essential nonprofit
More than JustDane by Kyle Jacobson JustDane isn’t telling the Greater Madison area what it’s supposed to look like; it’s providing the tools to allow others to shine.
Local voices are key for nonprofits to make an ongoing impact in any community. Though other regions can inspire efforts in our area, an initiative that works halfway across the country won’t necessarily translate over 1,500 miles. And even in cases where only part of a program works, the rest can’t be forced through. What JustDane is doing for Dane County continues to be effective because of the time they spend seeking out relevant perspectives before filling in the gaps surrounding services for people who need them most, all while empowering other visionaries and volunteers. In the best cases, those empowered individuals grow into their own nonprofits. Better known as Madison-area Urban Ministry (MUM), JustDane has been
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around for 50 years functioning, among other things, as an incubator and fiscal agent for innovative ideas and projects. Executive Director Linda Ketcham says, “The goal is to support them so that they can build their internal capacity and achieve their goal, which is to become their own nonprofit free and clear of us.” Over the years of working with so many nonprofits, JustDane has instilled itself in the community as a resource for connecting people and businesses to the nonprofits that can help them most. Each successful nonprofit born from JustDane’s model speaks to a broader mission of creating a just and equitable community, something that has been their aim since the beginning. “There was a United Church of Christ congregation called Pilgrim United
