In light of current economic conditions, the nonprofit sector can’t afford to continue in a “business as usual” manner. This was the message that NYU Professor Paul Light delivered at the 6th annual conference of the Connecticut Association of Nonprofits. His keynote reflected the event theme of “Sustaining Nonprofits, Strengthening Communities.”

“We’re the first to go into a recession and the last to come out,” said Light, who is also Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution. To that end, he recommended the following paradigm shifts:

As the global community prepares to tighten its belt, everyone talks about the need to “do more with less.” Light argues that it’s time that nonprofits have the opportunity to “do more with enough.”

WAKE UP CALL: What steps can we take to increase state support and to attract the fresh talent we need?

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On October 24, 2008, the Columbia School of Business held a conference titled “The Moment of Now: Market Innovations in Social Enterprise” to explore themes in the emerging sector of social enterprise. In this session on Cultivating Effective NGO-Business Partnerships, Gordon Peterson (second from left),  VP of Corporate Social Responsibility for The Timberland Company, squared off with two nonprofits: Allison Clements (left), Corporate Counsel for the Natural Resources Defense Council, and Kyle Cahill, Director of Corporate Engagement at the Environmental Defense (third from left), moderated by Alan Webber, Founder of Fast Company magazine.

Ever since EDF helped McDonald’s to go green with their packaging, both of these nonprofits have shed their “sue the bastards” stance and now with work corporations to help them green their businesses. This shift is in recognition of the large role that corporations play in our society. For example, the Wal-Mart supply chain encompasses 65,000 suppliers and constitutes the 20th largest economy in the world, so a change in their environmental policies can have a huge rippling effect down the line.

However, wary of being used for greenwashing, both NRDC and Environmental Defense only work with corporations that can provide a sustainable model of change that can be leveraged across an entire sector. EDF insists that the outcomes for the corporations they work with be verifiable, measurable, and replicable, in order to provide this industry-wide model.

Gordon addressed Timberland’s efforts to go green and their need for the practical know-how from environmental organizations and consultants. Their initiatives include internal programs such as Earthkeepers rewards to encourage employees to reduce the company’s 2006 energy usage levels by 50% in 2010, an initiative with Share Our Strength in which chefs wear Timberland shoes, and a carbon footprint labeling program to explain the manufacturing impact of their shoes to consumers, a particular initiative he hopes will inspire other manufacturers to adopt.

WAKE UP CALL: How can your business or nonprofit create methods for sustainability in a way that can provide a model for an entire industry?

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Keynote speaker to Association of Fundraising Professionals Fundraising Day NY 2008 conference, Lorraine Cortes-Vasquez, Secretary of State for NYS, shares her insights and inspirations to the nonprofit sector.

I liked her quote encouraging nonprofit leaders to think like business people: “I is not for profit, but I is not for loss.”

WAKE UP CALL: To have the capacity to continually serve clients, nonprofits need to think strategically about investing for the future.

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