Business
With Nonprofits Stretched Thin, New Network Aims to Boost Collaboration
Nonprofit organizations around the country are under stress. They’ve seen cuts to their funding from the federal government — but the community needs they try to meet are more pressing than ever. The difficult job of running a nonprofit often means there isn’t always time to collaborate with other groups.
Enter Chicago Nonprofit Connect. The new networking organization aims to help Chicago-area nonprofits break out of their silos and find ways to make the work they do more effective and more sustainable.
“We’re all doing super important work and a lot of us are strapped for time, strapped for resources, and maybe we just don’t have the time or ability to connect with other people,” said co-founder Josie Flanagan.
Flanagan’s day job is with the Honeycomb Project, which connects families with volunteer opportunities. Earlier this year, she put that networking mindset to use by co-founding Chicago Nonprofit Connect, bringing together people from an array of organizations online and in person to share expertise and learn how they might work together.
“What we’ve been hearing again and again from folks in this network is that they really appreciate the positivity because there’s so much doom and gloom these days and this is a space where we can kind of take the time … to come together and work through these problems collectively,” said co-founder Sage Rossman, who works for the group Urban Rivers.
Since launching earlier this year, Chicago Nonprofit Connect says it now has hundreds of members across Slack and LinkedIn with about 350 different organizations represented.
One of those groups is Digs With Dignity, which helps families exiting homelessness furnish and decorate their new space.
“Oftentimes we come into our families’ homes and they’re sleeping on the floor,” said Kim Hannay, Digs With Dignity executive director. “They maybe have one bed, one air mattress that the whole family is sleeping on, and that’s about it.”
Digs With Dignity partners with social service agencies, meeting with their clients to learn what they need — and what they want.
“The best thing for us to hear is, ‘Oh my gosh, you listened to me,’” Hannay said. “‘You asked me what color I liked, and that’s the color that splashed all over my apartment, my kid loves Spider-Man and you delivered.’”
In the past, Digs With Dignity has partnered with organizations with similar missions like the Chicago Furniture Bank on volunteer exchanges or swapping needed items. Hannay said it’s valuable “to come together and unite as nonprofits instead of, you know, competing against each other because we’re not out here to do that.”
Those sorts of collaborations among nonprofits may sound like a natural fit — but there isn’t always a formal way to make them happen amid the day-to-day stress of keeping an organization running. Chicago Nonprofit Connect has an array of Slack channels and a LinkedIn presence; it also hosts regular networking events and socials. Members use the network to do everything from promoting events to sourcing advice on fundraising platforms — and there are personal benefits for people with demanding jobs, too.
“Our group offers community and connection,” Flanagan said. “Getting to know people who do similar work I think can really help ease your day-to-day stress.”
Kristina Lowenstein is co-founder and executive director of the Honeycomb Project, which hosted a recent breakfast event.
“(The Honeycomb Project has) been working with now 50 different organizations across the city on a regular basis,” Lowenstein said. “For us to be some part of facilitating deeper connection between all of these great organizations, … I think it’s so important.”
Longtime nonprofit leader Brooke McKean said moments of crisis create an opportunity for organizations to rethink how they operate — incentivizing collaboration rather than competing for limited resources or duplicating efforts.
“They’re focused on the people that they serve as a part of that mission and meeting the needs of funders and philanthropy,” McKean said. “When you’re on this hamster wheel of the starvation cycle, you don’t have time to look up and think, oh, maybe we should work together on this.”
“I see some really positive relationships forming already,” Rossman said. “I would love to see this become something that’s long-term and sustainable.”
Contact Nick Blumberg: [email protected] | (773) 509-5434 | @ndblumberg
