Contributed by Collin Lessing
9/25/2009

With Colorado’s governor announcing the need to slash even more state programs due to budget shortfalls, nonprofit leaders are preparing for what impact this may have on the communities they serve.

Government cuts may result in fewer public service programs even though the number of needy Coloradans continues to grow. People in need more than ever are seeking out the support of nonprofits as they try to stay afloat in these hard economic times. And for Colorado nonprofits, this means more clients and fewer dollars with which to serve them.

This fall, some nonprofits are turning to an executive director boot camp that will help their agencies best ride out the economic storm. This boot camp, called Executive Director Academy (EDA), will be offered for a third consecutive year and for the fifth time by Denver-based JVA Consulting.

EDA offers nonprofit leaders a seven-week intensive course that equips nonprofit leaders with the knowledge, skills and resources needed to survive an economic downturn.

Melia Heimbuck, executive director of Credit Union Foundation, graduated from EDA last year. “I liked how everybody who stood in front of us had been in our shoes at some point. They could tell the personal stories about when they had been there, done that.”

More than 10 former nonprofit clinicians will lend their expertise to the academy as instructors. According to Janine Vanderburg, an EDA instructor and JVA’s president, “In this current economic environment, it is critical that nonprofits run efficiently and effectively; there’s a lot at stake.”

On September 21, Governor Bill Ritter’s office announced that September revenue projections for the state of Colorado showed a $240 million shortfall for the current 2009-10 fiscal year. In a statement released September 21, Governor Ritter said, “We’ve already closed shortfalls of $1.8 billion and reduced spending by 10.4 percent. As we’ve done before, we’ll move quickly, thoughtfully and responsibly to once again tighten our belt and reduce spending.”

For nonprofit organizations, the thought of more cuts to the state budget can be an unsettling one. A recent survey released by Johns Hopkins University showed that 80 percent of U.S. nonprofits are experiencing fiscal stress, with close to 40 percent reporting that the stress was “severe” or “very severe.”

Based on the survey, the factors affecting nonprofits include declining endowment values (80 percent), rising health benefit costs (57 percent), declining revenues (51 percent), and declining government support (35 percent).

In past years, nonprofit executive directors and executive director hopefuls have traveled from areas throughout Colorado, and even from as far as Boston, to attend the educational series.

“For me to make the effort to come to Colorado from Boston to take these courses demonstrates what the need was,” said Pauline Alighieri, a flight attendant who started a cancer foundation after losing a friend to cancer. “I have a responsibility to the people who donate to us and support our program.”

As the economic slump continues, more people will look to nonprofit organizations for help. To meet that need while addressing the financial health and capacity of their own organizations, nonprofit leaders will depend on best practices and efficient systems more than ever. The information, resources and training provided by EDA prepares nonprofit leaders to meet these challenges head-on.

According to JVA senior consultant Jennifer Johnson, students can expect the lessons at EDA to be relevant to today’s economy. “What’s great about EDA is that our materials are updated for each installment of the course,” she said. “The information we will be sharing is customized to respond to the challenges of the current economic condition.”

Executive Director Academy will run from Oct. 6 through Nov. 19 on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3 to 6 p.m. For more information, call Kim Marker at 303-477-4896 or visit www.jvaconsulting.com/EDA.