Two great shared space centers have come across my desk recently. We hear about new centers all the time, but these struck me because of their unique missions: Startup Boat & Women's Building
Two great shared space centers have come across my desk recently. We hear about new centers all the time, but these struck me because of their unique missions: Startup Boat & Women's Building
I can’t wait for April. NCN has two exciting events in store. On April 27th we will be hosting our advanced training, called Energize: High Impact Shared Spaces in Philadelphia. This is a great opportunity for center operators to learn about leading issues in shared space and network with their peers.
Shared spaces can be platforms for your community to access new funding sources. I’ve come across a few new initiatives that could be a great fit for you. As shared spaces, you are running centers that are at the crossroads of many organizations, issues areas and constituencies. These are great opportunities to demonstrate the impact of the diversity of your tenants/members and to provide a value back to them by bringing them potential new resources.
I've been curious about the Ford Foundation's new organizational strategy, FordForward. The Ford Foundation is changing how they do their work and shifting their focus to the addressing inequity. The Ford Foundation has supported shared spaces in the past and their support for arts-based nonprofit centers looks to be in doubt for the future, but their pronouncements have even broader implications for our field.
More and more workplaces are inviting people to bring their furry friends to work with them, and shared spaces are no different. We have several members in the Network where every day is “Bring Your Dog to Work Day.” Dog-friendly workplaces can be a huge benefit to employees, because they don’t have to pay for dog walking services or doggie day care. The Center for Disease Control, among other researchers, has conducted studies that indicate having dogs around can reduce employee stress and boost morale. In my experience at The Alliance Center, dogs are also a great conversation starter.
This report sums up what so many nonprofits have discovered the hard way – that you often get what you paid for! $1 buildings aren’t the silver bullet they seem to be and need to be evaluated just like any other facility project. Acquisition costs are often just a small part of the overall development cost.
Many people use the words “hotel” and “motel” interchangeably, but there is a history behind the words that gives a clue to the lodging available. Hotel is a French word for public residence, and now typically means an inn of higher quality. Motel is an American invention from the 1920s that played on Hotel with a new twist – an added motor. With Americans traveling more and traveling further in their autos, it became the new norm to stay short amounts of time at an inn before hitting the road again. A motel sign let you know you could motor right up to your room door and be ready to leave again quickly. While the habits and expectations for each are strikingly dissimilar, the only key difference in a hotel and a motel is the location of the room doors – inside or outside.
If you’ve been on Pinterest lately, you know that chalk boards have come back in a big way. Many nonprofit centers have embraced this trend, turning entire walls into writable surfaces by covering them with chalk board or white board paint. A recent conversation on Ask-NCN highlighted some of the things you should know before opening the paint can.
I was glad NCN was able to host a webinar on the Social Return on Investment on 8/26/15. Jennifer Johnstone the President and Chief Executive Officer of Central City Foundation led us through the process they have undertaken to evaluate the performance of their organization. SROI fascinates our members and it’s not surprising. Nonprofit shared space practitioners are hungry for metrics to evaluate their work and to communicate their impact. Members of our network run complex organizations and a single formula to measure success is intriguing.
I was recently invited to join Todd Greer of Synervision Leadership Foundation on their podcast, The Nonprofit Exchange, to talk about why nonprofits share space with one another. You can watch the entire recording online or download it from iTunes. With co-working spaces popping up in communities around the world, many small nonprofits are considering this model for their office space. As many members of our community know, this isn’t a new idea. Nonprofits have been co-working since before co-working was cool – we have centers in the Network that are over 50 years old!