Shared Space and the New Nonprofit Workplace

While the economy has boomed since the Great Recession, so too have real estate rents and gentrification in cities across North America; nonprofits priced out of formerly affordable neighborhoods lack adequate workplaces to meet their missions. Shared Space and the New Nonprofit Workplace presents a comprehensive overview of shared space as an innovative model and effective long-term solution for nonprofit organizations' need for stable and affordable office and program space. In particular, it focuses on co-locating multiple nonprofits in shared spaces, often called nonprofit centers, with shared services and a collaborative culture. This comprehensive resource provides a practical road map to develop new workspaces; documents benefits for nonprofit staff, organizations, and their communities; presents challenges and solutions from successful nonprofit shared spaces; and considers nonprofit centers' history and future trends. Further, it offers nonprofits an opportunity to engage in forward-thinking practices, such as collaborative service delivery, green building operations, and cross-sector alliances. The book will be useful to nonprofit executives, staff and board members, foundations, philanthropists, real estate and urban planning professionals interested in creating these projects, and researchers and students of the nonprofit sector.

China Brotsky, a serial social entrepreneur in the charitable sector in the United States and Canada, has created multiple nonprofit centers and shared services programs.

Sarah M. Eisinger, LEED AP, currently serves as director of JCamp 180, a program of the Harold Grinspoon Foundation, located in western Massachusetts. She has more than 20 years of experience in the nonprofit, real estate, community development and philanthropic fields.

Diane Vinokur-Kaplan, PhD, MSW, is Associate Professor Emerita at the University of Michigan School of Social Work.

REFLECTION
PREFACE
OVERVIEW OF THE BOOK


PART 1. INTRODUCTION

Chapter 1. A New Model for Nonprofits: Shared Space and the Nonprofit Center

Chapter 2. Stories from the Field: Once Upon a Time: The Story of the Literacenter
By Stacy Ratner (Chicago, Illinois)


PART 2. HOW TO CREATE A NONPROFIT CENTER

Chapter 3. Mission Comes First: How to Create a Nonprofit Center

Chapter 4. A Profile of Existing Nonprofit Centers

Chapter 5. Making the Case: Gaining Support for Your Center with Data-Driven Results


PART 3. REAL ESTATE, FUNDING, AND FINANCING

Chapter 6. The Development Process

Chapter 7. Finding a Home: Site Selection for Nonprofit Centers

Chapter 8. Stories from the Field: The Alliance Center: Colorado's Hub of Sustainability
By John Powers and Janna Six (Denver, Colorado)

Chapter 9. Stories from the Field: A Developer's Perspective: The David Brower Center
By John Clawson, Equity Community Builders (Berkeley, California)


PART 4. OWNERSHIP AND GOVERNANCE

Chapter 10. Who Drives Decisions: Ownership and Governance of Nonprofit Centers

Chapter 11. Stories from the Field: Building Community, Not Just Buildings: United Way Toronto and York Region's Community Hubs
By Lorraine Duff, United Way (Toronto and York Region, Ontario)

Chapter 12. Stories from the Field: The Common Roof (TM): A Values-Driven Approach to a Rural Nonprofit Center
By Glen Newby (Barrie, Ontario)


PART 5. DESIGN

Chapter 13. The Design Process: Creating a Working Shared Space

Chapter 14. Stories from the Field: Universal Design: Creating the Ed Roberts Campus
By William Leddy, Leddy Maytum Stacy Architects (Berkeley, California)


PART 6. OPERATIONS

Chapter 15. Facilities That Facilitate: Nonprofit Center Operations
By Saul Ettlin and Kim Sarnecki

Chapter 16. Stories from the Field: Creating Social Innovation Through Shared Space, Social Bonds, and Community Animation
By Centre for Social Innovation (Toronto, Ontario)

Chapter 17. Stories from the Field: From Grants to Earned Income: Changing the Financial Profile at NEW Center
By Yodit Mesfin Johnson (Ann Arbor, Michigan)


PART 7. COLLABORATION

Chapter 18. Creating Collaboration in Nonprofit Centers

Chapter 19. Stories from the Field: The Collaboration Project: A Virtual Learning Lab
By Lara Jakubowski and Katie F. Edwards, Nonprofit Centers Network (Denver, Colorado)

Chapter 20. Stories from the Field: Because the Future Needs Everyone: National Youth Transitions
Center
By Jessie MacKinnon and Danielle Cameron, National Youth Transitions Center (Washington, DC)


PART 8. SHARED SERVICES AND REPLICATION

Chapter 21. Deepening the Shared Space Model: Advanced Nonprofit Center Approaches

Chapter 22. Stories from the Field: Fiscal Sponsorship and Shared Space: A Natural Fit
By Jonathan Spack (Boston, Massachusetts)

Chapter 23. Stories from the Field: The Power of Shared Services to Enhance Cultural Flourishing: The CultureWorks Management Commons
By Thaddeus Squire (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)


PART 9. GOVERNMENT, PHILANTHROPY, AND SOCIAL ENTERPRISE

Chapter 24. Partnering with Allies: Government, Philanthropy, Social Enterprise, and Community Development

Chapter 25. Stories from the Field: Denver's Test Kitchen: Creating a Recipe to Nurture and Coordinate a Region's Shared Spaces
By Megan Devenport (Denver, Colorado)

Chapter 26. Stories from the Field: A Strategic Use of Municipal Assets: The Arts Factory
By Marietta Kozak (Vancouver, British Columbia)

Chapter 27. Stories from the Field: Rent Support in a Volatile Market: Sobrato Centers for Nonprofits
By Megan Corning, Mara Williams Low, and Kelly Costa (Silicon Valley, California)


PART 10. SHARED SPACE AND NONPROFIT CENTERS AS A FIELD OF PRACTICE

Chapter 28. Key Lessons to Learn from Earlier Nonprofit Centers

Chapter 29. It Takes a Network to Build a Field: Lessons of the Nonprofit Centers Network (NCN)

Chapter 30. Will Nonprofit Centers Continue to Increase? Trends to Consider


PART 11. CONCLUSIONS

Chapter 31. Looking to the Future