Networking / collaboration – Washington Nonprofits

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Member Spotlight: Port Townsend Marine Science Center – How sea stars and abalone create community engagement

November 14, 2019 Julia Hunter

The Port Townsend Marine Science Center (PTMSC) protects endangered species, advocates for marine life, provides education through school programs and events, connects the community to the local environment—and they continually inspire conservation of the Salish Sea with an attitude of hope. What fuels them? Two key strengths: volunteers and partnerships. Janine Boire, Executive Director, talks about how these two strengths work in tandem to fulfill their mission. She named two successful partnerships that have been powered by volunteers in their Citizen Science Program. The first is the Pinto Abalone Recovery project, led by the Puget Sound Restoration Fund. The pinto […]

Community Foundations: Community, Connection, and Collaboration

October 16, 2019 Nancy Bacon

Give where you live. That’s the philanthropy that community foundations inspire. Community foundations bring together the financial resources of local individuals and businesses in support of worthy causes. They invest in deep local knowledge to solve problems and act on opportunities. They make space for nonprofits to learn from each other and visitors from outside the community. Through their work, they weave together all of the elements of a healthy community. Washington Nonprofits’ Nancy Bacon recently spent an afternoon with three community foundations: Pacific Community Foundation, Olympic View Community Foundation (Clallam County), and Whidbey Community Foundation. All three are young […]

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Member Spotlight: Youth Services of Kittitas County – Mentoring as a way to transform your world

May 13, 2019 Julia Hunter

Burnout in the nonprofit sector is a trending topic these days. Best selling books have been written about it, self-care is a popular keynote topic at nonprofit conferences, and many nonprofit professionals feel it. In Ellensburg, WA, the nonprofit organization Youth Services of Kittitas County is demonstrating how their emphasis on the power of mentoring can be a tool to address the challenge of burnout in the nonprofit sector. Youth Services of Kittitas County has been operating in their region since 1969—50 years of providing services to the community. In 2013 they revamped their outreach and created a formal mentoring […]

Member Spotlight: Washington Main Street Communities – Strategy Transforming Communities Across Washington

March 15, 2019 Julia Hunter

The Main Street Story Have you ever had a lovely vacation in a delightful town with a charming Main Street? Maybe you have fond memories of a Main Street in the community where you grew up. Or you might even be lucky enough to live in a place with a Main Street Community! Since 1984, the Washington State Main Street Program has been helping communities revitalize the economy, appearance, and image of their downtown commercial districts. They do this by building a strategy centered around a community’s unique heritage and attributes, lifting up what is special about it to make […]

Member Spotlight: Happy Pastures and The Council On Aging & Human Services

February 20, 2019 Julia Hunter

This is a story of Skeeter, Hammie, and a place called Happy Pastures. It is also a story about community and how nonprofits weave together services for people in need. Paige Collins serves as the Executive Director of The Council on Aging & Human Services and as the founder of Happy Pastures, a nonprofit livestock rescue based in LaCrosse, WA. As in other places, it’s not unusual for people in Whitman County to serve their community in many ways. Nonprofit volunteers and employees offer a variety of skills that contribute to a thriving community that, though may be spread out […]

Member Spotlight: Bellingham Bay Community Boating Center – Capsizing Assumptions and Removing Barriers

October 17, 2018 Julia Hunter

This summer the Bellingham Bay Community Boating Center challenged the status quo of how they offer services and risked disrupting their revenue stream. And it was a huge success. Their Free Tuesday Night Paddle Series offered a no-cost, one-hour paddle on Bellingham Bay. They decided to remove financial barriers to outdoor recreation and wanted to see who would come if they offered access to paddling for free. They were amazed to see more than 1,500 people who came for family-friendly, safe experience on the water, expanding the Boating Center’s understanding of the community they serve. What made the Free […]

Member Spotlight: Mid-Columbia Arts Fundraiser – Collaboration Lifts All

September 19, 2018 Julia Hunter

If you live in the Mid-Columbia area, you might be looking forward to buying your tickets for the 4th Annual Mid-Columbia Arts Fundraiser. What a great way to support four organizations with one ticket: the Mid-Columbia Mastersingers, Mid-Columbia Musical Theatre, Mid-Columbia Symphony, and Mid-Columbia Ballet. At a time when organizations suffer from event fatigue and express concern about donor competition, these four organizations have come together to create one fundraiser: a multi-talented, arts-packed evening of entertainment around a theme. The 3rd Annual Mid-Columbia Arts Fundraiser brought the “fab four” together for a Beatles themed night, to great acclaim. They raised […]

Member Spotlight: Volunteer Methow – Volunteer Innovation & the Elusive Generation Gap

August 16, 2018 Julia Hunter

There’s got to be a way that we can do this on a smart phone, someone thought. “This” was the connection of community members with nonprofits needing help: specifically, the millennial generation. The Methow Conservancy took a strong interest in engaging this age group in work across their community through the GenNxt project. They convened a volunteer fair to bridge the passion for community that this generation brings with concrete ways to “plug in.” Yet connecting people the old-fashioned way, face to face, brings inefficiencies that come with events requiring the attendance of geographically-dispersed people. Smart phone to the rescue. […]

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Member Spotlight: The Wishing Star Foundation – Mission Meets World (and baby goats)

June 12, 2018 Julia Hunter

How did baby goats get involved with the oldest wish granting organization in Washington State? Dan Curley, Executive Director of the Wishing Star Foundation, tells the story of how baby goats raised almost $40,000 for the foundation with the help of 110 volunteers. His advice to nonprofits: bring in the community as much as humanly possible. The Wishing Star Foundation grants wishes for children with life threatening illnesses through the help of volunteers, donors, businesses, and the joyfully given support of the local community. Curley explains how inviting the public in as participants of your work, with real investment in […]

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Member Spotlight: Blue Mountain Humane Society – How collaboration can strengthen a community

February 14, 2018 Julia Hunter

For the Blue Mountain Humane Society, an animal shelter is the “happiest place on earth.” It’s where pets and owners are reunited and meet for the first time. Executive Director Sara Archer explains, “It is such a place of hope and possibility.” How did this one nonprofit turn what for many is a sad “pound” holding lost animals, into a place of love and connection? Sara Archer recounts how revamping their mission statement and then focusing on an articulated vision helped her to clearly and boldly engage with the community. Her organization loves to collaborate with nonprofits in their Walla […]