New Program Graduates First Class
Back row from left: Dave Coman, Marion Cake, Roger Lewis, Stan Biles, Lee Householder, Greta Harris.
Front row from left: Froncé Wardlaw, Chris Sterling, Karen Reifenberger, Frank Grosch, Bob Newman, Tera Lockley, Julie Hovermale, Allison Bogdanovic.
Four two-day workshops, fifteen to twenty coaching sessions per organization and countless peer-to-peer support sessions culminated in a day-long celebration of success. The Nonprofit Sustainability Challenge (NSC), created by VCDC to assist housing organizations develop the long-term ability to sustain their missions, graduated six organizations on June 10, 2016 at an event held at Virginia Housing Development Authority’s (VHDA) Housing Center in Innsbrook.
Each participant emphasized how much the program exceeded their expectations. One by one, each shared his or her success story and gave a short presentation describing the challenge and outcome. Some worked to create a more engaged Board of Directors. Others worked to manage risk, create more financial stability or become more self-sustaining. Cumulatively the six participating groups reported increases in net income through new revenues and cost savings that exceed $3.5 million in just one year’s time.
Susan Dewey, VHDA Executive Director addressed the graduates and guests during lunch. Dewey shared news about a new program in development called Vision 2020, which seeks to address state housing needs by developing resources that support the Affordable Housing Services Delivery Network and enhance capacity building efforts. REACH Virginia (Resources Enabling Affordable Community Housing in Virginia) is VHDA’s current initiative to serve the housing needs of Virginia’s diverse communities.
“VHDA’s REACH program offers resources that focus on initiatives to address the State Housing Policy Framework. One of those initiatives concentrates on capacity building efforts. VCDC’s SSI is a valuable complement to this program.” – Susan Dewey
After lunch, a panel of graduates provided feedback about the program. They each answered a series of questions. What anxieties did you have coming into the program? What part of the program did you find most useful? What advice would you give to the next group of participants? Answers were honest, “I was worried the program wouldn’t deliver results.”, “I found the tools and coaching to be a tremendous value.” Hands-down all agreed they would recommend the program.
To mark their completion, Bob Newman, VCDC President and C.E.O. presented each participant with a plaque – a clear acrylic figure in the shape of a flame – a reminder to keep the flame burning. The future of affordable housing needs organizations that can sustain their missions and deliver safe affordable housing.
Next Session Starting Soon
The success of the Nonprofit Sustainability Challenge has piqued the interest of other nonprofit organizations and created considerable demand – so much demand that plans for the next class are already underway. Future classes will be funded by multiple sponsors and a nominal tuition paid by the participants.
Applications for the 2016-2017 VA-NSC will be available mid-summer. A webinar on Effective Capitalization will be offered in late July or early August. Click HERE to download the flier promoting the 2016-2017 Virginia Nonprofit Sustainability Challenge.
WANT MORE INFORMATION?
If you are interested in submitting an application and would like to
receive updates about the program please email your contact information to
Donna Schurman at dschurman@vacdc.org and you will be added to the
Virginia Nonprofit Sustainability Challenge mailing list.
Please share this story with a friend or colleague.