Accomplishments

• In 2018, nonprofit capacity building programs became mvdc's largest program service, due to reduced focus on healthy aging and other collaborative programs (see accomplishment 2 below). the organization also started doing business as the martha's vineyard nonprofit collaborative (mvnc) to reflect this increased focus on nonprofit support, and a new website and member management system was installed to make administration of the expanded programming easier for both mvnc and the nonprofits. the number of trainings increased from 6 to 8, with the primary emphasis on improving governance and fundraising. mvnc also launched a local 9 month nonprofit leadership development certificate program. a sold out grant writing workshop was attended by 30 people, and a seminar on nonprofit employment law was attended by 15 despite a snowstorm. two specialized financial workshops on investment spending policies and best practices managing endowments and reserves were attended by 27. a governance workshop on building strong boards and the role of the board in fundraising was attended by 42 people (mostly board members). 28 board chairs attended a seminar to discuss best practices in board leadership and other topics of common interest. all these workshops received high evaluations from those attending. mvnc also started a new program for development directors and others working in fundraising on island. the group met twice in 2018 and based on the success of those meetings will meet 3 times a year starting in 2019. the meetings allow people to meet and network with their peers, discuss common issues, learn from each other and hopefully increase the professionalism of fundraising in the community. presentations were made on a variety of topics including, gift acceptance policies, development plans, donor management software and fundraising ethics. mvnc also added a private portal on the new website so group members can easily ask for help and share information. the 2 development meetings in 2018 were attended by 52 in total. the greatest accomplishment in 2018 was the successful launch of a locally available nonprofit leadership development certificate program run by the institute of nonprofit practice (inp) in association with tufts university. nine vineyard nonprofit leaders started the program in september 2018 and will graduate in may 2019. they attend a full day of classes once a month on cape cod and have 2 monthly seminars on the vineyard which makes this type of training instantly accessible since these programs are otherwise only available in boston which is impractical because of the time and cost of travel. this success of this strategy is clear as over 12 students have applied to attend in the program's second year. due to strong bonds of friendship and trust that develop in the cohort during the 9 months, the real benefits of this program will increase over time as more nonprofit leaders participate and the overall quality of management and collaboration increase. mvnc continued to operate a free nonprofit resource center including the grantwatch grant research databases not available elsewhere on island as well as books and reference materials on nonprofit management. Expenses $9,500.
• In 2018 mvnc was finally able to significantly reduce the resources devoted to this program to increase collaboration between vineyard nonprofits as it cut in half the amount of time the executive director spent helping lead healthy aging martha's vineyard (hamv) which mvnc created in 2013. hamv has over 70 volunteer members representing more than 35 health, human service and municipal organizations that serve island elders. this cut back was due to successful implementation of a sustainability plan developed in 2017 which included hiring a dedicated staff in the fall of 2018. mvnc was also able to transfer the fiscal agency of hamv to a larger organization that also provide office space and support services. one mvdc board members also served on hamv's executive committee. in 2018, hamv started implementing the community wide action plan it completed in 2017 of collaborative programs to address the needs of the island's our growing elder population. hamv launched a falls prevention coalition, a collaborative effort of several nonprofits to reduce the incidence of falls through home inspections, education and working with pharmacists. it also launched safe seniors, a program to train emergency service workers, retail workers and others likely to encounter elders in their jobs, how to recognize elders at risk, how to handle the situation and who to call for help. hamv also held a community education meeting and announced the launch of an advanced care planning initiative. one off the biggest accomplishments was turning a feasibility study for replacing the existing institutional nursing home with small scale homelike "greenhouse" model homes, into reality. led by the mvnc executive director, hamv used the feasibility study it conducted to bring together a developer/operator of greenhouse homes and management of the mv hospital which runs the existing nursing home. after several months, a joint venture agreement was made and plans and permitting have already started for a 72 bed facility. in 2018 the mvnc executive director continued to chair hamv's elder housing work group and also continued to chair the collaborative effort to address the island's affordable housing shortage, by implementing the island wide housing production plan completed in 2017. this work group had an affordable housing committee and planning board representative from each town as well as the island's primary affordable housing nonprofit and the regional planning commission. the primary effort in 2018 was to develop a plan to create a housing bank to accelerate creation of affordable housing. the housing bank plan was completed at the end of 2018 and will go to town meeting in 2019 for voter approval. finally in 2018, the mvnc continued the mentoring program for local entrepreneurs developing new businesses, including an annual pitch contest where the best ideas are awarded money to help develop their businesses further. this collaborative program includes the chamber of commerce, score and other local business and nonprofit leaders. Expenses $0.
• The mvnc program to increase philanthropy educates donors about local needs and provides services to facilitate philanthropy. over 18,000 households received our annual newsletter. we upgraded and improved the online directory of nonprofits. in 2018 as part of our program to facilitate donations to island nonprofits, we helped owners of highly appreciated securities donate over $16,000 to a small nonprofit otherwise unable to accept that kind of gift. Expenses $16,775.