Here’s Why Tennessee Needs a Statewide Nonprofit Association
Source: Independent Sector
Nonprofits are Tennessee’s 6th largest industry, and the sector pays more than $13.5 billion in wages each year to 181,300 Tennesseans (or 8% of the state’s workforce). Tennessee nonprofits generate over 31.6 billion in revenues each year, and they hold assets of almost $71.4 billion, accounting for 10% of the Gross State Product. With nonprofits serving a vital role to the communities in Tennessee and majorly contributing to employment and revenue, nonprofits need a statewide leader to both advocate for nonprofits at the state level and also provide consistent, coordinated resources to nonprofits that serve the citizens of Tennessee.
In most states, a statewide nonprofit association provides holistic services to nonprofits, including services such as statewide public policy and advocacy support, training and technical assistance, and research. Tennessee is one of the only states in the United States without a statewide nonprofit association. Instead, four independent regional nonprofit associations have provided more localized support for nonprofits. These include:
Center for Nonprofit Management (Nashville)
Momentum Nonprofit Partners (Memphis)
Alliance for Better Nonprofits (Knoxville)
Venture Forward (Chattanooga)
Until 2017, the four regional nonprofit associations operated in silos, rarely partnering or even communicating with one another. With new leadership at each of the organizations, the CEOs of these organizations decided to come together to create better avenues of communication and collaboration. State advocacy became a main source of collaboration, though this was often done piecemeal due to the limited capacity of each organization.
Each charitable nonprofit is part of a greater whole that improves the state. One doesn’t make a big difference, but all of us do collectively. From a public policy perspective, it’s essential that nonprofits work together. Policymakers live all over the state, and they need to hear from their own constituents. Grassroots advocacy is nearly impossible from only one part of the state. Substantively, nonprofits are governed by state laws on tax-exempt status, giving incentives, regulation, employment standards, contracting, and more. Nonprofits need to engage at the state level to ensure those laws are fair and appropriate.
When the COVID-19 pandemic occurred in 2020, the need for support at the state level became increasingly more obvious. Four events led many of us to think more deeply about the need for statewide support:
Tennessee COVID-19 Recovery Act: Nonprofits were left out of the original bill that evolved into Tennessee COVID-19 Recovery Act. In the original draft of the bill, for profits and healthcare institutions were protected from unnecessary COVID-19 litigation, but a loophole could have limited nonprofits’ protection under the bill. The four regional nonprofits were able to mobilize their members to advocate for the inclusion of nonprofits in this bill. Thanks to the advocacy of the four nonprofit associations, every nonprofit in the state of Tennessee was protected under the new law, potentially resulting in millions of dollars saved in unnecessary legal fees.
Economic Recovery Group: During the reopening process after the nationwide shutdown, nonprofits found themselves without representation on the Governor’s Economic Recovery Group (ERG). Again, the nonprofit associations mobilized their members to advocate for representation. Because of this advocacy, a nonprofit subcommittee was created, and the subcommittee was able to provide recommendations to the Governor’s office. The Governor eventually released $150 million through the Tennessee Community CARES fund to nonprofits thanks to the recommendation made by the subcommittee.
Vaccine Distribution: The vaccination distribution was problematic in a number of ways across the state, and communication was fractured and siloed. Many nonprofits were confused or unaware of the vaccine distribution process, though nonprofits have access to many marginalized groups who could benefit from nonprofits disseminating information about the vaccine rollout. In response, the four regional nonprofit associations worked together to provide a virtual statewide town hall that included representatives from the State of Tennessee to demystify the rollout process.
Special Assembly Addressing Vaccine Mandate: When Tennessee legislators met for a special assembly to address the nationwide vaccine mandate, many nonprofits were concerned about the dangerous legislation put forth by lawmakers. Specifically, nonprofits were concerned about a potential ban on mask mandates at individual organizations. With many nonprofits working closely with vulnerable populations with health conditions, this was a frightening possibility. The four regional nonprofit associations worked with the Tennessee Chamber of Commerce to fight the legislation. Though many bills were passed that continued to concern our members, we were able to partner with the chamber to defeat the mask mandate prohibition.
Though the four regional nonprofit associations have worked closely together over the last five years, coordination and delegation of responsibilities has caused an undue strain on the individual organizations. This is not to say that regional nonprofit associations should not exist, as local community context certainly matters. However, without a coordinating body to support the entire state, several major gaps currently exist that must be addressed in order to more effectively serve all nonprofits in the state of Tennessee.
State government funding: There is not a central organization that is consistently advocating for state funding for local organizations. This has potentially led to billions of dollars lost over the last two decades.
Statewide nonprofit public policy and advocacy: There is no central organization that provides monitoring of legislation, lobbying and advocacy, and representation of the entire nonprofit sector at the state level.
Rural support: Though the four regional nonprofit associations cover much of Tennessee, rural nonprofits may be out of the service area of these organizations or have limited access to in-person convenings due to proximity.
Consistent communication: With only Center for Nonprofit Management and Momentum Nonprofit Partners as ally members of National Council of Nonprofits and members of other national nonprofit organizations, messaging around national trends, national policy work, and grant opportunities is not consistent across the state.
Standardization of best practices: Nonprofits in the state of Tennessee need a baseline and standard best practices from which to build their foundation. There is not currently a standardized set of best practices for the state, though Momentum Nonprofit Partners currently holds the state license for Standards for Excellence.
Curated, centralized resources: There is a lack of well-curated resources for all nonprofits in Tennessee.
Peer support and innovation: By having siloed regional peer support, nonprofits miss opportunities to network, collaborate, and share with other similar organizations across the state. This limits innovation, collaboration, and even potential merger opportunities.
The opportunity exists to relieve the burden of statewide support that the regional nonprofits provide piecemeal through the creation of a state nonprofit association or a merged organization. A state nonprofit association could address each of these gaps in service on a statewide level more strategically and effectively than the four regional organizations have the capacity to provide. The work that the regional nonprofit associations provide is essential to each of the communities they serve, and their work would be complimented by the existence of an independent coordinating state body.
After six years as the Chief Executive Officer at Momentum Nonprofit Partners, I can say with all certainty that a coordinating body at the state level is not only needed but critical to the long-term success of our state’s nonprofits. What happens when the next pandemic or disaster occurs? What happens when truly dangerous legislation is proposed in our state legislature? What happens when new and important best practices or grants become available that all nonprofits should know about? Until we address the elephant in the room and think from a broader, statewide perspective, we won’t have the statewide success that could truly change the face of Tennessee.
Kevin Dean, Ed.D.
Kevin is the Chief Executive Officer at Momentum Nonprofit Partners.