Management Center Transfers Programs, Closes Doors

May 18, 2004 — The Management Center (www.tmcenter.org) – a landmark San Francisco-based nonprofit – will cease operations after more than a quarter century of service to the nonprofit sector. After several months of internal review and strategic planning, the TMC Board of Directors have announced that TMC will close its doors, having arranged for the distribution of its signature programs and services. The respected and heavily-visited job site www.OpportunityKnocks.org, is being transferred to the Georgia Center for Nonprofits. TMC's annual Wage and Benefit Survey and its renowned Executive Director 101 training program are being transferred to a partnership between San Francisco's CompassPoint and the Center for Nonprofit Management in Southern California.

"The completion of our plan to transfer these programs is truly in the best interest of the sector," said Matthew O'Grady, TMC's Executive Director from November 2003 through March 2004, and now a consultant with the organization. "TMC's mission has been to develop the capacity for nonprofit leaders to build powerful and effective organizations, and that is what we are doing now. The 21st century has ushered in a radically different environment for nonprofits, especially for service organizations like TMC. We must lead by example and acknowledge that now there are other organizations better situated to carry on the work begun by TMC almost thirty years ago."

The Management Center, founded in 1977, served the vast majority of Northern California's nonprofits in its long history. TMC instituted a number of projects, programs and publications that have become standards for the industry including the Annual Wage & Benefit Survey for Northern California Nonprofits; awards programs acknowledging excellence in nonprofit management and governance; a host of popular training programs including "Executive Director 101", the annual Best Practices Conference, and "Board Essentials"; and its signature nonprofit employment service Opportunity Knocks – an effort which began in 1986 as a weekly four-page newsletter before transitioning to a national website which currently receives over 140,000 unique visitors per month.

"This move reflects a necessary and right thing to do," said TMC Board President Sheila Lewis. "The Management Center has provided an extraordinary level of service through a variety of meaningful and successful programs. Although transitions are always bittersweet, the entire board and staff of TMC have nothing but pride in the organization's service to the nonprofit sector."

Since late 2000, TMC's staff and board have been making adjustments to what O'Grady called "tectonic shifts" in the nonprofit sector. The last three years saw a precipitous drop in revenue - including a dramatic drop in print advertising for Opportunity Knocks magazine (TMC's main source of earned revenue) in the months following 9/11/01. In December 2002, Opportunity Knocks ceased publication in favor of its www.OpportunityKnocks.org web site. Additionally, the loss of several large grants from foundation funders, the economic downturn, and the sector-wide reduction in foundation support combined to make for a 57 percent drop in annual revenue.

Over a period of several months, Board and staff conducted an evaluation and planning process that considered several strategic options and at the same time prioritized goals. "As a Board, we envisioned what success would look like at the end of the process and considered a variety of alternatives," stated Anne Smith, TMC Board Vice President, "including restructuring TMC into a smaller, more sustainable organization; merging with another like-minded organization; or transferring key programs to other organizations and closing TMC's doors." Although all three options appeared viable, the last option proved to have the greatest potential to best meet the needs of all stakeholders and received the unanimous support of the TMC Board.

The Board conducted a thorough, competitive process to identify organizations ideally suited to receive each of TMC's key programmatic assets: OppoprtunityKnocks.org, the Wage and Benefit Survey, and ED 101. More than a dozen organizations were initially contacted, and ten organizations responded with proposals to acquire one or more of TMC's assets. "This was an exhaustive and exhausting process," commented Lewis. "But, as a result, we are confident that we have found the best possible home for each of these critical services."

www.OpportunityKnocks.org Continues With Investment from Georgia Center for Nonprofits

The web site www.OpportunityKnocks.org has been a national resource since its launch in 1998, and its predecessor print publication served several areas of the country through franchises in five major metropolitan areas. The web site is now one of the most-visited nonprofit job web sites in the nation. It is being transferred to the Georgia Center for Nonprofits (GCN), one of the first nonprofit partners to franchise the Opportunity Knocks newsletter in the late 1980s. GCN will continue operating OpportunityKnocks.org without interruption of service to the public. GCN also plans to continue expanding the reach of the web site, to more fully serve the entire country. Proceeds from OpportunityKnocks.org will be invested back into the expanded services of the web site, and ultimately will be used to establish a fund that will serve as a consistent source of support to the capacity building community.

Karen Beavor, Executive Director of the Georgia Center for Nonprofits, says the acquisition will mean good things for nonprofit employers in California, in Georgia, and nationally: "OpportunityKnocks.org is perhaps the most sophisticated of the nonprofit jobs sites. We're looking forward to tapping its potential to give organizations across the country an easy, affordable way to reach and attract the qualified staff they need to be strong and effective." She says that, under GCN's ownership, OpportunityKnocks.org will continue to provide top-quality service to nonprofits in the Bay Area and throughout California.

Wage & Benefit Survey, ED 101 Continue Through Partnership of CompassPoint and CNM Southern California

The Annual Wage & Benefit Survey and "Executive Director 101" has been transferred to a partnership formed by San Francisco's CompassPoint and the Center for Nonprofit Management in Southern California (CNM). First published in 1978, The Wage and Benefit Survey of Northern California Nonprofits has been the primary benchmark used by the sector in setting competitive and appropriate compensation levels. The 2003 edition reflected input from 300 nonprofit employers and more than 13,000 employees. CNM has published a nonprofit salary survey in Southern California since 1990. Production of the 2004 edition of the Northern California Survey will commence immediately. Organizations interested in participating may download a questionnaire by visiting www.cnmsocal.org.

Pete Manzo, Executive Director of CNM, said, "We are very pleased that we will be able to help preserve this service to Northern and Central California nonprofits, with help from local partners like CompassPoint in San Francisco and San Jose, the Center for Volunteer and Nonprofit Leadership of Marin, the Resource Center for Nonprofits in Sonoma, the Nonprofit Resource Center in Sacramento, California Association of Nonprofits (CAN), the Nonprofit Advancement Center in Fresno, Rooney Resource Center in Humboldt/Del Norte, and Center for Nonprofit Resources in Redding. Our paramount concern has been the best interests of the nonprofit community in Northern California. We know how valuable a nonprofit salary survey can be to enabling nonprofits to attract and retain the best staff possible and pay them fairly." Commenting on the decision-making process that led to TMC's transfer of the Survey, Manzo said, "It has been incredible to see the level of judgment, skill and attention to mission that The Management Center has shown throughout this process."

Executive Director 101 is a three-day intensive seminar for new and emerging nonprofit leaders. It has been a mainstay of professional development, and almost every offering scheduled in the last five years has sold out. There are now more than 400 graduates of the program. Through the CompassPoint/CNM partnership, the reach of ED 101 will be expanded statewide.

The transfers of these programs, having been cleared by the California State Attorney General's office, take place immediately. TMC will officially close its doors to the public May 19, and proceed with dissolution of the corporation.

"We believe our process and success with our partners reflects a strong example of the right way to end a long, and successful enterprise in service to its constituents," said Lewis. "I will personally miss all of the wonderful staff at TMC with whom I have had the privilege to work over the years, and thank our outstanding Board for maintaining our commitment to honor the institution and working to make the best decisions during a most difficult time."