| Written by Chuck Bean, on January 07, 2008 |
Here’s what’s on my mind today: Impact!
The Roundtable was founded in 2002 with a vision that the nonprofit community would emerge as an equal partner with government and business in shaping regional priorities. I appreciated the founders’ vision and am grateful that they hired me to serve as executive director. Working together, we have made progress.
Question: But what is it going to take for nonprofit leaders to be present, active, and heard at every regional table? For nonprofit leaders to be members of every regional “blue-ribbon commission”? To be leaders within every chamber of commerce? To have sustained media coverage? To be influential in policy circles from Upper Marlboro to Manassas?
The answer: Regional leaders in government and business will need to be convinced of the impact of nonprofit organizations and influenced by the expertise of nonprofit leaders. Regional leaders want clear and strong answers to this question:
What difference do nonprofits make in Greater Washington?
Our recently released report, BEYOND CHARITY: RECOGNIZING RETURN ON INVESTMENT, demonstrates how the nonprofit community impacts Greater Washington (PDF version). BEYOND CHARITY reveals some of the many ways in which local nonprofits raise the quality of life for all of us, and are the lifelines to our most vulnerable neighbors. Carpenter’s Shelter is an example – as Carpenter’s provides a continuum of services to homeless children, families, and adults – it is not only doing the right thing, it is raising the quality of life for everyone in Alexandria.
We hope Beyond Charity provides a baseline picture of the difference nonprofits make across the District, Suburban Maryland and Northern Virginia. We hope it deepens the nonprofit community’s own understanding of our value and the importance of tracking return on investment.
No one sets out to issue a report that sits on a bookshelf. We want you to use Beyond Charity to make your organization and communications stronger. Look at the examples; see how the organizations represented communicate their impact. How do you measure the difference you make? How do you communicate that impact? How can you help create a common understanding among government, business, nonprofit and community leaders about the impact of nonprofits in order that we may work together more effectively on our region’s problems and aspirations?
Here are a few suggestions:
- Share your examples of impact with us, with your colleagues, with your government, business, nonprofit, and community partners
- Forward the report to your networks – get them excited about nonprofit impact
- Add a link to the PDF to your own website
I’d love to hear from nonprofit leaders – share your examples of impact – we’d be delighted to hear and use them!
Chuck Bean
The Nonprofit Roundtable of Greater Washington
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