Nonprofit Selection: The Day After and the Million Dollar Vision

I received several calls, not emails, the day after. The concern was apparent. Did we make the right choice? Were we equally responsible to the community and ourselves? Were we losing sight of how we got here? These calls-like those in previous years – came the day after Band Together’s 2015 nonprofit selection meeting. The event consumed almost five hours of presentations and deliberations and the time invested leading up to that meeting was easily 250+ people-who-care, power-hours.Every year, Band Together is challenged to make the right decision based on what we believe The Triangle community needs and what an unconditional nonprofit partnership with Band Together might look like. Key stakeholders (our board, advisory board, nonprofit vetting committee, past recipients, steering and committee leaders and executive director) all have the privilege of asking serious questions to help our board make an informed decision on who will be the recipient of a lot of money and exposure.We start our annual selection meeting by reminding stakeholders in the room that this decision is the most important one we make every year. Why? Because partnership defines us. It’s our differentiator and has been the ingredient that has helped us expand our reach in many directions. It is why we have grown so successfully and so quickly as a volunteer-driven organization.  And ultimately, partnership is the way we have been able to help thousands of people who we will never meet.With a $1 million + vision for more success at stake, we continually hone the selection process – and we take the work incredibly seriously. I have seen mature adults throw unrelenting word-swords at each other as they defended their chosen nonprofit finalist with the passion of Ivy League debate captains. And, I have witnessed camaraderie, consensus and grace in the board room.During our vetting process, nonprofit applicants complete Letters of Intent, time consuming RFPs, and participate in site visits. Finalists present in-person to a large group from the very engaged and caring Band Together family. I am sure it feels like an interrogation because of its intensity. Band Together considers both subjective and objective criteria. Third-party validated performance data review is critical. We look at how much money we can jointly raise to improve the lives of more Triangle citizens.But this decision is not all about the numbers. Our best years were those when we impacted lives and we also enjoyed the ride. Band Together has a culture of engagement and because we are a very relational group, our partnership model is enhanced. We consider who will work through the challenges (there are many) with us best. Who will play well in the sandbox with the key players on our team? We must choose a partner whose culture is aligned with ours or it won’t be fun – which is one of our core values. But this year the process felt a bit different than in years past. Why? Perhaps it was because the number of applicants shrunk considerably. As we have grown and now have an exciting, but jaw-dropping $1 million bogey, we are realizing that there are not a lot of nonprofits in the area that can sustain that type of money. Nor do many have the resources (volunteers, staff, and board commitment) to work in the partnership fashion we need in order to achieve true success.This year was also more difficult because we had two very strong finalist contenders: the larger Step Up Ministry (creating stable lives through jobs and life skills training) and the smaller Kidznotes (transforming children's lives through classical, orchestral music). The selection process seemed to represent a David v. Goliath showdown metaphor.Step Up had been a very successful partner years before. We knew the players and understood how they operate and think. Kidznotes was three years new on the scene with a mission similar to ours, using music to improve lives with incredible success. Step Up is a much better known entity compared to the “grassrootsiness” of Kidznotes. Step Up is trying to develop a presence in Durham and Kidznotes is already there but heading into Wake County. It is important to note that Band Together’s plan is to continue to broaden its reach beyond Wake County. Both had good presentations, solid missions and incredible fundraising plans, but Step Up’s plan was loftier.And ultimately, after an incredible amount of debate, we reached board room consensus, and Goliath, Step Up in this case, won. The morning-after calls I received were about whether growing was the right thing because with 35.33% compounded annual growth and million dollar events on our horizon, we seemed to be drifting away from our efforts to help scrappy, grassroots organizations like Kidznotes. On each of these phone calls, we discussed our newest challenge – what can we do in order to support the “Davids.”And so here we are. Working in adaptive philanthropy mode. Again. Our Strategic Committee is now exploring what we are calling a “Hybrid Model.” And as we shape it, it starts to look a bit like this…We would pick one main nonprofit partner (or select a social issue), like in our current model. We would then create a second vetting round for 1-4 smaller nonprofit partners that can work with the main partner during the 18 months leading up to the event AND afterwards. These smaller partners would have limited requirements for partnering. But in fulfilling basic obligations, smaller nonprofits would receive a smaller percentage of funds. That part is yet to be determined. Essentially, we would expand our current model to have one main nonprofit partner doing the heavy lifting and one or multiple grassroots partners all working together. But with change, comes a slew of questions:

1. How will sponsors respond? Will this plan be confusing if donor dollars are not connected to the mission of the main nonprofit or one social cause in some way?
2. Should small nonprofits be recommended by the chosen main partner?
3. What does the smaller nonprofit application and playbook (list of requirements to get funding) look like?
4. Should there be some alignment under one general mission or cause? Do we focus on the cause-related or should smaller organizations have missions somehow related to the main partner?
5. How difficult is on-boarding multiple groups?

Our board is satisfied where we landed this year. This I am certain. But this year’s process and decision has pushed us, yet again, to revisit. How might we select our partners so that we are able to help some of the smaller groups in The Triangle who are doing incredible work? And yes, feel confident that we are staying in touch with and encouraging our new friends at Kidznotes to apply again.What do you think about this Hybrid Model and how might we improve it so we can continue to be successful using live music as a platform for social change in The Triangle?Danny RosinVolunteer President, Co-FounderBand Together