Food Central Cowork is the only value-added agriculture and food-focused coworking hub in Western Canada. Access our shared co-working space, meeting rooms, kitchen and lounge area, or participate in programs to help you grow your business, get invites to industry events, and discounted panels and workshops. Food Central brings entrepreneurs, service providers, academic institutions and enthusiasts together to pursue their goals, collaborate and scale businesses.
ReCity Network is a bold venture, serving as a catalyst for innovation and collaboration among non-profits, mission-driven businesses, and faith-based organizations. As Durham's hub for social impact, we leverage our facility and network to unite the work of these programs by eliminating silos and creating collaboration that results in meaningful, systemic, and transforming change for Durham's community. The collaborative, community-based solutions that arise will leave the Bull City poised for a new generation of shared success.
The physical spaces nonprofits utilize play a key supporting role in the success of organizations, from specialized program space anchored in their communities to having quality, affordable administrative space that promotes collaboration and attracts and retains talent. However, many nonprofits face a myriad of challenges when it comes to having the program and/or office space that best meets their needs. Nonprofits can face: Acquisition Challenges. Generally, the commercial real estate market, and its capital, moves fast. In contrast, nonprofits take time to assemble resources Development Challenges. When nonprofits do acquire space, the leader of the organization often becomes an accidental developer, slowing down projects and possibly adding costs. Leasing Challenges. When rents are on a fast-paced rise, nonprofits can find themselves vulnerable. Ownership Challenges. Owning a building can be like running a program. It has a budget, needs dedicated staff and has financial and other metrics to be measured by. Nonprofit Real Estate Holding Entity as a Solution Traditionally, a real estate holding entity mitigates risk associated with the ownership of real estate assets. Here, the goal it is to bring expertise to the development and operation of nonprofit space that caters its design for and welcomes the types of uses the sector provides. These holding entities can:
We’re so excited…and we don’t have to hide it! NCN has received a $55,000 grant from Fidelity Charitable Trustees’ Initiative. It will fund the research and publication of Rethinking Overhead: Daring to Share Resources and Strengthening the Safety Net: Human Services Under One Roof. This project will combine qualitative research focused on Human Services centers and Shared Services organizations to establish best practices for creating, maintaining, and growing these unique capacity building programs. Our current research shows shared space and services create environments for collective impact, increase nonprofit effectiveness, and spur innovation. We know collaborative organizations work together differently and develop cutting-edge solutions for their clients that would be otherwise impossible if they remained siloed. While our 2010 Shared Services Guide remains relevant (and popular), we think it’s time for an update. This research project will further evaluate the efficiency of current shared spaces and let us continue to serve as a thought leader for you--our community. We’re taking your feedback into consideration and making this type of resource even better. The nonprofit sector has changed so much over the past eight years, and we want to take advantage of this opportunity to lead the evolution of nonprofit shared space.
Through collaboration and the development of formal and informal partnerships within the greater community, Heartwood House serves the residents of Ottawa who are marginalized, living in poverty, and/or in need of educational, mental health, emotional, physical, economic, employment, training or recreational support – Heartwood House provides an affordable, accessible workplace for small non-profit and charitable organizations to enable them to maximize their services through a mutually supportive hospitable and empowering environment for their clients and participants.
Our Member groups provide a wide range of services, information, networking and skill development opportunities to low income adults and families, new immigrants, people with differing abilities, people improving literacy or spoken English skills, people needing health and mental health supports, and people developing new employment, personal, or artistic skills.
What is one interesting fact about your space?
We strive to achieve positive community outcomes and earn revenues to support sustainability.
Heartwood House and the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Ottawa enjoy a highly successful partnership in the ownership of the property at 400-412 McArthur Avenue. Heartwood owns 87.5% and the Unitarians 12.5% of the building.
Heartwood House is also home to two other successful partnerships: the OC Transpo Lost & Found and the Everybody Wins! Electronics Recycling Program. Income generated is used to help support the work of the Heartwood community.
What are your favorite resources that you would recommend to others?
Our greatest resource is our Member groups. We are constantly looking for opportunities to share knowledge and expertise between one another so that we can learn from experience while being invested in sharing ideas.
We have learned that it takes intentional effort to build trust and community and that it takes time. By investing the time and energy there seems to be greater levels of engagement to share these resources and expertise. We are better together!
Center Name: Heartwood House
Location: Ontario, Canada
Center Website: www.heartwoodhouse.ca
The Rose Andom Center opened the summer of 2016, as the first Family Justice Center in the Rocky Mountain region, with a mission to improve the lives of domestic violence victims by facilitating better access to the services and staff of community organizations and government agencies in a single, safe location. The Rose Andom Center is named in honor of successful Denver entrepreneur and former McDonald’s franchise owner, Rose Andom.
The innovative model of the Rose Andom Center brings together 7 city and 13 community-based organizations in one building, representing the forward-thinking, collaborative approach to provide ‘best practice’ services to some of our most vulnerable citizens. The staff of partner organizations provide a wide array of services, including domestic violence advocacy and counseling, crisis intervention, civil legal support, services for children, law enforcement services, information regarding the criminal justice system, assistance with public benefits, housing resources, and referrals for job readiness and job search assistance.
What is one interesting fact about your space?
In 2017, the Rose Andom Center was honored to receive a Downtown Denver Partnership Award, given to businesses that have made significant contributions toward creating a unique, vibrant, and diverse Downtown environment, and have left a lasting, positive impact on Downtown Denver. Since opening, we have had over 3,300 victims and 900 children come into the Rose Andom Center to access multiple services from our partner agencies. The building underwent a comprehensive renovation to provide a warm, welcoming, safe environment for the clients and to promote collaborative work among the partners. A centralized “nest” area provides comfortable interview rooms for private conversations with clients, as well as an open great room and kitchen for their use, and a playroom for the children to enjoy while their parent meets with service providers. The playroom includes a custom wall-sized Light Bright Wall, enjoyed by all who visit the Rose Andom Center!
What are your favorite resources that you would recommend to others?
Working with the Nonprofit Centers Network, Denver Shared Spaces and Oz Architects helped ensure we could think through our goals in developing the best shared space possible, that would meet our mission and be of benefit to our clients!
Center Name: Rose Andom Center
Location: Denver, CO
Center Website: www.roseandomcenter.org
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For most nonprofits, office space is the second largest expense, after personnel costs. Most of the time we make do with what we can get our hands on – working out of our living rooms or a donated church basement. Too often, we let our office space work against us instead of for us!
You may be fighting your office instead of fighting for your cause if in the past year, you have
I challenge you to keep track of how much time you spend fighting with your office the next week. I think you’ll be surprised. You can also take it a step further and multiply that by your hourly salary to figure out how much your space costs your organization each week. If time is money, your board may be interested to see how much your “free” or “cheap” office space really costs.
What should you be paying for office space anyway? (Here’s a clue: the answer isn’t $0.) For a quick estimate, do this math: multiply 250 sq. ft. per person times the per square foot lease rate for Class B office space. You can find the average per square foot by searching for real estate market reports in your region (typically made public by major real estate firms like CBRE or Cushman Wakefield). For example, since NCN has two staff in Denver, we should be paying $11,595 per year. (Depending on the local custom, you might be given the square footage cost by the month, so pay attention and adjust accordingly.) You’ll still need to budget for utilities, internet, cleaning, security, etc., and more.
Sharing space allows us to achieve several thousand dollars in cost savings every year – not to mention the time of managing the internet, cleaning the office, keeping the printer up and running, and more! Think you might be up for running a shared space? Check out Virtual Nonprofit Centers Boot Camp today!
It’s a new year! Time to get into shape! No, I’m not here to harass you on how well your New Year’s resolution towards good health is going, or if you’ve already given up on it. (You can do it!) I’m here to help your nonprofit get its plan about sharing space into shape, so you can present your best self to your community. This year, we're bringing you a different kind of Boot Camp, that's making it super easy and cost effective to learn about nonprofit shared space with Virtual Nonprofit Centers Boot Camp. You can get in shape on your own (in your pjs) over 2 months or with your colleagues (maybe not in your pjs) over 6 months, starting whenever you register. Make this year the year you dive into the idea that you, your board, or community has been thinking about: getting serious about shared space. Here are just a few ways Virtual Nonprofit Centers Boot Camp will get you and your team there:
Sometimes it can be hard to explain everything that takes place within a shared nonprofit space – sometimes you just have to see it! Check out these videos that our members have created to show off their amazing spaces.
ReCity Network, Durham, NC
The Flight Deck, Oakland, CA
What could happen OVERNIGHT? from Ragged Wing Ensemble on Vimeo.
Langs Community Centre, Cambridge, ON
I was recently traveling for my Summer vacation. When I would come across new people and tell them about my work at The Nonprofit Centers Network, I got the typical mix of responses that I’ve come to expect. They range from, “Wow! Sharing space and resources makes so much sense for the nonprofit sector,” to the confused “That’s nice, but what do you really do?” Then there was a conversation with a woman that caught me by surprise. From the way she reacted, I knew immediately that she was one of those who “got it” right away. Towards the end of our conversation, she asked me, “What can I do to support this idea? I don’t run a nonprofit organization, and I’m not a philanthropist.” Here are some of the tips I shared (and some I wish I had thought of at the time!):
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April 15, 2024
March 19, 2024
