SCORE Luncheon Remarks
11:45 A.M., Friday, April 9, 2010
Oak Hill Country Club
Maximizing Your Organization's Potential
Jennifer Leonard
President & Executive Director
Rochester Area Community Foundation
Three Topics Today
- The Community Foundation and Capacity-Building (including ACTRochester.org)
- For-Profit vs. Nonprofit
- Lessons Learned from a Triumphant Community Initiative
Rochester Area Community Foundation
- Largest local grantmaking foundation
- Broad interests: civic, cultural, social, educational
- Engage local philanthropists/1,000 funds
- 3,000 gifts of cash and stocks/year
- 6,000 grants to nonprofits; 400 scholarships
Capacity Building: A Core Tool
- System building and individual nonprofits
- 18 years: Nonprofits Advisory Service
- Cosponsor of Partnership for Nonprofit Excellence
- Cosponsor of Attorney General Seminars
- WILLpower planned giving program
- Capacity-building grants for arts organizations
- Diversity conference; grantwriting for black churches
- Personal history: OD, grantsmanship and fundraising
ACTRochester.org
- Data-rich information about 12 trend areas
- Arts, education, technology, transportation, many others
- Designed as resource for planners, policymakers, businesses, media
- Joint project with United Way of Greater Rochester
For-Profit vs. Nonprofit
- Similarities
- Differences
- False Distinctions
The Nonprofit Economy
- A parallel “marketplace”
- One in 12 jobs in U.S.
- From food pantries to universities
- Locally about 1100 receive >$100K/year
Similarities to For-Profits
- Importance of:
- Self-Awareness
- Planning
- Marketing
- Execution
- Customer Relations
Differences from For-Profits
- Board Governance
- Mission
- Sources of Revenue
Sources of Nonprofit Support
- Fees for service
- Government grants and contracts
- Private philanthropy
Sources of Private Philanthropy
False Distinctions
- Nonprofits “can’t” make a profit
- Compensation – you can “eat” satisfaction
- Professionalism – a “luxury” for nonprofits
- Scale – nonprofits are “all small”
- Culture – more “nurturing, artsy, flexible”
- Grassroots = “inability to learn”
Two Decades of the Early Childhood Development Initiative
- Community planning group
- Defined goals together
- Learning circle
- Set standards together
- Commissioned research and program improvements
Lessons Learned
- Inherent value for all participants keeps them coming back to table
- Share credit
- Use low-stakes evaluation
- You are what you measure
- Collaborate with your “competitors”
- Identify, survey and involve the stakeholders
- Agree on the mission
- Gather baseline and benchmark data
- Identify key areas for results
- And repeat!
The Importance of People
- Right people on the bus
- Hard to afford in nonprofits but board can help
- Let people do what they do best
- Listen to the line staff
- Surround founder with the right people
- Do succession planning
How This Benefited Organizations
- Increased quality, quantity and accessibility of early childhood education
- Providers helped to meet national standards
- Providers got coaching, capital, professional development, health and legal resources
- Providers received feedback on classroom quality and children’s achievements
How This Benefited the Community
- 80% of 4-year-olds at or above age level academically and socially
- Classroom quality ranked at top in country and Western Europe
- Created advocacy and professional support for universal pre-kindergarten
- Demonstrated success with low-income children
In Conclusion
- No organization is an island
- Understand the community context
- Access external resources
- Leverage internal assets
- Remember ACTRochester and the Community Foundation as potential partners
Jennifer Leonard
President and Executive Director
Rochester Area Community Foundation
500 East Avenue
Rochester, NY 14607-1912
(585) 271-4100
www.racf.org