In what many are calling the "new reality" or the "new normal," nonprofits need a chance to draw strength from their colleagues and wisdom from engaged leaders. We see need for service organizations to step back and reexamine the 'big picture' in order to discover new operational tools or a new business model. HSC's 2011 conference, ReThink, ReTool, ReNew: Nonprofit Sustainability in the New Reality,will provide an exhilarating opportunity to do just that.

This year's conference is set for June 8th from 10:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. and will be held at the Prince George's Ball Room (2411 Pinebrook Avenue, Landover, MD 20785).

Lead presenter, Dr. Steve Dubb will give proper context for the emerging nonprofit role in building community wealth. Work with him as he details how nonprofits can-and should-engage communities to make them truly vibrant. Dr. Dubb, Research Director of The Democracy Collaborative at the University of Maryland since 2004, is the principal author of Linking Colleges to Communities: Engaging the University for Community Development (2007) and Building Wealth: The New Asset-Based Approach to Solving Social and Economic Problems, (2005) published by The Aspen Institute. Former Executive Director of the North American Students of Cooperation (NASCO), a U.S. and Canadian nonprofit association that provides education and technical assistance to university and community-based housing and retail cooperatives.

"Dr. Dubb was selected for his knowledge of community development and how it applies to interfacing nonprofits with building wealth in communities while at the same time strengthening nonprofits," says Jerry Adams."He is a researcher on such issues, and has written books and articles on theory to practice applications."

HSC's Denise Harris, Project Director of Nonprofit Incubator Program (NIP), will present plans for our new and exciting Grant U Pilot Program, scheduled to launch this fall. Grant U also tackles the historic problem of Prince George's county's nonprofits being deemed "noncompetitive" in the funding community by teaching skills to submit excellent (award-winning) proposals; and develop strategies to sustain their organizations by providing education and technical assistance on how to implement community economic development methods to fund programs and services. This innovative program responds to the growing needs of services that are escalating that requires a new focus on how we fund, and how we obtain funding to serve our neediest residents in Prince George's County.

Stellar NIP participant Sandy Washington of Community Outreach and Development, Inc. and six colleagues from our program will be featured as they describe how they ReThought their approach to community development, ReTooled through the Incubator Program, and emerged as the Community Nonprofit Network--a comprehensive array of human services now centrally located in a former blighted strip mall serving Capital Heights, District Heights and Forestville communities. You've got to hear this story!

Our keynote speaker is the U.S. Rep.  Donna Edwards (D-MD, 4th District). A staunch advocate for effective nonprofits, Edwards will share insights of vital importance for growth and sustainability. Among them: the benefits of sound fiscal planning and strategic partnerships.

Your time of change to meet today's challenge is now. Register today!

By Denice Whalen-White, Executive Director, All Shades of Pink, Inc. 

"I often tell people that when nonprofits are formed, it is generally because the founder or organizer has a deep passion for the mission. Looking past the passion, the success or failure of the organization will be based on operating with good sound business principles, policies and procedures, and fiscal management."

In just one year of training in the Human Services Coalition's Nonprofit Incubator Program (NIP), our team has "moved to the next level." The benefit of more than 20 weeks of free training and technical assistance, and a capacity building grant helped us far exceed even our own high expectations of strengthening our team and programs to better serve our community.

Our first task was to address Leadership Development and Organizational Development. Weekly four-hour classes offered much-needed time with knowledgeable nonprofit facilitators, who shared best practices and secrets of great nonprofits. As the Founding Executive Director of All Shades of Pink Inc. (ASOP), I learned that I was "not in charge." I am an "employee" of the organization working under the mission-driven direction of the Board. To create an atmosphere of vested interest in ASOP and Board cohesion, I no longer 'tell the Board what to do.' I learned to present ideas and plans for Board selection and staff execution. Our Board's oversight works for the advancement of ASOP.

NIP Technical Assistants (TAs) met with me weekly or biweekly, one-on-one, to help narrow my focus and identify objectives for the next 12 to 18 months. From this, we developed a year-long calendar of activities, due dates for filings and submissions. Now Board and staff are all on the same page. With systems and processes in place, we run with greater ease and efficiency.

The $18,000 capacity building grant we received from HSC enhanced our operations and reduced administrative expenses significantly. We were able to hire a part-time administrative assistant/bookkeeper, which allowed me to focus on marketing, building community relationships and fundraising. We also replaced outdated office equipment with state-of-the-art technology for in-house design and production of our marketing literature, database management of volunteers and donors. We revamped our website with a fresh and exciting feel that generates more Internet traffic. Last but not least, we've move into new office space giving us a much more professional presence in the community.

Today, we are participating in HSC's Grant U Pilot Program to develop a wider range of customized funding sources for our work and a master proposal to secure them.

Though some may doubt the need for nonprofit capacity-building programs, our results speak for themselves. Big or small, every Prince George's nonprofit can benefit from what the Human Services Coalition has to offer.

HSC currenty offers a series of capacity-building classes that are open to the nonprofit community. Click here to learn practical skills that you can take back to your organization and use right away.