San Luis Obispo
Non-Profit Support Center Feasibility Study
1998-99

Cuesta College

    Cuesta College Institute of Professional Development

Pacific Gas and Electric CompanyStudy underwritten by PG&E Diablo Canyon Power Plant, Los Padres Customer Operations

Analysis of Board of Directors Interviews and Focus Group

Board of Directors Interviews

There were eight Board members interviewed at either the reception for the Collaboration Forum or by telephone from a list supplied by the Advisory Committee. Three Board members on the list did not return phone calls. The interviewed Board members represented both large and small non-profits. Half of the Board members interviewed were not familiar with the concept of a Support Center and one said he had just received the mailing of the survey the day before I interviewed him on January 12th.

Community Support of Non-profits.
The interviewees characterized the San Luis Obispo community as very supportive to non-profits. They stated that the community is small and people feel like they can make a difference. They said that they have easy access to government, and that they perceived that they can make things happen. Using a Non-profit Support Center.
Four interviewees said they thought that a Center would be "worthwhile" or "beneficial." Three did not comment and one said, "not sure if influential people on Boards would use a Non-profit Support Center." Two interviewees suggested that a Volunteer Center would be helpful. One said that United Way might be interested in providing funding for a Center.

Changing "Unsure" Responses to "Yes."
The early responses from the returned written survey indicated that 6 out of 22 were "unsure." In order to better understand the "unsure" responses, board members were probed in their interviews about how to change an "unsure" response to a "yes." Several suggested a marketing campaign to inform the community of the benefits of having a Non-profit Support Center. Focus Group

A focus group was conducted at the 8th Annual Collaboration Forum on January 13, 1999. The focus group consisted of 10 people representing different non-profit agencies in the area. The focus group included executive directors, board members, a development director and support staff. The purpose of the focus group was to supplement the written survey by providing more in-depth information and to explore in more detail the needs of the agencies.

Benefits and Challenges of Non-profit Support Center in San Luis Obispo.
Focus group members stated that there were some collaborations already occurring in the community and that a nonprofit support center could build on those such as the Coalition of Women's Programs through the Commission on the Status of Women and the Prevention Alliance. The reception at the Collaboration Forum was seen as helpful to gain understanding of what other agencies were doing. Some focus group members were concerned that a non-profit support center would be perceived as taking away funding from community agencies. Some felt that it would not be a good idea to combine the Non-profit Support Center with the Community Foundation. One person thought San Luis could have a support center now if the community would let the Santa Barbara Non-profit Support Center in. There was concern that the services of Santa Barbara would overlap if a center was added to San Luis Obispo. There was concern that a few agencies were speaking for all non-profits on the Santa Barbara issue. "Reluctant competition" and "skeptical and untrusting" community were cited as reasons for not collaborating with Santa Barbara.

Management Resources.
Participants said that the Collaboration Forum was the only source of training for some agencies because of limited funds and the few offerings for training in San Luis Obispo. Some participants go outside the San Luis community to get training. The sites mentioned were Santa Barbara, Santa Maria, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. One participant joined the Santa Barbara Non-profit Support Center in order to get the training their agency needed and also joined the California Association of Non-profits to have phone access to information and training. The overall expression of the focus group is summarized by the following comment: Changing "Unsure" responses to "Yes."
The focus group was also asked how to change the agencies who responded that they were "Unsure" to wanting to use a Non-profit Support Center. They suggested that responses might change with "building credibility" and having some "success stories" by providing some quick initial training and orientation. The focus group felt that "Education is a key piece" in getting the community to understand what non-profit centers provided and in dispelling the fears that some agencies have about funding ("we're all going for the same dollars and a Support Center would take funding away from us"), or about losing control and working together ("fear of opening up and communicating with other agencies").

The focus group had suggestions on how to educate the community about a Non-profit Support Center since there is a need to inform some parts of the community about this idea and to gain commitment from them. Members of the focus group were very committed to these suggestions and offered business cards for video support services and agencies that could host a collaborative orientation session.

Proceed to the Models of Non-Profit Support Centers.

Return to the Feasibility Study Table of Contents.


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