About 20 nonprofit executives met informally to learn about the progress of the Delaware Valley Nonprofit Partnership (DVNP).
Ladder 15 on Sansom Street in Philadelphia was the site for the Delaware Valley Nonprofit Partnership update on Thursday, May 15.
Fairmount previously met with the DVNP Steering Committee and interviewed about 25 leaders from different regional nonprofits to gauge the interest and feasibility of the DVNP. Fairmount produced an environmental scan to help direct the next steps in DVNP’s plan to fully launch within the next two years. Thursday’s informal meeting was an opportunity for nonprofit executives to discuss the key findings from the environmental scan in greater depth.
Tom Young [center], President, eXude Risk Management and Commercial Insurance, shares insights about the DVNP’s environmental scan. Young is an entrepreneur who is largely spearheading the DVNP initiative.
Environmental Scan Key Implications
The environmental scan revealed nonprofit leaders generally see a need for a regionally-focused, cross-sector association for small and mid-sized nonprofits. The ability to save financial resources was identified by those interviewed as one of the most appealing potential benefits to join the DVNP. Financial savings could occur in several ways. For example DVNP members could share purchasing costs for equipment, services, and commodities. Additional membership benefits appealing to many nonprofit executives interviewed include:
- Having shared interests in public policy and funding.
- Fostering programmatic collaborations among groups that do not typically know each other.
- Raising public awareness of the value of the nonprofit sector to the region (and using that increased awareness to have a unified voice and representation with elected officials).
Don Kligerman [left], President, Fairmount Ventures chats with Katherine Primus [right], Vice President of Business Development & Marketing, Philadelphia Education Fund.
A Model For Success
The Greater Pittsburgh Nonprofit Partnership (GPNP) is a similar initiative established in 2006 that has brought together more than 370 nonprofits. GPNP has collaborated with DVNP and shared committee information, by-laws and other documents to help DVNP create a successful model.
The conclusions from DVNP’s environmental scan are positive. A clear opportunity exists to successfully unite many of the region’s nonprofits with one voice.
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