Prince George's Community Nonprofits Graduate from First Cohort Advancement Program

BALTIMORE, May 5 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Nine leaders of nonprofit organizations in Prince George's County have completed a 9-month intensive capacity building program to strengthen their ability to raise funds to support their missions.  The program was sponsored by the Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation and Kaiser Permanente and was led by Maryland Nonprofits.

Research by Maryland Nonprofits in 2007 showed that nonprofits in Prince George's County are significantly smaller and under-resourced compared to neighboring jurisdictions and the state average.  The number of nonprofits with over $1m in revenue was particularly small – only 114 such groups in Prince George's County compared with 474 in Montgomery County, for example.  

The Cohort Advancement Project was designed to elevate groups that are currently under $1m in revenue to enable them to become better-resourced, "anchor" organizations in Prince George's County.   Participants included:

Tim Jensen, Community Crisis Services

Neal Conway, Community Legal Services of Prince George's County

Ann Marie Foley Binsner, Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA)

Melvia Wallace, The Family Health and Education Institute

Jerry Adams, Human Services Coalition of Prince George's County

Mosi Harrington, Housing Initiative Partnership

Fred Tutman, Patuxent Riverkeeper

Andrea Syphax, Renaissance Treatment Center

Kim Rhim, The Training Source

"Prince George's County's nonprofits spend $3,400 per child in poverty, compared to $27,000 per child in Montgomery County," said Mosi Harrington of Housing Initiative Partnership.  "We need to change this picture."

Over the 9-month project designed to help these groups raise more money, participants attended monthly workshops on topics such as strengthening their board of directors for fundraising and developing a fundraising plan.  Participants had an opportunity to meet directly with corporate and foundation funders who are active in the County and learn from their experiences and the real life "do's and don'ts".  The program included sessions on how to use social media like Facebook and Twitter to grow their base of support, as well as cultural competency in fundraising.  Each executive director worked with an executive coach to hone their leadership skills, and worked with a consultant to develop a fundraising plan.  In the final session on April 9, graduates proudly shared their fundraising plans with their peers.

The peer exchange and the relationships built throughout the project were phenomenal.  At one meeting, several of the organizations realized they have an issue in common:  no housing available for youth aging out of the foster care system.  CASA, Housing Initiative Partnership and The Training Source are collaborating to develop solutions to this problem.  

"This is a stellar group of leaders doing such important work," said executive coach, Beth Greenland.  "Several of these executives are rising stars in their fields, not only in Maryland, but nationally."

The Cohort will reconvene in July 2010 to share progress on their fundraising plans and continue to learn from each other on what works.  

"We are thrilled about the progress of these nonprofits," said Darryl Jones, CEO of Maryland Nonprofits.  "We look forward to seeing them grow and expand their critical programs for years to come."

Selection Process:  Maryland Nonprofits reviewed the IRS records and websites of hundreds of nonprofits to screen for eligibility, and invited 36 organizations to apply.  Fourteen applications were received and twelve organizations were selected to participate.  One organization dropped out before the program started, and two other executive directors departed from their organizations during the course of the project.  Nine organizations successfully completed the program and received their graduate certificates on April 9, 2010.  

SOURCE Maryland Association of Nonprofit Organizations