At some point, every nonprofit struggles with the question of whether to lease office space or whether they should buy. Board members may feel like they are “wasting” money on rent, when they could be investing in a commercial property. On the flip side, many nonprofits get in over their heads by buying a bigger building than they can sustain.
After opening in 2004, the 40,000 square foot Alliance Center, owned by The Alliance for Sustainable Colorado, began experiencing problems with its HVAC system. In 2010, The Alliance began making plans to repair the HVAC system, and decided to take this opportunity to deepen the center’s commitment to environmental sustainability and pursue a LEED platinum certification
The Alliance for Sustainable Colorado, the owner and operator of the Alliance Center, undertook a four-year “transformation” project of the 41,000 square feet building, constructed in 1908. In 2010, the five-story brick building, a former warehouse, was configured in a traditional, private suite layout that had little natural light and limited space for gatherings or collaboration. The renovation sought both to “create a cost-effective, high-performing building model” as well as to identify a replicable approach that could be applied to other commercial offices and historic buildings.
When I lived in Toronto, I worked for an organization that made its home at the Centre for Social Innovation. The Centre had been open for just a few months, and it was great to be a participant in the burgeoning space as the tenant community gelled and management explored how it was going to best meet the needs of the center’s community. As someone who has spent much of their working life in nonprofits and studying nonprofit management, I was quickly hooked on this model of nonprofit shared space that looks to create efficiencies through shared amenities/office services and bolster effectiveness through peer learning and collaboration between tenant community members.
It’s happened. Your landlord isn’t going to give you the same deal on your windowless basement office as he’s given you for the last five years. You have twelve months to figure out where to move, and you don’t even know how to start. We talk to many Executive Directors in this position. Here’s some tips for you as you start the process.
Just back from a whirlwind trip to the Bay Area where I got to visit seven nonprofit centers: Tides Thoreau Center, Fort Mason Center, Ed Roberts Campus, Ninth Street Independent Film Center, David Brower Center, The Lab and The Flight Deck. Large and small, grassroots to institution-led, these centers encompass everything from the arts to serving those with disabilities. In addition, our trainings sparked some remarkable conversations. I thought I would share some of the highlights and lessons I learned.
Shared Spaces is a 9,200 square foot center in Mankato, Minnesota, owned and managed by the Mankato Area Foundation. The center hosts 7 nonprofits with about 35 staff plus interns: United Way, Mankato Area Foundation, YWCA, Diversity Council, Minnesota Council of Nonprofits, and Miracle League of North Mankato. The center itself is primarily administrative; direct services are not offered at the center itself.
Managing shared meeting space is one of the biggest challenges you face in a nonprofit center. I’ve seen everything from custom room booking systems that use room occupancy sensors to cancel room reservations to room schedules kept using pen and paper. Virtually everyone wants there to be a technology platform that does it all, at an affordable rate, or better yet for free. With the explosion of coworking space, more room booking systems are coming on to the market. Here are a few that are popular across the network.
I’ve seen a lot of nonprofit real estate projects destabilize the organizations they are meant to bolster. That’s why I’m passionate about nonprofits undertaking careful feasibility planning when contemplating a space project. Whether your organization chooses to rent or buy, whether the project is for your organization alone or with a cohort of other nonprofits for a shared space – the key objective is to do no harm and make sure that your new space enhances your mission and doesn’t undermine it. Occupancy costs are second only to personnel in terms of nonprofit expenses, but even the most sophisticated nonprofits often get tripped up by poorly planned real estate projects.
Over the past few weeks we’ve asked NCN members to share their holiday decor. Here are a few spaces that were in the spirit:
1536 Wynkoop Street, Suite 103
Denver, CO 80202
info@nonprofitcenters.org
720.836.1189
April 15, 2024
March 19, 2024
