National Council of Nonprofit Associations

from The Detroit News | April 25, 2009

Metro Detroit's arts institutions are huddling together to help each other out.

As donations have plummeted, several are turning to a creative money-saving solution: sharing. Through an online program, they're swapping what they can give with what they can use -- buses, museum tours, performance or office space -- even high-priced intangibles, such as marketing expertise. More

from Wall Street Journal | April 22, 2009

When your mission is serving the needy, tough times can be doubly difficult: More people need help, but you have fewer resources.

Nonprofit organizations -- facing cuts in government aid, investment losses and a decline in donations -- have been experimenting with new ways to stay afloat. Besides cutting costs and eliminating waste, they're thinking more creatively about how to use volunteers, garner new donations, strengthen ties with existing donors and create projects that generate additional income. More

from Fort Worth Business Press | April 20, 2009

... The four nonprofits – a total of eight North Texas agencies were selected to participate – are part of the $1.5 million North Texas Community Wealth Collaborative, a partnership between Washington, D.C.-based social enterprise consulting firm Community Wealth Ventures Inc. and the Center for Nonprofit Management. The idea behind CWV, which was founded in 1997, is that organizations can increase their social impact by building on internal assets while reducing their dependency on fund raising.

Now in its second year of a three-year initiative, the partnership is funded by The Meadows Foundation, the Amon G. Carter Foundation, the Harold Simmons Foundation, the Citi Foundation and several anonymous sources. The collaborative involves an intensive, 11-month business planning process that teaches nonprofit agencies successful techniques to grow and develop high-performing earned income ventures. Organizations become self-sustaining after learning how to take a market-based approach to generating income through social services. More

How the Michigan Nonprofit Association shined the light on the challenges being experienced by nonprofits.

from Business First of Louisville | March 17, 2009

Three Southern Indiana nonprofit organizations have joined to create the Community Relief Fund to provide funding to other nonprofit organizations that have seen the need for services increase in the midst of the economic downturn.

The Paul W. Ogle Foundation Inc., the Horseshoe Foundation of Floyd County and the Community Foundation of Southern Indiana have contributed a total of $400,000 to the fund, the Community Foundation said in a news release. More

from Fort Myers Florida Weekly | March 11, 2009

BY ANNE DOUGLAS Director of Programs, Southwest Florida Community Foundation

Collaboration was one of the big buzzwords in the nonprofit and philanthropic world even before the economic crisis hit, as there has been concern for a number of years about the rapid growth in the number of nonprofits across the country and the limited number of resources to support them. Even in better economic times it is best practice to collaborate. Now, for many organizations, it will be essential to their survival. A number of studies have demonstrated that collaboration has a beneficial impact on organizations, resulting in less duplication and overlap of services in addition to more efficient and effective services and better outcomes (Nonprofit Sector Research Fund of the Aspen Institute). Funders like to see collaboration among their grantees because it increases the likelihood that their dollars will be spent on higher impact efforts. More

from Common Ground | Winter 2009 - reprinted with permission from the North Carolina Center for Nonprofits

The economy is shaking up our sector. We're doing more with less. Tough times give us a rare window to look with astonishing clarity at what matters most. It makes sense that the same Chinese symbol represents both crisis and opportunity.

When I used to work to help college faculty across the country to build community experiences into the curriculum, we always "welcomed a good crisis" because that often seemed like the only thing that could motivate faculty to change.

Use this window to rethink where you can make the most difference. Consider these tips:

Read the full article

from Washington Post | February 4, 2009

The Kennedy Center is aggressively moving to broaden its role beyond a center for the performing arts by announcing a new program to share its years of management and fundraising experience with struggling arts groups across the country.

..."Arts in Crisis: A Kennedy Center Initiative" is a high-tech support service through which arts administrators can talk to the center's personnel about the challenges of shrinking income, budget-conscious audiences and other difficulties in keeping the doors open. More

The Foundation Center is now offering more scholarships to help under-resourced nonprofits build their capacity and seek financial support from foundations, corporations, and other institutional grantmakers. Intended for staff or volunteers of small community-based organizations, these scholarships will cover $100 of the registration fee for the Center's full-day training courses in nine U.S cities.

"In these difficult economic times, it is more important than ever for nonprofits to build skills and knowledge to secure crucial funding," said JuWon Choi, the Center's vice president for educational services. "By expanding our training scholarship program to reach more cities, we aim to help nonprofits provide vitally needed services to their communities."  More

It may be hard to say, but it is so easy to do. GenerousColorado.org connects Coloradans with the nonprofits that need them most.

Nonprofits create a community of hope, love and belonging for thousands of Colorado families and individuals with essential services like shelter, food, clothing, health and safety.These wonderful organizations need you to make the difference. By joining together, we can provide the funds and services required to support our neighbors and the community at large – making Colorado a much better place for all of us.

from MaineBiz Daily | December 1, 2008

A variety of Maine nonprofits are taking new approaches to address community needs, and some believe these changes represent a radical shift in the role of organizations.

After 20-plus years of operating as separate land trusts, the boards of directors at Falmouth Land Trust, Chebeague and Cumberland Land Trust, and Oceanside Conservation Trust of Casco Bay signed a memorandum of understanding to form Portland North Land Trust Collaborative. More

from Benevon

View a free online video that will provide you with an overview of a proven system for building sustainable funding from lifelong individual donors. This system ends the suffering about fundraising and builds committed donors. After you view the video, you can chat live with a representative who can answer your questions. More

from Post-Bulletin | November 15, 2008

Some Rochester nonprofits have discovered an easy way to bring in extra money, but it requires help from community members. More

La Piana Associates has gathered valuable information through "testimonials" from people who have gone through a strategic restructuring, and through projects that we have seen or facilitated. They have compiled information and distilled key points into case studies.

Tough economic times are forcing all nonprofits, large and small, to think creatively about how to cut costs. One extremely unique example of this creative thinking was recently announced in Chicago where nine of the largest and oldest nonprofit United Way agencies agreed to form a cooperative partnership to share back-office functions for their nonprofit organizations. The nine founding organizations' combined budgets total over $300M and include the Metropolitan YMCA, Hull Housing Association, and Heartland Alliance (formerly Travelers and Immigrants Aid).