Southeastern Connecticut Council of Governments – Gap Analysis

Prepared for the Southeastern Connecticut Council of Governments by Interim Executive Solutions, LLC. Executive Summary This gap analysis brings together two “big data” sources— Connecticut Economic Resource Center (CERC) town profiles and United Way’s 211CT data—alongside interviews with municipal officials and nonprofits to identify gaps in service delivery in southeastern Connecticut. We use demographic and financial data by municipality and region to offer a socio-economic backdrop to the regional human services ecosystem. We then explore unmet human services needs by municipality and the region overall. Finally, we offer perspectives on patterns of unmet need, assessments of the information available, and […]

Interim Executive Management: Seven Benefits to Consider

from an article in The Bridgespan Group newsletter Summary A nonprofit that loses a top leader faces an anxiety-producing situation even under the best circumstances. But losing an executive without a succession plan in place can be particularly agonizing. Nonprofits are increasingly engaging professional transition consultants as interim executives, which can help them fill the short-term gap to give them time to consider the organization’s longer-term future. A nonprofit organization that loses a top leader (e.g., chief staff officer, CEO, executive director, executive vice president) faces an anxiety-producing situation even under the best circumstances. But losing an executive without a […]

YEAR UP Nonprofit Demonstrates National Success in Job Training

Economically disadvantaged young adults trained in a Year Up program, earn 53 percent more than economically disadvantaged young adults who did not participate in the program. The findings said Year Up increased total hours worked by three to four per week and graduates earned nearly $4 more per hour than members of a control group that were part of the study. In 1982 the Job Training Partnership Act budgeted about $3 billion in annual funding for the program.  Since then with repeals and replacements of the law (1982 federal Job Training Partnership Act to 1998 Workforce Investment Act of 1998 […]

Capacity Building Tips for a Stronger Nonprofit

A Crowded Field The National Center for Charitable Statistics’ website reports that Massachusetts has 19,037 nonprofits who reported financial information to the IRS in 2008, 34.4 nonprofit organizations for every 10,000 residents. Rhode Island, surprisingly, had almost a quarter as many – 4349 or 47.4 per 10,000 population. Neither of these rates compares favorably with large conservative states like Texas (20.3) or even other, larger liberal states like New York (28.4) or California (22.6). New England seems to grow nonprofits almost twice as fast as everybody else.If there are too many organizations chasing too few donor dollars, then the nonprofit […]

Dashboard Data Moves Organization Forward

By Chris Moore A nonprofit without a recently updated business plan & supporting intelligence dashboard is like a boat without its engine and navigation tools.  Does your nonprofit have a business plan?  Does it have a Business Intelligence Dashboard in place so that you and your management team are watching both leading and lagging indicators of success, and in real time?  If you answered no to either question, then your business operations may not be running at peak efficiency and effectiveness.  Our services help nonprofits improve operational outcomes so that they in turn can focus on their mission without distraction […]