Displaying items tagged: nonprofits

Like many cultural arts nonprofits, the Muskegon Museum of Art has been experimenting with ways to engage new audience members, especially younger people. For instance, that’s led to the museum holding events focused on craft beer or a particular type of imagery popular with that demographic, said Executive Director Kirk Hallman. However, those events are just the tip of the iceberg in reaching and getting donations from the next generation of donors. 

Despite all the distraction and noise around the 2020 election, veteran fundraiser Keith Hopkins does not think the cycle will have any effect on giving. Even so, he’s monitoring what’s going on in the economy and how the massive transfer of wealth could change what West Michigan nonprofits will need to do to attract the next generation of donors. 

United Ways around the country continue to focus on the population of people who are Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed (ALICE), or another measure for the working poor. United Way of the Battle Creek and Kalamazoo Region President and CEO Chris Sargent said about 40 percent of people in the region live paycheck to paycheck, which has many ripple effects in the community. 

GRAND RAPIDS — Backed by a three-year grant, the Grand Rapids Community Foundation aims to better understand and encourage philanthropic giving in the region’s African American and Latinx communities. 

GRAND RAPIDS — Goodwill Industries of Greater Grand Rapids Inc. wants to enable employees to achieve their professional work goals within the organization or other employment opportunities they may choose to pursue in the community.

Shortly after opening her philanthropic consulting firm in 2000, Christine Gavin got a firsthand look at the “unevenness” of philanthropy.

KALAMAZOO — A conversation among the leaders of four nonprofits has resulted in a collaboration that’s designed to save money and resources and improve service delivery to their clients.

The March 2019 merger of Porter Hills Presbyterian Village Inc. in Grand Rapids and Chelsea-based United Methodist Retirement Communities Inc. brought together the strengths of two like-sized and like-minded organizations. 

Diversity, equity and inclusion have been foremost in the minds of people who work in Michigan’s nonprofit and philanthropic sectors.

After 10 years as an annual event, ArtPrize switched to a biennial model for the first time this year with the debut of Project 1, a city-wide series of events and exhibitions from a handful of artists. The move marked a dramatic shift from the ArtPrize competition, which involves hundreds of artists.

GRAND RAPIDS — The inequities women face in daily life are often much worse for women who are incarcerated. 

GRAND RAPIDS — A house on Union Avenue SE may soon become part of the solution to providing safe and stable housing to the city’s growing population of homeless youths.

KALAMAZOO — The Blacktop Saints Riding Club is among hundreds of motorcycle clubs throughout the country that are riding for good. 

Just over three years ago, Joe Sobieralski was hired as the President and CEO of Battle Creek Unlimited.  Sobieralski joined BCU in 2015 as vice president and was then appointed interim CEO in 2016. Later that year, the interim title was removed. While there has been a lot of forward momentum under his leadership, he says there is still a lot more to be accomplished. With the renewal of his contract for another three years, we wanted to check in with him to get his view from the corner office.

GRAND RAPIDS — The ability of many nonprofits to successfully meet their missions can be directly tied to those who sit on their boards.

Jaime Counterman first worked for Metro Health in a contract marketing position as the hospital relocated from Grand Rapids to Wyoming. After moving into philanthropy and working elsewhere, she returned in early 2016 to work as a fundraiser at the health system’s foundation, and subsequently moved on a year ago to become executive director of Ele’s Place, a nonprofit organization that works with children experiencing grief. Counterman spoke with MiBiz about why she again returned in June as director of the Metro Health-University of Michigan Health Hospital Foundation. 

GRAND RAPIDS — The economic power of  Grand Rapids’ immigrant community grew by more than $100 million in just one year.

GRAND RAPIDS — Bethany Christian Services Inc. faces a difficult challenge in trying to ensure that unaccompanied migrant children who cross the border into the United States avoid any long-term effects from the detention process.

Trudy Ender joined Susan G. Komen Michigan on July 1 as its executive director. In her new role, she leads the local affiliate of the Dallas, Texas-based Susan G. Komen for the Cure Breast Cancer Foundation, which works to support research, as well as cancer screenings, diagnostics, education, outreach, and support services for patients and survivors. Susan G. Komen Michigan served more than 85,000 people last year in 24 counties across the state. Ender, who previously served as executive director of the Humane Society of West Michigan after working for years in the public sector, spoke with MiBiz about her vision for the statewide nonprofit. 

Building stronger relationships with donors who are part of a U.S. demographic shift should be part of the fundraising strategy for the nonprofit and philanthropic sectors. 

KALAMAZOO — Creating workplaces where equity is the norm rather than the exception forms the basis for the Coalition for Inclusive Communities initiative.

After being named executive director of Equality Michigan in May, Erin Knott is focusing in on efforts to expand the state’s Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act to protect LGBTQ people.

GRAND RAPIDS — Within the next 20 years, the need for the types of services provided by D.A. Blodgett-St. John’s is projected to double.

BATTLE CREEK — A more holistic approach to ensuring positive outcomes for students, teachers and the community is the driving force behind a new partnership involving Battle Creek Public Schools and Grand Valley State University. That’s according to GVSU President Thomas Haas, who notes having a highly skilled talent pool in Battle Creek will play a crucial role in the region’s ability to attract and retain new businesses.

In Michigan, the second most diverse agricultural state in America, one in six children goes to bed hungry. That was among the findings in Map the Meal Gap 2019, the latest report from Feeding America on food insecurity and the cost of food at the local level.

KALAMAZOO — Sorghum is not a common ingredient in beer produced in the United States, but it is used widely in Africa, where the grain is favored for its drought-resistant properties. But a collaboration between Tillers International, a nonprofit headquartered in Scotts, about 12 miles southeast of Kalamazoo, and Kalamazoo-based Arcadia Brewing Co. aims to give patrons a chance to sample a beer made with sorghum at a tasting event on April 30.

While he wouldn’t categorize it as “dire,” a leading Michigan-based consultant said the fundraising climate in Michigan has been better and currently is headed in the wrong direction. Michael Montgomery, owner of Huntington Woods, Mich.-based Montgomery Consulting Inc. and an instructor at the University of Michigan’s Dearborn campus, lays out the rationale for his predictions in his annual Michigan Fundraising Climate Survey, released at the end of March.

GRAND RAPIDS — Fountain Street Church is less than one month away from finalizing the creation of a separate nonprofit organization that will enable it to increase the efficiency of its space and its long-term sustainability. Executive Director Jack Woller said the non-denominational Fountain Street Church would retain ownership of the building it has occupied for 150 years, but will make a more formalized effort to sublease space or make in-kind donations of space to organizations that have a relationship with the church for continuing education or personal growth opportunities.

Building the United Way brand and providing a consistent donor experience is imperative for the organization and its affiliates to remain relevant. Those were among the factors that led to the announcement in January of the Van Buren County United Way’s decision to join forces with the United Way of Southwest Michigan for back office operations.

Industry trends increasingly are blurring the lines between philanthropy and business. As government funding to address issues such as food insecurity, homelessness and poverty continues to shrink, requests to funders are increasing as the nonprofit sector seeks to fill those service gaps. The result from this growing trend is perhaps most visible in philanthropic support of economic development efforts, often through significant investments.