CEO Roundtable: Nonprofits

Each month, we gather around the table with a different group of Springfield business leaders to discuss industry trends. Join us as we get a behind-the-scenes look at our business community from the C-suite. 

Springfield Business Journal Executive Editor Christine Temple discusses the state of local nonprofit organizations with Brandy Harris, CEO of Boys & Girls Club of Springfield Inc.; Jason Hynson, executive director of Victory Mission and Ministry; and Jaimie Trussell, CEO and president of Crosslines Community Outreach.

What follows are highlights from our podcast guests, edited for length and clarity.

Funding cuts
Christine Temple: President Donald Trump has signaled many cuts that he wants to follow through with, [and] has already made cuts. There’s different agencies that are also facing shortages with staffing that are affecting grant cycles, lots of different challenges facing the nonprofit industry. If you could give an overview of how your organizations have been affected so far, or maybe what you’re anticipating moving forward.
Jason Hynson: At Victory Mission, we take very little operating state and federal funds. So in some ways, we’re less affected than others are. ... Like, we’re all going to make budget, and so if different nonprofits are going to be losing grant cycles and funding, are people losing jobs? Are things like that going to be happening? So, I think there’s a ripple effect that we don’t know yet how that’s going to affect [nonprofits].
Brandy Harris: OK, just to be honest, it’s like, every single day I get an email that’s like, hey, this thing that’s really good for kids, it’s probably going away. Be on the lookout ... it’s not even just the funding piece. So that affects cash flow. It affects so many things on the organization. So, it’s not just the funding piece. It’s also the uncertainty and chaos every day. We’re just kind of, as nonprofit leaders, trying to figure out how we’re going to navigate what new change is coming. And then you have staff members who, you know, their livelihood depends on us paying them, and then they hear about all this in the news every single day. It’s just incredibly stressful.
Jaimie Trussell: It’s the uncertainty that has been the most challenging, and the urgency, because things that we were counting on as nonprofits, suddenly and without notice, became something we couldn’t count on. Specifically in our program, we lost about $100,000 in funding. It was our AmeriCorps Seniors program. The AmeriCorps program has been running for years. We’ve received this grant for 30-plus years. This is the first year we didn’t receive it. So that came as a shock, and nonprofits are always, you know, we’re always struggling to adapt. That is, uncertainty is the name of the game.

Mindset shift
Temple: How does this change the way that you guys think of government entities? Because for decades, nonprofits and government, it was, this working-together mindset, right?
Trussell: It has been tempting for people to characterize the administration or government as this entity out to undercut nonprofits. And I would say, from our experience, that’s not it. The government officials, the elected officials I’ve met with and talked with, they are just trying to do the best they can. And we may not agree on anything, but every single one – and I think our community is blessed that we have an amazing delegation that does work really hard to do what they think is best – they’re fighting for the underrepresented, and they’re fighting for the nonprofits that have done good work. Again, it’s not always in complete alignment with all of our goals, but I think it comes down to people, and people care about people. This is a tough year, but again, it’s been tough before – it’ll be tough again. I think when you do see the community step in to fill the gap, the need is not going away, and people who want to meet the need will still be in the trenches doing what they can. Those are the folks who show up and fight the good fight.
Hynson: Maybe people can plan, but I don’t know, it feels like the rug’s been pulled out. That’s the sense I get from my nonprofit friends and stuff. It’s like, oh my gosh, the rug is gone.

Economic impact
Temple: If you guys can quantify in some way: What does it mean when you donate money to your organization, or the government invests in your organization, why is that money well spent?
Trussell: [When] we do not take care of our most vulnerable residents – whether it’s the kids, people dealing with substance abuse, people who are unhoused – we are negatively impacting our entire community. And that is real dollars for business owners, and that is workforce that is not being developed, that is a brain drain for our community that doesn’t want to stay where poverty rate is too high. ... And so I think it’s a both, and, everybody all-hands-on-deck kind of issue, and if you do not personally see the value in caring for folks who are struggling, whether you agree with them or not, whether you agree with their choices or not, you are undercutting your family’s security, safety, stability and future potential.
Harris: Last year, Boys & Girls Clubs of America commissioned a study with the University of Michigan, and what they did was gather data over a very long period of time to kind of quantify what the return on investment for donating to a Boys & Girls Club is. And what they found – it was just profound to read the entire study – but the key takeaway is that for every $1 invested into the Boys and Girls Club, there’s a $10.32 return in economic benefit and believing in kids. That return is incredibly important, and for a lot of people, especially business leaders or the government, whichever level you’re at, those are numbers that they want to hear. But it’s not just like, here’s this amount [of money]. I can actually see it every single day when I go to work, and I wish we lived in a world where people were just like, yeah, I want to help kids because, like, that’s what I want to do. But sometimes people need to know how it’s going to impact them if they’re going to donate or support a cause.

Leadership lessons
Temple: A lot of business leaders and organizations go through these challenges, right? How have you changed the way you lead as you have experienced this challenge?
Harris: I have changed a lot as a leader. I will just say, I am so thankful to have this role. When I first got this position in 2019, I was so excited, and I thought, oh my gosh, I’m going to open a club on every corner, and everyone’s going to give me money. Everything is going to be abundant. There will be no problems. And then day two happens. You just have no idea what it is like to be a nonprofit leader until you are living it, which is why I think the nonprofit community is so cohesive and collaborative. ... And during that time, when I first started, I remember being so excited. ... My board at the time gave me some of the best professional advice I’ve ever received, which was like, we need you to slow down and listen. ... It was the greatest professional advice I’ve ever received, because what I did was do a very intensive listening and learning tour. I listened to Club kids, parents, partners, donors, you name it. I tried to be an active listener. What was so cool about that was that the vision, once I was able to craft a vision, it wasn’t just mine anymore. It was our entire community’s, and it was so powerful for me as a leader.

Excerpts of the conversation by Deputy Editor Gregory Holman, gholman@sbj.net.