Moving the Needle

Recently, two of our strongest ambassadors provided the opportunity for 250 nonprofit professionals to engage in dynamic conversations with funders about their priorities and goals.

“The panel assembled by the Support Center was truly top-notch, comprised of veterans in the field of corporate philanthropy and sponsorship, each of whom was eager and willing to share their expertise and advice on how to move our organization forward.”
Michael Gary, VP for Corporate & Foundation Relations,
New York Botanical Garden

By Don Crocker, CEO/Executive Director

Don Crocker

Unfortunately, in the recent challenges posed by a difficult economic environment, many organizations find themselves in difficult, sometimes “crisis” situations where they need to decide a course of action designed to “turn around” the organization.

Many people ask, “What are the key elements needed to move the organization in a better, more sustainable, more practical direction?” Here are some thoughts:

1. Someone must lead
2. The leader must have a plan and a “team”
3. The leadership team must engage with the plan
4. You must focus on today and tomorrow, not yesterday
5. You cannot exclusively “save” your way to organizational health
6. Tough decisions must be made quickly, but with respect and thoughtfulness
7. Marketing at this stage is about relationships and communication, not just brochures and advertisements
8. There must be a lead spokesperson, all must be “on message,” and the message must be positive
9. Fund raising must be focused, realistic, and targeted to the larger donors and/or grantmakers
10. The board must allow itself to be restructured
11. Organization restructuring must be an option
12. The organization must have the discipline to follow each of these rules

The Support Center helps nonprofit organization in a turnaround situations.

>>> Turnaround Services

Urban Justice Center, a Support Center client, experienced great results from our work together, receiving kudos from one of their principal funders.

Over a six month period, Urban Justice staff responsible for an educational program that moves women from public assistance to gainful employment through post-secondary education worked with a Support Center consultant to accomplish a number of things:

• Strengthen program design and outcomes
• Improve proposals to foundations and corporations
• Develop a prospect list of new potential funders

After a recent meeting between Urban Justice and New York Women’s Foundation (who funded the work with the Support Center), the Interim Project Director, Gerni Oster, shared this comment with us:

“I wanted to let you know that we had our renewal meeting with New York Women’s Foundation and it went really well. The reason I wanted to update you was because not only did they love our program but they LOVED the proposal…..the committee said that they want to use the proposal as a model for how proposals should be done!!!! Your skills have helped us so much. Thank you for your dedication to the nonprofit world and the community we serve.”

>>> Consulting

Hi Pat (Volunteer Facilitator),

Thanks for putting on a great workshop (Writing Winning Grant Proposals). I learned a lot about writing grant proposals. I liked how you went into specific details and outlined different tips.

Because of the training, I am confident that if the situation arises, I will be able to put together a “winning” grant writing proposal. Thank you for your expertise.

–Everet

Everet Yi
Project PACT AmeriCorps VISTA Leader
Coalition for Asian American Children and Families