Omne trium perfectum, or “good things come in threes,” is an apt description of the news I want to share today about the Exchange, with particular impact for current members. Here we go:
1. Achieving Nonprofit Status
Last May, we embarked on a path to form a nonprofit organization and separate from our longtime fiscal sponsor, Global Philanthropy Partnership. We have pursued that strategy diligently, forming a Maryland nonprofit corporation and a new board of directors last summer. We then filed an application with the IRS for tax exempt status last fall, and we’re pleased to report that our request was granted late last month.
This change will allow us to be more efficient and flexible in the way we operate, a move that we believe will help us advance our programming and other benefits offered to members. It will also lift restrictions on our ability to engage in advocacy and lobbying activities. Finally, achieving nonprofit status legitimates that we have a strong theory of change and the capacity to achieve our mission.
With independence comes new responsibilities, especially the management of our own accounting and finance operations. We are seeking to expand the expertise on our board to include persons with expertise in nonprofit accounting and finance. If you know of people with this background, please consider connecting us with them.
2. Hitting a Milestone on our Asset Management Survey Effort
Last fall, we began working with HDR and Arcadis on a Strategic Stormwater Asset Management Tools & Guidance Project. The effort will address the fact that utilities and municipalities implementing stormwater programs have been building and operating surface stormwater infrastructure for many years without a systematic or consistent approach to collecting critical maintenance and performance data. An initial step is to harness the power of the Exchange’s network to conduct a survey of municipalities and utilities to better understand their challenges with asset management. We’re just over half way toward our goal of collecting 60 responses. If you haven’t completed the survey, please do so today!
3. GSI Insider, a New Member Benefit
Just this month, we launched the GSI Insider, a monthly publication of curated content summarized exclusively for the Exchange’s member practitioners. The brief summaries include new research on GSI, along with relevant tools and news articles. The Insider is emailed to all members and also available in the “All Members Group” in the Member Portal.
