September 1998
Statb
:0r;
North Carolina
VOLUME 5, ISSUE 13
Raleigh
PhilanthropyJournal
A nonprofit newspaper about the nonprofit community H A /
OF NORTH CAROLINA
Emerging trends
Nonprofit sector facing new challenges on all fronts
The strong economy, universality of
technology and increasing minority
population are changing the way
nonprofits do business.
By Emily Brewer
Times have changed since the
days of volunteer-run charities, bake
sales and bazaars.
Today's nonprofits are more
advanced, sophisticated and account
able than they ever have been. They
also face hi^er costs, greater needs
and more competition.
The number of active 501(c)(3)
charities in the state jumped from
12,592 in 1992 to almost 16,000 in
1996, according to the National
Center for Charitable Statistics —
proof of the strength and growth of
the sector, even in the past tew years.
The age of technology and corpo
rate mergers has revamped the way
nonprofits do business.
The prevalence of technology has
made up-to-date computers and soft
ware a necessity for the sector. Old
company computer castoffs will no
longer do the job for nonprofits.
The sector better understands
how to use technology to its advan
tage. With the dropping prices,
increasingly user-friendly software
and the outcrop of computer-sawy
people, technology is more accessible
than ever.
"The probability of a nonprofit
having a Web site two or three years
ago was very low, except for specific
TRENDS
pockets,” says Don Wells, director of
Duke University's certificate program
in nonprofit management. “Now, in
rural areas as well, there is greater
understanding and greater use."
The influx of technology has
meant a significant increase in time
and money devoted to training
employees and updating equipment.
Technology is just one trend.
Among others:
• More minorities work in the sec
tor and serve on nonprofit boards.
• The strong economy has gener
ated more money for nonprofits from
individuals and grantmakers.
• The sector is more sophisticated
and professional.
• Donors today demand greater
accountablhty of nonprofits.
• Corporate mergers and buy
outs have shifted some corporate
funding.
The competition for funding, vol
unteers, media attention and commu
nity presence grows increasingly
fierce as more nonprofits acquire
directors of development — and even
directors of planned giving — usher
ing in a new level of professionalism
for fundraising, says Anne Register,
executive director of Second Harvest
Food Bank of Metrolina in Charlotte.
The stepped-up fundraising is just
one part of the Increased sophistica
tion in the sector as a whole. While
great headway still must be made
before nonprofits enjoy the status of
the corporate community, its sophisti
cation is improving.
"When we're invited to participate
in community settings, we're listened
to and heard as well as any corporate
executive," says Register.
Nonprofits today are called on to
act in some ways like businesses,
with a strong emphasis on evaluation
and accountability. "There are
scarce resources and people have to
document their work," says Leslie
Takahaski Morris, executive director
of WUdacres Leadership Initiative in
Raleigh.
As executive director for the Mary
Reynolds Babcock Foundation in
Look for TRENDS, page 28
It takes a village
Interlace program combines services of five local
nonprofits to help battered homeless women
After learning the majority of
homeless women are victims of
domestic violence, five organiza
tions in Asheville combine services
to ready women for independent
living and to help them establish a
home of their own.
By Emily Brewer
In 1996, Asheville resident
Rhonda Wellmon had nowhere to
turn. She packed the children
and left her violently abusive hus
band, squeezing into her sister-in-
law's small trailer. Bruised physically,
financially and emotionally, Wellmon
lost her job, her self-esteem and her
independence.
Through a program called
Interlace, which brings together the
counseling, legal, financial and hous
ing services of five nonprofits in
Asheville, however, Wellmon got back
on her feet and earned the keys to a
home of her own.
"I really feel that the Interlace pro
gram has given me my life back," says
Wellmon, one of the program's first
graduates.
Interlace is an 18-month transi
tional program that takes in mothers
on the streets, in shelters or doubled
up with friends, escaping the abuse of
husbands or boyfriends.
One in three women in an intimate
relationship is abused — a problem
that cuts across age, race and income
level, says program coordinator Judy
Chaet. In a point-in-time survey in
Asheville on March 27, 1995, 86
women and children in ti e I
shelters that night were flee
ing violence.
Domestic violence is the
leading cause of homeless
ness among women, whereas
men tend to cite unemploy
ment, drugs and alcohol and
imprisonment as leading
causes of their homelessness,
says Chaet.
Nonprofits in
partnership
More and more nonprof
its are examining the bene
fits of strategic alhances —
or partnerships — bringing
together services and talents
to fulfill their missions more
compietely.
"It saves resources," says
Chaet. "It's like creating syner
gy — together we are stronger
than the pieces."
Formed in 1995, Interlace is
a partnership of the Affordable
Housing Coalition of Buncombe
County, Pisgah Legal Services, the
battered women's support oiganiza-
tion Helpmate, Consumer Credit
Counseling Services and the Housing
Authority of Asheville.
"Transitional housing is a move
ment that is coming along in domestic
violence work," says Chaet. "There
are a variety of models out there,
though it is really stUl in its infancy"
Interlace came into being after the
survey in Asheville of the city's home-
Rhonda Wellmon seated near the
Interlace office with her sons Richard,
13, and Brandon, 5. Wellmon tells her
story of abuse and homelessness in
hopes of helping other women.
less population in local shelters.
Results showed that the majority of
women without a home were fleeing
domestic violence.
By looking into the stories behind
the homelessness, they could pin
point its cause and direct efforts
toward fitting the problem.
Either they could continue to turn
women ard ciiildren away from
crowded shelters, or they could attack
the whole problem, says Chaet.
Look for INTERLACE, page 8
Philanthropy called
vital to South’s success
A report on the state of the South
calls for creative solutions to the
region's traditional economic and
social problems.
By James B. Hyatt
Foundations and nonprofits in the
South must work with the region's
civic leadership to find creative solu
tions to the region's historic econom
ic disadvantages and racial issues in
the face of government cutbacks of
social programs, according to a new
report.
At the same time, the wealth cre
ated in the South during this time of
unprecedented economic growth
must be put to use through new foun
dations to augment the work of other
groups and government agencies.
Chapel Hill-based think tank MDC
Inc. says in its report, "The State of
the South 1998."
While the Triangle, the Triad,
Charlotte and Atlanta often are seen
as representative of progress, the
South is burdened with 40 percent of
the nation's poverty but only holds 10
percent of America's philanthropic
wealth, according to U.S. Census
data cited in the MDC report.
The "State of the South 1998" fol
lows MDC's initial report two years
ago that tracked progress made dur
ing the last three decades. The new
report examines Southern race, gen
der and ethnicity Issues in greater
detail and how these issues affect
and are affected by the region's eco
nomic development. The report is
based on demographic studies of the
14 Southern states, including Texas
and Oklahoma.
The South also must resolve long-
lived problems caused by its tradi
tional lack of a broad industrial base
and historic racial Issues. The region
may not progress as far as it could
during the 1990s' economic boom if
philanthropy for social support pro-
/#!
It is important that
voices be raised to say that
the South particularly
needs increased
homegrown
philanthropy."
— MDC's State of the South report
grams doesn't exceed reductions to
these programs, the report says.
"There has been an evaporation of
federal funding for research, evalua
tion and demonstration, and also pro
grams," says George B. Autry, presi
dent of MDC and an author of the
report. "The government historically
has a short attention span to endur
ing problems."
Rather than blaming the region's
political leadership, the report says
innovative programs will be estab
lished by new foundations set up by
Look for SOUTH, page 23
INSIDE 1
1 NONPROFBS -
1 FOUNDATIONS
1' OMNiON
I FUNDRAISING
Opinion 10
Grants & Gifts 20
In September 21
People 21
Professional Services..22
Success By 6 targets early childhood
development in 200 communities
nationwide.
■ Page 4
A new study exposes the Internet's
failure to reach and attract poorer
communities.
B Page 6
Despite national economic prosperi
ty, poverty and inequities abound.
Patricia O'Toole comments.
H Page 10
Spurred by last year's fundraising
success, many United Ways are rais
ing their goals this year.
» Page 14