Strong Partnerships, Strong Communities: Creating Opportunity with a True City-Nonprofit Partnership

By Susan Leal

My goal for the City's partnership with our nonprofit community is to provide the best possible services for San Franciscans. As Mayor I will work to achieve this goal by:

• Making it easier for nonprofit agencies to do business with the City • Appointing a senior member of my administration to be a nonprofit sector ombudsman • Managing nonprofit information more effectively and setting measurable goals and standards across City departments • Helping nonprofits find affordable, appropriate space; and • Boosting our arts and cultural community

Nonprofit agencies are an integral part of the San Francisco economy and culture, providing a range of community services from world class arts to education to mental health treatment to conservation. We must bring more leadership, trust and accountability to all sides of this key relationship. As the San Francisco Urban Institute described it in a report on San Francisco's nonprofit human service providers:

In a city whose commitment to human services is nationally recognized, the nonprofit providers are essential to a community- based strategy, one sensitive to the City's ethnic, cultural, linguistic and social diversity.

The nonprofit community is particularly vital to our economy. One of every seventeen Californians works for a nonprofit agency, and in San Francisco there are 1,786 public charities and 654 private foundations. The nonprofit sector is our third-largest employer, after UCSF and the City and County of San Francisco. And nonprofit agencies leverage every City dollar received with $1.50 from additional public and private sources. Nonprofits also have had a great impact on policy, both at the local and national levels.

For example, San Francisco AIDS service organizations were the first in the nation to develop a service model that is now recognized internationally. Researchers at UCSF have helped create nonprofit organizations to promote community health initiatives, and the City's Grants for the Arts program has been an important and innovative way for San Francisco to support its arts.

The boom-and-bust economy of the past few years has had a major impact on local nonprofit organizations. As rents and the cost of living increased in the late 1990's, some community-based organizations left the City; today it is a struggle for most remaining organizations to survive. The increased costs of doing business, combined with rising demand for services, has been exacerbated by a lack of support, financial and otherwise, from City Hall.

Tourism is down, which has reduced both ticket revenue and Hotel Tax support for arts organizations. Corporate donations have declined as businesses realize lower profits, and it has been a challenge for many foundations to maintain past levels of support. At the same time, many agencies are confronting difficult decisions as they attempt to meet the need for high quality services with reduced budgets and few private dollars.

Too many San Franciscans are unemployed or under-employed, and nonprofit agencies often provide free or low-cost services, such as youth activities or health care. Today, many nonprofits' resources have been stretched to the point that they have had to reduce programs such as childcare, senior services, and after- school activities. For example, the Homeless Prenatal Program has lost funding this year, while experiencing a corresponding client increase of 10 # 20 percent.

The nonprofit community is full of dedicated, talented people, and we in City government need to collaborate more effectively with this community. Doing so will benefit us all.

Making Nonprofit Agencies a Priority

Currently, no single department or person has ultimate responsibility to ensure that the City's relationships with nonprofit agencies are managed well, and agencies are often frustrated trying to work with the City. Nonprofits feel that the City institutes new policies affecting them without including agencies in developing the policies. In addition, for both agencies and City personnel, it can be very difficult to obtain necessary information about who does what and where to go. My administration will make the City's relationship with nonprofits a priority by:

• Providing leadership • Appointing a Non-profits Liaison • Establishing goals

Current Management and Funding is Inconsistent

Not surprisingly, nonprofit agency representatives express considerable frustration with City bureaucracy. Different contracts ask for different information, require various levels of response from an organization, and take many hours to manage and maintain. Entering into a contract with the City can take over a year of waiting for information and approvals from multiple City departments. This process drives up agencies' administrative time and costs. Some non-profit organizations do not know they have an opportunity to contract with the City. For more established agencies, collaboration opportunities are missed unless non- profits take individual initiative to pursue them, with little encouragement from the City.

Further, from many agencies' perspective, budget decisions handed down from City Hall are made without attention to long- term impacts and strategic choices. Decisions appear to be made with no plan or outreach to the community. City funding process is not always clear, so agencies, especially smaller agencies, cannot be sure they will receive funding, and agencies often are forced to compete with each other for limited City, federal and private dollars. Organizations that receive funding from multiple departments must contend with multiple variations of this uncertainty.

Further, some agencies have contacted me in the Treasurer's Office when promised funds have not been forthcoming, which forces these agencies to borrow money or cut services while they are waiting. Although sometimes delays result from slow state or federal funding, City departments may also be responsible for failing to transfer funds timely.

Inconsistent management of nonprofit funding can also cause problems for the City. Individual departments manage their own contracts and do not communicate with each other. There is no place to resolve issues involving the City's overall management of its contracts with nonprofits, nor is there a central location for information about nonprofits. For example, simply finding the number of nonprofit agencies doing business with the City is difficult and time consuming.

In addition, because the selection and monitoring of nonprofit contractors is up to departments, the process can be inconsistent and arbitrary. Without consistent ways to evaluate contractors and hold them accountable for meeting their goals, underperforming agencies can continue to be funded. This is not a good use of the City's money, and a lack of oversight opens the door for serious mismanagement and fraud, which hurts clients, wastes money and reduces the public's trust. Even if outright fraud does not occur, disorganized or preferential processes can exclude more effective agencies from providing services to the City.

Better Leadership for the City's Work with Nonprofits

A stronger infrastructure to support the nonprofit sector will benefit all of us. I believe nonprofit agencies are a crucial part of City services, providing a range of programs through 15 different City departments, and these organizations will not be an afterthought in my administration. Currently, the process for awarding contracts has the appearance of excluding certain non-profits and rewarding cronyism. To improve the delivery of City services, including those provided by and to nonprofit contractors, I will appoint qualified professionals to head City departments and work closely with them to make the contracting process transparent, fair and inclusive. In addition, I will implement best practices and recommendations already developed by City departments and other organizations so that we are not wasting time creating new policies unnecessarily.

As discussed above, the process for awarding contracts is administered differently by different departments with additional input from the Board of Supervisors during the budget process. Some departments, such as the Department of Children, Youth and Families, have improved their systems to select and monitor nonprofit contractors and also have instituted a program for youth to evaluate the services funded by the department. My administration will look at these innovations to see what can be implemented Citywide.

Both the Board of Supervisors and the Controller's Office have undertaken improvements in nonprofit contracting. Supervisor Sophie Maxwell formed a Non Profit Contracting Task Force to address some of the frustration felt by both agencies and departments, and the Task Force, composed of representatives from the nonprofit sector and City government, had many suggestions for how to improve the contracting process. For example, agencies have not been included in developing the criteria by which they are evaluated, resulting in inconsistent and/ or unrealistic standards.

The Controller's Office issued a report last April that reviews the City's processes for sole source contracting and contains recommendations for better monitoring these contracts. In particular, the City must collect and maintain complete information regarding sole source contracts and begin competitive solicitation for some of its longstanding sole source contracts. I agree that we must be sure that the City's normal competitive process is superceded in only exceptional circumstances and contracts awarded only to fully-qualified and well-run organizations.

To improve the City's delivery of services to the nonprofits and better monitor the nonprofits' services to the City, my administration will maintain a consistent, fair process for City contracting to ensure that we have a process that provides stability while still opening up opportunities for all organizations.

Appoint a Nonprofit Ombudsman

I will appoint a senior member of my administration to serve as a liaison to the nonprofit community. This person will be a resource for information, and serve as an ombudsman to help resolve concerns of nonprofit community members, the public and City department personnel. He or she will be an intermediary for the City and non-profits, identifying key issues and developing comprehensive strategies for future relationships between the City and non-profits. In addition, this person will bring together representatives from City funding entities and the philanthropic communities, both foundation and corporate giving, so that funders can learn from each other's strengths and experience to support the nonprofit sector more effectively. The office of the liaison will facilitate meetings, address and respond to concerns and serve as a point of entry for organizations wishing to establish a new program or contract with the City.

Set Goals

My overall goals for better collaboration with the nonprofit community are simple and important: • To provide the best possible services and programs for San Franciscans • To make the most effective use of our funding • To make the City and the nonprofit sector better partners for each other

More specifically, I will work with the community to identify areas in which change is most needed and establish smaller, measurable goals to mark our progress. For example, we should review and streamline the process for the City's monitoring of nonprofit contractors, and set as a goal to reduce the average time it takes to enter into a contract. We also must review our services to be sure that City departments and City-funded nonprofits are not competing with each other or duplicating services. Further, to achieve more economies of scale and use our funds more efficiently, we could consider a system in which nonprofits could share some administrative functions to reduce overhead costs. This would then allow us to leverage more services for the same amount of money.

Communication

The next Mayor must make a commitment to encourage ongoing dialogue among nonprofit agencies, City departments, the philanthropic community and all San Franciscans who benefit from the work of the nonprofit sector. Greater communication will create opportunities for collaboration and inform the City of non-profits' concerns.

Manage Nonprofit Data More Effectively

The nonprofit liaison will build upon existing databases to create an up-to-date resource with information about all San Francisco- based non-profit organizations, including information about their operations, budget, client demographic, services and contract information. This office will provide information to nonprofits, the public and City departments as requested, making information more accessible both to nonprofits and about nonprofits. The office may also issue a resource guide.

Ongoing meetings

The liaison will also facilitate quarterly meetings with nonprofits to identify potential areas of collaboration, ways to reduce duplication of efforts, and ways the City can work better with non-profits. He or she will also organize issue-oriented events to bring the community together, such as speakers' bureaus and roundtable discussion. Events such as these will give us an opportunity to develop new ideas and work together to provide better service, and providers will be able to share experiences, address issues facing the field and discuss changes in local, state and federal legislation.

City-Nonprofit Website

The nonprofit liaison will also maintain a website that will provide information for and about San Francisco nonprofit agencies. Nonprofit staff, City personnel and the public can obtain information from this site, which should be searchable by several different means: alphabetically, issue area, size of agency/budget and neighborhood.

Working on the Issues

Human Services Organizations As a city, we rely on nonprofit social service providers to care for many of our most vulnerable citizens, and in some cases, these organizations provide more services than the City. Some of our most valuable and innovative approaches to societal problems have come from agencies providing HIV/AIDS care, mental health treatment, and senior and homeless services. For example, Larkin Street Youth Services assists some 4,000 youth each year get off the streets, and their programs fill gaps the City cannot fill. The Progress Foundation has provided alternatives to institutional care for public mental health systems since 1969. And because these agencies are providing so much excellent care, the City must ensure that they are involved in policy decision-making and their employees are treated with respect. I support the minimum wage initiative on this November's ballot because I believe the people who provide this care must earn a living wage.

Children and Youth San Francisco's children are our most valuable asset. Investing in our children today has returns far above and beyond the original expense. We have opportunities to increase the value of our local public schools and use the resources our non-profits represent to provide services to children. And we need to support our non- profits in partnering with the School District. San Francisco's Unified School District is under a great deal of financial pressure as the State is cutting needed resources for basic courses, while parents are demanding better public education for their children. Arts programs are virtually non-existent, and the ratio of children in private to public schools is higher in San Francisco than in any other California county.

Some organizations have created programs that work with San Francisco's schoolchildren and are a joint effort of the School District and non-profits. Music in Schools Today is one such organization that joins larger agencies, such as the San Francisco Symphony and the San Francisco Ballet, to enrich the curriculum of our public schools. Other youth-focused groups, such as the Boys and Girls Club, Enterprise for High School Students, and the San Francisco Conservation Corps, help young people develop community and job skills. These efforts, while essential, are not enough.

The Mayor, through the power of her office, needs to bring together the School District and nonprofits to expand collaboration providing arts in the schools. We will pay particular attention to working with a diverse range of organizations so that students can benefit from the vibrant arts community of the Bay Area. Such an approach will strengthen the school district's curriculum, while incorporating the valuable work of non-profits more fully. Organizations such as Intersection for the Arts, Community Arts and Education and many others have the resources and the desire to work with our children, and as Mayor I will facilitate this collaboration.

Because "It takes a Village to Raise a Child," we will create a network of nonprofits working with the school district to form a seamless day of care and instruction for San Francisco children. We can make outreach and assistance to the San Francisco Unified School District a priority, and we will partner enthusiastically with the nonprofit agencies serving children and youth and with arts organizations.

Arts Organizations Arts organizations make San Francisco the vibrant, sophisticated city that we love, and San Francisco is one of the most important cities in California for the arts. Because the arts bring people to San Francisco from both the Bay Area and the rest of the world, we must promote the City and our arts together. In addition to enhancing our quality of life, the arts in San Francisco also have a great impact on our economy as a source of jobs for residents. Not only do the large organizations employ people, but all kinds of artists work and teach here as well, and this community must be supported better by the City. I also will work to market the arts more effectively to both visitors and local residents. The Mayor's Office of Economic Development will take the lead in marketing the City to new businesses, and that office will collaborate with the nonprofit liaison, the Convention and Visitors Bureau and other organizations to promote our arts organizations. For example, the City website should have attractively displayed and weekly- updated information about performances, exhibit and walking tours.

Culture Zones We will draw upon New York and Boston models for creating Culture Zones to help rejuvenate some of our vacant theater spaces. In New York, legislators and arts organizations are collaborating to create Culture Zones in designated areas. Local and state government provide benefits to businesses and landlords to support the arts, including:

• Tax incentives for landlords who provide favorable rent to artists and nonprofit arts and cultural groups • Tax incentives for developers who include space for artists in new projects • Reduced energy costs for nonprofit arts groups • Job development assistance to help arts organizations in the zone access subsidized staffing and job training programs • Tax credits for individual and business contributors to arts institutions located within the zone

Vacant or underused theater space could provide space for dance, music and theater organizations to perform and practice.

Filmmaking San Francisco is very fortunate to have a vibrant community of filmmakers. Not only do we have internationally known directors, producers and actors here, but also programs such as the Film Arts Foundation and the film program at San Francisco State University to nurture new filmmakers. We must support our local film community better, and my administration will begin by reinvigorating the Film Commission. This office has been overlooked in recent years, but could be a "one-stop shop" for film projects in San Francisco, assisting with permitting, police and union issues. Less tangible but just as important is the Commission's role in bringing together different parts of the film community. We in City government need to hear from film people about what works and what we can do better. Finally, the Commission can play a key role in attracting projects and marketing the City to film companies. San Francisco is never going to be the cheapest place to make movies, but we can make the City an easier place to make movies.

Employment Training Nonprofit agencies also play a vital role in training San Francisco's workforce. According to research conducted by the Workforce Investment Board, nonprofits provide over 100 employment training programs, serving more than 9,000 clients each year. Vocation-specific programs train people to enter fields such as: construction, office administration, sales, service, health care, hospitality and information technology. Many of these programs partner with City College and specific employers, and we should expand these partnerships to make training more comprehensive and effective. To use our resources more efficiently, we must also help training organizations use up-to-date labor market data so that we are training people for jobs that will be available.

Maximizing Our Resources The current economic climate gives us an opportunity to strengthen San Francisco's relationship with our nonprofit agencies and promote better service to the community. We all must recognize the interdependency of non-profits with the city and businesses. A stronger arts community serves our residents and tourists, thus helping strengthen our economy; better coordinated childcare services results in higher quality care that helps our working and low income families; conservation and beautification efforts make the City a better place to live, work and visit. My plan for economic development includes promoting partnerships between employers, City College and nonprofit job training organizations to provide a qualified workforce for the City's employers. As Mayor, I will work to ensure that we collaborate as fully as possible to maximize the benefit of all our resources.

Transportation and Space The City can also assist nonprofits with the costs of transportation and space. Many agencies struggle to find and afford appropriate space. With limited options to move and in a city with high costs of living, over time agencies must pay increasingly higher rents, lay off staff, reduce services, or a combination of the above. Because nonprofits play a vital role in the districts in which they are located, we must help ensure they can contribute to vibrant, diverse neighborhoods. The Mayor has the responsibility to bring building owners and non-profits together to find areas of common interest and ways in which these two groups can work together to create satisfactory arrangements for the future.

I will work with developers to create more space for nonprofits through incentives or exactions and also with neighborhood merchant groups to investigate options for using storefront space more efficiently. We can also assist smaller nonprofits who may be able to share space.

I will also assist nonprofits with collective purchasing arrangements to help them obtain commuter checks for MUNI and other transit passes. Commuter checks are vouchers redeemed for mass transit fares and are a paid tax-free employee benefit.

Technical Assistance My administration will develop partnerships that can provide assistance for nonprofits with real estate and other space needs, grant writing, budgeting, human resources and other administrative issues. We have a wealth of knowledgeable people in our community who have the skills and experience to help new or growing organizations. We will collaborate with SF Foundation, the Tides Center and other public and private sector partners who have needed skills.

CONCLUSION

I am running for mayor to build a city of opportunity. My Strong Partnerships, Strong Communities plan will help create opportunity for all by strengthening our vibrant nonprofit community. We can't boost our economy, help the homeless or raise our children without nonprofit partners, and as Mayor, I will take the lead in helping the City and the nonprofits provide the best services possible.