Executive Director & CEO of the Center shares her thoughts about her recent trip to the Sharing Innovation Conference in Denver, CO.
From October 8th through October 11th, I had the pleasure of attending the Nonprofit Center Network’s annual Sharing Innovation conference in Denver, CO. This was the second year I’ve attended the gathering and it is always such a joy to be 1) in Denver, Ground Zero for shared spaces and 2) surrounded by other professionals in our field, this niche market nonprofit centers.
Our missions and purpose can be hard to articulate to interested parties. Nonprofit consultants work with staff and board to develop their “elevator speech”. In other words, if you were in an elevator with someone for a 30 second ride, how would you succinctly describe your nonprofit…and go!
Describing our Center, its purpose and impact, to someone can feel like drinking from a firehose and the elevator speech turns more into a podium speech. Perhaps the best way to understand a nonprofit center and its impact on collaboration and community is by using a visual.
One of my respected colleagues, Saul Ettlin of Community Vision (formerly the Northern California Community Loan Fund), beautifully illustrated how nonprofit centers embody mission driven space which become hubs of collaboration, programs and social connection, shared services, and affordable rent.
Thank you, Saul, for letting us share your infographic. This picture says way more than 1,000 words!
Real estate is one of the greatest costs in a business budget. Our partnership with The Glasser/Schoenbaum Human Services Center allows more money to go towards our mission. And what better place to house our office than on a campus with nineteen other outreach agencies.
Collaboration is key to the success of our work. The Campus of Caring is a unique space where we can easily join forces with other agencies to make the best use of our resources and maximize our community impact. The affordable rent allows us to allocate more funds to our mission of transforming the lives of students and their families.
As a small organization with a staff of two, employee safety was a big consideration when we were looking for office space. We did not want our employees to be in a place where they were alone. Being on the GSHSC campus has been great because there is a whole community of like-minded professionals.
