ICL Blog

August 20 deadline for health/human services viability program applications

The fourth Nonprofit Sector Viability Program of 2010 will provide senior leaders of 10 nonprofit organizations that contract or have provider agreements with the Maine Department of Health & Human Services with a structured and supportive environment for thinking deeply about the viability of their mission, programs and finances; and for identifying new options to sustain their organizations and/or missions through collaborative and other means.

The program is a partnership among the Institute for Civic Leadership, the Maine Association of Nonprofits, Common Good Ventures, the Maine Community Foundation, the Maine Health Access Foundation, Maine Network Partners and a trio of United Ways including those serving Greater Portland, Eastern Maine and York County. Now in its second year, it provides participating Maine nonprofits a safe, supportive place to pause and reflect on their viability in the wake of an economic crisis that is shaking even the most seemingly stable organizations. The cost is nominal, thanks to generous financial support from a variety of funding sources as well as the pro bono work of the organizations behind the collaborative.

This upcoming program for health and human services organizations will be especially beneficial for executive directors and board leaders who are interested in proactive, creative and adaptive responses to significant shifts in funding and demand for their services.

Organizations that meet the following criteria are invited to submit an application:
• Budget between $500,000 and $2 million
• Receive at least 50 percent of budget from the Maine Department of Health & Human Services, through either a contract or provider agreement

Participants will walk away from the session with:
• In depth fiscal and programmatic viability analyses
• Greater clarity about their programmatic futures
• Concrete plans for coping with immediate economic challenges
• Options for pursuing collaboration, merger or alliance as means to sustaining mission and increasing intended impacts
• Clear steps for implementation
• Targeted consulting assistance

Participating organizations will be walked through a three-step process designed by a team of leaders from the collaborative founding organizations that allows them an environment to examine their mission, programs and finances and identify new options to sustain their organizations and /or missions through collaborative and other means.

The first component is an introspective 16-page self-assessment that engages both board and staff to answer three questions: Are we operating from a position of relative strength or weakness? What kind of financial flexibility do we have? And what are our options for adapting, strengthening and managing in today’s challenging times, particularly our options for collaboration, strategic alliance and merger?

Suzanne Austin, a member of the Maine Nonprofit Viability Program Design Team and ICL’s Interim Executive Director, says the process of answering the questions is often as revealing to the organizations as their actual answers.

From there, representatives from the organization – usually the executive director and a board member – attend a one and a half day clinic on October 27 and 28 in Augusta where they are paired with another nonprofit as well as a consultant to focus on analyzing their assessment results and developing action plans for advancing their mission. Organizations are purposely paired based on a similar mission, similar challenge or chance for collaboration. Following the clinic, participants can request up to six hours of complimentary consulting assistance.

Interested organizations will be asked to submit a short application, due August 20, to be considered. For further information and to request this application, please contact Annie Sutton at Maine Association of Nonprofits at asutton@nonprofitmaine.org.

Tags: Board development in Maine, civic leadership in Maine, health leadership development in Maine, health leadership Maine, ICL Board Builders, Institute for Civic Leadership, leadership development in Maine, nonprofit Maine