By Kemila Velan
November 20, 2009
As the busiest fundraising time of the year approaches, and corporations continue cutting budgets, including their charitable contributions, non-profit executives shared possible solutions to their funding challenges at the annual Boardsource Leadership Forum in Orlando on Friday, Nov. 29.
“Are there too many non-profits or not enough resources?” asked Diana Aviv, president and CEO of Independent Sector, and one of the forum’s opening plenary panelists. “Many are considering mergers with other non-profits as well as businesses.”
Aviv was describing the emerging Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) model that has transformed well-known corporate villains into heroes.
“McDonald’s has partnered with Greenpeace!” said Mark Kramer, managing director, FSG Social Impact Advisors and Senior Fellow CSR Initiative at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. “We each have tools the other doesn’t have and it’s about working together.”
David Vidal, director of the Center for Corporate Citizenship and Sustainability for The Conference Board, described CSR as a firm’s stakes beyond shareholder value.
“Who would have thought five years ago that Wal-Mart would be the leader in Corporate Social Responsibility?” he asked the packed Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress Ballroom. “It was a slew of non-profits that helped them get there. Some accused them of sleeping with the enemy.”
After the opening plenary, Edith Yoder, executive director of Bridge of Hope, commented on the discussion. She said merging sounds good to save resources, but managing more people won’t necessarily mean more effective services for the homeless women and children she serves. Instead, she is merging some of her seven state offices to cope with her budget cuts.
“In my 20 years with the organization, this is the worst economy I have seen,” she said.
It was the refrain of the day.
“This is the worst I’ve seen in 20 years,” said Susan Clemow, who started Clemow Consulting Group during the economic downturn of 1991. She and six consultants based in Connecticut have raised $200 million over the last 20 years for library capital improvements, art museums, and various non-profit organizations throughout the nation.
This was her third time attending the Boardsource Leadership Forum, and this year she was looking for creative solutions and new networks to tap for funding sources. The BoardSource Leadership Forum is the only conference focused entirely on the governing challenges facing America’s nonprofit organizations. It brings together board members, chief executives, foundation and corporate leaders, researchers, and academics to discuss progressive thinking and practices in the nonprofit sector.
Concurrent sessions after the morning plenary included “Good Economy or Bad Economy: Board Members Can Be Effective Fundraisers Even If They Never Ask For Money,” “Managing Cash in a Changing Economy” and “How to Use the Three Laws of Performance to Produce Extraordinary Results” with Steve Zaffron, CEO of Vanto Group.
“It’s possible to rewrite the future,” said Zaffron. “It’s all about listening and seeing the world exactly as another sees it, then bringing it into the creative process.”
Some of the attendees had already started that process by changing language. Instead of calling their organizations “non-profits,” they opt for the more positive “community-profits.”
During lunch, Girl Scouts USA CEO Kathy Cloninger said the 97-year-old organization with 4 million members and $4 billion in revenue had to rewrite its future because administrators could not define clearly their mission for girls in the 21st century.
Reinventing their strategy involved the following tasks:
1. Looking at the brutal truths – inconsistent program delivery, varying mission statements among councils, and an unclear consensus on what Girl Souts do best.
2. Establishing a relevant core purpose and a simpler, faster governance system.
In the end, Cloninger and other administrators decided The Girl Scouts is the premiere leadership experience for girls, developing courage, character and confidence.
Connie L. Lindsey, National President of Girl Scouts USA, added that the organization has added 100 more councils in one year, bringing the number up to 412. Growth is a key driver to the organization, while smaller non-profits were going the opposite way.
“Switching to Plan B: A legal primer on nonprofit mergers, affiliations and alternative structures,” was an afternoon session led by Thomas K. Hyatt, a lawyer for Washington, D.C. firm Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal. He gave non-profit executives tips on cutting back or merging with other non-profits in order to absorb financial loss.
“I had to let go of three people in an organization this week – a week before Thanksgiving,” said Hyatt with a tinge of remorse in his voice. “I’m going into Plan B.”
But it’s not always bad news. For-profit and non-profits can engage in joint ventures “to support, rescue, collaborate, grow and/or reduce inefficiency in mission-compatible organizations.”
Joint Ventures allow parties to share activity, risk and reward, similar to a husband and wife in a marriage.
“I’ve been through it, and it was tough,” said an attendee. “Mergers begin with an ending. The process is non-linear.”
She recommended a book by William Bridges called “Managing Transitions.”
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