Part 3: Mission Service Allies: A New Roadmap for Nonprofit Sustainability

We now come to the end of our three-part series about the three-year research project we did for the Nonprofit Association of Oregon (NAO). If you need a refresher on the previous two posts:

• Part 1: The Burnout Crisis: Why "Mission First" is Failing the Nonprofit Workforce explains how nonprofits are serving their missions at the expense of their workforce.

• Part 2: The "Why" Behind the Walls: Navigating the Insurance Maze exposed how the demographics of the nonprofit workforce uniquely set the industry up for denial.

And now, after three years of research, countless carrier rejections, and a feasibility study that exposed the "risk-averse" nature of the insurance market, we finally found a path forward for NAO.

We didn't just want to find a vendor; we wanted to find a partner with the "appetite" to serve the unique demographics of Oregon's nonprofits.

The Breakthrough: Finding Amplify HR

After investigating several national and local PEO companies, one partner finally emerged that was willing to look beyond the typical: Amplify HR.

Unlike the massive corporate PEOs that prioritize low-risk master plans, Amplify is a mid-size, privately held firm with the flexibility to adapt. They didn't see a "risky" workforce; they saw a massive, underserved sector of 245,000 workers in Oregon who deserve top-tier benefits.

We officially announced this partnership at the Nonprofit Impact Conference in October 2025.

Together, we've created a custom package with pricing and features that simply didn't exist in the market before.

More Than Just a PEO: Introducing Mission Service Allies (MSA)

The PEO is just the beginning. To house this work, North Starr Consulting is continuing to support NAO in its development of a new charitable LLC: Mission Service Allies (MSA).

The vision for MSA is to be a comprehensive "back-office shop" for nonprofits. Over the coming years, MSA will expand to offer:

• Specialized Bookkeeping: To ensure nonprofits are audit-ready and grant-compliant.

• Technology Support: So, nonprofits can stop troubleshooting routers and start solving community problems.

• Fiscal Sponsorship: Providing a launching pad for new, innovative initiatives to get up and running quickly.

The North Starr Takeaways:

If you are interested in learning more about PEO services, visit NAO's website. If you are interested in learning more about how North Starr can help your organization, contact us.

Melody Bell, Ed.D — North Starr Consulting