Month: May 2021

While many agency executives think “consulting” automatically means strategic planning, board development or even financial recommendations – sometimes consulting means logistics planning, modifying work process solutions, writing revisions to job descriptions or even doing grant research.  

For Dress for Success Cincinnati, having OneSource Center as a resource on all these topics has been a tremendous support as the organization prepares for its upcoming move to Norwood in June.   

According to Executive Director Lisa Nolan, when she and her team need help, she asks “How can we utilize OneSource Center’s services to assist us in this effort?”   

The mission of Dress for Success is to empower women to achieve economic independence by providing a network of support, professional attire and development tools to help women thrive in work and in life. Wanting to best utilize volunteers and the tremendous number of clothing donations coming through their facility, Dress for Success collaborated with OneSource Center to build efficiency systems into its inventory process and to make recommendations on staffing for the Donation Center. 

“Often what happens in organizations is that once work practices and department responsibilities are established, they are simply repeated over time without questioning if they are still the best approach,” said OneSource Center’s VP Consulting Services Vickie Ciotti. (more…)

The Center for Addiction Treatment (CAT) was able to find just the “perfect” artwork at OneSource Center’s redistribution warehouse this week.  Five new pieces of art will “finish off” their newly renovated Monarch Center for its grand opening on Friday, May 7.  The CAT’s Monarch Center will house the organization’s Intensive Outpatient Program and Family Services programs. 

CEO Chellie McLellan said their staff started visiting the warehouse on Open Shopping Days (the last Wednesday of the month when all nonprofits can shop without membership) but today signed up for an annual membership to take advantage of 5-day-a-week accessibility to nonprofit savings.  She said the annual membership fee was minimal and the organization can stretch its budget significantly here by taking advantage of these offerings.

“OneSource Center’s warehouse has become the place we go to first when we need office furnishings or mission items.  Having the location near downtown makes this a convenient, quick stop and we love the idea of recycling – re-using something for good that might have been discarded.” 

Nonprofit organizations were significantly impacted by the epidemic and not only suffered from a lack of funds, but also saw an increase in people needing services. How do nonprofits move forward in grant writing strategies in 2021? During a free online webinar titled “Grant Writing in 2021: What’s Different and What’s the Same?” Tech Soup‘s facilitators discuss trends in giving, what has changed, and what remains the same so agencies can weather the storm and continue providing important, mission-driven services.  A link to the free webinar is available here. 

Does your agency support families that visit your facility with their children? Could you use a FREE changing table in your men’s rest rooms? The tables are being provided on a first-come, first-serve basis by Pampers as a way to remove barriers hindering dads from being “hands-on” parents. Complete this form to request the free offering. Questions? Email Bobbi Dillon at dillon.bn@pg.com with the subject line “Love the Change.”

Did you know OneSource Center offers FREE Nonprofit Check-ups, helping organizations assess the health of their nonprofit? The process is simple – usually involving the CEO and board chair providing some key information from materials they already have on hand. For most nonprofits who already have more to do than they can handle – this tool helps leaders prioritize where they should focus their efforts – something that is often difficult when organization leaders are in the “thick of things.” Why does OneSource Center offer this complimentary service? The answer is simple: OneSource Center wants nonprofits to succeed!

UpSpring, a nonprofit whose mission is to empower children experiencing homelessness in Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky through education and enrichment opportunities, took advantage of the free OneSource Center Nonprofit Check-up process after hearing about it at the Social Venture Partner “Fast Pitch” competition. The process sounded interesting to Executive Director Alex Kuhns and the price was right!

“The free Nonprofit Check-up process we went through with OneSource Center was a time for our organization to pause and quickly reflect on what we were doing well, and where we needed to make some adjustments,” said Kuhns.  “As it turned out, some of the things our team was concerned about were things we could eliminate to better focus on things that had more impact. The process began some great conversations with our staff and board, and set the stage for a strategic planning initiative that ultimately helped us pivot easier with the pandemic response we are implementing now.”  (more…)