Posted on February 13, 2011

Jacksonville Nonprofits Find Savings Through Collaborative Effort

With support from the Jessie Ball duPont Fund, an eclectic mix of nonprofit organizations in Jacksonville, Florida, has been working collaboratively over the last two years to meet the growing demand for their services.

Shortly after the collapse of Lehman Brothers in the fall of 2008 put the economy in a tailspin, duPont Fund president Sherry Magill convened representatives of fourteen human service organizations to evaluate the impact of the downturn on the region's poor and vulnerable. The stories and data shared at the meeting eventually influenced the fund's decision to award $1 million in grants to local safety-net providers during its 2009 grant cycle.

The coalition, which became known as the Hunger SWAT Team, worked to develop strategies to the address the long-term effects of increased demand and flat or falling revenue. To help cut expenses, the organizations chose to focus on joint marketing programs and bulk purchasing agreements. To that end, they developed a common Web site and public service announcements in time for the 2009 holiday season and identified areas where bulk purchases of paper and shared storage space would benefit coalition members.

In 2010, the duPont Fund awarded a second round of safety-net grants totaling $500,000 to coalition members, which was matched by more than $500,000 in contributions from other donors. The team, which still meets monthly, also worked with the Jacksonville Electric Authority to negotiate better rates.

"The benefits of having a team consensus agenda are wonderful, but the greatest benefit is the lessons these organizations have learned about the power of collaboration and the power of a shared voice," said DuPont Fund program director Sally Douglass. "Each is a unique and distinct organization but as a team, they have developed a common agenda and learned how to use the power of a shared voice to benefit their clients, their organizations, and the community."