Nonprofit Resource Center of Alabama Summit.

Thanks to Molly McGregor, President/CEO of the Nonprofit Resource Center of Alabama (NRCA), I was invited to Birmingham for the 2009 “Extreme Makeover . . . Nonprofit Summit.”

This year, 260 people attended 21 breakouts over two days. Susan Sullivan, Associate Director, told me that since they kept their costs down, “we did well overall.”

Susan was a great hostess and took me to one of the best barbecue restaurants ever – great catfish!

While I was there, I attended other sessions and talked to people about what’s happening in Alabama. Susan said that the current mood in her state has gotten a little more optimistic.

However, her feeling is that many nonprofits will still need an “Extreme Makeover.”

“We are going to need better relationships and a better understanding of all the people we work with on a regular basis – beyond the business, including our own teams. We need better relationships in all of our collaborations,” she told me.

“We can’t just make cuts but need to be leaner and smarter about our operations. Now we have to be hands-on with our budgets and ask where is the revenue coming from and what are we spending it on? ,” Susan said.

Here’s a trend people are discussing in Alabama and beyond - agencies merging or collaborating with others that deliver similar services and programs. That was one of the topics at the Summit and recently at a separate NRCA workshop.

“Many nonprofits know this will be their future but they aren’t willing to talk about it yet. We are putting into practice the process you talked about by holding roundtables for people who deliver the same services. They have to get to know each other and trust each other before they can collaborate,” Susan said.

“I think the pressure to merge is going to come from funders such as the United Way and community foundations. To win grants, agencies will now have to prove they are different than others in their area. There will also be more emphasis on their outcomes both for private and government money!” Susan concluded.

I look forward to more of these conversations with Susan, Molly and other Alabama nonprofits when I return for three workshops May 18 (Mobile), May 20 (Birmingham) and May 22 (Huntsville).