In This Issue:
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Connect with
The Nonprofit Centers Network on:
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Building Opportunities Conference
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Now more than ever, don’t miss getting practical and money-saving tools, tips and strategies that will directly benefit your budget. Take advantage of drastic drops in real estate prices and learn from leaders who have decades of experience with shared offices and services.
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NEW! Conference Webinars
Want to attend the Building Opportunities Conference but don’t have the budget to travel? We are offering four Conference workshops through webconferencing live from Washington, DC.
Creative business strategies to generate revenue and attract tenants
Public/Private Partnerships
May 19, 2009 | 10:30 AM—12 PM EST (7:30 AM PST)
Get lessons to successfully partner with government agencies and private developers.
Selecting and Working with Developers, Contractors, and Architects
May 19, 2009 | 1:30 PM—3 PM EST (10:30 AM PST)
Address the range of design and development issues that arise when doing a facilities project, such as questions to ask during the vendor selection process, contracts and negotiations, as well as design, construction, and development processes.
Getting to Full Occupancy: Tenant Recruitment & Retention and Leasing
May 20, 2009 | 10:30 AM—12 PM EST (7:30 AM PST)
Hear tenant recruitment strategies and leasing issues in the current market from real estate professionals and center leaders.
Beyond the Building: Ongoing Operations Funding
May 20, 2009 | 1:30 PM—3 PM EST (10:30 AM PST)
Get revenue-generating strategies to ensure your center is economically sustainable.
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Cost per session
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4 session package
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Members
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$35
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$125
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Nonmembers
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$69
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$265
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Package Deal: Sign up for all four webinars to get a tool box of revenue-generating strategies and creative solutions to attract and retain tenants and help your center survive this down economy |
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Surviving the Economic Downturn
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In March, we asked you to share how the economic downturn is affecting your center. Four nonprofit centers share their strategies for getting through this economy.
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NEW, Inc., Ann Arbor, MI
When they saw commercial rents drop below their center’s rates, NEW, Inc. adjusted their rental prices to continue to meet their mission of providing affordable workspace. NEW is also signing tenants longer leases to ensure long-term cash flow. To incentivize existing tenants to re-sign their contracts, NEW offers a $500 credit for suite improvement during tenants’ two year renewal term. These changes helped to bring NEW’s all-time low occupancy rate of 87% back up to 96% capacity. Even with these changes, rental revenue only covers operating costs and not long-term capital maintenance. NEW is considering fundraising in the next year to make up for these un-recouped costs.
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MarinSpace, San Rafael, CA
MarinSpace has decreased rental rates and forgone usual fixed rent increases to keep rates below for-profit space. The center has also tightened its operational belt by reducing costs and foregoing some reserves. MarinSpace’s nonprofit real estate consulting services, however, are booming as organizations adjust their workspace due to contractions, mergers, downsizing, and programmatic shifts.
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NonProfit Center of Boston, Boston, MA
To honor its mission of offering rent below market rate along with supportive services, Third Sector New England (TNSE) began signing multi-year leases. Since the beginning of 2009, Third Sector has signed three new tenants to bring occupancy up to 96% and changed property management companies to reduce costs. They have also worked with two tenants to sublet portions of their offices. They now offer a monthly, free training series on topics related to the recession.
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Community Service Building, Wilmington, DE
The Community Service Building is not feeling the heat, yet, as only two of seventy-seven tenants have left the building for economic reasons. At least 15% of the Community Service Building’s annual revenue is generated by commercial tenants paying market rent that goes directly into a reserve fund. For the last decade, center leaders have been focused on energy-saving and green capital improvements. This has resulted in lower operating expenses that translate to rent for nonprofit tenants that has increased less than 15% over 12 years.
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Share your strategies with us. Email
Tuan Ngo at
tngo@tides.org.
Members of The NonprofitCenters Network can send their questions directly to the Ask-NCN discussion forum, where members can exchange information more instantaneously! Please contact
Tuan Ngo if you are a member and are not connected to the Ask-NCN discussion forum.
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Nonprofit Centers in the News
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Brower Center Grand Opening
David Brower Center will celebrate its Grand Opening with a day of lectures, documentaries, family activities and live music on Friday, May 8. The Brower Center is one of the Bay Area’s most advanced green buildings and a home for environmental and social action, combining both offices and program facilities in a 50,000 square-foot space. For more information, click here. Read press release.
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Do you have an exciting development or interesting experience that you would like to share with the Network? Send your news to info@nonprofitcenters.org and we will add it to the next Blueprint for Success.
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Spotlight on Shared Space and Services
The press is taking notice of the savings shared space and services offer the nonprofit sector.
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Joining Forces in the ‘Back Office
(The Chronicle of Philanthropy). Read how five social-service organizations saved $200,000 through shared administrative or "back office" operations.
Barter Fits the Bill For Strapped Firms
(Wall Street Journal). For some small businesses who are squeezed for cash and unable to get loans, Raymund Flandez writes that bartering is crucial for many organizations to keep operating.
One in Five Charities Considering Mergers to Help Survive Hard Economic Times
(The Chronicle of Philanthropy). A recent Bridgespan Group survey reveals expensive facilities as a factor making some nonprofits "fertile ground" for mergers.
Non-profits Boost Efficiency, Savings with Consolidation (Mecklenburg Times). NCN member Children & Family Services Center of Charlotte, North Carolina is getting notice for the impact its nonprofit center is making in the community.
Deaconess Associations Foundation, Cincinnati, OH
Chattanooga Matters, Chattanooga, TN
Geneva Car Barn and Power House, San Francisco, CA
Migrant Resource Network, Beijing, China
Community Development Support Association, Inc., Enid, OK
DC Workers' Center, Washington, DC
Link Centre, Tupelo, MS
Chaney Foundation, Waldorf, MD
Community Foundation of Charles County, Waldorf, MD
United Way of Perry County, Tell City, IN
Community Catalyst, Boston, MA
Community Initiatives, San Francisco, CA
Family Nurturing Center of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI
The Foraker Group, Anchorage AK
The Civics Research Cooperative, Kitchener, Ontario
Join the Network today to take advantage of conference discounts, webinars and members-only resources!
This month, we spotlight one of the generous hosts for the 2009 Building Opportunities Conference.
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Thurgood Marshall Center
Location: Shaw neighborhood in Washington, DC
Doors Opened: January 2000 |
Mission / Purpose: The Thurgood Marshall Center brings together supportive programs, services, and guidance to help families and youth build better lives and overcome poverty and neglect. Renovated and restored, this once-vacant but grand five-story, 35,000 square-foot building and gymnasium was selected for the White House Millennium Council’s Save America’s Treasures listing of 101 historic treasures.
History: The Thurgood Marshall Center is the former home of the first full-service YMCA for African Americans in the nation. It was designed by one of the nation's first African-American architects, W. Sidney Pittman, son-in-law of Booker T. Washington and was built largely by African-American artisans. Constructed in 1908, the Center provided a community gathering space for African-Americans during segregation. Leaders who frequented the Center included Thurgood Marshall, a key figure in the Civil Rights Movement, medical pioneer Dr. Charles Drew, lawyer Charles Houston, former Georgetown University Coach John Thompson, and writer Langston Hughes.
Contact:
Thomasina Yearwood
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