Center for Nonprofit Excellence

The nonprofit organizations of Essex County bring essential services to all who live here; from food pantries, social services and schools to art programs, cultural institutions and land trusts, our communities are better places to live because of their work.

The Center for Nonprofit Excellence gives these vital organizations training, tools and support to build their operational expertise so they can better serve the 740,000 residents that depend on them to enhance the quality of life in Essex County.

Knowledge leads to success. Find it here...

Grant Making

ECCF provides grants to nonprofits through:

1. A discretionary grant making fund directed at capacity building projects
2. Competitive grant making opportunities offered by a variety of donor advised and collaborative funds
3. Over 100 charitable funds that grant to organizations in Essex County and beyond
4. Promotion of high-impact nonprofits to our partner donors

For more info on ECCF's competitive grant programs, visit Grant Guidelines for deadlines, grant priorities, and application procedures. Recent grant recipients are posted after each grant cycle.

Education and Training

The Center for Nonprofit Excellence provides a variety of education and training opportunities to teach nonprofit leaders and senior managers best practices in management, finance, strategic planning and fundraising through regularly scheduled workshops, consulting and the Institute for Trustees.

Capacity Building Workshops – teach best practices in strategic planning, financial management, board training, marketing, fundraising and more. They include half day workshops, breakfast seminars and special training programs.

Coaching & Mentoring – include individually tailored consultation services for organizations that need specific help developing leadership and strategic decision-making skills and/or navigating change and growth situations. Consulting services range from a ½ hour phone call to full staff or board advances.

Institute for Trustees – an annual full day conference for board members and executive directors with a goal of strengthening organizations’ capacity to meet its mission. The Institute brings experts in the field to present on board roles and responsibilities including board development, financial sustainability, compliance, strategic planning, and board/staff relations.

Grants Resource Center

The Grants Resource Center is a portal located at ECCF's office in partnership with AGM and sponsored by EBSCO Publishing. The portal provides access to grant seeking databases that help nonprofits locate new sources of funding. Data sources included at the GRC are Associate Grant Maker’s (AGM) Grant Makers Directory and the Foundation Center’s Foundation Directory Online. Visit Grants Resource Center to learn more.

Peer Group Meetings

Sometimes the most effective way to learn is by sharing experiences with peers in your field. The Center’s Peer Meetings provide an opportunity for like-minded organizations in different communities of Essex County to gather, cross-pollinate and share ideas. Meetings are organized by ECCF staff and occur as requested. Current groups include:

Local Education Funds - Most towns in Essex County have active education funds raising money in support of their public schools. Sharing strategies and solving common problems helps them accelerate their growth – and impact. For more information contact Julie Bishop at j.bishop@eccf.org.

Affordable Housing Agencies - About 40 agencies currently provide affordable housing options in Essex County. Bringing them together to discuss common problems and ways to collaborate helps all of them be more effective. For more information contact Dave Welbourn at dw@eccf.org. 

Youth at Risk – An annual conference for youth service providers in Essex County and beyond Youth at Risk is the only event of its kind. The daylong conference is designed to increase the effectiveness of and provide support to the professionals who work each day with at risk youth in our communities.

Financial Services

ECCF offers several financial and management tools to help nonprofits trim overhead expenses and focus their resources on mission.

Agency Funds - Agency funds are endowments or reserve funds professionally invested and pooled with other assets of the Community Foundation to increase returns. An Agency Fund relieves the nonprofit’s staff and board of the responsiblity of accounting and management of its invested funds.

Accounting – All nonprofits are required by Federal and State government to keep good books and file a version of IRS Form 990. ECCF is working with a group of Essex County accounting firms to develop ways to streamline and simplify bookkeeping, audits and filings for nonprofits.

Benefits – ECCF offers nonprofits a group savings on the administration fees of setting up new health insurance plans. Over 30 nonprofits have already joined us, and as more opt in, the administration rate goes down for everyone. Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) and retirement accounts are also available to help attract and retain the best people possible.

Information and Resources

• The Nonprofit Directory – a listing of all nonprofits and schools in Essex County search-able by town and/or category.
  
  
• Resource Directory – a compilation of resources that support all aspects of nonprofit management including links to the IRS, consultants, funding sources, pro-bono legal services and low cost technology.
  
  
• Consultant Directory-  a directory created by The Hartford Foundation for Public Giving to help nonprofits find consultants in specific areas of expertise.