2018 NCDC Conference & Exposition

Change will not be denied its due. Evolving demographics, radically different economic structure, the ebbs and flows of government funds and policies all create nuances for social problems and often new opportunities for solutions. Corporations are used to adjusting to changing environments, indeed, they must. Nonprofits, on the other hand, particularly faith-based nonprofits find change much harder to absorb. This presentation will examine a case study of Edmundite Missions and 80-year old provider of food and social services in Selma, Alabama, the poorest city in the poorest county in one of the poorest states in the nation. The Missions did its social and economic homework, created a series of new programs, and evolved existing programs, to meet changing needs. In the process, the Missions attracted new donors and re-ignited the interests of traditional supporters.

Objectives
1. 1. Understand how changing environments create both challenges and opportunities for programs in longstanding nonprofits
2. 2. Understand the organizational challenges of program change to adapt to that environment, and potential approaches to creating a nimble structure and augmenting internal skills
3. 3. Examine the direct funding consequences of seizing change opportunities