Shared Spaces Archives - The Nonprofit Centers Network

23/Oct/2023

Our consulting clients run the range of family and community foundations, coalitions of nonprofits, human services providers and arts organizations to name a few.

Nonprofit Centers Network

19/Sep/2023

We recently wrapped up our fall Regional Chapter roundtables and always love hearing the latest tips from practitioners on the ground. Check out the helpful tips that our members shared with each other at this quarter's NCN member Roundtables.

Nonprofit Centers Network

17/Jul/2023

Welcome to the new members from the first half of 2023! As we’ve passed the midway point of the year, we wanted to take a moment to highlight all of the new members that have joined or rejoined the NCN membership community so far this year.

Nonprofit Centers Network

20/Jun/2023

We recently wrapped up our summer Regional Chapter roundtables and always love hearing the latest tips from practioniers on the ground. Check out the helpful tips that our members shared with each other at this quarter's NCN member Roundtables.

Elizabeth

24/Apr/2023

5 tips from NCN Spring Regional Chapter Roundtables: 1. Ask your community "what in the space is giving you life?" Some of our Co-Leads asked this question in the roundtable, and we loved it! Reminding ourselves and our community members what is so special about our beautiful spaces can be energizing, motivating, and impactful.

Nonprofit Centers Network

18/Jan/2023

Welcome to the new members from the second half of 2022! As we officially move into the new year, we wanted to take a moment to highlight the rest of the new members that joined as NCN members in the second half of 2022. We are so excited to welcome the great organizations listed below to the vibrant, adaptive, and supportive community that our long-time members have created, and are thrilled to see the social purpose real estate movement continuing to grow.

Want to join NCN and become a new member too? Read more here or fill out this form to connect with our Membership & Events Coordinator for more information.

Nonprofit Centers Network

17/Jan/2023

5 tips from NCN Winter Regional Chapter Roundtables: 1. Try a collaborative internship program Have you ever heard of a shared internship? One center was able to get a grant to pay interns for an amazing internship program focused on their center theme. Among other benefits, the interns spoke about the value of being able to learn from several different nonprofits, since they can work with various tenants, which makes it unique to other internships opportunities they had.

David Schrayer

14/Nov/2022

The swirl of opinions about the pandemic’s impact on the state of commercial real estate and how that intersects with the outlook on nonprofit centers continues. Some reports are that workers are already back in their offices at near pre-pandemic levels and have been for the better part of a year, at least in small and mid-sized cities. Another report out of San Francisco recently warned that the city’s status as a commercial real estate investor’s dream hasn’t yet found its post-COVID footing as office buildings are pulled off the market after fetching lower than expected bids. From NCN’s perspective, some NCN members report lingering vacancies, but our consulting pipeline is currently full of groups creating new nonprofit centers in their communities.

Nonprofit Centers Network

17/Oct/2022

As we transition into fall, NCN members at our recent fall Regional Chapter Roundtables shared changes that are happening not only with the season, but also changes with their centers and their organizations. In the fall, the chapters focused mostly on the topic of finance, and it’s always nice to hear of new innovations and ideas as we continue this important work. Below are a few innovations that we wanted to highlight for this season:

5 tips from NCN Fall Regional Chapter Roundtables:

1. Consider new ways to meet conference room and meeting space demand

Meeting and conference space demand seems to be rising across the board. Some members asked: “How can that be a source of revenue? Are there meeting room memberships or other models that make sense?”

2. Take a sabbatical
Mission driven work is critical for our communities, but it’s important to give ourselves and our teams time to recharge. One member shared their policy of encouraged staff sabbaticals, and after hearing about their amazing trip, we hope all centers can implement a similar policy!

3. Build in rising utility costs
We heard that utility costs seem to be rising for centers, especially in certain regions. Whether you have a standard % increase annually, or true-up at the end of the year, you might consider how to build that in to your budget more carefully this year.

4. Evaluate tenant participation
We all know that tenants add a lot more to centers than their financial contribution. If tenants are paying rent, but aren’t coming into the office, are they taking the place of other organizations who might contribute more to the vibrancy of the center? Some centers are starting to have these conversations to think of creative ways to reevaluate tenant contributions and participation.

5. Build trust with two-sided transparency and financials
One member suggested that as a landlord, they have build trust with tenants and have a stronger reciprocal relationship by being more open with their financials and by having two-sided transparency.

Nonprofit Centers Network

20/Sep/2022

The swirl of opinions about the pandemic’s impact on the state of commercial real estate and how that intersects with the outlook on nonprofit centers continues. Some reports are that workers are already back in their offices at near pre-pandemic levels and have been for the better part of a year, at least in small and mid-sized cities. Another report out of San Francisco recently warned that the city’s status as a commercial real estate investor’s dream hasn’t yet found its post-COVID footing as office buildings are pulled off the market after fetching lower than expected bids. From NCN’s perspective, some NCN members report lingering vacancies, but our consulting pipeline is currently full of groups creating new nonprofit centers in their communities.