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At Ostara, we are honored to highlight and interview one of our special clients, Gina Hall, CEO of Uplift Northwest. Gina is a Seattle native with 25 years of experience in the nonprofit sector. She has served as Vice President, Community and Donor Relations at Seattle Goodwill, and prior to that, as the Resource and Community Development Director at Delridge Neighborhoods Development Association. Gina is the first black woman CEO at Uplift Northwest. She is the oldest of three siblings and daughter of two Louisiana-born parents who fled the institutionalized racism and oppression of the Jim Crow laws in the South. We’re excited to sit down with Gina to hear her story and get some insider tips on her success. Ostara: How do you balance work and personal life? GH: When I graduated from the Seattle University Executive Leadership program, I loved their approach to that and I’ve carried it with me ever since, and that was – it’s not work-life balance, it’s work-life integration. Because if I’m at work and one of my kids calls with an emergency, I’m sorry, I’m gone. And if it’s the middle of the night and someone calls me and says your building is on fire, I’m going to say, husband, I’ll be right back. So, it’s work life integration and it’s a careful mix of art and science. It’s setting intentional boundaries and then also realizing that life happens. As a leader, what I’m finding in my role and experience is that you really have to plan how you respond to uncertainty and unexpected things. That’s what I do all day. You can have your plan, but the day never goes according to your plan. Ostara: Where do you draw your inspiration for your work and life in general? GH: I believe in God; I start every day with prayer and meditation. My other piece of inspiration comes from humanity. Humans can be so inspiring if you enter every relationship intentionally. Every interaction is a divine appointment and I’m like, okay, what am I supposed to leave in this interaction, and what am I going to take from this interaction? It changes the way you view every encounter and leaves you with endless inspiration. Ostara: As a CEO, what are your main priorities in this role? GH: As CEO, my main priority is understanding the mission and vision of this organization. Uplift Northwest is a 101-year-old organization. It has been around for a century, and many leaders have been through the doors of this organization. So, I don’t want to be egotistical or like I’m here to do something different because somebody has been here already. So, what is the vision? What were they doing? Uplift Northwest’s vision is that every single individual in this region has access to a decent job. When you think about it, isn’t that what everyone human wants? Everyone should have access to a decent job because everyone should have the right to care for themselves and their families. That’s what every human wants, so as a CEO, it’s understanding the vision and how it aligns and resonates with my core values and keeping that my focus. My core values have been that since jump street. I was raised in Rainier Beach with my parents, who had only a high school education. They came to Seattle from the deep South, and they raised my siblings and me; I never knew I was poor; they were always helping people. People would come and stay with us and save enough money to buy their own homes. They were helping other people discover the American dream. Everybody wants to take care of themselves and their families. When I got here (Uplift Northwest), and even before, I researched if I should join this organization; this organization is me. My family and I have done this my whole life, and I can join this vision fully. The mission is “employment and job training” to get folks on a living wage career path. My dad said you work hard, and you can achieve anything. I remember always working, and my dad always encouraged that in us. Before computers, he was the one helping me make my little business cards on 3X5 cards because I was a neighborhood babysitter. I made a bunch of these cards and passed them out, and I was babysitting. I was a little entrepreneur. My priority here is understanding the mission and vision and then inspiring those around me to grasp that, to really understand that. If you’re not on board with the mission and vision, this may not be the organization for you. My priority is identifying folks that are on the same page, and if they’re not, try to get them there, and if they need more time get on board, then hey let me help you get on board somewhere else. Ostara: Can you talk about the Uplift Northwest work, what the landscape looks like for those experiencing homelessness and unemployment, and how successful you have been in securing jobs for people. GH: First, the landscape in this sector is divisive. There are antagonists, and it has become a political statement, which is wrong. As human beings, it should never be okay for someone to sleep on the sidewalk. That should not be the norm. When you pass them (the homeless), you shouldn’t look at them in disgust or judgment; it’s compassion that you should feel. You think about yourself at 5 or 10 years old; no one says, when I grow up, I’m going to live on the street one day and barely make it. No one decides that on purpose. Obviously, something has happened. We have all gone awry if we don’t have compassion and understanding for these individuals. The sector is complex, and it’s sobering, it is exhausting, it’s traumatizing for the folks we work with. They are being traumatized. Can you imagine if you care about humanity and you’re working in this environment, and you see this on a daily basis? Hire the right people and take care of your team so that we’re okay because that’s a lot to ask for any human being to face daily. Do our programs work? Yes, our program works because the founder of Uplift Northwest believed that if you provide dignity and hope to people, they can get to the next step. And dignity is basic needs. If someone is hungry, feed them; if they need housing, let’s get them on track to get housing; if they’re not clean, let’s get them to a hygiene center. Then we can start to uncover what you want to be when you grow up, okay let’s find a way to get you there. Any given year, we are serving about 1100 folks; 200-300 of those folks secure permanent or long-term employment, but our services still impact the other 900; we have a plethora of ways that we are impacting lives. Ostara: Given that it’s Black History Month, how has the local African American community’s journey with issues like homelessness and joblessness been unique? How does that look today? GH: I’m the chair of the Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle; we’ve been highlighting black-owned and BIPOC businesses and supporting them. We highlight the programs and services available to all folks, but the Urban League’s mission is to identify the disparity that impacts African Americans in our community. As a leader, I have heard a lot lately, why are we just focusing on African American history, is this tokenism? I think there’s value in designating and being intentional during February because of the systemic issues that impact our community. Additionally, as a black person, I’m always about education and history and honoring the legacy of everyone, despite their racial ethnicity. But we (African Americans) have been purposely and systemically removed from history, and we must teach our people and society what happened to have lasting change. I have inserted in all my conversations and meetings lately, reminding folks that for many centuries it was illegal for blacks to come together and have a meeting. When my parents came here (to Seattle), they left everything; I don’t even know what that would feel like to leave everything. They left everything to come here because they wanted liberty and to be free so that I could have freedom. I’m going to Hawaii at the end of this month. That wasn’t part of the equation for my parents; it wasn’t an option. So, let’s take some time to think of people in our own lives, African Americans who paved the way for us and the experiences we have access to because of their sacrifices. I see young black people, my kids, my grandkids, and I have to remind them of how far we’ve come, to stop complaining and be thankful; because people died for our freedoms, all while encouraging them to stay focused on the work that we have ahead of us to ensure we continue to leave a more equitable future for those to come. Ostara: What about your mission/impact continues to resonate with donors? What do your best funders and partners value? GH: They value that we give a hand up and not a handout. They appreciate how we meet people where they are, we provide our neighbors tools and resources to figure out how to be self-sustaining to make it on their own. I have to go back to my parents, one thing my dad said, “whatever you do, continue to get education,” and that’s what we do here. We teach folks, through our Uplift Northwest Learning Center. We provide all kinds of certifications, credentials and workshops; you’re going to leave here with something that you didn’t come with. No one can take education from you. We teach workplace navigation skills, in addition to certifications like flagging, OSHA safety training, food handler’s certification, pre-construction training and other longer-term certifications. No one can take your certification from you, that’s your entry to a living wage career path and that’s where we are trying to get folks to. That’s what resonates with donors, getting folks to a living wage career path. Ostara: A lot has happened since you joined Uplift in 2020. What adaptations and leadership decisions have been necessary as an ED? GH: When the Uplift Northwest Board of Trustees recruited me, they were cognizant about their intentionality around diversity, equity and inclusion. This was after the tragic George Floyd incident in 2020. They wanted a leader who would develop initiatives and integrate an inclusion plan into their strategies moving forward. Secondly, there wasn’t a strategic plan in place, to really look at the future of this organization. So, my priority was to get a strategic plan off the ground and to integrate a DEI workplan. Those were my priorities and I hit the ground running. Ostara: What is the most common misconception from community members or potential funders about Uplift, or your mission? GH: Many community members are not aware of the breadth of our program and services. My first two weeks here, I had a meeting with a few community members who were complaining about the long line in front of our building, because we partner with OSL, a meal service provider. They serve meals out of our facility, three times a day seven days a week, and this was during COVID so we couldn’t bring people inside. So, there’s that misconception, like why are all those people standing in line for food. It was a great opportunity for me to educate the neighborhood about the vision and mission of Uplift Northwest. We meet people where they are, we provide them dignity and hope. If people are hungry, we’ve got to feed them and then let’s figure out how to get folks trained and back to work. Ostara: What pivotal moments and learnings from the past 20 years are you still carrying with you today? GH: My first nonprofit role was working with the Delridge Neighborhood Development Association in West Seattle. I was a capital campaign director for a $30M campaign on three different development projects that included housing and community space. That was an emotionally transformative moment in my life, because we went from two to three individual donors to 600 donors at the end of the campaign. What that pivotal moment showed me was, we had people who donated $1 to people who donated a million; people are the same no matter what size their bank account, everyone wants to help, a lot of times they just don’t know how. It also showed me how resilient humans are, when faced with extreme adversity and obstacles, we come together and we can do such amazing things for our community. Ostara: You recently hired a Chief Development Officer; what has this hire meant for your own work as an CEO? GH: A large portion of my work has been fundraising, so to hire a CDO who really understands philanthropy and the culture of philanthropy, she’s a unicorn. It’s a relief and at the same time, so exhilarating to have a thought partner like my current CDO. It helps me to really see the future and provide clarity to the vison, to the organization’s vision and to my own vision for the future. It’s been rewarding! Ostara: Many clients have been faced with a search for a Director of Development recently; any advice? GH: Don’t give up, it took me two years. When I accepted this role at Uplift Northwest, within four months my CDO resigned and accepted a role as an ED for another nonprofit. I Iove those types of resignations, you’re going on to bigger, better things but it literally took me two years to fill that role. My advice is, don’t give up, don’t settle, you want somebody who really wants to do the work. Have the right job description and pay structure but more importantly get the right person no matter how long it takes. Ostara: If you could go back and tell your 18-year-old self about where you are today, what would you say? What advice would you give her? GH: I would tell her to stay focused on her vision and dreams, and don’t get distracted. Ostara: What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given about your career? GH: At the Seattle University program for Executive Leadership, their mantra is that you’re already a leader, you ARE a leader, you just have to learn to bring yourself to the role. You can’t cookie cut a leader, Gina has to bring Gina there, that program helps you discover who you already are and then bring your authentic self to the role. The other piece is trusting your gut, you have to trust yourself. Ostara: What advice would you give black women who are looking to be a CEO or ED? GH: Take your time! I wouldn’t want this role even ten years ago. I used to tell myself I never wanted to be a CEO, and now that I’m here, at this season of my life, now I get it, because now I can bring my authentic self. I think if you’re too young, I’m not even saying just about age, I’m saying wait until you’re seasoned, whatever that means for you. You must be in touch with who you are as a person, as a human, because leadership roles are lonely, you are not coming here to make a bunch of friends. I remember, earlier in my career it was all about work relationships, making sure people like you, all that kind of stuff. When you’re in this role, you’re here for the vision and mission, you’re here to leave the organization better than when you got here, you owe it to the people before you and the people who will come after you, so you’ve got to be healthy. I’m not saying I’m perfect, but you have to at least be self-aware and know your weaknesses. People are going to say stuff about you, you’re going to have haters, people who pretend that they like you, all that kind of stuff, and you’ve got to be able to be okay by yourself, have your own crew that you can lean back on that can tell you about yourself because the struggle is real. The piece we as black women have to bring to the role is, I will speak for myself because this is how I was raised. You’re representing, come right, be courageous, sometimes there are teachable moments, and you have to be the one that’s teaching, and other times there are quiet moments, just be quiet. Choose your moments, you are representing, like it or not. For more information on Gina Hall and Uplift Northwest, visit her website at: www.upliftnw.org.

For my first project with Ostara in 2010, I helped procure items for an art school’s auction. Shortly after that, I wrote a grant to the NEA for a performing arts organization that brought in $10K to put on a show. I was working as a touring, producing, recording songwriter at the time, and this work felt like an extension of the arts community where I could help contribute. It was an accidental beginning in fundraising that I know so many of you can relate to. I am deeply gratified by the fact that the grants team I fostered at Ostara has so far contributed to raising over $55 million dollars through nearly 1,000 grants across our shared community. More than that, I am proud of all we have been able to do together – my colleagues at Ostara as well as all of you whom I’ve worked with in nonprofits throughout the region. And that’s not just because of the money raised; it’s the mutual support and trust we’ve built, and the satisfaction of reaching shared goals. One of the enormous privileges I have received from working with you over the last twelve years is the front-row seat to your generosity, empathy, and dedication. All the time I am building spreadsheets, helping you form your case for support, or advising you on grants and strategic planning, I am also noticing the way you employ honesty, forthrightness, nuance, and kindness in how you speak with people and how you make decisions. You all have been my teachers, and for that I thank you from the bottom of my heart. In the summer of 2022, after a year or ten of consideration, I opened Happy Time Studio in Issaquah – offering music and arts classes for kids, teens, and adults. Beginning in January 2023, I am leaving Ostara and focusing on the studio full time. I am taking with me the lessons you have taught me. Our community is a better place when we can find common ground and shared purpose. We all need to keep working together on this project that never ends. The show must go on… Stay in touch! You can always reach me at ali@happytimestudio.com. Wishing everyone a warm and welcome holiday season, Ali

Lavender Rights Project is creating a world in which the Black and Indigenous gender diverse communities are at the forefront of liberation and recognized for our power to build. The Ostara Group has the privilege of working alongside Lavender Rights Project on communications and development strategy and execution. Following are excerpts from a conversation with Jaelynn, the Executive Director at LRP on June 17, 2022. Lavender Rights Project staff | Photo credit: Chloe Collyer How have the past two years impacted LRP’s top priorities? There are three areas that have been most impacted our work: the pandemic, the uprising of the summer of 2020, and the recent political attacks on the transgender community. The uprising empowered to us to lean into our mission of protecting black trans women. The work is more critical now. Because of the pandemic, folks are more at risk of violence and many of us are experiencing severe mental health challenges. There is also the ongoing crisis with housing as the economy responds to the pandemic. So, we have really focused on three areas: violence prevention, housing justice, and economic justice. I will say that the recent legislative attacks are the beginning of a multi-year, political effort to tear down our community. This has put us in an even more vulnerable situation with recent attacks, including the one yesterday on a trans youth in southern Washington. What is LRP’s “The House”? We see our big work as client-informed advocacy but we are staying close to our clients with direct service support. While we do housing advocacy work, we want to make sure that we are tapping into the services that our clients need and learning from them where we should be pushing harder. There’s an immediate need for housing for trans folk, gender diverse people, and especially black trans people in the state of Washington. Historical data and recent surveys show that trans people are not treated well and don’t feel comfortable in housing solutions offered by various agencies in King and Pierce counties. We’ve been working closely with King County to prioritize housing for gender diverse people, especially black trans folk.  We are getting ourselves ready to apply for housing facility through King County that will be for gender diverse people and prioritize services for black and indigenous trans people. How are abortion rights connected to the work LRP is doing? We have not traditionally been involved abortion rights or gender affirming care but right now there is a strategic, legislative approach to target bodily autonomy. Bodily autonomy, which we see as including abortion and trans youth gender affirming care, is more critical for the trans community. A key piece of protecting black trans people in-particular is to guarantee their bodily autonomy and to push back on any of the vicious attacks happening in our country, including Idaho and other states. We’re working to make sure that the trans voices are being heard. It’s not going to end here – we don’t think there are going to stop with gender affirming care. There is a whole line of women’s rights, trans rights, and gender care rights that are on the chopping block. What can we expect at The Black Trans Comedy Showcase on June 22? We want to gather community and raise funds for the work we do in protecting black trans women. But we are also responding to recent attacks on the trans community by comedians. Comedy doesn’t have to punch down to trans people and that comedy can celebrate our community. We as trans people have always been able to have joy, celebrate, Kiki, and laugh together in spirt of what was happening to us. We are able to balance joy and laughter with our fight, with our resistance. How can the community get involved in LRP’s work as volunteers? We occasionally put out calls to the public to write letters of support for legislation, in protection of trans people. Follow us on social media so that you can know what is going in our community, in case there’s emergencies or you can show up to rallies and protests. And also learn about black and trans history in this country, who our elders were, and how much of a cultural impact trans people have had on shaping who we are today. Follow Lavender Rights Project: Twitter; Facebook; Instagram; YouTube

In light of the recent pandemic, we look forward to sharing positive stories about how our clients and community members are responding. We know this is a challenging time for many, and we are here to support you. We hope that by sharing these very brief stories, others will feel they are not alone. We encourage everyone to lift up one another and share their stories. Totem Star staff and youth artists pose for a picture at their annual showcase “Winter Magic” earlier this year at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center. Photo by Avi Loud. Totem Star supports a diverse community of young recording artists learning music and life skills through mentorship and meaningful relationships. In early March, they closed their recording studio due to COVID-19 and since have found ways to utilize technology to continue their mission. “As an organization, we’ve learned so much through these challenging times. Regarding COVID-19 and the injustices we are seeing happening to the Black community, we need a safe space for our young artists to express themselves and to hold space for one another. We need a safe space to empower our young people’s voices, to hear them, to see them, and to learn from one another. For non-Black folx, we need to constantly reevaluate our privileges and how we can support the Black community through action and education. We have also learned A LOT more about how to use technology as a creative tool to stay connected with our Totem Star family. It is quite a learning curve, but we have been able to learn more about how to better utilize our platforms of live streaming and video conferencing technology to be in community with our young artists and to allow for a safe and creative virtual space for them to continue to freely and authentically express themselves. At the same time, we’ve learned there is a strong need for digital equity in education. This is a constant question we are asking ourselves on a daily — how do we reach young people that do not have access to technology, software, and the internet? How can we do better during this time to stay connected with the community and be able to continuously learn collectively? Through these challenges, we are also learning to give grace to ourselves. We are in a pandemic and there is a lot of adapting that we all must do. A lot of adjusting, a lot of discomfort, a lot of work. However, we can definitely adapt in response to everything that has been happening. We just need to give ourselves grace, patience, kindness, and to remind ourselves of the things we do have and appreciate in our lives at this moment. To those in the nonprofit community, we challenge you to think about how can we have a dynamic in our non-profit families that provides support and sees Black folx and allows for non-Black folx to continually learn how to do better, to hold one another accountable, and to unlearn the anti-Blackness that is prevalent in many of our communities? This work is not easy, but this work is necessary if we want to fight for equity. How can we collaborate during this time even if our missions are not exactly aligned to create a larger positive impact to this world? How can we create programming to reach young people that may not have access to the internet and yet, we are to remain socially distant from one another? There is no better time than now to think about how we want to rebuild the arts & culture community in our city. It is up to us all to work to increase the value proposition of arts & culture. How can we use what we have learned about what is really important to us, especially through this time of fear, isolation, and uncertainty, that can really strike a chord and help us change our collective priorities as a community and society as we move forward?  Arts and culture is critical to how we understand ourselves as individuals and as a society, and we need to nurture it and keep it strong for generations to come. As we are doing the work to continually provide and sustain arts & cultural spaces, we have to also recognize that on the other side of the fence, developers and investors could be thinking of ways to continually buy out properties and capitalize on this moment. Now is a crucial time for all arts & culture organizations to come together to do a transformative community-wide campaign to increase the value and importance of arts & culture so that we can realize a future where our arts & cultural spaces can continually remain, grow, and thrive. There is a lot happening in 2020. There is a lot of pain, a lot of struggle, but at the same time, there is a lot of fight and a lot of determination. This year is the year for our country to transform into a society that better serves us. A society that better serves our Black communities, that better serves our young people, that better serves those without access to technology, and that better serves our humanity with true equity and justice. Let’s continue to do the work in our fight for equity. Let’s continue to do the work in educating ourselves to do better. Let’s continue to leverage our privileges to proactively support Black communities. And let’s also not forget to take care of ourselves as our self-preservation matters for the sustainability of our work. Let’s continue to do the work.”– The Totem Star Family Learn more about Totem Star and how you can support their mission on their website: https://totemstar.org/ We would love to hear how your organization has been adapting to provide services to your clients and how we can support you during this time. Please reach out to us online here.

In light of the recent pandemic, we look forward to sharing positive stories about how our clients and community members are responding. We know this is a challenging time for many, and we are here to support you. We hope that by sharing these very brief stories, others will feel they are not alone. We encourage everyone to lift up one another and share their stories. Youth Eastside Services is a leading provider of youth and family behavioral health services in East King County. YES provides evidence-based mental health counseling, substance use and co-occurring counseling and treatment, psychiatric services, and education and prevention programs. They help children, youth and families struggling with depression, grief, trauma, substance use, cultural- and gender-identity issues, anxiety, ADHD, autism, eating disorders, low self-esteem and much more. “YES is a leading provider of youth and family behavioral health services in East King County. YES provides evidence-based mental health counseling, substance use and co-occurring counseling and treatment, psychiatric services, and education and prevention programs. We help children, youth and families struggling with depression, grief, trauma, substance use, cultural- and gender-identity issues, anxiety, ADHD, autism, eating disorders, low self-esteem and much more. During this crisis, YES had to suspend in-person services and programs at our three office locations and at over 50 schools, teen, and community centers. Instead, YES has been providing services and programs using TeleHealth a HIPAA compliant, web-based technology. We know that at a time when everything feels so overwhelming, mental health and wellness is more important than ever. Throughout this crisis YES has continued to provide critical virtual programs and services in responsible, creative, and flexible ways. YES has also adapted our fundraising efforts to meet the demand of the much-needed TeleHealth services.  In March YES had to cancel the annual Invest in Youth Breakfast of 1,000+ guests. The breakfast is our only fundraising event, and we rely on the donations from the breakfast to be able to provide critical services for young people and families in our community, regardless of their ability to pay. Due to this cancelation, we hosted a weeklong virtual event campaign sharing inspiring stories through video on our website, email, and social media.  We were concerned that we were not going to reach our goal for the event, which would impact the at-risk children, youth, and families that we serve.  Thanks to over 550 donors who contributed to the virtual breakfast to provide youth in our community with hope. Our donors became a part of the solution to provide YES clients with immediate, evidence-based, and compassionate care through TeleHealth by contributing a record-breaking $940,000 to the event.  We are so grateful for their support! The current situation has increased isolation, anxiety, and stress, and we know now more than ever how important it is to continue to receive critical mental health and substance use services. The most important of these lessons learned is that we are stronger together when we areunited in our purpose to help children and youth regardless of their ability to pay for services. YES is grateful to have an incredible Board of Directors (Trustees), highly skilled staff and generous donors, supporting children, youth, and families in our community. While we are currently facing an incredibly unique time in human history, YES will keep thriving and being integral in helping others, and our community to reach truly impactful positive change, now and into the future. While everyday feels more exhausting during this crisis, at YES, we are constantly amazed and grateful for the generosity of our donors.  From our experience, donors will make gifts and do their part to help organizations, causes and beneficiary groups that they care about.   Like the mantra from the movie Field of Dreams, “If you build it, they will come,” the same is true for fundraising, especially during this time. If we let donors know that help is needed, they will give.  To paraphrase Steven Screen from The Better FundraisingCo, Be vulnerable by sharing the needs of your organization and what your clients or beneficiaries are facing, then ask your donors to meet those needs with a gift. Do not hide your needs. If you have a need right now, share it with your donors. Let your donors decide whether to meet that need or not. Do not take the decision out of their hands.The collective effort of everyone from YES clinical staff to Clinical Directors, the Development team, Board members, and donors who are all working together to help and serve children, youth and families is incredibly inspiring, humbling and what keeps us going. When we hear from a client like Leo who shares with us “I don’t have a lot of people to talk to so being able to talk to someone twice a week, definitely helps. My mood would be absolutely terrible otherwise. I would be in a very, very bad way if my therapy got cut off for however long this goes on. Having the option to see a therapist has made a difference. I need that,” makes the work we all do worth it.” – Angela Chapman, Fund Development Manager at Youth Eastside Services Learn more about Youth Eastside Services and how you can support their mission on their website: https://www.youtheastsideservices.org/ We would love to hear how your organization has been adapting to provide services to your clients and how we can support you during this time. Please reach out to us online here.

In light of the recent pandemic, we look forward to sharing positive stories about how our clients and community members are responding. We know this is a challenging time for many, and we are here to support you. We hope that by sharing these very brief stories, others will feel they are not alone. We encourage everyone to lift up one another and share their stories. Photo by Auriza Ugalino for International Examiner International Examiner is the oldest and largest nonprofit, pan-Asian Pacific American publication in the Northwest, and is committed to sharing APIA stories. This May, they’re releasing a special edition issue on COVID-19 and community resilience depicting how the APIA community has been fighting for our elders, our health, and our dignity during this difficult time. “Our mission is to tell the stories of Asian Pacific Islander Americans. Especially in the age of COVID-19, this has become increasingly important, with a return of yellow peril. We’ll be having a special edition COVID-19 community resilience issue coming out in early May, depicting how the APIA community has been fighting for our elders, our health, and our dignity during this difficult time. The more our community does to act in a time of crisis, the more stories we will tell, thus the more empowered our community becomes by hearing those stories. Also, our financial model for ensuring our survival as an organization is strong enough, such that we don’t have to rely exclusively on one source of revenue. We have community partners who believe in us, who have been reaching out to support us. We have donors and subscribers who are new or long-time fans of the paper. We have a strong team of multi-talented individuals who are devoted to this organization. This reinforces even more so the idea that our paper has always been “small and scrappy” (as our Editor in Chief says). With so many people invested in the mission of our paper, we can get through anything. I’ve only been working at the paper for a year and a half, so I’m now witnessing that the strength of our organization surpasses what I initially believed. We’re also learning not to take the expected for granted. None of this will ever be “done” – the norm never helped to serve those who are marginalized and in need in this community. We need to create a new norm that will help serve us all. To other nonprofits in the community, I hope we can get through this together, and continue to support each other. I’m grateful towards organizations who have long supported us, and continue to do so during this time. Asian Pacific Islander Americans for Civic Engagement, or APACE, will be sponsoring our community response COVID-19 issue. Our readers and our community are so special to us. We hope to continue returning in kind.” –  Auriza Ugalino, Photographer & Community Relations Manager at the International Examiner Learn more about the International Examiner and how you can support the APIA community on their website: https://iexaminer.org/ Follow Auriza Ugalino on Instagram @aurizalynn.photo for more of their work. We would love to hear how your organization has been adapting to provide services to your clients and how we can support you during this time. Please reach out to us online here.

In light of the recent pandemic, we look forward to sharing positive stories about how our clients and community members are responding. We know this is a challenging time for many, and we are here to support you. We hope that by sharing these very brief stories, others will feel they are not alone. We encourage everyone to lift up one another and share their stories. North Helpline volunteers sorting donations. North Helpline‘s mission is to assist their neighbors in obtaining basic needs such as adequate food and housing. We connected with Kelly Brown from North Helpline to learn more about how they are adapting to provide their services amid the COVID-19 pandemic: “We are really focusing on our food bank program and rent assistance. We have done away with registration processes and are simply giving our neighbors in need groceries. In an effort to make sure we are able to continue serving our community without interruption we have split our staff and volunteers into teams that rotate weeks on and off site. This new model has required us to hire some temp staff and recruit 4x the amount of volunteers. Our rent assistance program usually requires an eviction notice but with the moratorium on evictions we are working with our neighbors and their landlords to make sure they don’t fall too far behind on rent. We have always known our community is there for their neighbors but have been astounded by our community’s response to this crisis. We had triple the amount of new volunteer applications in March than we normally do!  When the schools closed the principal of Jane Adams reached out offering her staff as volunteers as well as making sure we knew about the other resources of Seattle Public schools. We have also learned to be really flexible and responsive to our community’s needs.  Every single staff member has been creating, sharing, and learning new processes.  I am so grateful to be working with this team. As I write this I can hear volunteers talk about how comfortable they are with volunteering here because we have it so together. It is because of our hard working and thinking staff that our community has somewhere they can rely on during this uncertain time. To members of the nonprofit community, something I keep telling myself and my staff is this is a marathon and not a sprint. We need to take care of ourselves and be able to sustain the pace we are setting for a while. Also, this situation we are in is what reserves are for! Use them! Purple team is on-site this week and I am working in the office to support the team.  The relief I hear in people’s voices when I tell them we are open and have changed the food bank to comply with social distancing is what keeps me going.” – Kelly Brown, Executive Director at North Helpline You can learn more about the North Helpline and how you can support their mission and programs on their website: https://www.northhelpline.org/ We would love to hear how your organization has been adapting to provide services to your clients and how we can support you during this time. Please reach out to us online here.

In light of the recent pandemic, we look forward to sharing positive stories about how our clients and community members are responding. We know this is a challenging time for many, and we are here to support you. We hope that by sharing these very brief stories, others will feel they are not alone. We encourage everyone to lift up one another and share their stories. YouthCare staff loading food donations from Northwest Harvest YouthCare is an organization that works to end youth homelessness and to ensure that young people are valued for who they are and empowered to achieve their potential. We connected with them in early April to learn more about how they are adapting amid the COVID-19 crisis. “YouthCare serves some of our community’s most vulnerable young people. We cannot shut down, even in dire times. Right now, our priority is to continue providing essential and life-saving services to young people while mitigating the risk of exposure for young people, staff, and our community. Here are some of the ways we’ve adapted in order to continue our work. Essential Infrastructure: To ensure for everyone’s safety, we have made changes to our operations and the ways we can receive support, including closing our main office to the public and temporarily suspending volunteer support. We have opened up an urgent pantry in our administrative office’s basement so that our programs can have daily access to food. And we’ve moved all fundraising—including our annual luncheon—to online platforms. Our Programs: While YouthCare offers a comprehensive range of services to help young people reach lasting stability, right now we are consolidating resources and teams to keep young people safe through this crisis. We have temporarily suspended our education, employment, and prevention programs to focus exclusively on the core services of food, shelter, and housing. Staff from suspended programs have been redeployed to help run core programs and keep young people safe. Our housing and shelter programs are now serving a fixed group of young people with 24/7 staffing, meals, and supports. Young people are being asked to stay inside per Governor Inslee’s stay-at-home order. We have increased indoor activities and are supporting young people to take breaks and safe walks outside. This pandemic has brought new challenges and lessons that continue to humble us every day. One of the biggest challenges is ensuring for health and safety in shelter/congregate care settings. Shelters rely on communal space and resources: shared sleeping quarters, meals, laundry, bathrooms, etc. Young people do not have the ability to go to their own room or the privilege of privacy. We are trying to be as creative with space as possible—repurposing classrooms, conference rooms, and office space—and have implemented increased cleaning cycles and disinfectant procedures. Another challenge is the limitation of movement. We find ourselves grappling with the core tension between personal freedom and collective safety—navigating the complicated balance of keeping our doors open and shut at the same time. Like all of us, young people are not used to such stringent expectations, confined space, and limited movement, and the long hours and level of strain are taxing on staff as well. We’ve always known that our youth and staff are resilient. This pandemic is testing the strength of that resilience—and we’re learning about the depth of our courage, resolve, nimbleness, and capacity to problem-solve. With every setback or new anxiety, people are still willing to help in whatever way they can—from our community to our incredible staff. They are undeterred. This is why we’re able to continue serving young people through crisis. We’re continually blown away by all our fellow nonprofits working hard to continue serving our community, and we send thoughts of encouragement to all nonprofits affected by this pandemic. Non-profits are part of our emergency response system and their staff are first responders. The non-profit sector has always provided life-saving services—but even more so right now. Our appreciation for their dedication and commitment cannot be captured in words. Our staff keeps us going! They are doing heroic work every day in these uncertain times. They each hold a deep passion for our mission and the potential of every young person. The depth of that commitment right now is breathtaking to witness and motivates all of us to do the best work we can for young people.” – Nicole Phaysith, Communications Specialist at YouthCare Learn more about the YouthCare and how you can support their mission and programs on their website: https://youthcare.org/ We would love to hear how your organization has been adapting to provide services to your clients and how we can support you during this time. Please reach out to us online here.

In light of the recent pandemic, we look forward to sharing positive stories about how our clients and community members are responding. We know this is a challenging time for many, and we are here to support you. We hope that by sharing these very brief stories, others will feel they are not alone. We encourage everyone to lift up one another and share their stories. Issaquah Food & Clothing Bank is committed to providing healthy, fresh foods and essential items to families in the Issaquah region. COVID-19 forced them to rethink their priorities and operations. Ostara connected with the to learn more about how they are adapting to serve their clients: “The IFCB has undergone strategy and contingency planning from a progressive approach, understanding that our model would need the ability to adapt as the situation evolved. We started by identifying our top two priorities, then what the current restrictions are, weighed against those priorities. What we came up with was a model for engaging volunteers, donors, and even clients that, #1 put everyone’s health as a top priority, and #2 ensured that we were doing the best we could to continue the most basic aspects of our mission: providing food and diapers to a growing population of individuals in need. We’ve altered our model twice since March 16th to adapt to the growing need for reduced exposure, yet kept the process and communication pieces simple and clear for clients, volunteers, and donors to continue to engage with as few barriers as possible. I think our organization has learned some priceless things through all of this. We’ve learned that all of us, regardless of whether we are program, operations, or development staff, have the same values and commitment to our mission. We’ve learned that we can operate extremely effectively, even when all our normal processes have been turned upside down, and we’re not working side by side. We’ve also learned that consistent and clear communication can calm an anxious client and rally an army of supporters during a crisis. To the members of the nonprofit community, now’s the time to be more willing than ever to think outside the box. With priorities and resources looking so differently during this crisis, now’s the time to ask what your role is and how you can change your paradigm to maintain your relevance by adapting.” – Bonnie DeCaro-Monahan, Development Director at Issaquah Food & Clothing Bank To learn more about the Issaquah Food & Clothing Bank and how you can support their mission: https://www.issaquahfoodbank.org/ We would love to hear how your organization has been adapting to provide services to your clients and how we can support you during this time. Please reach out to us online here.

This post is part three of a three-part series. If you haven’t already, go back and check out part one and part two, where we describe what happened to the nonprofit sector in Washington during the last economic recession and what nonprofit leaders can do today to survive. At Ostara, we have come to recognize that our team is in the unusual position of being able to connect the dots between nonprofit needs and grantmaker desires. There is so much overlap in that space, and in a time like this, we know that grantmakers and philanthropists want nothing more than to find the overlap and lean into it. (You can tell by the still-growing list of response funds.) In that spirit, Ostara would like to offer a few recommendations of where and how foundations can think about prioritizing their goals. Plan to support recovery in phases. Quick response to emergent needs is necessary, but so is long term thinking about the stability and planning for the organization. As our previous research shows, there are short, mid, and long term periods of time in which the economy will cycle back around. Grantmakers that openly and explicitly communicate phased thinking – on websites and in emails and outreach – will help current grantees and potential grantees see where they may fit in. The more nonprofits can understand the timing of a potential partnership in the longer term, the better they can plan holistically and prioritize their time. Understand that survival may be the key metric for success. It won’t be the number of people served, the number of hours worked, or graduation rates; simply existing in 2021 will be one of the hardest and most important things a nonprofit is able to accomplish. This could turn out to be especially true for organizations whose mission is not specifically health care or human services – such as education, arts, culture, environment, advocacy, and social justice organizations. Although, we are seeing that all organizations and their people are directly connected to this pandemic in some way. Some foundation staff already know or suspect that reporting requirements and outcome tracking are excessive. Grantmakers that clarify expectations around outcomes for current grantees or potential future grantees with sensitivity to this reality – and grantmakers who require as little as possible – will provide the biggest relief from a grantee’s day-to-day stresses. Nonprofits need stability and some grantmakers may be in a position to provide it.  Long-term, unrestricted financial commitments will make a bigger difference than any other kind of financial gift. A grantmaker that removes as many restrictions as possible – not just during this epidemic but permanently – will have the biggest impact on a nonprofit’s ability to serve their community. Consider making bigger and more long term commitments, reassuring grantees that they can count on multi-year funding without meeting benchmarks. Foundations may feel that this is the absolute wrong time to spend down assets, but just as with financial ROI, investing in social impact ROI when the economy is most vulnerable can have the biggest social return. Grantmakers often encourage bold action from their grantees and this is an opportunity to demonstrate what that looks like. Money is great, and is only part of the solution. Nonprofits need ongoing, relevant fundraising expertise and capacity to complement and support their teams. That is likely to become even more true as budgets are slimmed and funding levels drop over a sustained period of time. Now is the time for organizations to plan for the future and invest in the important work of engaging donors and stakeholders. Grantmakers can now consider what role they can play in helping nonprofits assess their organizational needs and access that kind of expertise and support. Philanthropy in the form of foundation giving is a core driver of nonprofit work in our region. We know that grantmakers are here for the long haul, and Ostara shares the desire to support both individual nonprofits as well as the longevity of the sector as a whole. Grantmakers face an unprecedented opportunity to show up in new and innovative ways when it is most needed and most impactful to the largest number of people. Some may act quickly, and some may take their time to plan out your response. Everyone can play a role in this recovery in a way that resonates with each organization’s core values. There is much opportunity and we are here to help in every way we can. How can we work together? We are here for you and we will walk with you as you navigate this situation. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to us if you would like to discuss how to shift your fundraising event plans, how to respond to funder inquiries about programs and services, how to manage remote work for your teams, or to navigate fears with donors or volunteers. We’re here to connect.

This post is co-authored by Olivia Miller Gattuso with input from the entire Ostara team.This post is part two of a three-part series. If you haven’t already, go back and check out part one, where we describe what happened to the nonprofit sector in Washington between 2007 and 2012 during the last economic recession. Nonprofit workers, we see you: you are overwhelmed, tired, and genuinely fearful about the future of your work. The organization that you have invested so much passion, time, and energy into may be wobbling. Donations may not be coming in, you may have had to cancel big in-person fundraising events, your programs may have shifted or paused in ways that threaten your ability to achieve your mission, and your colleagues may be losing their jobs and livelihoods. You are scrambling to adapt, to pivot, to ensure that your organization—and its vital team of people—still exist in three years, in one year, or even next month. A New York Times article quoted Tim Delaney, chief executive of the National Council of Nonprofits, saying, “In an ordinary disaster, no matter how severe the impact, there is a border beyond which life is normal. Here there is no border. We see the first tidal wave coming in, but know there will be a second, a third and a fourth after it.” Another article points out that three-quarters of nonprofits say they will run out of cash in less than six months. “Nonprofits live on the edge, pouring everything they have into their mission.” For organizations like this, a short-term dip in cash can mean layoffs, program cancellations, and dissolutions. But, it can also mean survival or even growth; improvements in long-term planning, cash position, and donations; higher contributions by board members and volunteers; more effective program service and delivery; and a greater understanding of the need for capacity investments when this is all over. In fact, overall the nonprofit sector was, in some ways, able to weather the last recession better than for-profit businesses. What makes the difference between an organization that closes its doors and an organization that grows to meet community demand during an economic downturn? What can you—tireless nonprofit leader—do right now to ensure that your organization survives this crisis and serves your community through it? We have waded through the rising waters of resources out there to pull together a data-driven list of the strategies that work, proven through real nonprofits’ experiences of the last recession. As you figure out how to proceed, consider these tried and true crisis-responses. In the next 30 days: Clarify the gap between your expenses and revenue. An article by Steve Zimmerman at Nonprofit Quarterly identified a few steps that we recommend every nonprofit do now in response to COVID-19. He said to: “Understand your cash position.” Leadership must understand how long they can cover expenses without any new infusions of revenue. “Assess damage to revenue streams.” How much revenue that you expected to come in this year do you already know will not arrive? “Look at the dual bottom line.” Consider the impact of a program alongside its financial costs. A healthy nonprofit will have a mix of services that generate revenue or sustain themselves vs. services that are expensive to deliver but result in tremendous community impact. We like the version below of the map Zimmerman referenced. As you think about how to proceed this year, consider programs that are Stars (generate revenue or donations and align with your mission), Cash Cows (generate revenue), and Heart projects (require significant resources but are essential to your mission. Now is the time to question projects that may be uncertain in either revenue or mission, that are experimental, or that you know are not a good use of resources. Engage your donors and funders to help you fill the gap. Approach funders that you have strong relationships and make a clear ask to help you through any short-term cashflow challenges. Find creative ways, like challenge pools, for your major donors to lead the way.  Don’t be afraid to ask funders for overhead funds, unrestricted grants, and multi-year commitments. We recently wrote posted twice about how to do this. Check out here and here. Between now and the end of 2020: A 2011 study led by David Harrison at the University of Washington examined a set of nonprofits in King County, WA and the actions they took between 2008 and 2010 to weather the last economic recession. Learning from this research and our decade of work with more than 350 nonprofits, we recommend that nonprofits do the following this year: Involve everyone. Include your full team in identifying creative solutions that mitigate harm to the organization and its community. Talk to the people you serve – what do they need and what is the best way to provide it? Draw on the energy and passion of your staff and board to create a team-based approach to getting through this. Engage your donors and volunteers – how are they able to give and what do they care about? Move swiftly and boldly. After you have determined your cash position and the programs or expenses that are not serving your organization, act quickly to make difficult decisions that will preserve assets and engage effective fundraising strategies. As Harrison’s research pointed out, this may mean reducing your fixed costs in ways you couldn’t have imagined before. Do you need your office this year? Can you immediately cut some utilities, the monthly water cooler delivery, or other nonessentials? Engage in shorter-term, more nimble planning. We all know things are changing rapidly, seemingly every day. Now is not the time for a five-year strategic plan. Work with your team to determine what you are going to do in shorter bursts of time, and then reassess together as things change. What is your 1-month, 3-month, and 6-month plan? Don’t be afraid to think outside the box. The nonprofits that survived in Harrison’s research pursued partnerships, pivoted programming, and sought new service delivery methods to adapt to their changing environments. We have already seen tremendous examples of this – like the Refugee Artisan Initiative who pivoted their artisan production process to sew greatly-needed masks for healthcare professionals, or Cancer Lifeline who has started hosting their in-person support groups and classes online. Focus on relationships always, but especially now. The common thread throughout all our work here at Ostara is relationships. Whether we are talking about grant writing, holiday appeals, events, capital campaigns, boards, or major gifts – relationships are paramount to the success of a nonprofit. Never has this been more true. Take time to connect with clients, staff, donors, volunteers, and your board – check-in and have honest conversations. Invite them into your process, and find out how you can support them. Always come back to your mission – and make sure it’s a clear one. It’s never a waste of time to review your mission and values. Now more than ever, we are encouraging our clients to make sure everyone on their team knows why they exist, and that any project that does not support that mission in some way falls to the back burner. In 2021 and Future: Appreciate and communicate with your team. Show that you appreciate your staff and the work that they have done up to this point, and continue to do this into the future. Consider donors, funders, volunteers, and board members part of your team, and invest heavily in stewarding those relationships. Re-examine your revenue mix. The biggest action that organizations in Harrison’s study took to sustain their operations over the last recession was to reimagine their list of revenue sources and ensure that list was as diverse as it possibly could be. As you do this, consider: Annual fund activities like events, annual mail, and electronic appeals. Major gifts – targeted requests to the segment of donors that already give the most to your organization. Private grants – strategic proposal-writing to well-aligned foundations and corporations. Remember to refresh your knowledge of the funding landscape every six months. Public grants and contracts – projects in partnership with city, county, state, or federal governments to achieve common goals. Be aware this may change from one administration to another. Earned revenue and memberships – creative ways to leverage your resources and partnerships to sell services or products Special campaigns via social media, peer-to-peer platforms, community giving days and more Build—and don’t be afraid to use—your reserves. If you have an operating reserve, use it! Now is the time to draw on that fund to engage in intentional deficit spending. That means you may approve a deficit budget next year. Explain to your staff and board why you are doing this and what it will allow you to achieve. Communicate this decision with funders and explain why it is a wise financial choice that allows you to continue serving your community. Make a plan to rebuild that reserve in the future. If you don’t already have an operating reserve, reiterate to your board why this is a crucial element of emergency preparedness. Nonprofit best practice is to establish three to six months in a board-designated operating reserve. Set a goal for annual contributions and a target number you would like to hold in reserves. When you are able, create an operating budget that includes a contribution to your reserve. Create a culture of understanding on your team about the importance of a reserve and its value to your long-term sustainability Take time to plan for unexpected challenges. Once you have made it through the initial six to twelve months of this economic recession, work together to create plans for the next unexpected disaster. Are you prepared for an emergency? Do you have a leadership succession plan in place? Do you know what you will do if an expected revenue source drops off? Lastly, advocate for the sector. Follow along and support regional conveners like Washington Nonprofits and Communities Rise as they fight for funding and systems that support the nonprofit sector.  Your voice is important. Nonprofits have proven their resiliency time after time. We know that COVID-19 has affected our world and community in unprecedented – and still unknown – ways. And yet, you are the real-life nonprofit heroes, continuing to show your bravery, responsiveness, and commitment to your communities and mission during this difficult time. We look forward to helping you along the way and witnessing the impact of your work as we work through this crisis together. We plan to share stories of positivity, community, and hope in nonprofits on our social media pages as much as we can over the coming weeks and months. Follow these stories here.Read Part III of this series where we discuss how funders can make the biggest impact for the long term, where and how to invest to help nonprofits survive this pandemic and the years that follow, and what mistakes to avoid. We are here for you and we will walk with you as you navigate this situation. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to us if you would like to discuss how to shift your fundraising event plans, how to respond to funder inquiries about programs and services, how to manage remote work for your teams, or to navigate fears with donors or volunteers. We’re here to connect.

This post is co-authored by Olivia Miller Gattuso with input from the entire Ostara team. Today – April 13,  2020 – much of the United States is weeks or months into temporary routines of social distancing, mandated by governors and urged by the President in response to the COVID-19 crisis. For the nonprofit sector, the economic impacts of this are profound. As programming and fundraising events are canceled, staff are reduced, volunteers and clients are not showing up, and revenue sources shift or disappear, nonprofits’ survival is uncertain. We get it. In fact, we have seen this before. The Ostara Group was founded shortly after the largest drop in the U.S. financial markets since the 1929 Great Depression. The worst of the 2008 recession lasted a year and a half; by mid-2009, numbers began to trend upwards and the turmoil started to quell. But the 18-month period wreaked havoc on the nonprofit sector, in lasting ways. Last month, Congress passed a $2 trillion economic stimulus package (the CARES Act) that includes emergency loans for small businesses and nonprofits to begin alleviating some of these pressures. And as many have rightfully called out, this is a time for more and greater funding for the nonprofit sector; “this is the rainy day funders have been saving for.” The Pacific Northwest philanthropic community is beginning to provide lifelines for nonprofit organizations of all shapes and sizes in this unprecedented time. Regional funders like Seattle Foundation, Community Foundation of Snohomish County, King County, and many others have joined together to establish rapid response funds to support specific COVID-19 needs in the community. Nearly 500 foundations across the U.S. have signed a philanthropy pledge of action that commits them to compassionate grantmaking during this challenging time. And a coalition of Seattleites called All in Seattle has banded together to raise funds to funnel directly into local nonprofits. Yet, we know the fight to survive this is far from over for nonprofits. To help our nonprofit community through this, we are posting a series of three blog posts: Part I: What does the data tell us about how funders responded during the last recession? What can nonprofits expect this time? Part II: Based on those lessons, what should nonprofits be focusing on to survive this? What fundraising strategies might be most effective right now? How can or should you pivot their operations, programming, fundraising, and finances to best leverage public and private investments to survive? Part III: How can funders make the biggest impact? Where and how should you be investing to help nonprofits survive this pandemic and the years that follow? What mistakes should you avoid? Part I, Part II, and Part III are now live on our website. We are here for you and we will walk with you as you navigate this situation. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to us if you would like to discuss how to shift your fundraising event plans, how to respond to