Member News

Member News: EveryMind Webinar

2020-01-27T09:39:00-05:00January 24th, 2020|Member News|

EveryMind Webinar – Tuesday, Jan 28, 9am
Serving the Unique Needs of Minority Veterans and Sub-Populations

This forum will train AmericaServes network users on how to better serve underrepresented veterans, uncover areas of stigma and identify best practices in supporting their needs in the community. The keynote and panel discussion will highlight the unique experiences of underrepresented veterans: women, LGBTQ+, racial and ethnic minorities, and chronically homeless veterans.
Click here to register.

Nonprofit Montgomery Member Year-End Giving Survey Results

2020-01-22T13:48:27-05:00January 22nd, 2020|Member News, Uncategorized|

Earlier this month we asked Nonprofit Montgomery members about 2019 year-end giving. Here are some of the results.

The majority of respondents saw an increase in year-end giving from 2018 and the rest saw about the same level giving and/or a decrease. In response to what was the decrease in percentage in year-end giving, it ranged from 2% to 50%.

These are some of the comments on how year-end giving performed. 
  • a lot of donors complained about the number of emails/alerts they received during Giving Tuesday and said it was overwhelming.
  • It appears that we had far fewer donations in the 101 – 499 dollar range. Perhaps those are donors more impacted by the tax law change?
  • We had fewer individual donors this year but more $ donated. Also seeing Donor Advised Funds being utilized more now.
  • We lost one of our peer-to-peer fundraisers. Also, #GivingTuesday was late this year. These may have factored in to the decrease.
  • An approx 6% increase in year end campaign revenue. We had a higher # of donations than at year end 2018, but a slightly lower average amount.
  • Lack of tax incentive plus an overwhelming glut in the ask environment meant the giving season was absurd. We are no longer counting on small dollar individual gifts and hope the tax law changes soon.
  • We made MANY more major gift requests this year which resulted in a huge increase (relatively speaking, of course) in individual giving to our annual fund.
  • Fewer donors, but bigger gifts.
  • Year-end giving was an extremely low turnout. As a small nonprofit, I wonder if it’s even worth it to add to the email inbox clutter?
  • While the amount seems like a small decrease, the amount of effort put into solicitation was greater, making this drop feel more substantial.

Congratulations Fall 2019 MORE Graduates

2019-12-03T10:58:57-05:00November 26th, 2019|Member News|

Nonprofit Montgomery would like to recognize organizations for participating in the November 20-21, 2019 session of MORE, Nonprofit Montgomery’s metrics and evaluation program.

Nonprofit Montgomery partners with the Department of Health & Human Services and the Healthcare Initiative Foundation, The Meyer Foundation, The Morris & Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation, and The Greater Washington Community Foundation-Montgomery County to offer capacity building programs such as FIRM (our financial leadership program) and MORE.

We’d like to thank our partners: Montgomery County DHHS, The Universities at Shady Grove, and these local funders who invest in building strength and capacity in the nonprofit sector.

Member News and Updates

2019-11-13T11:43:13-05:00November 13th, 2019|Member News|

EveryMind 2019 Impact Report available online
Some highlights include:
  • 17,805 calls answered through phone, text and chat on the hotline.
  • 414 veterans, service members and their families received support for 1,006 needs.
Identity, Inc.
Annual Report and Evaluation Report

Some highlights include:
  • 118 youth successfully completed workforce development, job readiness, and soft skills training.
  • 46 clients enrolled in job certification courses like Early Childhood Education, Certified Medical Assistance, HIPAA, OSHA and CPR.
The Justice Arts Coalition
In case you missed it, Managing Director Wendy Jason of JAC served as an advisory to the special edition of The Washington Post Magazine that was dedicated entirely to writing, art, and photography by currently and formerly incarcerated people.

Nonprofit Montgomery Advocacy Alert – November 8, 2019

2020-02-05T08:43:12-05:00November 8th, 2019|Advocacy, Member News, MoCo Government News|

Proposed Changes to Community Grants
Sign up for a focus group on grant changes today.

(L to R: Josh Watters, Carolyn Chen)

 

On Tuesday Nonprofit Montgomery hosted the annual Community Grants Dialogue providing nonprofit leaders with an opportunity to hear from County staff about proposed changes to the Community Grants process. Josh Watters, Budget Manager, Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and Carolyn Chen, Council Grants Manager presented on the following proposals. Proposals (explained below) have major implications for nonprofits that have been funded through County Executive and County Council grants.

At this point, none of the proposals have been adopted and there is still time to make your voice heard. Nonprofits will have the opportunity to have input into the changes through a series of focus groups hosted by Nonprofit Montgomery with County staff. Spaces will fill quickly, so sign up today.  

Here are the six proposals outlined at the Grants Dialogue. See the October 22 Office of Management and Budget Memo for further explanation of each. The PowerPoint presentation can be found here.

Item #1: Combine County Executive and County Council NDAs, make no changes to the Cost-Sharing Capital Grants Process
Instead of having two parallel review processes, the grants pool will be combined into one. Work on this priority began last year with the combined application. A single grant pool will be in place for FY21. Details of the process for FY 21 will be announced soon.

Item #2: Change the Community Grants Process to be Outcomes Driven
Currently Community Grants are approved in the budget process in the spring. This proposal would have a total amount for grants to be approved in the budget, but actual awards would be made outside of the budget process.  Grant funds would be allocated to priority areas aligned with the County Executive’s priorities, and awarded in grant cycles spread throughout the year. Grants would be reviewed by teams of subject matter experts. This change is slated for implementation in FY22.

Item #3: Create a Grants Office to Manage the Community Grants Process
A Grants Office would be created in County Government to administer multiple grant cycles. The office would help applicants, and would also help County departments apply for external funding. The Grants Office would be created in FY21.

Item #4: Create an Aspire Grant Program to help build Nonprofit Capacity
The Aspire Grants program would help nonprofits build capacity, innovate and partner. Grantees would receive technical assistance and be eligible for funding. The Aspire Grant program would be created in the FY21 budget.

Item #5: Create a Grant Agreement Tool
A Grant Agreement would streamline awards to nonprofits by removing them from the contracting and procurement process. Funds would be paid out in installments, and tied to progress reports outlining the accomplishment of grant outcomes. OMB is currently looking into the legality of this approach.

Item #6: Move Certain Community Grants to the Base Budgets of Departments 
Some Community Grants will be recommended for base budget contracts. County Departments have been asked to evaluate Community Grants they administer looking at how long the department has administered the grant, how the grant fulfills the departments outcomes, and how it fits with the County Executive’s priority outcomes and the Department’s core mission.

Recommendations will be made to the County Executive for grants to be moved to the base budget in FY21. Nonprofits will find out in March if services they provide will be included in base budget contracts. Contract will initially be awarded for one year, and may be competitively bid in the future.
TIMELINE AND DATES TO WATCH

November 22, December 2 & 3: Community Grant Focus groups (sign up here)
December: Community Grants application portal opens for applicants for funding in FY 21. Grants workshops held.
December 3: Legislation to create a Grants Office in County government will be introduced. Public hearings will follow.
January: Applications for funding in FY 21 due
January 16: Potential HHS/ GO committee meeting to review progress
March: Nonprofits find out if particular programs/services are recommended for base budget contracts.
July 1: Start of the FY 21 funding year; County Grants office created.

At this point, none of the proposals have been adopted and there is still time to make your voice heard. Sign up for a focus group to express your opinion.

Stay informed. Watch Nonprofit Montgomery’s enews for updates; and the County Grants team will be updating the website with current information. 
Background: Montgomery County’s County Executive and County Council grants awarded over $14 million in grants to nonprofits for this fiscal year. The County Council and County Executive committed to fixing some long-term issues in the process and have been working on a proposal. An internal workgroup was convened to develop a proposal, and two work sessions with the County Council Health and Human Services and Government Operations Committees (July 18 and October 24) have been held.

Nonprofit Montgomery asked for representation and a voice for nonprofits in the deliberations. Josh Watters from OMB and Carolyn Chen from the Council Grants office have met with Board and Advocacy Committee members and on Tuesday attended Nonprofit Montgomery’s Community Grants Dialogue to answer questions about the following proposed changes.

(L to R: Carolyn Chen, Lesley MacDonald, Debbie Riley, Jackie DeCarlo, Josh Watters)

County Council Honoring Nancy Leopold

2019-10-28T12:38:10-04:00October 26th, 2019|Member News|

On Tuesday, October 29 at 9:30am the Montgomery County Council is going to present a proclamation honoring CollegeTracks’ Co-Founder and longtime Executive Director, Nancy Leopold, for her many years of service to Montgomery County. Nancy also served on the Board of Directors of Nonprofit Montgomery. For more information please contact CollegeTracks.

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