North Texas Funders Initiative Will Train 300 Nonprofit Leaders to 'Meet the Needs of Tomorrow'

A group of local organizations are coming together to help nonprofits and their leaders drive new growth in the region.

Through a three-year partnership called the North Texas Funders Initiative, The Dallas Foundation and local leadership impact nonprofit RevJen Group, along with others including Lyda Hill Philanthropies, will bring leadership development training to hundreds of nonprofit leaders.

“Strengthening North Texas’ nonprofit ecosystem benefits North Texans and ensures the organizations on which so many rely are poised to meet the needs of tomorrow,” said Matthew Randazzo, president and CEO at The Dallas Foundation, in a statement.

Helping 300 leaders per year

North Texas Funders Initiative training session. [Photo: North Texas Funders Initiative]

With the goal of helping more than 300 individual leaders per year, the North Texas Funders Initiative will aim to empower organizations by strengthening their leadership. Leaders will receive scholarships for RevJen’s R-Squared Peer Groups, which begin in June and are designed to form a support community among nonprofit leaders, along with its Fuel Series Workshops, which kick off in Q3 and address revenue strategy and infrastructure. Combined, each scholarship is valued at around $10,500.

The aim of the initiative is to address three pervasive and interlinked issues in the nonprofit space: financial sustainability, talent turnover, and leadership burnout.

According to the North Texas Funders Initiative, the average tenure of fundraising professionals at organizations is around 18 months; more than 50% of nonprofit development directors expect to resign within the next two years; and turnover issues have been accelerated by the pandemic.

“We’re thrilled to kick off this initiative, which will address long-standing sector challenges that have adversely impacted the efficacy of nonprofit leaders for too long,” said Brian Joseph, co-founder and CEO at RevJen Group, in a statement.

Funding impact

North Texas Funders Initiative training session. [Photo: North Texas Funders Initiative]

Other partners of the North Texas Funders Initiative include The George & Fay Young Foundation, The Jenesis Group, and the Rainwater Charitable Foundation. Funding for the initiative comes from an annual $150,000 grant for the three years of the program from The Jenesis Group, along with a $50,000 grant from The Dallas Foundation—the first community foundation in Texas.

As part of the initiative, Lyda Hill Philanthropies is offering scholarships for both of the RevJen programs to the 25 tenants of the Water Cooler at Pegasus Park. The Water Cooler is a 150,000 square-foot space for social impact nonprofits, sponsored by a partnership between Lyda Hill Philanthropies and J. Small Investments, the developer of the biotech-focused Pegasus Park development in Dallas. Current Water Cooler tenants include Social Venture Partners Dallas, Big Thought, and the Grant Haliburton Foundation.

“I’m convinced that we can demonstrate to the rest of the country that investment in these types of partnerships delivers an outstanding ROI for nonprofit leaders, their organizations, and the impact they strive for,” Joseph said.