NPCC held our Annual Meeting of Members on March 27, 2018 at the CUNY Graduate Center, Proshansky Auditorium with 180 members, sponsors, and honored guests attending.
BUSINESS AGENDA
Ian Benjamin, in his fourth address as NPCC’s Board Chair, opened the meeting by welcoming attendees and thanking event sponsors. He focused on NPCC’s work to support our members’ work and help them best serve the needs of their communities. Ian also recognized NPCC’s eight outgoing Board members.
Charlene Laniewski, Board Treasurer, reported on the finances for NPCC’s Fiscal Year 2017 (October 1, 2016 – September 30, 2017). NPCC received an unqualified opinion on our financial statements from our independent auditor. Having maintained a strong balance sheet and sustained a reserve to cover 6.7 months of operating expenses, NPCC continues to be financially sound. NPCC’s full financial statements are available HERE.
Merble Reagon, in her final address as Board Secretary, led the annual Board election. A motion was forwarded, seconded, and a hand vote was conducted amongst members in good standing to re-elect six Board members to the NPCC Board and to elect seven new members to the Board. NPCC’s full Board of Directors is listed HERE.
THE EXTERNAL ENVIROMENT & NPCC’S ROLE
NPCC President, Sharon Stapel, spoke of the accomplishments of the past fiscal year. NPCC did a lot of work to improve what we can offer members. This work includes:
- Advocating on issues like the Johnson Amendment, tax reform, overtime and salary rules, donor disclosure rules, and more.
- Convening members to talk about government relations, diversity, equity and inclusion, and civic engagement.
- Aligning our learning opportunities with our Eight Key Areas of Nonprofit Excellence.
- Improving our group buying options, our membership engagement, and our communications with members, increasing the number of tools and templates available to members in the online Knowledge Center.
Sharon explained that NPCC is critical to the sector because we help our members improve their internal environment through best management practices and we guard against threats to the external environment by advocating for fair and reasonable nonprofit policies.
PANEL DISCUSSION
Building Members and Building Movements: Caring for our People
Carmelyn P. Malalis, Chair and Commissioner at New York City Commission on Human Rights, moderated an insightful conversation with panelists Kelsey Louie (Gay Men’s Health Crisis), Cristina Harris (Mental Health Association of NYC), and Patricia Swann (New York Community Trust). Carmelyn opened the panel by reflecting on her advocacy work on behalf of employees in the workplace and how NYCCHR cares for our vulnerable populations: transgender folk, Muslims, and immigrants, in particular.
The conversation revolved around these core questions:
- What do we mean when we say that we care for our people?
- What are the challenges we face in caring for our people?
- What are creative ways by which we can thoughtfully and systematically address those challenges?
The dynamic discussion realized the following takeaways:
- Our people are our most important resource and we must invest in them strategically and for the long-term.
- Nonprofit leaders can create a culture where our people feel they can show up as their authentic selves by both learning and talking about racism, sexism, transphobia, etc., and by being intentional in our messages welcome inclusion
- You can be the best managed nonprofit in the world but if you exist in a hostile environment you can’t make change effectively. If you take care of your staff then the clients and communities you support also win.
- The term “self-care” puts the burden on the employee rather than leadership.
- “Caring for our People” aren’t just pretty words on paper, they are about outcomes and productivity for a team. We need managers and supervisors that support, coach, and nurture staff. We need to create professional development opportunities embedded in the structure of the organization.
- Leadership should listen to their staff. Listen to the whispers, build an open door policy, and create more formal opportunities for feedback. Create affinity groups at your organization to provide space for creative ideas and solutions.
- Many decisions that are made impact the team, so include them in the conversation.
- It is important to recognize the contributions of your staff. Their input has to be valued and appreciated by the organization.
- Pay our people more and prepare our people more. Build professional development into the culture of the organization.
- The tide is turning among funders and they are beginning to recognize that investments in the people that do the work is critical. Foundations must begin to support the need for nonprofits to invest in their people.
- Nonprofits will move the funding world, the same way we did with indirect costs. Demand the funding for it and funders will listen.
NETWORKING RECEPTION
The evening concluded with a networking reception where our members got an opportunity to meet our vendor partners and sponsors. We conducted a drawing for our door prizes; and, we honored eight outgoing members of our Board of Directors.
For more information on the meeting, please read New York Nonprofit Media’s article by clicking here.
To view photos from the event, click here.