June 10 Annual Meeting Conclusion on Twitter:
"Innovation / Renewal / Faith / Hope"
June 10: At the Roundtable's Annual Meeting this morning, participants voted for three big ideas on how to transform the nonprofit community in Greater Washington. (Read about each of the almost 40 big ideas submitted by Roundtable Members.)
- Fair Chance: Partner With UniversitiesCreate sector-wide organized partnerships with area colleges/universities. While many local organizations have strong relationships with an individual university/cluster of schools, there would be tremendous leverage if the sector as a collective voice worked with college leaders to develop standard curriculum, including a community service component, across all campuses. This course could be a freshman requirement, planting the seed for continued learning and direct involvement. Recognizing there will be obstacles, the benefits are immeasurable:short –term, college students provide free intellectual capital/human resources; and more importantly, long term, college campuses are an ideal space to inspire a culture of public service.
- Higher Achievement: Establish a Board Chairs' Table We need a forum for board chairs to come together as leaders, visionaries and change movers. Board chairs hold a unique position in our sector: they balance the relationship between the executive leadership and the board. Yet, there are very few avenues when board chairs can get together and discuss strategic and administrative issues that can help improve the state of our sector. Board chairs are powerful people -- let us translate that power into something that can make governments listen, funders support, and CEOs and Executive Directors benefit from.
- Higher Achievement: Measuring Efficiency and Effectiveness Many nonprofits have difficulty measuring their effectiveness, efficiency and impact. Often, there is a lack of evaluation and analytical capacity within staff - and organizations rely on volunteer evaluators or third-party contracts to do this work. If research firms can get together, funded by foundations, and help non profits create or enhance their theory of change, logic models, and measures of effectiveness and efficiency, we would be able to monitor our work periodically, communicate with funders more effectively about our impact, and identify ways to improve our practice. Not only will we, as a sector, be known for our passion for our mission but also for our ability to use data to advance our work and solve the problems we were established to address in the first place.
- Samaritan Inns: Business-Nonprofit Co-op Program Create a Co-op Program between the Greater Washington business and nonprofit communities in which talent is shared in a well-defined program between participating business and nonprofit organizations. The objectives would be: sector strengthening through awareness cultivation and critical resource infusion; career enhancement among participating individuals from business; knowledge transfer between the business and non-profit communities; and, overall community development. Participating non-profits would identify entry/mid/senior level positions (mission and/or mission support) that would accommodate a 6 month assignment. Participating businesses would identify candidates who meet the following criteria: interest in non-profits; job classifications that match specific non-profit needs; and, ability to exit and re-enter after 6 months. Participating businesses would continue to pay salaries of their staff while on co-op assignments.
With uncommon timeliness, Peter Goldberg's essay titled 'Tread lightly in Nonprofit Mergers' was published today in the Chronicle of Philanthropy. He concludes, "during an economic situation as tough as the one we are mired in many nonprofit groups have been called on to increase their services ...
March 11: The DC Bar Foundation recently conducted a series of listening sessions with DC legal services providers to understand the impact of the economic crisis on both clients and providers. Click here for their report.
________________ Chuck Bean in CQ Weekly, Feb 2: "Many nonprofits are already coming up with strategies for increasing revenues, cutting expenses, and collaborating with other groups when possible. It's the increased demand that we do not have an actionable plan for - how we're going to meet the demand." ________________ Nonprofits all around Greater Washingtonengaged with and celebrated the Presidential Inauguration as well as Martin Luther King Jr. Day including:
- Obama @ Sasha Bruce Youthwork
- poetry slam & Greater Change video
- Professor Jill Biden at NVCC
________________ Earlier: On Dec 15, a coalition of eight regional organizations convened Nonprofit 911 to bring over 500 nonprofit, business, and government leaders together to develop a plan of action that redefines how the nonprofit sector operates in this new fiscal reality. This was reported on in the Washington Post, the Chronicle of Philanthropy, Fox5 News, National Public Radio, and WAMU 88.5.
Visit the Nonprofit 911 Network to continue the conversation - learn about related events, and resources with your peers.
Roundtable Launches Northern Virginia Foreclosure Network
Our region is in the midst of the largest foreclosure crisis in recent times. A survey of Washington area nonprofits by The Nonprofit Roundtable identified significant challenges – the lack of capacity to manage the thousands of consumers in our region who face foreclosure – to solutions that include funding for counselors and enhanced coordination for more timely assessment and referral for appropriate interventions. In June 2008, the Roundtable released ‘You Have 10 Days to Move Out: A Scan of Nonprofit Organizations Working on the Front Lines of the Foreclosure Crisis in Greater Washington.’
Nonprofit NoVA , an affiliate of the Nonprofit Roundtable of Greater Washington, has responded by joining with partners in the public and private sectors to deliver a scaleable response to this time-limited crisis. Through the Northern Virginia Foreclosure Network, public, private and nonprofit agencies will identify and leverage existing and potential resources to build capacity to meet the varied needs across Northern Virginia communities. While each jurisdiction could choose to go it alone, many of the nonprofits working this issue already work regionally. What distinguishes this approach is the multiplier effect we can achieve when we develop and activate a network of leaders. The Network will provide coordination across Northern Virginia communities disproportionately impacted by this crisis. By working together we hope to increase the percentage of households and communities that receive timely and appropriate assistance resulting in positive resolution of some or all of the human, social and economic impacts caused by the threat of foreclosure. We are currently in the planning stages to take action during Phase I of this work, which includes three key strategies:
1. Develop a dedicated, centralized website for timely information and the latest news about foreclosure prevention and mitigation in Northern Virginia
2. Distribute an e-newsletter to share referrals and best practices about outreach to prevent foreclosure and promote financial literacy and homeownership opportunities
3. Serve as the hub and convener of nonprofits doing foreclosure work in Northern Virginia alongside business leaders, philanthropists, local government, and other community leaders
This critical initiative has initial support from Freddie Mac, Starr Foundation Fund at the Community Foundation for the National Capital Region, and Bank of America. But we need YOUR help to make this work a success. To get involved with the Northern Virginia Foreclosure Network, contact Chuck Bean by email or at (202) 263-4761 or Shirley Marshall, Director of Nonprofit NoVA by email or at (703) 965-9893. Learn more at www.nonprofitnova.org.
Beyond Charity
This groundbreaking result of a yearlong effort to answer, "What difference do nonprofits make?" was released, in collaboration with the World Bank Group, in November, 2007.
Through nearly 100 examples, Beyond Charity reveals some of the many ways in which nonprofits raise the quality of life for all of us in Greater Washington, and are the lifelines to our most vulnerable neighbors. Return on investment is about more than dollars and cents. When local nonprofits collaborate with government, business and concerned citizens in pursuit of a common goal -- a stronger Washington-area community -- everyone profits. Download the report.
Washington Post "The study's authors said the report is designed to show businesses and individuals that charitable giving is not just a feel-good investment, but one that makes economic sense, too." (Nov. 26)
Washington Business Journal "The report argues that after-school programs, social services and housing programs save the public money by preventing the need for far more costly services -- like prisons and emergency rooms -- in the future." (Dec. 3)
Washington Post online discussion Chuck Bean said, "Nonprofits are indeed charitable, but their impact also makes economic sense and is good public policy. As we give with our hearts, we can also invest with our heads." (Nov. 26)
We're on Twitter! Follow us @NonprofitRT for event updates, nonprofits in the news, and other information relevant to the nonprofit community.
Corporate Member Spotlight
The Meltzer Group is a financial services group based in Bethesda, Maryland, providing business, personal, and corporate insurance and financial strategies. (See other Corporate Members.)
A ROADMAP TO PREPAREDNESS
Click Here for more on our work on Emergency Preparedness
The Nonprofit Roundtable in partnership with Deloitte, LLP is proud to present "A Roadmap to Preparedness" a strategic plan to address unmet needs in nonprofit emergency preparedness in the Greater Washington. This document is the outcome of our Roadmap to Preparedness Project, but it is only the first step in the journey to enhance our region's preparedness. For more information on how you can join this effort, click here.
university/cluster of schools, there would be tremendous leverage if the sector as a collective voice worked with college leaders to develop standard curriculum, including a community service component, across all campuses. This course could be a freshman requirement, planting the seed for continued learning and direct involvement. Recognizing there will be 
make governments listen, funders support, and CEOs and Executive Directors benefit from.
