18 minute read
The Giving Place
In Cleveland, nonprofit organizations shelter the homeless, provide medical care for the uninsured and educate children. They also feed abandoned animals, provide events for stargazers and build youth soccer fields. They are reflective of our city’s spirit — a giving and charitable one. But in truth, their impact often happens behind the scenes. It’s time to bring them to the forefront and celebrate their important work.
Stories by Jill Sell
Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association’s 3Rs Program — Rights, Responsibilities & Realities — educates youth.
West Side Market’s Summerfest pop-up brings art to the street.
Larger nonprofits, especially a number of foundations and educational, cultural and medical organizations, make a huge impact on our city and attract most of the headlines. Others, including charitable nonprofits or those that are smaller and lesser known, go about their business quietly. They hand out warm mittens to those who need them or protect endangered wildflowers in the woodlands.
But make no mistake. Cleveland wouldn’t be what it is today without all of our legitimate nonprofits. There are 14,267 nonprofit organizations in Greater Cleveland. Together, they employ 257,447 people, earn more than $35 billion in revenue each year and have assets of $80 billion, according to Cause IQ, a web-based information and tools provider for nonprofits, accounting firms, technology and fundraising companies, financial services firms and others.
We wouldn’t be the kind of people we are without our nonprofits. We are friendly Midwesterners, generous Clevelanders who historically donate proportionally more money than many other cities of our size. Nonprofits give us most of those opportunities to do so. Companies of all sizes strongly encourage their employees to contribute time, resources and money to nonprofits. Clubs and organizations hold fundraisers. Individuals are passionate about certain causes.
Although it might seem that we contribute because it is expected of us, we know it is simply the right thing to do. And nonprofits serve as Cleveland’s conscience.
The Nonprofit Umbrellas
You can’t talk about nonprofits without including The Cleveland Foundation. The oldest community foundation in the country (founded in 1914), it is “still one of the top 10,” according to Lillian Kuri, executive vice president and COO. At the end of 2021, The Cleveland Foundation had total assets of $3.2 billion and authorized 5,484 grants valued at $124 million. It received $124.8 million in new gifts and recorded $16.6 million in operating expenses.
“We can be very responsive and have the ability to meet the needs of the community as they come up,” says Kuri. “A great example is the pandemic. We reacted quickly at the onset and our board actually started to do weekly grantmaking, which is very unusual.”
The Cleveland Foundation unveils the winners of the 2022 Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards, which contribute to the understanding of racism and culture.
Being a trusted and respected steward for many donors’ funds that end up in nonprofits’ accounts also helps the foundation meet its goals. But those positives don’t allow The Cleveland Foundation to just rest on its reputation. Foundations and nonprofits are aware that this year’s national decline in donors was among those small donors who gave less than $500. Larger donors have taken on a bigger role. But that narrower support can weaken the diversity of nonprofits, and The Cleveland Foundation wants to help nonprofits address those issues.
Kuri says The Cleveland Foundation has shifted from being “for the community,” to being “with the community.” Criticized in the past for being a bit inaccessible and a “little bit like an ivory tower,” the foundation is moving its offices in early 2023 to Cleveland’s MidTown neighborhood, creating a building which is said to be “welcoming to everyone, whether you are a donor, a nonprofit leader or a resident.” A new board chairman and staff changes complement the shift, according to Kuri.
Like the organizations it serves, The Cleveland Foundation recently had to reevaluate itself. Some of its decisions for action are based on challenges the region’s nonprofits are facing.
“First, what does the new normal look like for nonprofits? Each sector within our community has different issues. For example, the arts sector lost a lot of jobs and the performing arts sector was hit the hardest. The question is how each nonprofit can figure out where they are now,” says Kuri, expressing the foundation’s need to guide and lead.
It’s no secret the pandemic also escalated the use of technology. Visa’s Payment Panel reported that in 2020, there was a 10% increase of credit card
The Cleveland Foundation supports the 2022 African American Philanthropy Summit.
A musician performs at the 2022 Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards celebration held at Maltz Performing Arts Center in University Circle.
usage for charitable giving and a 20% decline in check giving from 2015 to 2020. Many trendwatchers expect those numbers to continue in the same directions. Donor privacy and cybersecurity are also of more concern than ever before.
“It’s a changing landscape with donors. Younger generations are more used to things like crowd sources and want instant feedback,” says Kuri. “We need to communicate in whole new ways and ways that engage with donors, and particularly entrepreneurs who have a very different way of giving.”
Kuri also emphasizes that the nonprofit sector “really has to think more about diversity on their boards and have them represent more of what their communities look like.”
“Some have done that, but at this time it is absolutely critical,” she says.
VOLUNTEER Q&A
Sylvia Morrison
Cleveland Sight Center
Cleveland Sight Center provides services and support to people of all ages who have low vision.
Q. How did you connect with this nonprofit?
A. My aunt had age-related macular degeneration and was having trouble reading. I took her to the Cleveland Sight Center. Everyone there was so welcoming, and I never felt so warmly embraced. It was the dignity that they extended to their clients that impressed me the most. When we got back in the car, I told my aunt that when I retired, I was going to volunteer there, and that was 13 years before I did retire.
Q. What are your responsibilities?
A. I read and record The New York Times, which I have been reading since the fourth grade when I lived in New York. On Mondays, I read features from the Sunday edition, but no politics or main news. On Fridays, I read the regular New York Times. I also recorded People magazine in Spanish for six years. I am multilingual, so I also do special projects as well as some books. Anyone can access the recordings through Ideastream Public Media (ideastream.org). I read 52 weeks a year and have recorded more than 700 hours over the past six years. I can read and record in the on-site studio or even when I am out of town because of today’s technology.
Q. What makes a good reader?
A. You have to be a competent person and have a strong reading voice. If I come across something emotional, like news about Ukraine, I pause and count in my head before I continue. You can still express emotion, but you don’t want to be political.
National Nonprofits By the Numbers
$1.4 trillion
1.3 million
There are 1.3 million charitable nonprofits in the U.S. Almost half of America’s hospitals are nonprofit.
Most nonprofits are small and community-based.
92% spend less than $1 million annually 88% spend less than $500,000 annually
100%
One hundred percent of nonprofits have the legal right to lobby to advance their missions, but less than 3% do so. (source: National Council of Nonprofits)
350,000
The country has about 350,000 nonprofit religious congregations.
12.3 million
Nonprofits employ 12.3 million people, with payrolls exceeding those of most other U.S. industries, including construction, transportation and finance. >10%
Nonprofits employ more than 10% of America’s private workforce.
$2 trillion
A substantial portion of the nearly $2 trillion nonprofits spend annually is more than the $826 billion they spend on salaries, benefits and payroll taxes every year.
80%
14%
As a whole, the nonprofit sector earns more than 80% of its revenue (through fees for services and government contracts and grants).
The nonprofit sector receives 14% of its revenue from donations by individuals (10.2%), foundations (2.9%) and corporations (0.9%).
Fees for services and government contracts and grants Individual donations Foundation donations Corporation donations Other
43 HOURS
In 2021, people volunteered for nonprofits an average of 43 hours. (source: Independent Sector) In the second quarter of 2022, nonprofits contributed $1.4 trillion to the economy. Historically, the nonprofit sector is the third-largest private employer in the U.S. economy and grows jobs four times faster than for-profit organizations.
VOLUNTEER Q&A Ida Bryant
Cleveland Museum of Natural History
The Cleveland Museum of Natural History (CMNH) explores science, education and a passion for nature in order to promote a sustainable future for everyone.
Q. Why did you become a CMNH volunteer?
A. When I was growing up, my grandmother always took me to “our duck pond” (Wade Lagoon) at the Cleveland Museum of Art, near the natural history museum. I have five brothers and one sister, and when we were older, we would walk by ourselves to the art museum, Cleveland Botanical Garden and other places in University Circle. But it cost money to go to the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, so we never went there. I retired from the Department of Defense in 2014. In 2016, I was having problems sleeping. My doctor said I had too much time on my hands, and I was staying up just thinking. He suggested volunteering. I thought this was my chance to get into the Cleveland Museum of Natural History and see what I had missed.
Q. What are your volunteer duties?
A. When I started, I expected to be in visitor services and lead tours. But that seemed like too many people and too noisy for me, so I asked if I could work behind the scenes. I have always been fascinated by fossils, so for two years I cleaned them. To have my hands on something thousands of years old felt great. I broke one once and felt scared about it. But I was told, “That’s why we have glue.” Now, I input information into our databases.
Q. What kind of experience does one need to volunteer at CMNH?
A. They will teach you, and there are many opportunities, from volunteering in the wildlife area at the museum to volunteering at Mentor Marsh. I’ve liked to learn all my life, and the museum is a great place to do that. A Changing Environment
A nonprofit itself, the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association and Bar Foundation (CMBA) also serves other nonprofits. CEO Rebecca Ruppert McMahon says she has no doubts about the importance of these organizations to Northeast Ohio and our quality of life.
CMBA’s Reach Out for Nonprofits pro bono program provides education and volunteer counseling opportunities, according to Ruppert McMahon. Representatives of Greater Cleveland’s nonprofit leadership are offered information about legal issues and other critical issues. Volunteer CMBA attorneys are steered toward assisting nonprofits in areas that include employment laws, vendor contracts, leases, corporate matters and intellectual property matters.
The most recent program, Reach Out for Nonprofits: The Summit, was held in October. Past programs have included hiring and retaining employees, establishing a start-up and more. Additional programs are scheduled for 2023.
Ruppert McMahon says the two biggest challenges currently facing nonprofits are workforce concerns and the instability of the economy.
“The most successful nonprofit organizations continue to exercise flexibility, even after the pandemic, in all aspects.” — Rebecca Ruppert McMahon
Judge Dan Polster and 3Rs students take a field trip to see the court system in action.
“I don’t care how good your strategies are, if you can’t get the right people, or people are burned out, or people are moving from organization to organization at a high rate, that makes the execution of even the best strategies really challenging,” she says. “The most successful nonprofit organizations continue to exercise flexibility, even after the pandemic, in all aspects.”
Discussions about whether a nonprofit should function primarily with in-person employees, be strictly virtual or a create a hybrid model have left some organizations confused, adds McMahon.
“Some organizations, like mine, are organizations that need to be in-person on a regular basis,” she says. “We have built a consistent message over the past two years that while there is an opportunity for flexibility and working remotely on occasion, we are truly an in-person organization.
“So we recruit people who want that. We have had some people leave, and as much as we hated to say ‘goodbye,’ we understood their goals are different from ours. We now actively court people who want to work in an office environment.”
The executive also points to employee appreciation as critical for nonprofits. That can be especially challenging when an organization is operating primarily in a virtual environment.
“The proverbial watercooler conversation gets missed. You miss hearing the simple, ‘Thank you for your help,’ in person,” says Ruppert McMahon.
Economic instability that includes inflation worries, fluctuations in the stock market, partisan divisions and other factors can also take its toll on nonprofits. Those uncertainties can alter the success of nonprofits that depend on in-person fundraising “where people open their wallets to support their favorite organization.” “But we have faith in Cleveland,” insists Ruppert McMahon. “We live in one of the most philanthropy-centered communities anywhere. Cleveland will continue to support its variety of nonprofits day in and day out.”
Research shows nonprofits: > encourage voting and civic engagement in nonpartisan ways > serve as incubators for individuals to learn leadership and governing skills > promote community unity and neighborhood strength
Volunteers: > save nonprofits considerable resources; the value of a volunteer hour in 2022 in Ohio is $27.07; the national amount is $29.95 > can receive physical and mental benefits by being more physically active and/or also focusing their attention on others
Information courtesy of the National Council of Nonprofits, Independent Sector (a research organization covering 1.8 million nonprofits) and other sources.
VOLUNTEER Q&A Michele Sommerfelt
Kids’ Book Bank
Working with 1,500 community partners, including public and charter schools, churches and the Greater Cleveland Food Bank, Kids’ Book Bank is a distributor of free, donated children’s books.
Q. What drew you to be a volunteer at this nonprofit?
A. It matched things I love to work with — children and books. And at this point in my life, I knew I could be happy as a worker bee at the Kids’ Book Bank, not a planner as I was when I was a children’s librarian or special needs teacher’s aide. And I know that many children here don’t have books in their homes. But poverty doesn’t mean you don’t want to be a reader. Also, the sustainability appealed to me. The idea that these books are staying out of the landfill and are being repurposed is important to me. Only about 10% of the books we receive have to go to book heaven or be recycled.
Q. What are your responsibilities?
A. I serve as a Little Free Library steward for about eight Little Libraries on the West Side of Cleveland. I pick up books at the Kids’ Book Bank once or twice a week and make the rounds to make sure the Little Libraries are full. When the Little Libraries concept came to Cleveland, it was “take a book, leave a book.” But that didn’t work. The kids just took books, although that is a nice problem to have. Once a week I also come in to do whatever needs to be done — sort books into reading levels, put Kids’ Book Bank stickers on books, pack books or train new volunteers. We also do community outreach and fill new book orders for teachers.
Q. Were you always a reader?
A. I was the kind of kid who climbed a tree in the backyard during summer vacation and took a book with me. Now, my favorite children’s book changes all the time. But when I was a child, I really liked Sam and the Firefly by P.D. Eastman. Seeing that book brings back a lot of memories.
The West Side Market is a longstanding city institution.
New Avenues of Support
Clevelanders support nonprofits, perhaps just in different or additional ways than the Old Guard is used to seeing. Members of The Cleveland Professional 20/30 Club are young professionals who “socialize, network, learn and volunteer” in the community. Philanthropy is one of the club’s pillars, and it encourages members to participate in year-round, hands-on volunteer work and fundraising activities.
“My passion is working with nonprofits that are mostly local to Cleveland, and our group finds it important to give back to the community,” says Bridget Corrigan, director of philanthropy. “Our biggest fundraising event of the year is Stuff the Stocking. This year, proceeds benefit Hattie Larlham, which supports people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families.”
Partnerships between nonprofits, the corporate world and government also continue to grow in Cleveland. One of the most intriguing stories of late has been the creation of a new nonprofit organization that will be filed in January to manage Cleveland’s historic West Side Market. The city of Cleveland will continue to own the public market, which opened in 1912.
A master plan is being created that will affect everything from stall layout to financial modeling to program development.
“Nonprofit operation of public markets is an international practice. Most people’s favorite markets are nonprofit operated and publicly owned,” says Jessica Trivisonno, senior strategist, West Side Market, mayor’s office. “The West Side Market is a key institution that has stood the test of time. We want to think about the market’s next 100, 200 years, and how we can support that.”
Being managed by a nonprofit will allow the West Side Market to operate as a business while fulfilling its mission as an important source of fresh food for residents and tourists, according to Trivisonno.
Nonprofits bring people in the community together.
VOLUNTEER Q&A
Bob Zrinzo
The City Mission and Laura’s Home Women’s Crisis Center
The City Mission meets the basic needs of food and shelter for Cleveland’s homeless and hurting, while creating individualized, comprehensive programs to assist clients in building a stable and independent future. For women and children, Laura’s Home is a bridge from crisis to stability and self-sufficiency.
Q. How did you become aware The City Mission needed volunteers?
A. I heard about it through my church, Grace Church in Middleburgh Heights. I wasn’t retired then, and just did special projects like planting flowers, some landscaping and painting. But when I retired, I had more time on my hands and now I volunteer on a regular basis at Laura’s Home in the kitchen. On Friday evenings, I prepare meals, help serve and clean up. I also volunteer for special things like Christmas and back-to-school activities. I’ve been there about four-and-ahalf years.
Q. Why do you volunteer?
A. I have been blessed all my life. I’ve had a roof over my head and food on the table. I have six kids and a ninth grandchild on the way. I’ve had some rough times — no one’s life is perfect. But I had that internal conversation with myself and my conscience. I said to myself I needed to volunteer more, and not just on a once-in-ablue-moon basis.
Q. Can you share the moment you knew you were doing the right thing?
A. One Friday night I was just pulling weeds in the back of the building and a little 3-year-old girl came up to me and grabbed me by the leg. She looked right up at me and said, “Thank you, thank you!” The mother came up to me and said, “She means that.” It brought a tear to my eye.
