We are thrilled to announce that Third Sector New England (TSNE) has been awarded two grants by the Barr Foundation to help strengthen our cohort-based programming and advance our efforts in fortifying small, community-based nonprofits with shared services and infrastructure support. TSNE envisions a future where organizations creating a just world have the capacity to lead change. For us, that means supporting nonprofit leaders and consultants at the forefront of social change, and creating systems of collective support that expand access to nonprofit capacity building initiatives.
The first of these two awards is a three-year, $1,000,000 grant that will support us in refining, aligning, and implementing our cohort-based programs to ensure equity in access and approach, as well as create an alumni program that will offer continued post-program support for cohort participants. Through our many cohort programs, our focus is on creating development arcs for nonprofit leaders of color and the evolution of consultants working to integrate an equity lens into their engagements. Secondly, this grant provides the necessary resources for TSNE to embark on the creation of an Equity and Race Equity plan that will support our core values of justice, progress, and impact, centering equity in all that we do. Finally, we will begin the process of establishing an advancement function so our learnings and innovations can be shared more broadly. This grant award is one of the largest that TSNE has received in our 60-year history, and is a testament to our long-time partnership with the Barr Foundation and their commitment to cultivating and advancing breakthrough ideas that shape our collective future.
The second grant award will enable TSNE to explore the viability of creating a new offering for the nonprofit sector: shared services. All too often, small and mid-sized organizations do not have the financial or intellectual capital available to spend on core nonprofit functions such as accounting, finance, payroll, human resources, planning, and more. Providing administrative supports to nonprofits is a hallmark of our work, and we want to be able to provide that expertise with more organizations beyond traditional fiscal sponsorship models. Over the next year, TSNE will work to conduct a market analysis, identify focus areas, and create a business model that readies a shared services model of support for the nonprofit sector.
With these new investments, TSNE aims to help build a stronger, more resilient nonprofit sector. Our programs and research contributes to organizations having the capacity and resources they need to operationalize their work, increase sustainability, and be more effective. Together with the Barr Foundation and other partners, we are committed to this work for the long term.
Sign up for our newsletter to get more resources, opportunities, and updates on TSNE’s capacity-building initiatives.