Dear Friends and Supporters,

 

With the 17^th Annual CAN Conference only days away we thought it might be helpful to give you an update on what has been happening at CAN during these last few months, and to share with you how the economy is affecting our operations.

 

As you might expect, CAN is not immune to the economic pressures affecting all nonprofits working today. And to some degree our business model, that of a membership organization, leaves us more vulnerable than the typical nonprofit – your concerns are our concerns doubled. 

 

Historically, in addition to membership fees, we have relied on select foundation and corporate grants to support the bulk of our work in public policy and education, as well as support the related operations and staffing costs. For many years, that strategy worked, but now we all must face the inevitable conclusion that the old model is not viable into the future.  Today, as a result of increased operating costs and a marked decrease in grant funding from traditional sources, we face a projected year-end budget shortfall with even more dire projections for 2009.  But dire predictions and hardship hasn’t stopped us before and thanks to a number steps that are currently underway it won’t stop us now.

 

It is all too obvious that we need to embrace our future by looking at different ways to accomplish our goals: considering different operating and management models; prioritizing our efforts; and seeking new efficiencies. We believe it also means strengthening our governance and leadership processes, clarifying and streamlining our committee and partnership structure and looking outside ourselves for additional partnership opportunities.  These actions will only enhance our ability to continue to focus on our priorities of Advocacy, Education and Membership.

 

The good news is that we aren’t standing still - throughout most of this past year, the CAN Board of Directors has been meeting regularly, both as the entire board and in working groups to address a variety of internal and external issues. We are engaged and committed to mobilizing all our resources to ensure that we can provide continued leadership to nonprofits in California. These conversations have lead to a couple of exciting opportunities:

 

1.  The boards of CAN and our subsidiary CAN Insurance Services (CIS) agreed to a closer alignment and working relationship.  This began with Meredeth Clark, one of CAN’s founders, being recruited to conduct an extensive assessment of CAN’s finances and operations, and to make recommendations for forging a better synergy between CAN and CIS.  We are fortunate to have Meredeth Clark lead this effort since she brings a wealth of historical knowledge about CAN, and years of experience leading and managing CIS, one of  the most successful nonprofit insurance programs in the United States.  This partnership is allowing us to tap into the business and financial management expertise and resources of CIS.

 

2.  We successfully secured the support of the Evelyn and Walter Haas Jr. Fund to assist us in moving CAN forward. This $30,000 grant will allow us to convene a panel of nonprofit leaders and strategic partners (including representatives from our Policy Council, Regional Partners and C-MAP) as the first step in mapping a future course for CAN’s work in public policy, education and membership services.  We expect this grant-funded work to begin soon with the planned outreach to take place sometime in early 2009.

 

The future is challenging but hopeful.  The coming months will be a chance for us to take the time to listen to our members, our partners and our countless allies. We can not, nor would we want to do this alone.  Your help and support is critical.  We need you to provide input and engage in discussions about the future work of CAN.

 

As plans, timelines and decisions are made regarding CAN’s programs and future directions, we expect to share these with all our members, committees and partnership groups. We appreciate and look forward to your continued participation and feedback.

 

See you at the Conference.

  

Sincerely,