University of Richmond Receives duPont Grant to Establish Service for Nonprofits in Northern Neck
February 4, 2005
The Jessie Ball duPont Fund has awarded a $220,000 grant to the Jepson School of Leadership Studies at the University of Richmond to create a Web-based resource center to serve nonprofit organizations in the Northern Neck of Virginia.
The Northern Neck project will be modeled after ConnectRichmond, which the university created in 2001. ConnectRichmond (www.connectrichmond.org) serves nonprofit leaders by providing news, information and research to improve how they run their enterprises, seek funding and serve people. The duPont Fund seeded the development of ConnectRichmond through a 1998 grant of $111,700 to the university to develop service learning and other student and faculty community outreach activities.
These virtual communities are linked through an e-mail list that provides an active forum for timely dialogue and idea exchange. The Web site is a repository for information on significant issues, such as education, welfare reform, health care and public safety. Nonprofit leaders and community members visit the site to learn about civic participation, advocacy, jobs, educational opportunities, fundraising, volunteer management, technology planning and more. Users also participate in conferences and workshops sponsored by Connect.
“The value to participating nonprofit organizations is substantial,” said Richmond President William E. Cooper, who notes that projects like this are part of the University’s commitment to public service.
The idea for the new project emerged during a meeting of Northern Neck nonprofit organization leaders to discuss how they could work together to tackle a variety of issues.
A team from the university will meet with citizens, officials and nonprofit leaders throughout 2005 to assess community needs, form an advisory committee and gather local information. A liaison based in the Northern Neck will work with the Richmond staff.
“ConnectRichmond is a unique social enterprise,” said Jepson School Dean Kenneth P. Ruscio. “Despite its very local focus, it is receiving national attention, and we’re honored that the duPont Fund recognizes its value. ConnectRichmond gives the Jepson School a central role in metro Richmond, offering students research, internship and employment opportunities and making them aware of social issues. This grant will allow Connect to share its success outside metro Richmond and lay the groundwork for a global network.”
Nancy Stutts, director of the Connect projects, hopes to develop a broad network of affiliated community information brokers that will link people involved in service organizations to information and each other for three purposes: “enhancing communications; integrating services, programs and policies; and organizing communities to advocate on their own behalf.”
“We have had interest from communities in the United States, England and Australia,” Stutts said. “Once the Northern Neck pilot is launched and evaluated, we will be positioned to replicate the system elsewhere.
“We help nonprofit organizations help themselves and each other to work more effectively,” said Stutts, who teaches courses about justice and civil society at the Jepson School. “The Connect concept is an innovation driven by and for the community—we merely provide a tool. It is the community that has the power to change.”