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Executive Director's WelcomeWelcome to the UW Center for Nonprofits. The Center was formally established at the University of Wisconsin in 2008 with input from nonprofit professionals and scholars from across our campus and community. The administrative home for the Center is located in the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies in the School of Human Ecology. Starting in fall 2009, the Center is pleased to support the launch of a new UW undergraduate degree in Nonprofit and Community Studies while continuing work toward graduate study programs in collaboration with other University of Wisconsin Madison and UW System campuses. Our series of Communiversity seminars continue to gain popularity as we have welcomed over 800 attendees since the series launch in November 2008. Previous sessions are available via this website. Our deepest thanks go to our private partners who generously support the work of our Center and the programming that enables us to connect with the nonprofit community. Those sponsors include: The Oscar Rennebohm Foundation,Madison, WI
The Bender Family Foundation,Washington, DC
International Association of Employee Benefits Plans,Brookfield, WI
Meriter Foundationand the Nursing Skills Simulation Lab Collaborative, Madison, WI
The Bonner Foundation, Princeton, NJ
The Alliant Energy Foundation, Madison, WI
St. Mary's Hospital Wipfli, LLPAs we continue to develop our program, we hope you will share your thoughts on how we might best serve the interests of the sector. Please feel free to be in touch with me personally at yasiri@wisc.edu. Opportunities for affiliation and sponsorship are available and we hope to connect you to our efforts. Executive Director |
Events
UW Center for Nonprofits Communiversity Series
November 12, 2009
Differentiate Your Non-Profit In Ways That Really Matter
Featuring Kay Plantes, Principal of Plantes Company, LLC, Madison, WI
Time: 4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. (registration begins at 3:30 p.m.)
Place: Pyle Center, AT&T Lounge
702 Langdon Street, Madison
Please register by clicking on this link:
http://www.ohrd.wisc.edu/reg/catalog_course.aspx?groupcoursekey=23949
November 30, 2009
The Time is Now for Health Care Reform
Featuring Frank Bryne, MD, President, St. Mary's Hospital and Michael Heifetz, Vice President for Government Affairs, SSM Health Care of Wisconsin and Dean Health System
Sponsored by:
Time: 5:15 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. (registration begins at 4:45 p.m.)
Place: 1610 Engineering Hall
Free parking available in Lot 17 after 4:45 p.m.
Please register by clicking on this link:
http://www.ohrd.wisc.edu/reg/catalog_course.aspx?groupcoursekey=23949
Communiversity Sessions Online
The University of Wisconsin Center for Nonprofits hosted six Communiversity Sessions this past year. We enjoyed attendance from interested faculty, staff and students from the UW as well as nonprofit executives, volunteers, and foundation leaders from across our community. If you were able to join us, we thank you for participating. In the event you were unable to join us and wish to share with others, here are the media links to view the past sessions:
November 3, 2008
“Charity, Strategic Philanthropy, Innovation and Entrepreneurship: Contributing to the Common Good” with Barry Gaberman, Senior Vice President Emeritus, Ford Foundation, New York City, New York
http://mediasite.cae.wisc.edu/Mediasite/Viewer/?peid=78dbfa1a-a919-42dc-b7a5-c85118345994
March 2, 2009
“Locating and Accessing Grants -- The UW Grants Administration Collection” with Nikki Busch of UW Memorial Library
http://mediasite.cae.wisc.edu/Mediasite/Viewer/?peid=aad3064d-4b6d-410c-9902-
81a750e0d8cf&playerType=WM64Lite&mode=Default&shouldResize=true
March 23, 2009
"Brand Positioning, the Life Force of Your Nonprofit" with Wayne Glowac, President of Glowac Harris, Madison
http://mediasite.cae.wisc.edu/Mediasite/Viewer/?peid=e9122ca9-0db7-4201-bd8d-
68f74ad89765&playerType=WM64Lite&mode=Default&shouldResize=true
April 13, 2009
“Mobilizing Communities and Universities in the Obama Era: Strategies for Organizing People, Giving and Civic Action” with Bobby Hackett, Senior Vice President of the Bonner Foundation, Princeton, NJ
http://mediasite.ics.uwex.edu/mediasite5/Catalog/pages/catalog.aspx?catalogId=af
e50764-9dd6-4cf2-a173-93e23603bcd6
April 27, 2009
“Nonprofits -- Challenging Economic Times and People Strategies – A Panel Discussion” including Paige Goldner, Professional Recruiter and Marshall Heyworth, Vice President with QTI of Madison
May 6, 2009
“American Philanthropy and U.S. Foreign Policy” with Joan Spero, Past President of the Doris Duke Foundation, New York City, New York
http://www.international.wisc.edu/Media/index.html
September 22, 2009
"A Conversation on Collaboration" with Melanie Schmidt, Principal, Timpano Group, Madison, WI
http://mediasite.ics.uwex.edu/mediasite5/Viewer/?peid=f3f533371107458fb1a0c07
Mission
The Center is a place through which university and community stakeholders convene and collaborate to understand and strengthen the nonprofit sector. It is a place that builds public awareness of the sector, the demands for its service, and the challenges it faces.
Toward these ends, the Center provides innovative research, quality education, and engaged outreach to current and future leaders of the nonprofit sector.
Why a Center on Nonprofits?
There has been great interest in the field of nonprofits among faculty, staff and students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. During the planning process of the Center, many came forth to express their interest in participating. There is great interest on the part of multiple and diverse university stakeholders to share their expertise and contribute to the growth of the Center.
By the same token, there is equal drive on the part of the nonprofit community to engage with UW based faculty, staff and students on networking, mentorship and educational opportunities. Through the course of the Center development process, community representatives have been invited to participate and have willingly invested time and intelligence in forming the preliminary program and agenda for how the Center can be of best service to their needs to advance community interests. In the spirit of the Wisconsin Idea, the vision of the Center’s program includes regular convening, interaction and involvement of both the academic and community stakeholders of the nonprofit sector.
Understanding the Impact of the Sector
The nonprofit sector in the United States and across the world is going through transformative change. Its contribution to the U.S. economy includes 1.4 million nonprofit organizations in the U.S., employment of more than 11 million people including the equivalent of 5.7 million full-time volunteers. Nonprofit organizations in the U.S. have annual revenues that exceed $1 trillion dollars.
Beyond the economic impact, the structures the sector has become responsible for shepherding in our society are tremendous and span housing, hunger, healthcare, youth development, environmental, aging and economic development areas among many other areas that promote community health and well-being.
Study of this sector which addresses the basic needs of most communities is an integral process to understanding its current status and future capacity. Engaging the interdisciplinary talent of world class academicians at the University of Wisconsin will provide a platform for outreach and understanding of the variety of issues that sector faces and academic partners can inform, develop and advance.
Need for Academic Investment
A Center is needed because of the vital role that the sector plays in democratic, civil society. The sector not only delivers essential services, but it serves as a monitor/watchdog of the public sector. It is a protector of rights. Through philanthropy, the sector identifies priority community needs and leverages investments to address them. These are functions that will continue to grow in importance and require a concerted and focused range of study and research so that the sector can be understood by its many stakeholders and strengthen over time.
The University of Wisconsin has long embraced a tradition of interdisciplinary research and education. In tandem with that concept, the Wisconsin Idea -- advancing that the “boundaries of the University are the boundaries of the state” – ensures that the work performed at the University be relevant and accessible to all communities who need it.
Establishing and investing in a Center for Nonprofits at the UW holds practical importance to the academic, community and sector stakeholders for certain.
The opportunities for rich collaboration between sector stewards with the UW serving as a base of operations holds great promise for all involved.
