In a West Palm Beach music hall on a recent evening, the Parent-Child Center Inc. began a new chapter.
Amid national sports figures and local nonprofit supporters, one of Palm Beach County’s oldest social services organizations took in proceeds from the auctioning of sports memorabilia, golfing packages, concert tickets, and many other items.
It was the first major fund-raising event in the history of the Parent-Child Center since the organization’s dramatic turnaround started in 2001. Fortunately, former Major League Baseball player Brad Wilkerson, generously agreed to support Parent-Child Center through his annual Celebrity Golf Event, which began with an auction and party at the new B.B. King’s Blues Club at CityPlace.
The agency participated in the fund-raiser at a time when nonprofits in South Florida and across the country are scrambling for funds, said Patrick McNamara, president and chief executive officer of Community Partnership Group in Riviera Beach, which is comprised of Parent-Child Center and Housing Partnership.
Created in 1979, the Parent-Child Center aims to promote social-emotional health and well-being of children and their families. It was the premier behavior health provider for children in the area in the 1980s and 1990s until rapid growth and mismanagement pushed it to the brink of closing in 2001. At that time, the Florida Department of Children & Families became concerned about the serious void that would be left if this community asset no longer existed. To prevent this from occurring, the department assisted Parent-Child Center to connect with Housing Partnership, which was known for responsible management. Under the umbrella of Community Partnership Group, the two organizations committed to responsible fiscal management and effective programming.
Focusing on quality service delivery, the Parent-Child Center has been fortunate in its return to fiscal health over the past 8 years. However, McNamara states that, in the midst of a difficult economic climate, the agency must ensure that services continue to be available for children and families dealing with social and emotional challenges. He believes that a sound, diverse mix of funding support, including private fundraising, makes this possible. Up to this point, the agency relied on grants, fees, and other service revenues to provide their essential services. “We’ve had a great reputation and have always gotten the support we needed from our partners,” McNamara said.
But in the current recession, local nonprofits like the Parent-Child Center, often the first organizations to aid people in trouble, are seeing an increased demand for services coupled with decreasing funds to pay for services. Donors are cutting back to save money for their own households, and government agencies are losing tax revenues from plunging property values.
The Nonprofit Finance Fund, which last year surveyed 986 nonprofits, determined that many organizations expected to sustain permanent financial damage from the recession. Only 16 percent of the nonprofits anticipated recovering their operating expenses in 2009, while 52 percent expected the recession will have long-term or permanent negative effects on their agencies.
The organizations said in the survey they are taking steps to adjust, including cutting programs, reducing salaries and delaying paying vendors. At the same time, almost all organizations -- 93 percent -- anticipated an increase in demand for services.
The Nonprofit Finance Fund, which provides loans and access to grants to nonprofits, urges organizations to team up with those who fund them to find innovative ways to deal with the challenges. Other nonprofit experts suggest agencies start for-profit subsidiaries, share staff with other organizations and rent out parts of their facilities.
Gearing up fund-raising is also vital, experts say.
When it comes to raising money, strong management with a solid plan, along with good ideas and old-fashioned hard work, are critical, Michelle Bonoan and Naree Viner, education and nonprofit practice leaders with California executive search firm Gary Kaplan & Associates, wrote in the San Gabriel Valley Tribune last year. In today’s highly charged, fast-paced, and competitive philanthropic environment, nonprofits must create a targeted focus on fund-raising to ensure long-term success, they wrote.
“The Parent-Child Center expects to weather the recession, but it is turning to fund-raising to make it less averse to economic downturns,” states Renee Layman, Clinical Division Director. The organization has formed a fundraising committee to work with individuals passionate about its mission, and hopes to eventually hire a development manager with a proven track record in building and implementing a comprehensive fund-raising plan. One major goal of the new initiative is strengthening relationships with donors by meeting with them regularly, thanking them, and keeping them engaged with the organization.
During the agency’s turnaround, Layman helped developed an array of programs, among them: a transitional living program for mentally ill teenagers aging out of foster care; counseling for women with postpartum depression; crisis therapy for youth in the juvenile justice system, and support for children dealing with severe physical illnesses.
Now the recession is presenting new challenges. Yet as dreadful as it may be, the economic slump is in some sense a way to strengthen organizations like the Parent-Child Center which must pursue new sources of support, develop concrete sustainability plans, and devise creative fund-raising strategies, McNamara said.
So the auctioning of sports memorabilia, golfing packages and concert tickets to help balance budgets, as distant as the concept may have been just a few years ago for the Parent-Child Center, is now an important and modern necessity. And thanks to generous supporters like Brad Wilkerson, the organization is hopeful that the future will be bright for the children it serves.
Leon Fooksman is a journalist who writes for Community Partnership Group. He can be reached at leon@astorytellingcompany.com.
Patrick McNamara & Brad Wilkerson