I recently facilitated a brown bag lunch for nonprofits in one of my Bremer Communities for the purpose of discussing “How can we work together?” It was an informal meeting that included representatives from Habitat for Humanity, the local foodshelf, local housing agency, Salvation Army, Humane Society among others. We talked about the benefits of working together, what some potential outcomes might be, who to involve, and who would be committed to working together. There was great interest and enthusiasm around the following themes: joint fundraising, networking, raising visibility, use of technology to recruit volunteers, and communicating between ourselves and the community. The group decided to focus on 501c3 nonprofits initially. We will meet again after the holidays to continue our discussion and will focus on gathering more information about local nonprofits, their needs and missions and will invite other key stakeholders to work with us.
When I think about how this might come to fruition - I believe the key to success will lie in the people and their willingness and resolve to do things differently. Maybe the good that we will see come out of this economic climate is a new enthusiasm around facing our challenges and leveraging our resources together for the benefit of all.
Does anyone have any advice for us as we begin this endeavor? What experiences have others had? Are there success stories or models anywhere? Is there anything we should know either to do or to avoid? We welcome your comments.
Posted by Holly Witt, NRS, Alexandria
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