activities. This forum describes how, after the organization experienced the loss of a long-term source of grant funding, it added other earned-income streams – including regional brands and consulting services – in an effort to achieve more stable and sustainable sources of revenue. The publication also notes that building these revenue streams requires thoughtful investment of organizational capital and staff resources.