Building a Stronger Future for Nonprofits
CINCINNATI, OH / ACCESSWIRE / October 25, 2024 / The Northern Cincinnati Foundation helps nonprofits build endowments- an initiative Erin Satzger says helps them do good in perpetuity.
Erin Satger is the CEO and is committed to serving communities and supporting nonprofits.
To succeed, a nonprofit requires vision, funds, leadership, and a fair amount of grit and resilience to weather volatile funding cycles. Since 1999, the Northern Cincinnati Foundation has supported nonprofits that enhance and improve communities in northern Cincinnati. Today, President and CEO Erin Satzger and her team are doubling down on the sustainability of philanthropy with a strategic approach.
"We are the community's savings account that gives to great regional causes," Satzger says. "Our goal is to help organizations be resilient and here for good-just as we are."
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Satzger is no stranger to grit and resilience. Born and bred in Cincinnati, she was a competitive athlete in college. After college, she joined then-Speaker of the House John Boehner's team - first on Capitol Hill, then at home in the 8th District of Ohio where Satzger represented Boehner at town halls and local events.
"The best kind of training is working with people experiencing hardships," Satzger says. "My time working for House Speaker Boehner helped build my foundation as a leader."
After seven years working for Boehner, Satzger decided to apply for a position at the Northern Cincinnati Foundation, as she was drawn to community-building work and its condensed timeline. She says, "It can take forever to create change through legislation, but in nonprofit work, it's almost instant." After serving as vice president of development and donor services for nearly a year, Satzger was appointed CEO, a role she's held for nearly a decade. In that time, the organization has more than doubled in size and reach, conducted a 10-year needs assessment, and completed three strategic plans - the latter of great importance to Satzger.
"I'm a big advocate of making sure there's a strategic plan in place, and sticking to it," she says.
Ensuring Nonprofit Longevity
Baked into those plans are initiatives to help nonprofits in the Northern Cincinnati Foundation's orbit achieve longevity. "About 30% of nonprofits go out of business within 10 years, which is why achieving sustainability is so important," she says. When Satzger took the helm, 70% of the company's assets were not endowed. Today, that's flipped, and Satzger wants to do the same for grantees.
"As a community foundation committed to long-term investing, we're compelled to support nonprofits and help them do good for the long haul," she says. For those short on time and bandwidth, the Northern Cincinnati Foundation offers myriad resources to guide nonprofits through the process of becoming financially sustainable beyond their current leadership.
For Satzger, adding endowment-building to the Northern Cincinnati Foundation's stack of services was a semi-radical move, but one that made sense given the organization's grassroots history. Her team launched a podcast called "What Gives" to amplify their efforts. The podcast features conversations with community and corporate leaders about vision-building and strategic planning.
"As a leader, you need grit and resilience - and you need to think outside the box and take chances," Satzger says. "I love Cincinnati, and I want to see it thrive. This is a philanthropic and giving community that I'm proud to be a part of."
Contact Information
Erin Satzger
CEO
513-874-5450
SOURCE: Northern Cincinnati Foundation
View the original press release on newswire.com.
