No Office, No Employees, No Problem: A Look Inside a 27-Year-Old Fully Fractional Nonprofit

No Office, No Employees, No Problem: A Look Inside a 27-Year-Old Fully Fractional Nonprofit

How a radical staffing model can create the ultimate in sustainability and impact.

What if you could run your entire organization without a single full-time employee? For many nonprofit leaders, this sounds like a recipe for chaos.  But what if we told you this isn't a compromise? What if this is the ultimate model of agility?

The Women in Medicine Legacy Foundation has proven the validity of this model for three decades, serving as an example for other organizations to follow.

The Women in Medicine Legacy Foundation Story: 27 Years of Fractional Support

The Foundation was created in response to a series of medical school mergers, with a mission to preserve and protect the history of women in medicine. From the very beginning, they made a strategic choice: rather than building a heavy infrastructure, they partnered with More Than Giving (MTG) to establish a fully fractional structure.

This wasn't a stop-gap measure. It was a long-term strategy.

Over the last 27 years, this all-fractional team has helped the Foundation scale from an initial concept into a robust organization. Today, they manage a complex set of programs, including lectures, oral history projects, scholarships, and events.

According to Danielle Laraque-Arena, MD, FAAP, President of the Women in Medicine Legacy Foundation, the model offers something traditional hiring often cannot:

"What sets this team apart is the careful match between staff and mission. With our Executive Director, Gabie Benson, running our day-to-day operations, we benefit from a rare combination of professional nonprofit management expertise and deep content knowledge of the issues and scholarship at the heart of our work. In a complex and evolving political landscape, the More Than Giving team has helped us stay focused on our goals, expand our impact, and achieve our strongest fundraising year to date. Their support has allowed us to build something lasting.”

The Strategic Benefits of a Fully Fractional Model

The Foundation’s success illustrates the high return on investment that fractional staffing provides over the long term. Here is why this model works:

·      Radical Cost-Efficiency: The Foundation avoids the heavy auxiliary costs that drain a nonprofit's resources. There is no physical office to maintain, no complex benefits packages to manage, and no payroll tax burdens. Moreover, they have the skills that they need at the amount they need them ensuring that at every turn they have the ideal structure to advance their mission – no more, no less – with a price point that gets the most value from their budget.

  • Maximum Access to Top-Notch Talent: Fractional staffing allows the Foundation to hire the best person for the job, regardless of geography. Currently, the team consists of a fractional Executive Director, Research Associate, and Nonprofit Virtual Assistant (NPVA®). They are even in the process of developing a model for a fractional historian—proving that you can access highly specific content expertise without needing a full-time hire.

  • Ultimate Resilience: Perhaps the biggest advantage is flexibility. The model allows the organization to scale operations up or down or rebalance the team composition based on current needs. For example, when the Foundation needed a database set-up, they engaged a fractional pro solely for that project. When it was done, that individual rotated out. Additionally, when a previous NPVA® transitioned out just two months before a major event, MTG quickly provided a trained replacement who ensured a successful event without missing a beat.

Could This Model Work for You?

A fractional approach isn’t a strange exception; it is a potential blueprint for the future of the nonprofit sector. For some groups like the Foundation, a fully fractional team is best. For others, a both/and team works better.

Here are some questions to ask:

·       Are you a new organization? If you are looking to start lean and avoid early burnout, this model builds a foundation without the overhead.

  • Are you in a major transition? If you are between Executive Directors or restructuring, fractional team members can bridge the gap while setting new best practices.

  • Is your work primarily project-based? If your needs fluctuate throughout the year—like gala season or year-end giving—fractional support scales with your timeline.

Fractional Staffing is Worth Considering

For the Women in Medicine Legacy Foundation, this model allowed board members to stop worrying about day-to-day management and focus on strategic leadership. It transformed their operations into a resilient, scalable, and highly professional machine.

The Foundation’s fractional staffing experience showcases the power of a new way of thinking. How might a fractional approach transform your nonprofit? If you're inspired to explore how a more agile talent strategy could help you thrive, MTG is one of the few firms with the depth and breadth to make it a reality. Let's talk.

Vicki Burkhart