Share Space for Efficiency and Effectiveness

China Brotsky, Senior Vice-President at Tides and Managing Director of Tides Shared Spaces recently contributed a "Tip of the Week" to the Nonprofits 101 Resource Center blog, entitled, "Consider Creating a Nonprofit Center with Other Organizations or Joining a Like-minded Co-working Space." Here's an excerpt from her post:

One of the most significant costs for any organization is the price of office space and back-end services. Collaboration through shared space can help maximize your operating budget while at...

Sendai Miyagi NPO Center a Lifeline in Japan

While we often assert that Nonprofit Centers are valuable assets to the communities they serve, the tragedy in Japan has reminded us just how true that is.  The Sendai Miyagi NPO Center in Sendai, Japan is located in one of the epicenters of the devastating earthquake.  In its aftermath, the NPO Center has become a de facto lifeline for that ravaged community.  As you can see from their web site, the Center is serving as a critical resource to help people find lost loved ones, access basic social services, and coordinate the...

Join Tides Next Week in Charlotte

Tides is pleased to participate in the 2010 Community Foundations Fall Conference in Charlotte, NC.  Be sure to check out one of two sessions where Tides will present on innovative shared space and services for nonprofits, and stop by Exhibit hall Booth #401 to say hello!  We hope to see you in Charlotte....

View from Across the Pond: Nonprofit Space and Infrastructure in the UK

The NonProfit Center of Boston, developed by Third Sector New England

I traveled to London last month on behalf of Tides to speak at a conference. The conference focused on strategies for nonprofit capacity building and what "third sector" (the U.K. term for nonprofit) organizations could learn from international models. I represented the U.S.; other speakers hailed from New Zealand, Cyprus, and East Africa. The conference was sponsored by an organization called Capacity Builders, which ...

Why Does Infrastructure Matter?

Collage of tiles from the Peace Wall, courtesy CommunityGrows, a Tides project

I am excited to announce the launch of What's Possible: the Tides Blog – written by and for people interested in creating strong infrastructure for the social change sector. In this sector, what we do (the mission work that gets us up every morning for a vision of a just and equitable world) is interwoven with how we do it (the organizations we create to implement our vision). If we don’t pay attention to the...

Shared Services Guide: Collaborative Solutions

As doing more with less has become the new normal for nonprofits of all shapes and sizes, budget-savvy nonprofits are wisely teaming up to share resources and services through innovative “shared services” programs.

Sharing workspaces, IT resources, administrative functions like accounting and human resources and other services through a shared services arrangement is a relatively easy – yet highly effective – way for nonprofits to increase their operational efficiencies,  lower their operating costs and...