There are over 1 million nonprofit organizations officially incorporated in the United States with the best intentions of addressing societal problems. The organizations are often created by individuals that share a collective mission of addressing the ills affecting their respective neighborhoods. Unfortunately, very few organizations operate at their intended level because many lack the capacity and resources required to recruit adequate board and staff members needed to create positive change and permanent results. The organizations do not understand the benefits of strategic planning, fund development, project based budgeting and creating performance measurement systems. In addition, as the demand to provide more services with fewer resources continually grows, so has the need for better financial oversight and return on investments from the philanthropic and governmental sectors.

In recent years, the Enron and WorldCom debacles equally impacted the nonprofit sector, which prompted some elected officials and community stakeholders to call for increased accountability and ethic reforms. These “calls” has communicated the need for nonprofit and faith based organizations to incorporate leading best practices and other methodologies into daily operations to drive board, staff and volunteers towards success. If we desire to succeed in addressing the societal ills plaguing our communities, the need to increase organizational capacity must be assessed and implemented throughout the entire organization.

The “Straight From the Funder” Conference is a forum for nonprofit and faith based organizations to discuss a framework to identify the organizational problematic areas. This conference is an opportunity for organizations to learn the trends and the dos and don’ts of fund development from various entities that provide financial support to Camden’s organizations. Additionally, this conference is a venue for organizations to engage similar organizations that are experiencing the same challenges.

The “Straight From the Funder” Conference is a next step in bringing all stakeholders together to highlight concerns and lay the foundation needed to build the capacity levels of community and faith based organizations that directly impact the lives of Camden residents. We invite you to be part of this innovative event. Register today by visiting our website at www.camdenez.org and by calling 856-365-9061. I look forward to seeing you in June!