As 2019 draws to a close, our Nonprofit Leadership Center staff and board of directors have been reflecting on the past year. As a nonprofit organization that exists to support other nonprofits, our success at NLC is a direct reflection of your success. So, what have we accomplished, what have we learned, and what does it mean for our nonprofit sector?
I’m pleased to report that 2019 was a historic year. As your partner in strengthening our nonprofit sector and community, here are several of the ways we’ve made an impact together in 2019.
1. We experienced historic growth in our training services.
In 2019, NLC served 3,750 nonprofit leaders through our training and consulting services — the largest number in our organization’s history. That means more nonprofit leaders across the Tampa Bay region are investing in their personal and professional development than ever before! Attendance at our professional development classes grew by 19%, while the number of leaders participating in our peer-based learning groups (we call these cohorts) increased by 63%. This includes programs like our Nonprofit Management Certificate program at the University of Tampa and CEO Circles where nonprofit CEOs come together to discuss critical issues and share best practices.
In the coming year, we’ll be working with a subset of the nonprofits that are most engaged with us to map and measure the mission impact they’re having in our community as a result of the growth and capacity they’re building through NLC classes, conferences, custom solutions and cohort participation.
2. We welcomed top talent on our staff, board and training roster.
During the past year, we’ve reimagined how we serve the growing and evolving needs of our diverse nonprofit audience by adjusting our structure and staffing to better align with our strategic goals. This year, we recruited extraordinary leaders and created broad lanes in which they can put their gifts to work to add value to our community. On the staff side, we’ve been blessed to welcome Charlie Imbergamo and Jessica Dvoracsek to our team. We also welcomed five new board members to our leadership team and expanded our training facilitators to include new programming and learning opportunities that meet the changing needs of nonprofit leaders.
3. We launched classes in Pinellas County.
After hearing from our nonprofit community that you want more learning opportunities from NLC in Pinellas County, we launched our new Pinellas County classroom series in 2019. During the past year, we held 10 classes across Pinellas in the areas of board governance, leadership, fund development and marketing/communications. This new series was only possible because of the generosity of our founding funders, including the Foundation for a Healthy St. Petersburg, Pinellas Community Foundation, Juvenile Welfare Board and Allegany Franciscan Ministries. We look forward to growing this series in 2020.
4. We measurably deepened engagement and impact on behalf of our nonprofit community.
As we do every year, we had big goals in 2019, with 27 indicators on our impact dashboard. While we are pleased to have met or exceeded nearly all of them, perhaps the result I’m most proud of is an 83% increase in the number of organizations that are engaging in multiple types of professional development we offer to strengthen their capacity and impact, thereby increasing their ability to create true change. That’s both a wow for us and for the organizations and leaders we serve.
I continue to feel humbled and privileged to lead NLC and serve alongside our talented team of staff, board, trainers and nonprofit community. I’m certain that together, we’ll continue to take our organization and sector to new heights in 2020 to strengthen our community. Here’s to each of you who touch the nonprofit sector in your daily lives and work every day to make our collective work and impact better. Cheers!