Support Kansas City's Blog

I was invited to participate as a panel member in the Board Chair Boot Camp on February 3, 2009, sponsored by Nonprofit Connect. The four-hour workshop consisted of a three hour training class, led by Larry Guillot from Park University, Hauptmann School of Public Affairs, followed by a one-hour panel discussion. This is the first time this workshop has been offered: congratulations to our board member Amy Mulligan Kennedy for putting together a great program for this sellout event! Amy serves as Education and Member Services Manager for Nonprofit Connect. The other panel members were Tracy Foster, Board Chair of KCPT, Gavin Steketee, Board Chair of the Dream Factory and Jarene Stafford, Community Volunteer, which represented a wide variety of agencies and board leadership experiences. In our overview, I described some of the keys to our success at Support Kansas City, which include recruiting and developing good people, developing a commitment to planning and processes and measuring a...

Building and protecting your agency's reputation in the community may be a nonprofit's best untapped asset in these uncertain economic times. During a recent discussion about the strength of reputation with a former board member, he provided some insight about how important this is in his funding circle. Reputation is an intagible asset that may not be valued until it's lost. I sat up and took note and made a mental inventory of those characteristics of reputation that our board and staff felt were important. An understanding of the agency's mission and programs - the community may have heard of your agency, but oftentimes there may be confusion about what your agency actually does. Support Kansas City provides business and administrative support services to other nonprofits. It took a number of years for the community to understand how we serve our nonprofit clients and the value we bring to the community. The people who serve your agency further your reputation in th...

Now in my almost seventh year leading Support Kansas City, it's time I take advantage of blog technology to share ideas. I will develop my blog entries the same way I have approached my communications in the past, by sharing the wisdom of both the nonprofit clients we serve and our capable staff and board! You can look forward to comments from staff, board and postings with quotes from clients. Now more than ever our nonprofit community needs to share resources and support each other in collaborative and meaningful exchanges of information. Thank you for reading this blog. Debra Box Executive Director