Nonprofits - Taking a Risk in Sharing Resources

Watching nonprofit directors, staff and board members over the last two days at the NC Center for Nonprofits Statewide Conference . . . I see energy and passion for the services we provide . . . I see anxiety about funding . . . I see competition and collaboration. Yet, one story stands out to me, a story about a cluster of organizations that made lemonade out of lemons!

They could not afford to rent space in the downtown area of Charlotte where they most needed to be, where they could be close to their client base. When they did find affordable space (class C office space - not great!), it would be sold out from under them to developers and they were forced to move again and again.

One evening, while gathered in a casual atmosphere over drinks, a few directors began to talk about joining forces to get the space they needed - it was all about space issues and money. It was not about blending or sharing services; the environment was somewhat competitive and "merger" was a bad word. However, this conversation evolved into a 50-year lease agreement with the town of Charlotte, a separate nonprofit charged with the management of the building, and an amazing development in collaboration among the partner organizations. The new building oversight organization is called Children & Families Service Center (CFSC - not because it was the intent to bring together specific services for children & families. It just worked out that way).

CFSC has a board made up of representatives of each nonprofit agency sharing the building and an equal number of community at large members. Today they continue to provide unique services per agency while they share resources in finance, human resources and technology. They have formed relationships, shared values and work collaboratively to provide a more holistic range of services for children and families than anyone dreamed possible. The executive directors meet weekly around collaboration opportunities and board members stop and talk in the hallways. It is no longer all about space issues and money. It is about supporting each other with a common mission.

It all started with sharing the issues, looking at the resources right across the table and being willing to take a risk.

Who are your neighbors? What resources have you not considered? How can competition make way for collaboration in your world?

Processes that Work

End homelessness . . . Ensure a quality education for all children . . . Provide health care for all . . . Eradicate poverty . . .

These are lofty visions that ignite emotion, dedication and unity of purpose. However, when it comes down to the nuts and bolts of it, our diversity begins to shine and sometimes so does our contempt. The reality is, there is no easy way to move from here to there . . . or wouldn’t we be there already??

So, how do we even move forward at all? These worldwide social issues such as poverty, health care, and education change with the culture and with the generations but they remain steadfast in our faces as hurdles to overcome. Our organizational and community-wide visions may drive us in a big broad way but to make an impact, we have to have clear processes and priorities as well. The current health care debate is a clear example of how difficult it is for us to agree on a process!

I believe it all begins with knowing ourselves, each of us as individuals having a clear sense of our own values and guiding principles . . . and being able to articulate these principles as they apply to the situation. Your core self is that part of you that does not change as the wind blows and does not morph as you hear the views of others. This true self can be hard to uncover. While some people may stand on solid ground, others struggle to find their center. We give it away. We choose to value the opinions of others more than ourselves. We don’t trust ourselves. We are swept with emotion and fear causing us to lose our sense of who we are.

But sometimes, we find ourselves! We discover something that is uniquely ours – a belief or a value that is uncompromisable! And when you find such a nugget of truth, take the time to explore it, claim it, and as you are able, speak it.

It is these spoken values that will be heard above the sensationalism and polarizing scare tactics. It is these spoken values that come from our core that reach out to the souls of others and bridge our schisms. And when we begin from center value, even though each is unique and uncompromising, we discover boundaries that show the way to processes that work.