Navigating a New Course: A Domestic Violence Organization Steers Towards a More Sustainable Future

8/4/2019 Navigating a New Course: A Domestic Violence Organization Steers Towards a More Sustainable Future

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Organic Growth

Strategic Merger

Post-Merger Integration

Facility Acquisition & Refnancing

Organizational Restructur

Cash Flow Const

By Paula Smith Arrigoni and Nonproft Finance Fund,

with unding rom Blue Shield o Caliornia Foundation,

Blue Shield Against Violence

Navigating a New Course

A Domestic Violence Organization Steers

Towards a More Sustainable Future

A case study o Center or Community Solutions


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2 2011, Nonprot Finance Fund

nonproitinanceund.org

Supporting Caliornia Domestic Violence (DV) Organizations

Since 2008, Nonprot Finance Fund (NFF) has worked with

over 45 Caliornia-based domestic violence (DV) service

providers to improve their nancial sustainability and help

them plan or the uture.

By working broadly and deeply with this important group o

organizations, our goals have been to:

1 Help individual organizations assess and improve theirnancial health and adaptability through increased

nancial literacy, use o appropriate data and tools, and

the adoption o strategic planning techniques.

2 Strengthen the sector as a whole by sharingobservations, recommendations and best practices in

the DV sub-sector and beyond.

3 Improve unding practices by identiying and sharinghistorical, nancial, and sector-wide trends.

NFF makes millions o dollars in loans to nonproits

and pushes or improvement in how money is given and

used in the sector. Since 1980, weve

worked to connect money to mission

eectively so that nonproits can

keep doing what they do so well.

We provide nancing, consulting, and

advocacy services to nonprots and

unders nationwide. Our services help

great organizations stay in balance,

so that they can successully adapt to

Our work in the eld, made possible through unding rom

Blue Shield o Caliornia Foundation, has included:

A broad nancial overview o 70 shelter-based

organizations in 2009

A comparative nancial analysis o 18 organizations

in 2010

Case studies illustrating challenges and issues acing

specic organizations and the sector at large

Workshops and webinars on best practices and key

nancial concepts in the nonprot sector

Customized consulting services to 45 organizations

between 2008-2011, representing an estimated one-third

o the active DV organizations in the state 1

Our Experience with Domestic Violence Service Providers

changing nancial circumstances and grow and innovate when

theyre ready. In addition to providing loans and lines o credit,

we organize nancial training workshops,

perorm business analyses, and oer

customized consulting services.

For unders, we provide support with

structuring o philanthropic capital and

program-related investments, manage

capital or guided investment in programs,

and provide advice and research to help

maximize the impact o grants.

About NFF

Background

Mission

Capacity Capital

Enterprise Platorm


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2011, Nonprot Finance Fund

nonproitinanceund.org 3

There are a variety o organizational types in the Caliornia

DV eld, including YWCAs, amily justice centers, multi-

service social service agencies, and health clinics, in

addition to single purpose DV or DV and sexual assault

organizations.

The majority o active DV

organizations are shelter-based.

This is dened by the state as an

established system o services where

battered women and their children

may be provided sae or condential

emergency housing on a 24-hour

basis, including, but not limited to,

hotel or motel arrangements, haven,

and sae houses. 3

O the 97 organizations that

participated in the National Network

to End Domestic Violences (NNEDV)

2010 census (out o the estimated 106 organizations that

have active domestic violence programs in the state),

87% reported operating an emergency or transitional

housing program. 4 This shelter-based business model

has dominated the DV landscape or both mission- and

unding-related reasons.

A Case or Mission

The movement to recognize, criminalize and end domestic

violence was catalyzed in the late 1960s and 70s, as part o

a larger tide o eminism. 5 Implausible as it may seem today,

prior to this time, emergency shelters

were only or men. Women in abusive

situations had ew or no sae havens or

themselves and their children.

Decades later, DV organizations and

other shelter providers have made

immense progress in addressing this

problem, but demand continues to

outstrip available supply, especially

during the recession. NNEDV ound

that on its census day in September,

2010, 5,261 victims were served

among all DV organizations reporting

in Caliornia, o which 2,889 received

emergency or residential shelter services, while another

310 women and amilies were turned away due to over-

subscription, understang, or other causes.

The case or a shelter-based model also goes beyond

individual and amily health and saety issues. Homeless

Why are the majority o Caliornia DV organizations shelter-based?

Homelessness among womenand amilies requently occursin the atermath o domesticviolence. Thus, fnding solutions

to the lack o available and saehousing aced by domesticviolence victims has long-

term impacts or curbing

homelessness, among othermajor societal issues.

Characteristics o Caliornia DV Organizations

Most DV organizations are in the business o providing

shelter and related support services, paid in large part

through government unding (typically about 85% o total

revenue) and supplemented by private contributions rom

oundations, special events and individual donors. Between

2000 and 2008, this revenue mix provided relative stability

and the opportunity to grow, due to gradual increases in

overall government unding.

In 2011, nearly three years since the start o the current

recession, heavy reliance on government unding has

proven problematic, as organizations wrestle with revenue

unpredictability and cuts, infexible program requirements and

limited private undraising capacity.

Stemming rom their ocus on providing shelter, DV

organizations are typically xed asset intensive, with low to

modest amounts o cash. Among the 18 DV organizations

NFF worked with in 2010, we most requently observed asset

mixes o roughly 50% property & equipment (P&E), 20-25%

in cash, 20-25% in receivables, and 5% in investments. Cashand receivables tend to increase and decrease in proportion

to each other, related to government unding trends. 2

What does an average DV service provider in Caliornia look like?

~50% Property & Equipment ~25% Cash ~25% Receivables~5%Investments


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and marginally-housed women experience domestic

violence at alarmingly high rates, based on a 2007 report

by the U.S. Conerence o Mayors. This data suggests

that homelessness among women and amilies requently

occurs in the atermath o domestic violence. 6 Thus, nding

solutions to the lack o available and sae housing aced by

domestic violence victims has long-term impacts or curbing

homelessness, among other major societal issues.

Funding Issues

A secondary actor in the emergence o shelter-based DV

organizations appears to be related to unding availability and

requirements.

Sources o Government Funding

DV specic unding was rst passed in Caliornia in 1977,

with the Domestic Violence Center Act (SB 91 or Presley),

a unding program designed to support battered women andtheir children, derived rom a portion o marriage license

ees. To be eligible to receive unding under this program, an

organization needed to provide shelter; remain open 24 hours a

day, seven days a week; provide access to temporary housing

and ood acilities; oer a drop-in center to assist victims o

DV; and provide a host o additional support services unrelated

to housing, including a crisis line, psychological support, peer

counseling, and emergency transportation services. 7

In large part, these unding requirements have been

maintained and expanded across other government and

private unding programs. Notably, the Domestic ViolenceAssistance Program (DVAP), one o the most signicant DV

unding programs in the state, set orth similar eligibility

requirements when it was introduced in 1994. Today, DVAP

unding requires organizations to satisy a sizable 14 service

requirements, including the provision o emergency shelter.

In the private sector, Blue Shield o Caliornia Foundation, the

largest private under in the sub-sector, adopted the state

unding criteria or its Core Support program (which provides

unrestricted operating grants) when it was established in

2002. 8 Since 2009 the oundation has relaxed its unding

criteria by allowing organizations to meet just 10 out o the

14 requirements, opening the door or organizations that do

not provide housing services to obtain a Core Support grant. 9

Benets and Drawbacks o Shelter-Based Funding

In NFFs observation, at question is not the relevance o the

shelter-based approach, but rather the level and type o

government unding which has principally grown and dened

it. Housing related services are expensive to operate, rom

routine maintenance and security, to large investments o

capital. However, in the aggregate, shelter-based government

unding programs seem to adequately address most o the

operating costs associated with running an emergency shelter

(even nancing or granting the initial purchase o a shelter in

many cases). Where they all short is in helping organizations

pay or necessary capital investments, create maintenance

reserves, and build adequate working capital (dened here asthe amount o cash and near cash an organization has to

meet its current obligations).

With most government unded programs or DV being paid

on a cost reimbursement basis (i.e. ater the rendering o

service) working capital is especially constrained during the

beginning o the year and can be erratic during other periods

depending on political actors, such as budget standos

and cuts. In addition, we have repeatedly heard rom our

DV clients that many o the state required services, such

as advocacy and counseling programs, are underunded.

Surpluses that organizations are able to generate in theirhousing programs must oset losses incurred through the

provision o other required services.

Lastly, matching und requirements imposed by certain

government unding sources add an additional layer o

administrative burden and complexity.

We believe that shelter-based organizations have paradoxically

benetted rom increased access to programmatic unding,

Funding o Domestic Violence Organizations

Stateofth

eSector

Key Dates in the Funding History o Domestic Violence Organizations

1984Family Violence Prevention ServicesAct & Victims o Crime Act (Federal)

1970No unding or womensshelters in Caliornia

1977Domestic Violence Shelter Act (CA), derivedrom a portion o marriage license ees


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In 2009, just under $60 million dollars in ederal and state

government unding was distributed to DV organizations,

cities and counties, Native American tribal entities, and

universities in the state. 10 Due to state and local government

Funding o Domestic Violence Organizations

Overall, how much government unding is available to DV organizations in Caliornia?

budget cuts, some o which are still being enacted at the

local level by cities and counties at the writing o this report,

we estimate that at least 10% o government unding has

been cut rom the amount that was available in 2009.

while being hamstrung by the infexible design and inadequate

unding amounts presented by some o their major government

unding sources.

During the current recession, shelter-based nonproits in

Caliornia have aced additional economic and political

uncertainty. In the scramble to close

the state budget gap in 2010, DVAP

unds were cut and partially restored

through intensive lobbying eorts

by the Caliornia Partnership to End

Domestic Violence (CPEDV) and

other agencies. This episode orced

a handul o nonproits to close, at

least on a temporary basis, or lay o

sta, and most nonproits to mobilize

emergency undraising and advocacy

campaigns.

Funding Available to Non-Shelter-Based

Organizations

We would be remiss not to point out that shelter-based

organizations, along with the broader DV eld, have greatly

been impacted by non-housing ocused unding sources

as well. These include: the ederal Violence Against

Women Act (VAWA), enacted in 1994, which has unded

collaborative activities between law enorcement agencies

and DV service providers and a wide range o specic at-risk

and ormerly underserved populations; Victims o Crime Act,

a ederal program introduced in 1984 derived rom nes

and penalties to oenders and distributed to states (with a

portion o unding dedicated to emergency and transitional

shelters); and the ederal American Reinvestment and

Recovery Act, which supplemented

unding to transitional housing

programs and the Services, Training,

Ocer, Prosecutors (STOP) program

administered by VAWA.

Conclusion

While there are no conclusive studies

linking the prevalence o shelter-based

organizations in Caliornia to the

availability and design o shelter-based

unding, the likelihood that organizations

have shaped their programs to tunder requirements, specically the 14

services required by the state, is high.

In act, in conversation with the management teams o

various DV organizations over the last two years, we

heard repeatedly that even i they wanted to eliminate

their shelter programs due to nancial constraints, state

unding requirements made it unthinkable. Shelters have

1994Violence Against Women Act (Federal) andDomestic Violence Assistance Program (CA)

2009ARRA(Federal)

1999Cal WORKS unds supportservices (CA)

2009-10Reductions / TemporaryEliminations in State Funding

In conversation with themanagement teams ovarious DV organizations, NFFheard repeatedly that Stateunding requirements madeit unthinkable to eliminateshelter programs, even ororganizations under fnancialconstraints.


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rights and established the rst womens center in SouthernCaliornia. Long independent o the university, today CCS

mission is to end relationship and sexual violence by being a

catalyst or caring communities and social justice.

The organization helps

more than 23,000 adults

and children each year

to heal and prevent

relationship and sexual

violence. CCS operates

the only rape crisis

center in the city o San

Diego along with a countywide 24-hour bilingual hotline. It

also runs two emergency domestic violence shelters and a

transitional housing program and provides hospital and court

accompaniment and legal and counseling services or those

aected by sexual assault, domestic violence and elder abuse.

In addition, CCS works with local community groups and

schools to provide innovative prevention programs that promote

healthy relationships and peaceul communities.

NFF provided Center or Community Solutions (CCS) a ten-yearNonprot Business Analysis to help the organization analyze

its operating dynamics, capital structure, risk tolerance and

overall nancial health. During an early phase o the project,

we observed that

the organizations

nancial history and

current dynamics

are in many ways

refective o and

instructive or the

broader eld o DV

providers, particularly

in relation to growth and risk. NFF is grateul to CCS and its

Executive Director Verna Grin-Tabor or the enthusiastic

participation and candor in this report.

CCS was rst established as the Center or Womens Studies

and Services (CWSS), a political and educational service

organization developed by students and aculty on the campus

o San Diego State University in 1969, and incorporated in

1973. CWSS had a mission to advance the cause o womens

A Mirror or the Field

CenterforCommunitySolutions

2000 2001 2002 2003 20102004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Organic Growth Merger Integration Facility Acquisition& Refnancing

OrganizationalRestructuring

Cash FlowConstraints

The last decade was ull o change and growth or CCS. Similar

to the broader sub-sector, new ederal government unding

streams enabled CCS to develop new programs and service

delivery models that targeted underserved and high-risk

populations, such as youth and the elderly. On the other hand,serious threats to state and local unding during the recession

orced CCS to be nimble and make quick, strategic decisions to

right-size its operations and maintain adequate cash fow.

In addition, CCS represents a growing shit in the leadership

o the sub-sector, towards more investment in undraising

and community stewardship, proessional development

and operational eectiveness. This shit does not signal a

diminished ocus on the sub-sectors core mission to end

domestic violence, but instead refects better business

practices to manage operating fuctuations (i.e. reduced

unding availability or increased client demand) and long-

term capital needs.

CCS experienced a number o change events in overlapping

periods over the last decade:

1 Program-related growth and a strategic merger2 Fundraising and organizational development3 Increasing assets and liabilities4 Cash fow constraints

About the Center or Community Solutions (CCS)

A Transormative Decade or CCS in the New Millenium


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Between 2000 and 2003, CCS annual operating budgetnearly doubled in size, rom $1.7 to $3.3 million, rendering

the organization more nancially, programmatically, and

structurally complex. CCS growth between 2000 and 2002

was ueled by a 21% increase in government grants and

contracts, consistent with unding increases across the sub-

sector as a result o the broadening o VAWA unding. One

o CCS successes during this period was its creation o the

Ahimsa Project or Sae Families, a collaboration between

CCS biggest growth surge occurred between 2002 and 2003when it was approached by a group o government understo essentially acquire a ailing service provider located inthe north inland area o San DiegoCounty. The merger allowed CCS toabsorb ve key programs and 30 starom the ailing organization withoutassuming the organizations liabilitiesor leadership. CCS was provided onlyeight weeks to consider the merger,due to the rapidly ailing state o theother entity and unding deadlines.

Despite this time crunch, and the uncooperative positiontaken by the other organizations leadership team, CCSwas able to perorm general due diligence with attorneys,accountants and contractors prior to the merger but had

Center or Community Solutions and Social Advocates orYouth San Diego, Inc. to engage communities in generating

their own solutions to amily violence, domestic violence,

and community violence. Ahimsa worked with Somali,

Vietnamese, and Latino communities in the Mid City area o

San Diego. This program was recognized as the Nonprot

Program o the Year in early 2003 at a prestigious local event.

Overall, CCS has stood out as a strong collaborator and

nonprot leader in the San Diego area.

Program-Related Growth

Strategic Merger

to do so in a very short period o time. Over the next twoyears, CCS concentrated on post-merger integration. Keyactivities included taking advantage o economies o scale,

melding services across sites, developingnew intra-oce and departmentalcommunication, and rapidly developinghuman resource capacity.

Properly planned and executed, ormalcollaborations, and in some cases ullmergers, present a viable growth strategyor DV organizations, particularly orthose located in urban areas. In a 2009

report, Bridgespan observed that among other actors,organizations that have impersonal unders (governmentis the primary kind), and ace barriers to regular organicgrowth (e.g., an asset intensive business model, location

Managing Growth

$1.76M$2.05M

$2.42M

$3.34M

$1.35M$1.64M

$2.64M

$252K

Drivers o Revenue GrowthTotal Revenue, Government, Private Fees & Other Earned,Private Contributions

2000 2001 2002 2003 20102004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

$3.01M$3.37M $3.45M

$424K

$3.40M$3.68M

$3.89M $3.81M

$4.25M

$4.22M$4.12M

$2.88M$2.74M

$2.52M

$1.46M$389K

Properly planned and executed,

ormal collaborations, andin some cases ull mergers,present a viable growth strategyor DV organizations, particularlyor those located in urban areas.

Organic Growth Merger Integration Facility Acquisition& Renancing



$612K $478K

$399K

$542K

$283K$203K$364K$211K$162K

$417K

$564K $602K $671K$464K

$365K $281K $285K

$686K

$86K

$5.08M


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Since the merger, CCS has dramatically changed its

undraising approach. Historically, CCS was a reluctant

undraising organization. CCS Associate Executive Director,Development, Wendy Urushima-Conn summarized, CCS

is a 40 year-old organization with 10 years o undraising

experience. Verna Grin-Tabors arrival as Executive Director

in 1998 was a crucial turning-point. A sel-admitted program

person with more than 20 years o experience in the

prevention o relationship and sexual

assault violence, Grin-Tabor helped

instill a new appreciation o undraising

and administration at CCS.

Grin-Tabor and CCS multi-term Board

Chair Amy Rypins attended an in-depth

undraising clinic at the University o

Indiana. The clinic was instrumental or

both women, changing their perspective

about CCS stang, events, under/donor management,

and Board involvement. CCS current undraising strategy is

ocused on increasing the depth o private donations through

a combination o special events, major gits and planned

giving activities.

In 2006, CCS was awarded a undraising capacity-building

grant rom The Caliornia Endowment that enabled them tohire ull-time undraising sta and develop a comprehensive

undraising plan. Grin-Tabor dedicates more than hal o

her time to development and external relations, taking on

key leadership roles. Over the last decade her eorts havegarnered her and CCS many honors, including a Lietime

Achievement Award rom The San Diego Domestic Violence

Council, an Extreme Home Makeover or one its shelters,

an Oprah Angel Network grant, and a guest speakership by

renowned eminist Gloria Steinem.

Grin-Tabors eorts are leveraged by

Urushima-Conn, a ormer community aairs

executive at a local television station.

Urushima-Conn has introduced new systems

and tools, such as a matrix or analyzing the

rate o return on prospective undraising

eorts in order to use limited sta and

Board resources more eectively. Overall,

CCS demonstrates a proessional and

pragmatic approach to development, as part o its long-term

strategy or sustainability.

CCS new undraising model hinges on the organizations

management structure as well. In 2006, CCS adopted a

co-Associate Executive Director structure. Danielle Lingle

provides experienced program leadership as Associate

Executive Director, Programs, which has enabled Grin-Taborto remain ocused on administration and external relations.

Cultivating New Sources o Revenue

CenterforCommunitySolutions

Fundraising and Organizational Development

CCS is a 40 year-oldorganization with 10 yearso undraising experience,notes CCS Associate

Executive Director,Development, WendyUrushima-Conn.

in an overly saturated market, importance o existing localbrand, and high regulation) may be prime candidates or a

strategic merger. 11 One o the very ew recent exampleso a strategic merger by two DV organizations in Caliorniaoccurred between Womens Crisis Support and Deensa deMujeres, at the northern and southern ends o Santa CruzCounty, respectively. 12 Facilitated by LaPiana and Associates,the merger was conceived to re-unite two ormerly combinedorganizations, in order to serve the entire county and speak

with a single-voice in policy discussions. 13

Given the constraints to growth and recent unding cuts, itis notable how ew organizations have engaged in strategicmergers and collaborations in the DV sub-sector, particularlyin urban areas where geographic proximity is not an obstacle.This issue was raised by NFF in our 2009 nancial analysis othe sub-sector and remains an area o interest or Blue Shieldo Caliornia Foundation.

At a undamental level, the primary directive o the Board has shited rom

one o governance to undraising... With appropriate Board management and

recruitment practices, NFF has observed nonprofts successully increase the

size o their Boards to support undraising and outreach eorts.

8 2011, Nonprot Finance Fund nonproitinanceund.org


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Just as CCS merger and strategic collaborations expanded

its operating budget and service delivery, the organizations

acility and nancing-related activities transormed its capital

structure as refected on CCS balance sheet. Prior to 2009

CCS was virtually debt ree. The organization purchased its

headquarters acility in Pacic Beach in 1995, aided by a

grant rom HUD through the City o San Diego.

CCS engaged in two events that signicantly changed its

capital structure in July and December, 2009, respectively.

First, CCS renanced its headquarters acility. The renancing

included the outstanding balance let on the originalmortgage, plus an additional portion o short-term working

capital debt, ees and closing costs. In all, the renanced loan

amount was approximately $520,000.

The second event was CCS purchase o a 6-unit townhouse

rom the City o Escondido or use as transitional housing.

CCS had previously leased this acility or $1 annually. The

decision to purchase the property was precipitated by the

City o Escondido, which gave CCS the option to purchase the

building at a reduced rate or to vacate the property, or sale to

the highest bidder.

The purchase was initially nanced by a bridge loan rom a

CDFI, Century Housing Corp (CHC), and subsequently aided by

a grant rom the Federal Home Loan Bank o San Francisco,

signicantly reducing the outstanding loan amount toapproximately $325,000. As o scal year end 2010, the loan

rom CHC bore interest-only payments.

Adapting to Increased Assets and Liabilities

The Impact o Refnancing and a New Facility

CCS Facility Aects Total LiabilitiesNet Property & Equipment (P&E),Total Liabilities

$384K

In addition, CCS Board has played a large role in its

organizational transormation, thanks in large part to Rypins

and several other long-term and highly committed Boardmembers. At a undamental level, the primary directive o the

Board has shited rom one o governance to undraising. To

this end, CCS has grown its Board membership to 20, with an

ultimate goal o 25 (up rom 13 or 14 in the recent past).

Like most DV nonprots, thus ar CCS has achieved limited

success in recruiting deep-pocketed Board members that

provide large annual contributions. When a mandatory

nancial contribution component to Board membership was

rst discussed it was met with resistance rom many existing

Board members. Through continued Board education andrecruitment, the policy was adopted and embraced by the

CCS Board. The amount o nancial commitment is constantly

being reassessed. As CCS has grown, the Board has been

evolving along with it. With appropriate Board management

and recruitment practices, NFF has observed nonprots

successully increase the size o their Boards to support

undraising and outreach eorts.

$371K $359K $347K $335K $322K $313K $304K

$798K

$1.37M $1.34M

$1.51M

$1.69M

$714K

$344K$349K$434K$466K

$492K$448K$495K$403K

2000 2001 2002 2003 20102004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009




Net P&Emore than quadrupled between 2007 and 2009

During the same period, Total Liabilities grew by about 120%


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Unrestricted liquid net assets (ULNA), or the portion o

unrestricted net assets not invested in xed assets and

available to support operations, dropped to the equivalento less than one month o operating expenses in 2007 and

2008. This gure rebounded in 2009 ater the renancing

(which olded a portion o working capital debt into long-

term debt) and an increase in receivables.

Center

forCommunitySolutions

2000 2001 2002 2003 20102004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Months o Cash and Liquid Net Assets Decline between 2008 and 2010Months o Cash, Months o Liquid Net Assets




During the recession CCS executive team, led by Grin-

Tabor and CFO Darla Trapp, has managed the organizations

cash fow through weekly diligence and coordination. With

an operating budget ranging between $3.9 and $4.8 million

between 2008 and 2010 and approximately 17 dierent

government contracts, CCS has dedicated a tremendous

amount o the management and Boards time and energy to

maintaining adequate liquidity.

When asked what one thing she would have done dierently

in her leadership at CCS over the last decade, Grin-Tabor

shared, The second we executed the merger I would

start building working capital. Working capital became

a signicant challenge post-merger due to the payment

structure o most o CCS unding. Contracts that pay or

services on a reimbursement basis ultimately pay or most

basic expenses over the course o a year, but create a

cumbersome vacuum o working capital in the months prior

to the rst reimbursement. Increasing delays in payment rom

the state have exacerbated this challenge.

Merger-related working capital pressures were intensied

by repeat years o budget gridlock at the state level. Prior

to the merger, CCS maintained modest reserves to covermonthly shortalls related to fuctuations in government

reimbursement cycles. Though dierent organizations have

dierent liquidity needs (based on business model, expected

revenue schedule, risk, strategic plans, etc.), most experts

agree that maintaining at least three months o operating

expenses is prudent, and six is even better. 14

2000 2001 2002 2003 20102004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Cash Flow Constraints

Unrestricted Net AssetsLiquid, P&E (excludes P&E-related debt)

$231K $212K $205K $199K $188K $182K $180K $178K

$679K

$524K $338K

$352K$410K $426K

$329K$402K $427K

$451K

$300K

$91K

$416K $411K

Managing Cash Flow Constraints

1.8

0.8

1.8

1.00.8

0.7

0.60.8

0.30.2 0.2

2.8

2.0 2.1

1.6

1.11.4 1.4

0.9

0.3

1.0 1.1


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As we refect upon the uture o the DV eld in Caliornia,

a review o CCS helps contextualize the social and political

ramework underscoring the rise o the DV movement, and

the main drivers behind the predominant shelter-based DV

business model. Though the eminist vision o the movementhas broadened to be more inclusive o men, same-sex

partners and a whole host o constituencies, the issue o

shelter remains paramount.

In a ew important ways, CCS exemplies what a ast-

growing DV organization looks like:

1 Leadership is committed to building its privateundraising capacity and is painully aware o the

limitations o over-reliance on government unding

2 CCS leverages its community resources, both tocollaborate programmatically, and to bolster its nances

3 The organization has embraced and sought outgrowth opportunities

4 CCS is asking tough questions about its shelter-basedmodel. As AED o Programs Danielle Lingle ramed:

How do you make programs scalable, more elastic? Its

really hard i you put a acility around [them].

However, CCS recent experiences also highlight the act

that growth usually creates more risk. In an eort to oster

organizational development, and to stabilize operations

during the current recession, CCS has downsized its

management team twice, and taken steps to grow its liquidity

through conservative budgeting and undraising.

For the eld, CCS example highlights the act that a

well-capitalized balance sheet is not a direct outcome o

programmatic growth. It requires long-term strategic planning

by organizations and expanded approaches to investing by

government agencies and private unders.

Full Circle: The State o the DV Sector

Aside rom the merger and building acquisition, why areCCS and other DV agencies prone to liquidity challenges?

This question brings the discussion back to business model

and undraising. As noted earlier, most DV organizations in

Caliornia are shelter-based and heavily-government unded.

Government grants and contracts usually provide only 5-15%

allowance or indirect administrative overhead (which includes

essential expenses such as the salary o the Executive Director

and rent), and are paid on a cost-reimbursement basis.

Experienced DV Finance Directors are oten adept at

legitimately olding some portion o their administrative

costs into the direct expense portion o their government

unded programs (such as 20% o a Finance Directors time to

help administer a program), but many new or inexperienced

Finance Directors are not. As a result, most organizations are

barely able to cover their ull costs o doing business throughgovernment unding alone.

A typical DV organization needs to raise 10-30% o its annual

revenue in the orm o private grants and contributions to

subsidize government unding, and to pay or activities that

are mission critical but dicult to und. However, this balance

breaks down when government unding is cut, reduced or

delayed, and when organizations lack undraising capacity.

Fundraising in the sub-sector has made signicant strides

orward since the early days o the movement, but in the case

o many organizations, particularly those in rural communities,

there is still much room or increased training, board

stewardship, and ongoing investment. The DV sub-sector has

been weakened by both o these actors during the recession.

Liquidity Challenges o the DV Sector

Conclusion

See endnotes on back.


12/12

1994Violence AgainstWomen Act (Federal)& Domestic ViolenceAssistance Program (CA)

Key Dates in the Historyo Federal and Caliornia Fundingor Domestic Violence

1984Family ViolencePrevention ServicesAct & Victims oCrime Act (Federal)

2009ARRA(Federal)

1999Cal WORKSunds supportservices (CA)

1970No undingor womensshelters inCaliornia

2009-10Reductions/TemporaryEliminations inState Funding

1977Domestic Violence Shelter Act(CA) Domestic Violence ShelterAct (CA), derived rom a portiono marriage license ees

1 www.2guidestar.org. Included in this gure are domestic violence shelter and/

or service providers with NTEE code o P43. Many organizations have NTEE

codes in addition to P43, representing activities such as crisis lines, counseling

and legal services. Retrieved July 10, 2011.

2 2010 DV Financial Cohort Analysis perormed by NFF, involving 18 organizations

located throughout Caliornia.

3 Caliornia Health and Saety Code 124250 : Caliornia Code - Section 124250.

4 National Network to End Domestic Violence, 2010 Domestic Violence Counts:

A 24-Hour Census o Domestic Violence Shelters and Services (2010),Caliornia Summary. Retrieved rom, http://www.nnedv.org/docs/Census/

DVCounts2010/DVCounts10_StateSummary_CA_Color.pd

5 SaeNetwork, Herstory o Domestic Violence, September 1999. Retrieved

rom, http://www.mincava.umn.edu/documents/herstory/herstory.

html#id131106

6 The United States Conerence o Mayors 2007 Hunger and Homelessness Survey

Status Report on Hunger and Homelessness in Americas Cities: A 23 City

Survey, December 2007. Retrieved rom, http://usmayors.org/hhsurvey2007/

hhsurvey07.pd; and National Network to End Domestic Violence, 2010

Domestic Violence Counts: A 24-Hour Census o Domestic Violence Shelters and

Services (2010). Caliornia Summary. Retrieved rom http://www.nnedv.org/

docs/Census/DVCounts2010/DVCounts10_StateSummary_CA_Color.pd

7 All-County Letter No. 80-44. July, 22, 1980. Department o Social Services,

Endnotes

Join us

nonprotnanceund.orgnonprotnanceund.org/blognsib.orgtwitter.com/n_newsacebook.com/nonprotnanceund

New York/National Headquarters70 West 36th St., 11th FloorNew York, NY 10018212 868 [email protected]

New England89 South St., Suite 402Boston, MA 02111617 204 [email protected]

New Jersey59 Lincoln Park, Suite 350Newark, NJ 07102973 642 [email protected]

Greater Philadelphia1608 Walnut St., Suite 703Philadelphia, PA 19103215 546 [email protected]

State o Caliornia-Health and Welare Agency. Retrieved rom, http://

www.dss.cahwnet.gov/lettersnotices/entres/getino/acl80/80-44.pd. Early

requirements taken rom a 1980 memo rom the State Governor to county

welare administrators, authorizing emergency enactment o the Presley

program.

8 Since 2002, BSCF reports that is has provided Core Support grants totaling

nearly $11 million to DV service organizations in Caliornia.

9 Blue Shield o Caliornia Foundation, 2011.

10 Data collected by Blue Shield o Caliornia Foundation, 2010.11 Cortez, A., Foster, W., Smith Milway, K., Nonprot Mergers and Acquisitions:

More than a Tool or Tough Times. February 25, 2009. Retrieved rom, http://

www.bridgespan.org/Nonprot-M-and-A.aspx

12 Womens Crisis Support~Deensa de Mujeres was an NFF client in 2009 and

2010.

13 La Piana, D., (2010, Spring). Merging Wisely. Stanford Social Innovation Review.

Retrieved rom http://www.ssireview.org/articles/entry/merging_wisely/

14 Operating Reserve Policy Toolkit Working Group, Operating Reserve Policy Toolkit

or Nonprot Organizations, First Edition, September 15, 2010. Retrieved July,

2011 rom, http://www.nccs2.org/wiki/images/b/b4/Operating_Reserves_Policy_

Toolkit_1st_Ed_2010-09-16.pd ; Christopher, R., (2011, Spring). Why Do Balance

Sheets Matter? GIA Reader, Vol. 22, No. 1. Retrieved July, 2011 rom, http://

www.giarts.org/article/why-do-balance-sheets-matter

DC-MD-VA2100 M St. NW, Suite 170-329Washington, DC 20037202 778 [email protected]

San Francisco28 Second St., Suite 600San Francisco, CA 94105415 255 [email protected]

Los Angeles626 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 510Los Angeles, CA 90017213 623 [email protected]

Detroit645 Griswold St., Suite 2202Detroit, MI 48226313 965 [email protected]

Navigating a New Course: A Domestic Violence Organization Steers Towards a More Sustainable Future

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