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Create a strong non-profit sector

Published Saturday December 27th, 2008

A11 Tim Coates Commentary

It's something former U.S. President Bill Clinton did not say that has stuck with me since seeing him speak a few weeks ago in Moncton.
ENLARGE PHOTO

While his focus was understandably on the global economic crisis, what he would not say, he told the assembled crowd, is his "usual" speech. The one he would give to global audiences before the economy started imploding. "What I usually talk about is the work we do at my foundation to combat AIDS, climate change and poverty." That success of that work, he said almost in passing, is possible because of the exponential increase in the number and diversity of non-governmental organizations, or non-profits. Their ability to find novel solutions to some of societies' most pressing challenges has made them important stakeholders.

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Former premier Frank McKenna and former U.S. president Bill Clinton wave to an audience of thousands in Moncton.

The New Brunswick non-profit sector serves the same function. The province has more than 5,000 non-profit organizations from homeless shelters, to environmental activist groups, to industry organizations. To take one area as an example, the sector in Moncton employs more than 1,000 people and contributes more than $40 million in economic activity to the city. I have been working in the non-profit world in New Brunswick for about 16 months. Before taking my current position I worked with the sector in the U.S. As Clinton moved on to other topics, I was thinking about one way the U.S. system supports non-profit organizations, and that the timing couldn't be better for New Brunswick to adopt that model. In the U.S., private foundations such as Rockefeller and Gates provide a significant amount of funding to non-profits. These funds come with a program officer attached, someone with years of experience in the sector. Often they have led organizations or held senior management positions. This person works with their client organizations to provide advice, coaching and links to external networks that leverage additional funding and help them reach their goals. For several reasons, Canada doesn't share the U.S. model for funding non-profits, relying more on government funding. But despite this difference, the New Brunswick government should adopt the program officer model for non-profits that meet a given criteria and receive public funds above a certain threshold. This support would enable the sector to grow faster, smarter, be more connected, and improve the quality of services provided to New Brunswickers. Two reasons make this proposal doable and urgent. The first is the recently created Community Non-Profit Organizations Secretariat within the provincial government. The Secretariat was one of the recommendations made by the former MP Claudette Bradshaw, in her report to the government on the state of the non-profit sector. The Secretariat is the ideal location for a pilot team of program officers. Part of its mandate is to help promote sustainable funding and support services for the sector, craft collaborative approaches to policy making, and facilitate networking. A dedicated program officer would bring much know-how to these efforts. The second reason is that the sector itself is undergoing a transformation, and New Brunswick's

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telegraphjournal.com - Create a strong non-profit sector - Breaking News,...

http://telegraphjournal.canadaeast.com/opinion/article/522836

nonprofit organizations need to be ready. Part of this shift is the rise of social innovation and social entrepreneurship, relatively new fields where there is still a lot to learn about how best to build and support them. Another is that donors are increasingly asking to understand how their investment has helped make a difference. This move to more empirically based work is leading away from emotional appeals (although that's still important and successful). The adoption of technology, especially social media, is changing how the sector operates, leading to creative approaches to tackling tough problems, such poverty, homelessness and rural development. Unfortunately, public policy in the non-profit field is not moving fast enough to support these changes. Embedding a program officer inside government would have almost immediate impact. Imagine what a non-profit leader could offer by simultaneously being a consultant, bringing the latest research and best practices to the sector, and a policy advocate, helping to develop policy at the cabinet table where New Brunswick would become a model to the rest of the country. Clinton spoke about non-profits for only two or three minutes, before moving on. It's too bad he didn't say more; he would have a wonderful perspective on how to connect our approach to this crisis with long-term sustainability and competitiveness, a job for which non-profits are critical. If we use this crisis as an opportunity to boost the effectiveness of our non-profit organizations, we should invite Clinton back to give the speech he "usually" does. Tim Coates is Executive Director of 21inc.

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