Power of Good

T PowerofGood.com | Spring 2015 1 There's no poinT in changing for the sake of change. But there are plenty of reasons to change when it helps you improve what you do. That's why the Alabama Power Foundation has been changing the way it works with our nonprofit grantees. For a quarter century, the foundation has been awarding grants and scholarships to deserving nonprofit organizations and students. The results of spending more than $150 million in nonratepayer dollars across Alabama can be seen in more robust nonprofits with stronger programs and services, and in better communities. In the past few years, though, the foundation has been shifting course, changing in ways that we believe create a larger impact on communities and also help our nonprofits grow. When we began the Elevate movement two years ago, our aim was to connect people in the nonprofit world and help them work with a shared sense of purpose in helping to elevate Alabama. But we also realized that as we sought to raise expectations, we needed to provide more help for nonprofits. In fact, the need for training and resources has been a consistent message from many nonprofits, and that feedback is guiding us in the ways we are changing. In February, we brought together the groups that received 2014 Elevate grants for a two-day workshop in Montgomery led by Shannon Ammons, an expert on nonprofits who is chief executive officer of the Alabama Association of Nonprofits. Ammons focused on standards of excellence training for the grantees that gives them a leg up, as she put it, on "how to stay out of hell and jail." This was the first of two workshops for the Elevate grantees, and the early returns have been gratifying. Even before the grantees were on their way home, many of them already had found ways to strengthen their organizations and had created partnerships. Of course, that's exactly what we want to happen, not just for the Elevate grantees, but for all of the foundation-funded nonprofits working to better the communities they and Alabama Power serve. Ammons, by the way, in this issue of Power of Good writes about board governance – the top five things for your board not to do. It is the first column of a new feature, written by nonprofit experts, that will offer advice and information to nonprofits in each issue of Power of Good. There is other change afoot and much to look forward to through the rest of the year. We flip-flopped our two signature events – the Elevate and Brighter Minds conferences. This year Brighter Minds takes place in August, close to the start of the school year. Elevate, meanwhile, will be in Birmingham on June 11-12. Be on the lookout for more details about Elevate coming soon. Look for us to continue changing how we work with nonprofits in our quest to create a larger and more lasting positive impact on Alabama. We are not changing for the sake of change, but are changing to make things better for nonprofits and the Alabama communities they and we serve. John O. Hudson III Vice president, Public Relations and Charitable Giving; president, Alabama Power Foundation; executive director, Alabama Business Charitable Trust Fund. the goodnews

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