The pandemic has put a lot of strain on nonprofits, forcing some to make tough decisions about which staff members they can afford to keep on the payroll each month. With in-person training conferences and fundraising events cancelled due to safety concerns, many organizations have found it more challenging to deliver direct services to people in need—all while the demand for nonprofit services remains sky-high.
In response, some organizations have backed leadership development programs to help cultivate the skills leaders need to stay afloat. A great example of this takes us to Philadelphia, where Harris Philanthropies and the Pew Charitable Trusts made a big commitment earlier this year for executive team training and capacity-building programming.
The program is based at the Bridgespan Group, whose work bridges philanthropy, impact investing and social entrepreneurship. Bridgespan is a global organization with many different geographic interests, but the one we’re highlighting here is specific to Philadelphia—a two-year program called Leading for Impact: Philadelphia, aimed at boosting the skills of nonprofit leadership teams so that they can balance their resources, goals and time.
Earlier this year, the organization announced its first cohort for the program, which was made possible by $4 million in funding from Harris Philanthropies and the Pew Charitable Trusts. Each of the organizations contributed $2 million. These grants are covering over 80 percent of the costs to the participants.
Local Philadelphia nonprofits that are part of the leadership program so far are the Camden Coalition of Healthcare Providers, Beat the Streets Philadelphia, ACLAMO, Congreso de Latinos Unidos, Domestic Violence Center of Chester County, Diversified Community Services and United Communities Southeast Philadelphia (participating as the Greater Philadelphia Community Alliance), Maternity Care Coalition and Philadelphia Academies. All of these groups serve under-resourced populations and neighborhoods, and work to provide for basic needs or ensure core human rights. People of color lead many of them. Their issue areas of focus range from public health to youth sports and domestic violence.
Senior leaders from these organizations will participate in Bridgespan’s Philadelphia program, which is actually going on in 10 U.S. cities. But even just in Philadelphia, a total of 100 nonprofits will benefit from the recent $4 million in grants. A total of 50 nonprofits are going through this main program and an additional 50 will go through a separate program that involves 12 to 16 weeks of online workshops and coaching support.
Good leadership starts at the top with nonprofit CEOs and executive directors, and long-term leadership programs like this one might mean the difference between an organization continuing to serve local residents or closing the doors for good.
According to Bridgespan, Leading for Impact: Philadelphia will launch new cohorts roughly every six months over the next three years, with each cohort including the leadership teams of eight or so organizations. To learn more about the program or to apply, visit this page on the Bridgespan website.