Long-term Health Doesn't Come Easy
Philanthropic dollars are a precious resource and become more so in times of crisis. The pleas for help are more urgent, and foundation, corporate, and individual donors are flooded with more requests at a time when they have fewer funds to give.
For me, this economic crisis feels in some ways like a sudden and massive heart attack for the nonprofit sector. It seems to have struck swiftly and recovery is uncertain and frightening.
In the aftermath of a heart attack, you are not only limited in what you can do but as you heal, you know that you have to make changes. None of these changes are surprising—you’ve heard about them for years: reducing stress, getting more exercise, eating right, and getting regular check-ups for some time. Now you just have to do it.
The nonprofit sector, I believe, will now be forced to do things it has talked about for some time. Find ways to collaborate and even consolidate. Explore strategic restructuring, strategic alliances, even the formation of administrative service organizations (ASOs). Improve efficiency. Measure performance. Communicate results. Increase fiscal accountability and transparency. Focus more on outcomes. Demonstrate higher returns of social investment (SROI).
These buzzwords roll off our tongues easily, but, in practice, these actions are very difficult to undertake successfully. Mergers are not always the solution for a struggling organization and can create further problems if they aren’t thought through. Trying to be more cost effective can mean cutting back on investing in an organization’s infrastructure or weakening the quality of programs—a small short-term savings perhaps at the expense of long-term sustainability. Focusing on outcomes without a comprehensive effort and plan can result in an emphasis on programs that produce big, easy numbers but not necessarily the more subjective or long-term results. Before these actions are put into practice, they must be looked at strategically with intention and forethought, analysis and good data.
These kinds of responses also often require investment themselves to be successful. We’ve found that truly implementing an effective outcomes measurement system, for example, requires significant commitment and resources. In the case of VPP investment partner the Latin American Youth Center, their performance measurement system took over three years to fully implement, including design, training for all employeeds, building an organization-wide system, and weaving it into the organizational culture. They have a team of three full-time people dedicated to assessing results. It’s easy for funders to say nonprofits need to make these kinds of changes and demonstrate results, but the resources for such efforts may become even scarcer in the times ahead.
As a philanthropic investment organization that focuses on building and strengthening effective nonprofit organizations serving children and families in the National Capital Region, VPP is thinking long and hard about our operations and our approach, now and for the years to come. We are more fortunate than many other foundations. We have had no loss in our principal to date because we invested our capital very conservatively. We never made huge returns of 15% but we are very stable as we move forward to the future. We are raising capital now to complete our second fund.
In thinking about our next phase, we will not be changing our core approach for the next portfolio. We do believe that potential disruption in the nonprofit sector related to the economic downturn may present new investment opportunities in the months ahead, and we want to take the time to understand the current environment and where our investments can make the most impact. We are considering what role we can and should play in helping nonprofit organizations focused on serving children and families undertake the changes they will have to make. We will also be even more rigorous in our due diligence. While we have always had an in-depth assessment of the financial health of potential investments, today’s environment requires more scrutiny and forecasting than before.
Unlike many other foundations, VPP focuses on support for infrastructure, not programs. We invest in helping great nonprofits become even better. These are organizations with strong and effective leaders, on the ground in communities, and making profound and tangible differences in the lives of the families and children they serve.
VPP board member, founding thought partner, and visionary leader of Share Our Strength Bill Shore recently wrote to his stakeholders about his organization’s approach to hunger:
“Preventing hunger by donating food is like preventing fire by donating water to the fire department. Fortunately the charitable impulses of most Americans enable us to provide emergency food assistance to people who have nowhere else to turn. But the better course is to build systems that ensure people won't be vulnerable in the first place.”
The longer-term approach to achieve systems change is the underlying driver of VPP’s approach as well. We invest in organizational infrastructure, in leadership development, in creating strategies for long-term financial viability so that effective organizations can grow their impact and sustain themselves and their work in both good times and in bad.
When a heart attack strikes, the first reaction is to respond to the pain. But if you treat the immediate symptoms only but don’t get at the systemic causes, the pain will never really go away. While our first instinct in these challenging times might be to invest in meeting short-term needs, the real work is in creating systems that support families and children in their efforts to move up the economic ladder out of poverty. That has been VPP’s ultimate goal and it is the course we will continue to follow.
- Carol Thompson Cole
Partners in Progress Event Showcases Investment Partners
In February, VPP held its first Partners in Progress site visit, a new event series designed to better connect investors to the outstanding leaders and programs of investment partners. A small group of investors visited the sites of two investment partners, CentroNía and the Latin American Youth Center. In the van on the way to the tour, CentroNía’s Executive Director BB Otero told participants about the history of the community they were about to visit. She then showed the visitors around her organization, sharing more about its programs and clients. Lori Kaplan, Executive Director of the Latin American Youth Center, then led the group around two locations of her nonprofit. A client from the LAYC spoke movingly at lunch about how the organization had changed her life.
VPP Investor Caren DeWitt Merrick shared her thoughts, “It was such a worthwhile experience. I wish more investors had been able to attend and converse with the extraordinary leaders who are doing remarkable work and see the children who are thriving.”
Programs & Services
 CentroNía’s Saturday Arts Academy Pairs Students, Artists
Thanks to Brenna Casey, Communications Manager, for this update.
“There was a moment when we started talking about aperture and f-stops,” says photographer Kim Gaines, one of 14 professional artists who teaches at CentroNía’s Saturday Arts Academy for girls from ages 7 to 24. “[My students] related it to seeing with their eyes. I thought: 'Yes! Your eyes are lenses!'”
Gaines teaches Digital Photography & Media to a group of three students enrolled in a weekly interdisciplinary arts program that pairs working artists with young girls in the community. The program, which runs 25 consecutive weeks, is free to approximately 20 girls who participate. Students can choose from classes in Storytelling, Poetry, Vocal Music & Songwriting, Garden Arts, Filmmaking, and a host of other options.
“We really want to give these girls enrolled in the program—through the integration of arts, culture, and their experiences with working artists—a specific set of skills for their future,” said Timothea Howard, CentroNía’s Program Manager for Community Schools. “We’re talking about creative and expository writing, critical thinking, presentation skills, and understanding collaboration. It’s a really unique environment where girls can focus on creativity, their artistic development, their friendships, and camaraderie. It’s very different from the stuff they get in school.”
 Bianca, a participant in CentroNía’s Saturday Arts Academy, poses for a self-portrait during her Digital Photography & Media class.
In Gaines’s class, students began the program by parsing the theoretical questions of photography and learning the functions of the camera. Their class will culminate with the display of a small portfolio and triptychs they’ve created using photos that the students feel represent themselves. “I want them to be comfortable talking about who they are visually,” Gaines said.
In other classes, students are interviewing and recording the stories of elders in the community, choreographing dance routines, designing publications, and creating other works of art to share in a final presentation. But the Arts Academy is not about a final project, both Gaines and Howard stress; it is about the process. “We’re teaching students to conceive, conceptualize, and make it happen,” Howard said. “This is beginning to end.”
“I was kinda shy when I first went there,” said seven-year-old Angie, one of the students enrolled in the Arts Academy. “But now I have two friends. I take gardening and belly dancing, and I really like when we get to use the belts that are from Colombia for belly dancing. They make noises.”
“I think it’s an excellent program for my daughter to be involved in,” said Angie’s mother, Sandra Gomez. “I really want her to grow up and see that there are other girls out there that like the same things that she does and are able to be artists. It’s a good environment and I think one that is really opening up her eyes to all the possibilities.”
Announcements of Note
 First Lady Michelle Obama Visits Mary’s Center
Thanks to Lyda Vanegas, Advocacy and Communications Officer, for this update.
First Lady Michelle Obama, in her third week at the White House, selected Mary’s Center for Maternal and Child Care as the first nonprofit organization to visit officially.
Mrs. Obama came with a mission: to learn about the unique needs of her new community and to express our nation’s urgent need for more community organizations like Mary’s Center that offer comprehensive integrated health, education, and social services.
"Do you know how many times I have read this book [Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See]?" asked the First Lady. She started to read, often without looking at the words, proving that she had perhaps read it "a million times” as she claimed. (Photo by Edgar Becerra)
“As President of Mary’s Center, I was privileged to show the First Lady a first-hand view of our cost-effective and efficient model of care,” said Maria Gomez, President and CEO, “and what we hoped to convey is that our model of health centers that have comprehensive wraparound services is replicable nationwide and makes economic sense.”
During her visit, Mrs. Obama joined in the Center’s bustling activity for a vibrant afternoon of reading with toddlers and inspiring inner-city teens. In her conversation with the teens, she drew a link between opportunity and civic responsibility. “I was raised to believe that when you get, you give back,” expressed Mrs. Obama.
First Lady Michelle Obama explains her visit to Mary’s
Center: “Number one, this is the best part of my day, you know,
really—short of being with my own kids…And DC is our
community now, it's our home.” (Photo by Edgar Becerra)
The visit drew the attention of a significant pool of reporters from different international, national, and local media outlets such as CNN, the Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, People Magazine, Reuters, AP, Channel 9, Washington Hispanic, and Univision, and the news was disseminated by more than 25 different TV stations, more than 50 newspapers, and online publications from the United States and countries like China, India, Canada, and Colombia. Her photos reading and hugging the children traveled across the world and showed the special connection that she had with the students.
“I enjoyed reading the book with the President Barack Obama’s wife. She said that she lives close by and I asked my mom to go visit her and see Sasha,” said Anais Ngako, the five-year-old girl who caught everyone’s attention with her interaction with the First Lady.
“It was a real tribute to 20 years of amazing work at Mary’s Center that the First Lady chose it as the location for her first visit to a nonprofit in DC. Her experience with community health centers and the critical “wrap-around” services we provide was evident in the questions she asked and her obvious connection to our clients—be they toddlers, teens, or adults. We hope that she’ll come back often!” said Mary MacPherson, Mary’s Center Board Chair.
Mrs. Obama shares a group hug. "Oh, delicious. Thank you." (Photo by Edgar Becerra)
As a result of the positive impression that the First Lady and her staff had during the visit, Gomez was invited the following day to visit the White House for a group discussion with the President's and Mrs. Obama’s policy staff regarding Latino issues. Also, Alvaro Simmons, Mary’s Center COO, and three adolescents from the After-School Program were invited by Mrs. Obama to sit in her box during the Presidential Address to Congress on February 24.
“I will remember this day as the most exciting experience in my life for what I learned and for having the privilege to get a picture taken with the President” said Akrem Muzemil, one of the participants.
 AALEAD Starts Year of the Ox on Right Hoof
Thanks to Rick Chen, Manager of Development and Communications, for this update.
Asian American LEAD celebrated the 10th anniversary of its Annual Dinner Gala on February 5, 2009. This year’s theme was “Making Change Happen through Education.” In going along with the “change” theme, AALEAD held the Dinner for the first time in Rosslyn, VA, and had the largest turnout in its history. Due to its close proximity to Washington, DC, AALEAD’s Dinner at the China Garden Restaurant drew professionals from all walks of life to support low-income Asian American youth and families. More than 400 guests enjoyed the Chinese banquet, exciting and touching student performances, and special words from DCPS Chancellor Michelle Rhee, keynote speaker. An awards ceremony also provided public recognition to DC Councilmember Tommy Wells and Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett for their leadership and committed support of low-income Asian Americans.
 College Summit Peer Leaders Share Goals and Aspirations
Thanks to Vinette Brown, Director of Development, National Capital Region, for this update.
The Presidential Inauguration brought College Summit staff, peer leaders, alumni, and friends from across the country together for an Alumni Reunion and Celebration. On January 21, a group of St. Louis, MO, Peer Leaders visited College Summit-National Capital Region partner Duval High School in Lanham, MD. For many, this was the first time they had left the St. Louis area.
The Duval High School Peer Leaders and College Summit staff welcomed the visitors with food and fun activities. The students spoke about their college and post-secondary aspirations, as well as some of their fears and challenges. The group of visiting students also included underclassmen, as well as middle school students; it was an inspiration to all to see these younger “prospective” Peer Leaders discuss their future plans. The students also discussed how their voices could be heard at the local, state, and national levels, including writing to their Congress person about issues affecting them and their communities.
After the work was done, the students shared how life is different in the Midwest versus the Northeast. The St. Louis Peer Leaders also celebrated Martin Luther King Day at the College Summit-NCR offices. A video link to this celebration, Alumni, Peer Leaders and Staff Discuss What the Inauguration Means to Them, is available.
Awards & Recognition
 Princeton Honors SEED Co-Founder for Service
Thanks to Jason Friedman, Director of Communications, for this update.
SEED co-founder Raj Vinnakota has been awarded this year’s Woodrow Wilson Award, the highest honor Princeton bestows upon an undergraduate alumna or alumnus. Past recipients include former secretary of state James Baker, former senator Bill Bradley, consumer advocate Ralph Nader, actor Jimmy Stewart, and former Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker. Honorees are asked to give a lecture on a topic of their choosing.
Vinnakota focused his remarks on the risks social entrepreneurs face and the responsibility institutions and individuals have in ensuring that the best ideas in the nonprofit world are able to thrive.
“I think of the stakes in human terms,” he said. “Since opening our doors, SEED has educated hundreds and hundreds of students. Ninety-eight percent of our graduates have been accepted to four-year colleges and universities, including Princeton, where Sophia [Echavarria] is a senior creative writing major. While institutions like Princeton would have no trouble filling a vacant seat, we all lose out when a bright student like Sophia loses out on the opportunity to attend a school like this. Sophia is just one example of SEED’s impact. And SEED is just one example of an organization that has pushed against the challenges that all nonprofits face.
“In other words, there are many, many Sophias out there, people who, when given the opportunity of a good education or a safer neighborhood or a better life for their family, will grab that opportunity with both hands and never let it go. Sophia is more than upholding her end of the bargain. It’s up to us—as nonprofit leaders, as funding organizations, and as private citizens—to create and sustain those opportunities.”
Forward Together Calls for Commitment to Partnership in Public Service
Leaders of American nonprofit organizations have called for a reinvigorated and empowered partnership between government and the nonprofit, or citizen, sector to address our country’s social, economic, and environmental problems and improve the quality of community life.
More than 100 nonprofit leaders issued the “Forward Together: Empowering America’s Citizen Sector for the Change We Need” declaration that calls on the nation’s governments and businesses to join with its citizen sector for a renewed commitment to “serve as partners in public service.”
Citing major needs, the nonprofit leaders call for strengthening the capacity of a citizen sector that is “sheltering the homeless, training the unemployed, educating our youth, building affordable housing, counseling families, delivering health care, giving voice to the powerless, enriching our lives with arts and culture, and serving uniquely as vehicles for citizen initiative in support of the common good
The declaration highlights the economic contributions of America’s citizen sector, including its 11 million paid workers, more than the construction industry, finance, transportation and real estate. But the declaration warns that the citizen sector will need help to play the role of which it is capable in these tough economic times.
Signers of the declaration represent a broad array of nonprofit institutions, from small community development organizations to large networks of faith-based nursing homes. An advertisement that appeared in the February 26 issue of The Chronicle of Philanthropy appealed to others to join this call.
“The citizen sector is a powerful engine for change with enormous potentials to assist in coping with our nation’s problems, but the country is not taking anywhere close to full advantage of these potentials,” Lester M. Salamon, Director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Civil Society Studies and of its Nonprofit Listening Post Project, which organized the seminar that initially generated the declaration said in a press release. “The outpouring of support for this declaration speaks to the need many people in this sector feel for a clear reminder of the immense contributions nonprofit organizations are capable of making at this critical point in our nation’s history if they are only given the chance.”
In addition to its call to action, the declaration outlines a set of concrete ways that nonprofits could help with America’s economic recovery, such as utilizing the sizable network of nonprofit housing and community development finance institutions to help rework problem mortgages, and incentivizing increased charitable giving. In addition, the declaration details broader steps the country can take to renew its compact with the citizen sector, such as reforming government-nonprofit partnerships, investing in citizen sector capacity, and supporting new models of nonprofit finance.
The Johns Hopkins Listening Post Project has created a website at where the declaration can be viewed in its entirety and interested persons can sign on and learn about steps they can take to extend the reach and impact of this document, such as encouraging colleagues and board members to sign on and bringing the document to the attention of local policymakers and the media.
Workshop Materials Help Nonprofit Execs Manage Downturn
In December 2008, Fiscal Management Associates (FMA) and the Nonprofit Finance Fund (NFF) presented The 2009 Nonprofit Economic Climate Workshop: Managing through the Downturn. The workshop offered nonprofit leaders concrete tools to lead their organizations during this challenging time. With cooperation from the sponsors, The Clark, Robin Hood, and Tiger foundations, the presentation and tools, including a recession checklist and cash flow template, are now available for public download.
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