Nonprofit Alliance

Teresa M. Durham has over 22 years experience in nonprofit consulting and civic engagement. Her areas of expertise include board governance, strategic planning, fund development, group facilitation, program management and peer coaching. In her role at the Nonprofit Alliance, she is responsible for daily administration of the program’s key delivery strategies that include technical assistance, resource collection, and consultant referrals, assessments and capacity building grants and scholarships. Teresa can be reached at 269-965-3931, ext 2205.

Kim joined the Nonprofit Alliance in November 2007, and has over 15 years experience in the nonprofit sector.  Kim develops, coordinates and implements nonprofit education and training activities from the Lifelong Learning Department at Kellogg Community College. She will also be pursuing options for offering academic certifications related to the nonprofit sector.  Kim can be reached at 269-565-2802 or andrewsk@kellogg.edu

Julie Tindol joined the Nonprofit Alliance team in March 2011 to assist the staff with NPA website, database and communications management. Julie can be reached at 965-3931, ext. 2208.

The Nonprofit Alliance (NPA) was formed in 1995 to provide management support services to the nonprofit community of Calhoun County based on a study conducted by local funders and KCC, that found there was a pervasive need for a centralized nonprofit management assistance program with the following guiding principles. :

• Accessibility: to be a trusted resource for information to all area nonprofit  
• Affordability: to provide the highest quality of service possible in an affordable way 
• Confidentiality: to be entrusted to preserve the consultant/customer relationship
• Capacity building through a self-help model: seek to both listen and understand our customers, learn and coach, provide tools and strategies
• Collaboration: to extend resources, share best practices through partnerships

Initiatives that led to the development of the Nonprofit Alliance:

• 1970s — Volunteer Bureau (VIS) provided a yearly appreciation event for board presidents of area nonprofits. The content evolved into workshops on the use of volunteers. Elizabeth Binda and Cyril Houle conducted seminars on effective boardsmanship sponsored by Kellogg Community College.
• 1980s — KCC received a three-year grant from the W. K Kellogg Foundation to administer a local component of a national program called Building Better Boards under the direction of Frank Crookes, VP of Community Services at KCC and Program Coordinator Marge Weil. United Way of Greater Battle Creek established a fund for a Management Assistance Program (MAP) that provided mini grants and scholarships to agency staff to attend KCC Nonprofit Assistance programs. Self-supporting seminars were developed under the coordination of Carolyn Harvey and included topics such as board/staff relationships, public relations, marketing, fundraising and personnel.  In 1988,Victor Sanchez assumed the coordinator position providing consulting services and strategic planning retreats with nonprofit boards and staff.
• 1990s — Seminars continued under the coordination of Victor Sanchez. Don Miller led the MAP Committee with agency representatives Carolyn Harvey and Cathy Lucas.  The study referred to above resulted in the establishment of the Nonprofit Technical Assistance Program, later renamed Nonprofit Alliance under the first director, Cathy Lucas and was housed at Willard Public Library through 2006.
• 2007 — NPA becomes a program of Kellogg Community College.

NPA intends to maintain a high level of ethics and public service.  In return for the faith the public places in NPA and its staff, the Nonprofit Alliance accepts the obligation to conduct its practices in a way that is beneficial to the public.  

Clients can be assured that members of the NPA staff and Advisory Committee will serve them in accordance with professional standards of competence, objectivity, and integrity.  NPA staff will place the interests of clients and prospective clients ahead of their own, maintain independence of thought and action, hold the affairs of the clients in strict confidence, strive continually to improve their professional skills.  Staff will observe and advance professional standards of management consulting and training, uphold the honor and dignity of the profession and maintain high standards of personal conduct.

NPA will accept only those assignments which it believes it is qualified to undertake and which it believes will be beneficial to the client.  It will refer consultants who in its best judgment are competent to give effective service in solving the particular problem and/or addressing the fundamental issues involved.

NPA will make certain that the client has a clear understanding of the objectives and scope of the engagement and the approximate cost before it is started.  This information will be covered in a letter of confirmation, and if subsequently important changes develop, these will be discussed with and agreed to by the client in writing.

NPA will not undertake, nor continue, an assignment where it is clear, or becomes clear, that the client's only purpose is to use its name and reputation to lend weight to decisions already made or actions already planned, or where the consultant's freedom of independent analysis and recommendation is restricted.  Further, it will reserve the right to withdraw if conditions beyond its control develop to interfere with the successful conduct of the assignment.

NPA will evaluate the quality of the work done by all consultants through obtaining feedback from member organizations utilizing the services.  NPA will continually solicit feedback from member organizations regarding services utilized to ensure referrals are based on qualitative information and that members receive the highest quality of service. Firms.  

NPA will regard as confidential all information which is gathered during the course of its professional assignments.

NPA will not serve concurrently two or more clients who are deemed to be competitors in areas of vital interest without informing each client.

NPA will inform clients of any relationships, circumstances, or interests that might influence its objectivity.

NPA will recognize its responsibility to the management consulting profession to share its methods and techniques utilized in serving clients.  It will not knowingly, without a client's permission, use proprietary data and materials which other management consultants have developed.

NPA will not negotiate for possible work with a client where another consulting firm is currently the client unless assured and satisfied that there is no reason to expect conflict between the two assignments.

NPA will provide for ongoing staff development to keep abreast of the latest thinking and advances in the field of nonprofit management.

NPA will maintain open and honest communication with the client, keeping the client informed of any significant changes affecting the engagement.