|
|
Special Projects
(Faith-Based Organizations)
(Next Generation of Nonprofit Leaders)
(Revenue Diversity)
Capacity-Building for Faith-Based Organizations
In 2001, with the generous support of The Heinz Endowments, The Forbes Funds embarked on a three-year initiative to assess the management capacity of faith-based human service agencies and congregations in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. As part of this effort, The Forbes Funds commissioned research designed to inform local decision-makers, as well as the community at-large, about the existing level and future potential of these organizations to provide human services. If, indeed, congregations and faith-based nonprofits are called upon to provide human services, what can the Pittsburgh region do to ensure that these organizations maintain an infrastructure to provide high quality services? How should the community invest in the management capacity of these organizations so that they can respond best to those in need?
| Capacity Building for Faith-Based Organizations | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
The Forbes Funds recommends the following sites as valuable sources for additional research, timely information about relevant issues, and on-line toolkits that provide practical guidance and advice.
- Faith and Service Technical Education Network
- Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life
- Roundtable on Religion and Social Welfare Policy
Look Here! Attracting and Developing the Next Generation of Nonprofit Leaders
In 1999, Brookings Institution Press published what it described as a “groundbreaking profile of the public service profession,” THE NEW PUBLIC SERVICE by Paul C. Light. And groundbreaking it is. What Light documents is a remarkable generational shift in public service. No longer are graduates with ambitions to serve the public good settling into decades-long government positions. Rather, they are preparing for and expecting mobile careers, serving public interests by “bouncing back-and-forth” between positions in government, nonprofit agencies, and/or private firms. Responding to this shift, Light offered this advice to the nonprofit sector and its funders:
Unlike government, which has always had more than enough managers to fill any middle- or upper-level opening, or the private sector, which has always had enough money to skim the cream for the talent it needs from other sectors, nonprofit agencies are notoriously flat organizations. Without painting the entire sector with a broad brush, it seems reasonable to suggest that funders pay increased attention to the nonprofit talent pool. Whatever the line of work, if nonprofits are to survive and flourish in the current environment of tight budgets and increased competition, they must have a stable corps of talented leaders (139).
The Forbes Funds has heeded Light’s suggestion. With the generous support of the Richard King Mellon Foundation, The Forbes Funds, in 2001, launched a multi-year applied research project: LOOK HERE! ATTRACTING AND RETAINING THE NEXT GENERATION OF NONPROFIT LEADERS.
|
||
|---|---|---|
The Forbes Funds recommends the following local sites as valuable sources for additional research as well as information about groups preparing the next generation of the Pittsburgh region’s civic and nonprofit leaders.
- The Bayer Center for Nonprofit Management at Robert Morris University
- Boards-by-Design
- Pennsylvania Campus Compact
- New Generations Program
- New Pittsburgh Collaborative
- Regional Internship Center
Looking for Money in All the Right Places
Nonprofit organizations in Allegheny County, in comparison to similarly-sized metropolitan areas, depend heavily upon contributions from foundations and corporations in order to meet expenses annually. Perhaps because of this dependency, at least in part, nonprofits in Allegheny County have inadequately developed alternative streams of income, especially income derived from individuals' contributions. The resultant absence of financial planning is, and has been, both an opportunity loss and a hazard — an opportunity loss because individuals' contributions account for about three-fourths of all giving nationwide, and a hazard because, at a time of decreased giving by foundations and corporations, nonprofits may not be adequately prepared to solicit donations from alternative sources (i.e., individuals), and the resulting budget shortfalls will likely cause nonprofits to eliminate programs and/or close their doors to those in need.