​When you hear the phrase “community outreach” what comes to mind? Most people immediately think of nonprofit organizations hosting community events, which isn’t necessarily wrong. However, on its own it’s an incomplete view of what community outreach means for nonprofits. Hosting events can be an important component of what outreach in our communities looks like, but it is, by no means, all that should be included.
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Often, this overly simplistic view of what is included in community outreach comes from a misunderstanding of what community outreach should accomplish. The goal of community outreach shouldn’t just be to recruit volunteers and increase funding to support the organization’s mission. Outreach should also be the organization’s mission. 

• Public/private collaboration with a government entity
• Direct, equal collaboration where both organizations are co-leaders on a project
• Contractor collaboration where one organization owns the project but seeks support for one portion of it from another organization
• Coalitions where multiple organizations come together on a project

This can be an incredibly difficult question to answer!

Anyone in the nonprofit space can give you examples of wonderful collaborations they have been a part of where the outcome was far greater than either organization could have achieved on its own. These collaborative wins are fuel for high impact nonprofit missions – the veritable magic that can make 1+1=3 …or 4 …more.

And yet, anyone involved with nonprofit work can also give you examples of when collaboration was an organizational killer – the precipitating factor that derailed an organization’s mission, culture, or effectiveness. Collaborating on the wrong projects or executing collaborative efforts poorly can result in mission creep, stretching an organization too thin and diluting their impact.

Our very own Christine Martin was recently featured on John Martinka's (Martinka Consulting) podcast series, "Getting the Deal Done." Listen to her explain why and how Valtas Group was founded,  market conditions for non-profits, mistakes that non-profits may be making, and how business people can add value to a non-profit organization. 

The pandemic has challenged the dominant ways of thinking about place, space, and time in our personal and professional spheres as well as across the communities nonprofits serve.
At the 2021 Washington State Nonprofit Conference we are excited to explore concepts of place, space, and time – inviting in different perspectives, uplifting innovative and adaptive stories from the field, and pushing our collective thinking and creativity.

The WSCPA Not-For-Profit and Health Care Conference is an annual broadcast to keep you up to speed on issues in the ever-changing NFP and health care arena.
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During the two-day conference attendees can select from different tracks to ensure that the information is relevant and useful. Options include sessions on GAAP, internal controls, advocacy, employee benefits and much more. The conference is also a place to mix and mingle with friends and colleagues at the networking reception on Tuesday evening. 

On May 20th and 21st, the Washington State Nonprofit Conference, organized by the Washington Nonprofits will take place at the Meydenbauer Center Main Hall in Bellevue, WA. The conference highlights the inspiration, ideation, implementation of enlightened volunteers and succession planning and much more.