NPCC Annual Meeting

NPCC held its annual meeting on March 1, 2011 at the McGraw Hill Conference Center in midtown Manhattan. Over 300 people attended and elected new NPCC board members, mingled with fellow nonprofiteers, met NPCC vendors and had a drink and hors d’oeuvres.

Chairman's Report

Chairman of the Board, John E. Craig, Jr., opened NPCC’s 27th annual meeting, noting that NPCC held its 25th anniversary celebration in October 2010. The event was deferred by a year due to the economic downturn. By all accounts, it was a real success, raising over $345,000 for the organization.

Craig asked the audience to imagine New York City without Symphony Space, or the Asia Society, or for that matter, other arts groups or key institutions. This was the prospect that New York nonprofits faced in the early 1980s when New York City attempted to revoke the real estate tax exemption for performing arts and cultural institutions as a step toward overturning the property tax exemption of all nonprofits. Several of the arts groups that received tax bills took the City to court, but most lost. Then the lawyers working on these cases joined together to fight the revocation, and eventually succeeded in reversing the City’s policy. They called themselves the Nonprofit Coordinating Committee of New York, and thus, NPCC was born. Craig noted several of the founding lawyers who were present, including John Temple Swing, Peter Swords and Jon Small.

John Craig’s remarks from the 25th Anniversary dinner can be found at www.npccny.org/info/NPCC_25th_Anniversary.pdf. He also acknowledged two groups critically important to NPCC today: the board members (especially committee chairs) and its members.

Treasurer's Report

Shin Miyoshi reported on Fiscal Year 2010 which ended on September 30, 2010. NPCC received an unqualified opinion from its auditors, Condon O’Meara McGinty & Donnelly, LLP. The fiscal year ended with a slight decline in membership revenue, but an increase of $123,000 in net assets. Program expenses remained at 75 percent of expenses, and the investment portfolio rebounded from 2009. NPCC’s Fiscal Year 2010 audit can be found at www.npccny.org/info/Audit_10.pdf.

Nominating Committee

Greg Cohen and Merble Reagon, co-chairs of the Nominating Committee presented their committee report. Cohen explained that the committee takes its duties seriously: a board report card takes into account each individual board member’s attendance at meetings, level of commitment, giving to the organization, and outreach on NPCC’s behalf. When each individual’s three-year term is up for renewal, the committee reviews these factors to determine whether the individual should be invited to serve again.

Reagon noted that four current board members are up for reelection: Carolyn McLaughlin; Emily Smith; Isaiah Sheffer; and Michael Clark. Five individuals are first-time nominees to the NPCC board:

Seema Agnani is executive director and one of the founders of Chhaya Community Development Corporation, a community-based nonprofit organization focused on improving access to housing opportunities, resources, and information for South Asian Americans throughout New York City and the metropolitan area. Before returning to Chhaya as Executive Director in 2007, she was the Coordinating Consultant to the Fund for New Citizens at The New York Community Trust.

Bill Chess retired recently from Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide where he was the chief operating officer. In this position, he had responsibility for worldwide administrative functions and operations. He was a member of the corporate staff located in New York, and was a member of the firm’s executive committee and management committee.

Leslie Goldman has recently stepped down from the New York Academy of Medicine where she served as senior advisor to the president following 25 years as the director of the Office of School Health Programs. In that role, she provided overall leadership for health education programs in the New York City Public Schools and nationally. Goldman played a pivotal role in establishing a small private initiative in 25 schools in 1979 that later expanded to over 1,500 New York City schools.

Sheila Lewandowski is a co-founder and executive director of The Chocolate Factory Theater in Long Island City. The Chocolate Factory has supported the work of over 700 artists for over 30,000 visitors since opening its doors in 2004. From 2004-2006 she served as the first managing director of Queens Council on the Arts.

G. Robert Watts was appointed executive director of Care for the Homeless in 2005. Watts has more than twenty years’ experience in direct service, administration, management, development, and implementation of health and social service programs with and for homeless, mentally ill, HIV-positive, and substance-abusing populations. He is the former finance officer of the New York City HIV Health and Human Services Planning Council.

A motion was forwarded, seconded, and approved unanimously to elect the nine individuals to the NPCC board. The complete bios of the new board members can be found at www.npccny.org/info/2011_Prospective_Board_Bios.doc.

President's Report

Michael Clark, president of NPCC, said that he would forego his usual summary of highlights from NPCC’s annual report, but strongly urged the audience to read it to find out about all of our new programs, the Government Relations Committee efforts, and other NPCC endeavors. The NPCC annual report can be found online at www.npccny.org/info/AnnualReportFY10.pdf.

Clark then noted that these are tough economic times, and that the insight of veteran fundraiser Kim Klein seems to ring true today: some nonprofits got out of the habit of raising money from individuals during the flush times of plentiful government contracts and foundation grants, but most return to individual fundraising today. In examining the characteristics of the previous four years’ winners of the New York Times Company Nonprofit Excellence Awards, he noted one trait they all share is that they are devoting increasing efforts toward raising money from individual donors. During the downturn, the winning organizations also honed in on tightening the focus on their core mission activities; carefully cutting costs; tracking results; and turning to their boards for assistance and guidance.

Clark noted that NPCC’s 25th anniversary celebration had stimulated our own renewed attempts to focus on individuals and individual giving. He did note two of NPCC’s newest endeavors: the Nonprofit Outsourcing Clearinghouse designed to help 50 groups assess their abilities to outsource at least one component of their back-office functions, and the creation of a database of potential outsourcing service providers. And, the new Cloud Computing Technology program which will help 25 groups assess and improve their information technology functions by utilizing an internet-based service.

Swimming Upstream Panel Discussion

Doug Bauer, executive director of the Clark Foundation moderated a panel discussion with Lucy Cabrera from the Food Bank for New York City, Sean Delany from Lawyers Alliance for New York, Valyrie Laedlein from Community Resource Exchange, and Virginia Louloudes from A.R.T./New York.

Bauer’s first question to the panel was “As you meet with your clients, what are you telling them?”

Laedlein reported that she asks nonprofits to be brutally clear about their organizations: What is your core mission? Whom does it serves? What does success look like to you? What results do you seek? Look at those things that your organization may be doing that fall outside of that core mission and ask yourself, “Why are we doing them?”

Delany noted that, while we have two years of economic turmoil behind us, there are still rough times ahead. An organization still needs to plan ahead to when it may no longer be viable, especially if it relies heavily on government funding. Gather your internal information, such as program expenses and other costs and carefully analyze them. Louloudes recommends that her theatre members use zero-based budgeting: Don’t produce a show until you have funding securely in place. She encourages groups to be creative in their funding strategies and donors.

Cabrera said to always be mission driven. Don’t become reliant on government funding, and keep in mind that government funding should be a partnership. Remember that your brand is your mission. Resist the temptation to chase the money. Prepare for times when your needs are not enough to trigger funding. And, stick to your knitting.

Bauer asked the panel to share examples of organizations that are thriving or doing creative and exceptional things. Louloudes noted The Chocolate Factory Theater in Queens which holds an annual Taste of Long Island City and partners with area restaurants for a fundraising effort—helping both the theater as well as local restaurants and merchants and broadening its community of supporters.

Delany noted that an adult literacy organization which knew two years ago that funding cuts were coming, and with this knowledge, worked out a way to preserve its programs without decimating its staff. He also mentioned an elder serving organization that became aware of an opportunity to merge with another group, and successfully did so.

Cabrera recommended that groups stay in tune with what’s going on in their environment, to “gauge the temperature.” Resist the temptation to build an empire. Stay true to the mission. She also cautions that as an organization grows, to not become siloed.

Bauer asked the panel “In your opinion, what is the role of the board? Cabrera responded: To raise money; open doors for partnerships; and strategic direction. “And,” she added, “support the CEO and then get out of the way.”

Louloudes agreed with Cabrera, and added that a board’s role was also to bring resources to the table other than money. Delany stressed that, from his perspective, it is “oversight.” He added, especially with the next financial storm coming, it is the board’s responsibility to review all the liabilities and risks that the organization might be facing. Look at the legal and non-legal roles of the board. Laedlein agreed that oversight was an important function of the board and relayed an experience with CRE’s own board: CRE was applying for a city contract that, admittedly, was slightly off-mission. The finance committee reviewed the proposal, and asked the staff to rework it and charge full rate instead of the “subsidized” amount they had originally proposed. In the end, CRE didn’t get the contract, and it was actually a relief, since without the suggestion of the finance committee, the contract would have cost CRE money.

Bauer next asked about planning. Laedlein responded that the traditional five-year strategic plan just isn’t viable anymore given how fast everything is changing today. Rather, organizations should incorporate scenario planning that outlines different options for varying circumstances. Flexibility is important today. Louloudes asked that funders give advance notice and let grantees know what they’re thinking. Additionally, she said that general operating grants and multi-year support would make a world of difference in the stability and well-being of nonprofits.

On the issue of advocacy, the panel urged nonprofits to be proactive not just reactive. Talk to your legislators directly, as well as through your umbrella organizations. Talk to council members before taking action. Nonprofits have to face the fact that we’re all facing budget cuts on all levels: city and state and federal. Louloudes added we — as the entire nonprofit sector — have to talk about our collective value. And, beyond budget advocacy, it’s important to talk about message advocacy.

Regarding mergers, Delany noted that there seems to be more smoke than fire; Lawyer’s Alliance is working on very few mergers. Unfortunately, it’s often the case that the balance sheet of one of the merging organizations does not make it a suitable marriage partner. So, if one is thinking about a merger, start the conversation with potential partners while your organization is still financially viable. Louloudes noted that in the performing arts, mergers are virtually unheard of (given the nature of two artistic directors) but she is seeing more co-productions and sharing of resources.

NPCC has prepared a document, Swimming Upstream: Some Nonprofits Are Doing Well and Even Growing in this Economy. How Are They Doing It?, that can downloaded for free at www.npccny.org/info/swimming_upstream.pdf.