Member Spotlight: Communities in Schools Benton-Franklin
When the pandemic forced schools in Washington to close in March 2020, many district and school leaders worked quickly to plan for and address the needs of students alongside nonprofit organizations that quickly adapted to meet the needs of students. One organization...
Washington State Department of Commerce (Commerce): Unfamiliar Territory Leads to a Model for Successful Government/Nonprofit Partnership
In the beginning, working with nonprofits was unfamiliar territory for Cheryl Smith, Director of Community Engagement and Outreach with the Washington State Department of Commerce (Commerce). She says previous work with nonprofits would typically center around a...
Voices of Pacific Island Nations (VOPIN) – CARES Act Funding Helps Nonprofit Address Achievement Gap among Kitsap County Pacific Islander Students
When Patrick Woo-Ching founded Voices of Pacific Island Nations in 2015, he did so by asking himself the question, “If not me, who else?” What Patrick felt he had an obligation to address was the lack of academic achievement among Pacific Islander students in public...
United Indians of All Tribes Foundation (UIATF): CARES Act Grant Administration Uses a Humanistic Approach, Paving the Way for Trust-based Philanthropy
United Indians of All Tribes Foundation (UIATF), an organization with its origins in activism, has a 51-year history of providing a variety of culturally responsive services and programming to Seattle and King County’s urban Native community. As a “hub for the Native...
Washington State Arts Commission (ArtsWA): State Agency with Deep Community Ties Made Sure Arts and Culture Organizations Were Supported
COVID-19 had a devastating impact on the creative economy across the country, and the creative economy in Washington state was not spared. The Washington State Arts Commission (ArtsWA) says the state’s creative economy supports more than 17,600 arts and...
School’s Out Washington (SOWA): Nonprofit Umbrella Distributed State Funds in a way that Worked for Nonprofits
School’s Out Washington (SOWA), an organization dedicated to strengthening community systems that support quality expanded learning programs for Washington’s children and youth, is another nonprofit organization that successfully partnered with state government to...
Yakima Valley Community Foundation: Partnership with Yakima County Ensured that Vital Funding Stayed in the Local Community
Washington Nonprofits recently had the opportunity to connect with Sharon Miracle, President and CEO of the Yakima Valley Community Foundation. Sharon shared their success story of assisting Yakima County in allocating CARES Act funding to nonprofits in the Yakima...
How Nonprofit Leaders Are Feeling About 2021
Photo by Danil Aksenov on Unsplash 2020 has been a challenging year for nonprofits in Washington. From wildfires, to protests, to local and national elections, to a global pandemic, nonprofits have provided support and stood with their communities. While we know that...