October 1998
state Library of North
Raleigh
aroHna
VOLUME 6, ISSUE 2
A nonprofit newspaper about the nonprofit community
Look tor us on the World Wide Web at http://www.pi.org
OF NORTH CAROLINA
Careful considerations
Finding the right consultant requires homework
... . ... j I. 1 rji/juist “TVo hnd ennsiiltnnts and meoinmendations from Dlaces such I
Personal connection, clearly stated goals and
financial frankness will make for a smoother
relationship and greater success.
By Emily Brewer
Nonprofits of all sizes sometimes need help
ing hands. But before hiring a consultant, a
nonprofit’s board and executive director need
to take stock of themselves and do some hard
thinking.
Choosing the right consultant or consulting
firm requires careful deliberation, nonprofit
managers and consultants say.
“A good consultant is
one who listens well and is
also aware of how well the
client is listening,” says
Anne Arella, a new consultant in Ralei^. “It’s
all about good relationships and trust.
Organizations need to hire someone who will
maintain confidentiality, will represent them
well in the community, will be positive and pro
ductive, and most of all, will produce results.”
Pam Kohl has had good and bad experi
ences with consultants at the Poe Center for
Health Education in Ralei^, where she serves
as executive director.
CONSULTING
“I’ve had consultants
come in and offer to do my
job for the agency,” says
Kohl. “I’ve had experiences
where it was difficult every step of the way. It
makes it worthwhile to say that good fit just
needs to be there.”
Finding that good fit begins with a good
self-assessment. The people who run a non
profit need to be able to articulate what they
hope to achieve, in what time frame they hope
to do so, and what resources the organization
has to contribute.
Then it’s time to start gathering referrals
and recommendations from places such as the
N.C. Center for Nonprofits and from other non
profits of a similar nature that have used con
sultants.
Each consultant on the list then should be
checked out.
Look to see that the consultants have
worked with nonprofits.
“If they are listing IBM and Glaxo, that is
well and good, but that is not the same animal
as working with a 501(c)(3) organization,”
Look for CONSULTANTS, page 8
$200 million and growing
Four decades serving community, donors
wjucm
As the Foundation for the Carolines celebrates
its anniversary, it has initiated a change in
grantmaking — in terms of the size of grants
and issues targeted.
By Patty Courtbight
The Foundation for the Carolinas has turned
40.
While the foundation’s scope has broadened
to include issues that span two states, its mission
to serve both the community and the donor has
not.
The foundation was created in 1958 when 24
Charlotte business and community leaders
established the United Community Foundation to
support the Mecklenburg County area. Its first
gift of $3,000 came from United Way.
Today, what has evolved into the Foundation
for the Carolinas has $200 million in assets, man
ages more than 1,000 charitable funds and has
disbursed grants totaling $140 million to pro
grams in 13 counties across North Carolina and
South Carolina. It is considered one of the largest
community foundations in the South and among
the top 25 in the United States.
During nearly half a century, the foundation’s
growth, in terms of assets and grantmaking, has
soared. Within the past two years, the foundation
has re-evaluated its grantmaking focus, shifting
from a variety of smaller seed grants to providing
larger grants that focus on a variety of causes
and spark new ideas. Yet, foundation leaders feel
they have remained true to the underlying phi
losophy and goals. '
“Our new grantmaking focus has not changed
our original mission,” says William L. Spencer,
president. “The original bylaws of the foundation
call for it to be a flexible resource for the com
munity in dealing with whatever issues need to
Look for FOUNDATION, page 12
Seigle
PgeseAof
The foundation supports
children's programs
Technology enterprise
focus of conference
for Tar Heel nonprofits
Using computers and the Internet to do a
better job raising money, delivering services,
manafflngyour organization and getting out
your messagebe the focus of the
Philanthropy Joumars fifth annual confer
ence for North Carolina’s nonprofits Oct, 29-
30. .
Featured speakers at the conference, to
be held in Charlotte, include Hu^ MeColl,
chairman and chief executive of
NationsBank, and Karen Davis, president of
The Commonwealth Fund in New York, one
of the largest and oldest D.S. foundations.
The conference also will feature presen
tation of the 1998 North Carolina
Philanthropy Award, as well as a special se^
Sion on nonprofits as entrepreneurial o^-
nizations.
Story, page 3.
Young people committed to change, collaboration, diversity
A new study commissioned by
Public Allies says Generation X is
committed to social change and
that new models of leadership are
needed to tap that commitment.
By Todd Cohen
Young Americans want to make a
difference, and they want to do it by
building alliances built around indi
viduals and grass-roots organiza
tions.
That’s the conclusion of a new
study that says change in the U.S. will
come from small groups of resource
ful individuals, not from individual
leaders.
Young Americans “place a premi
um on a set of traits that represents
an extraordinary break from tradi
tional models of American leader
ship,” says the study which was con
ducted by Peter D. Hart Research
Associates in Washington, D.C., and
commissioned by Public Allies, a
national group that provides nonprof
it apprenticeships for young people
and helps develop them as leaders.
“Young people embrace a style of
leadership that emphasizes the
power of collective responsibility,
cooperation among diverse individu
als, sensitivity toward others, and
equal participation by all citizens
regardless of their authority or posi
tion in the community,” the study
says.
“Contrary to popular portrayal of
today’s young Americans as self-
MM
tf you're going to
have a strong family,
you've got to have a
strong community."
— Meredith Emmett
Executive Director of NX. Public Allies
absorbed and socially inert,” it says,
“the findings from this survey reveal
a portrait of a generation not search
ing to distance itself from the commu
nity, but instead actively looking for
new and distinctive ways to connect
to the people and issues surrounding
them.”
Yet unlike the Baby Boomers who
came of age in the 1960s and focused
on political leaders and broad social
institutions, the study says, the out
look of young Americans today is
“distinctly personal, with a heavy
emphasis on direct, one-on-one, indi
vidual service.”
Young people “embrace a model of
leadership that is best characterized
as ‘bottom up’ rather than ‘top
down,”’ the study says, and “place a
premium on the efficacy of small
groups of people working together to
effect change in tangible ways.”
Young people also place a hi^ pri
ority on Aversity and “reaching out
to connect to and work with people
from different backgrounds to
address problems and formulate
solutions.”
The biggest overall impact on
young Americans is the increase in
divorce and sin^e-parent families.
The breakup of the traditional
family, says Meredith Emmett, execu
tive director of North CaroUna Public
Allies, is directly related to the desire
among young people to get involved
in their communities.
“If you’re going to have a strong
family, you’ve got to have a strong
community,” she says. “You’ve got to
have good schools, you’ve got to live
in a safe nei^borhood, your kids
have got to have safe places to go
after school.”
For a copy of the study, call Public
Allies at (202) 822-1180.
INSIDE
Opinion 10
Grants & Gifts 18
In October 19
People 19
Professional Services..20
1 NONPROFtTS '
1 FOUNDATIONS
OPINIOil^
UNC-Chapel Hill is forming a
The Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation is
Gifts of planes and horses offer
partnership with University Access
releasing a report on how to best
possibilities and pitfalls for
to train nonprofit managers.
meet nonprofits' technology needs.
nonprofits. Jeff Lamie of Averett
College explains.
8 Page 4
8 Page 6
1 Page 10
L
FUNDRAiSiNG
Duke University has received a boost
to its effort to attract gifted students,
thanks to a $20 million gift.
Page 14