Alabama Association of Nonprofits

Danielle Dunbar has a unique viewpoint on nonprofit leadership. Not only has she been a leader at several area nonprofits, she is now the executive director of the Alabama Association of Nonprofits (AAN), a membership-based organization that serves the needs of Alabama’s nonprofit sector. And with this perspective, one need that she saw was equitable access to professional development for nonprofit leaders across the state.

To fill that knowledge gap, Dunbar and her team used a $25,000 grant from the Community Foundation to launch the Nonprofit Leadership Institute, a nine-month cohort that provides continuing education programs designed specifically for nonprofit managers and leaders. “We couldn’t have done it without them,” Dunbar says. “They helped us think through several iterations of it before we got to what we’ve launched as our pilot.” She says that the process was very helpful because the Community Foundation encouraged AAN to broaden the scope of the program and be very intentional about diversity, equity, and inclusion.

“We removed barriers that are often part of any sort of leadership program, which is why so many underserved leaders don’t get the chance to participate,” Dunbar says. “It’s often not just the cost, it’s the ‘who.’ You have to be in the right network and, frankly, we’re just not all in the right network.”

Dunbar says that the AAN wanted their programs to be different so that they could help produce high quality leaders across the state. “Our overall focus is nonprofit health, and I don’t think you can have a healthy organization without strong leadership.” Another thing Dunbar says is absolutely necessary is diversity. “We would have small groups to talk through things, and I heard viewpoints and frames of reference I would never have considered. Diversity helps you make better decisions. It really does.”

And that’s where Dunbar says the Community Foundation provides good leadership in terms of diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging. “I think that they have raised the bar by asking organizations to really consider what it is they’re doing. Is your board diversified? Do you have a diverse range of leaders in your organizations? How does that affect the greater community? Because if nobody is asking those questions and nobody’s encouraging nonprofits to do that work, just like any business, you may not be compelled to do it.”  She says the Community Foundation is setting that example by “not just talking some talk, but actually walking a walk.”

AAN and other nonprofits also derive a great benefit from the Community Foundation’s broad network of local, regional and national leaders they bring in to share knowledge and information. “I think that surely all foundations have goals and objectives that they’re trying to reach, but often it seems more like they’re just trying to check boxes for their trustees,” she says. “The Community Foundation is really trying to live it. It’s just good leadership.”

Nonprofit leaders often experience exhaustion and burnout, and Dunbar sees that side of the coin on a regular basis. But she says participation in the AAN cohort gave those leaders a renewed sense of energy and excitement about the work they do. “They were just thrilled to have an opportunity to learn and grow together,” she says. “And now they’re ready to take their organizations to the next level, which, in turn, makes a tremendous impact on the state.”

That’s where Dunbar says the Community Foundation provides donors with valuable information. “The Community Foundation connects donors with the potential to do good, and they’re really able to make an impact with their funds.”

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