Bridgespan recently posted a report on the financial outlook for nonprofits that receive government funding and the outlook, to no one's surprise, is not good. Since One Stop Career Centers and Workforce Investment Boards operate largely on funds from federal, state and (sometimes) local government, this report may offer some lessons for workforce development too.
Fortunately, there are two articles that offer some ideas for addressing the issue of shrinking funding. The first, Five Ways to Navigate the Fiscal Crisis, suggests:
- Getting to strategic clarity
- Diversifying fundings streams
- Improving productivity
- Finding ways to better measure outcomes
- Moving beyond "vendorism"
Ten Nonprofit Funding Models may offer some additional strategies for thinking through funding possibilities for WIBS and One Stops. While the "Public Provider" model is clearly the one currently in use by the workforce development system, it may be worth having conversations with Board members and community members about how the other models might be adapted or utilized for diversifying funding opportunities for local areas.
It's clear that as funding for programs shrinks we are going to need to have different conversations about alternative resources to serve our job seeker and employer customers. What conversations are you having locally and otherwise? How can we learn from each other?
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