An Introduction

Those of you who found us a few months or weeks ago, probably got the idea that The Mission Center, L3C is rooted in the social entrepreneurship movement. Innovation, disruptive change, hybrid business models and the like are part of our DNA.

What does this mean? For us, it is about changing the nonprofit sector – creating change from within to support change throughout. We believe that with the resources we have today organizations can be more efficient, effective and sustainable and therefore more capable of achieving their missions.

How? We start by changing how we allocate the hours, intellects, dollars and passionate souls that are the heart of our organizations. Your mission brought you together. The need keeps you working hard each day. Along the way though, the business of running your organization typically holds you back rather than propelling you forward.

Clearly, without good systems, procedures and policies, without skilled and capable people conducting the financial management and operational functions that keep organizations alive, our missions will never be achieved. Unfortunately, for years our approach has been to make executive directors, program coordinators and service providers into better bookkeepers, benefits managers and facilities personnel.

Why? It’s because the back-office piece of business of our sector – accounting, human resources, information technology – is essential but often not considered as important as our mission. So these tasks are done with borrowed and bartered services. They are done ‘in our spare time.’ They are ignored until there is a crisis.

What if, instead, we acknowledged that accounting, human resources and information technology are essential to our mission? What if investing in administration and overhead in reasonable, responsible and strategic ways was valued and funded? What if we had trusted partners with extensive nonprofit experience who, leading with a charitable purpose, were to partner with executive directors and program managers to provide the knowledge, education, coaching, support and services they need to use resources wisely, make informed decisions and grow their organizations? You’re imagining The Mission Center, L3C.

Our team, led by Chris Miller, and completed by Christy Maxfield and Lynn DeLean Weber, are committed to providing high quality services at lower prices to nonprofits who want to make the commitment to higher principles of nonprofit resource management. The Mission Center Team is accountable to a unique charitable purpose and financial bottom line whose vision is to fundamentally change the nonprofit community.

This blog will be about that vision. We’ll challenge you to imagine new ways of running your organization and measuring your success. We’ll talk about how we might change the thinking and behaviors of our funding community, boards and nonprofit personnel. We’ll share observations and insights and ask for your perspective on things. Thanks for being part of the conversation.