Brian Fogle, president of the Community Foundation of the Ozarks, said he expected about 80 people to show up to the inaugural nonprofit outlook hosted by the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce.
Fogle said he was shocked to see more than 220 people present at the event, which took place at the Barley House at Moon Crossing Oct. 24. The strong turnout shows people's eagerness to have conversations regarding nonprofits and their place in our community, said Fogle, who was a panel member at the event.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, nonprofits and Springfield companies have dealt with high levels of employee burnout and turnover. More than ever, there is a need for the business community to work with nonprofits and vice versa in order to improve Springfield, Fogle said.
“How can we take these passions, viewpoints and put them together to make a better community?” Fogle said.
Synergies between nonprofits, Springfield companies
One way the business community can help nonprofits is by providing structure through volunteer work, said Spencer Harris, president of Springfield digital agency Mostly Serious and the moderator of the event.
“Our business community can bring skills sets and expertise to our nonprofits that they don’t typically have,” Harris said. Nonprofits “don't have things like governing structures in place. We don't have performance evaluations. We just hope we do good work.”
“If we can bring some of the structure and intentionality of the business community to the nonprofit sector, it could really enhance their work,” Harris said.
These types of synergies exist in abundance in the Springfield landscape, said Jessieca Hollister-Graham, director of human resources at Digital Monitoring Products (DMP), Inc. and a member of the panel discussion at the event.
Engaging employees in nonprofits was the basis for the company's charity program, DMP Cares, which has given away $112 million since it started in 2018, Hollister-Graham said.
“We need to teach [employees] what generosity really looks like,” she said.
DMP Cares relies on employees to decide its signature charities. That employee engagement has helped with retention and turnover rates, Hollister-Graham said.
“When we have faced this time when employees are leaving at a higher rate than ever, how can we truly compete?” Hollister-Graham said. “We can compete by having a cause that gives them something more.”
The program has caused a “higher degree of engagement from our employees,” she said. “Employees that are connected to a higher purpose stay around longer.”
Nonprofit, businesses partnerships
Partnerships between the business community and nonprofits are able to benefit both organizations, both on the board and ground level, Hollister-Graham said.
“As a nonprofit director, I don't know everything,” Hollister Graham said. “I really need to engage with business leaders who can come along to help.”
Nearly 80 percent of the Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of Southwest Missouri's volunteers work full time, Laura Farmer, executive director, said at the event. CASA hosts a number of events that rely heavily on volunteers from the business community.
“These are great ways businesses can get involved in nonprofits and just give back,” Farmer said.
The relationship between nonprofits and the business community only has room to grow, Harris said.
“Our business community can learn a lot from our nonprofit sector on what our community needs to grow,” Harris said. “The nonprofits really are the voice of the community.”
The inaugural Nonprofit Outlook provided a place for business leaders to engage with the nonprofit sector, Harris said. More events need to happen in the future.
“I'm so excited that the Chamber has finally opened up a space where we can have a real public conversation and share our challenges with one another,” Harris said.
