Nonprofits cooperate rather than clash over resources. Florida's WEST PALM BEACH — At its West Palm Beach location, Extraordinary Charities is home to nine nonprofit organizations. Everybody works together and shares resources.
"With 8,000 nonprofit organizations in Palm Beach County, finding funding can be a real struggle. However, we've genuinely just tried to do away with all of that rivalry and work together because we've learned from experience that we can achieve so much more as a team than we ever could alone "said Christine Raymond, the organization's executive director.
Each organization serves a specific clientele, from those who are hungry to those who empower underserved youth to those who have developmental disabilities. Even one charity, Morningday Community Solutions, assists other charities in locating funding so they can recover unsold inventory from merchants.
"Having a structure like this results in controlled chaos most of the time and uncontrolled chaos occasionally. You simply never know what will happen on any given day. We'll start having movie nights eventually. We'll train service dogs some nights. In the communal refrigerator, someone is always eating someone else's leftovers. But it's really just a fantastic way for all of us to support one another "Raymond stated.
Raymond argued that the benefits of nonprofits working together should not be undervalued.
"I must emphasize the importance of cooperation. It consistently seems like something that shouldn't be taken for granted. Working with another organization, however, only adds to the burden for many organizations. It's actually a way for us to remove some of the obstacles to serving our clients in as many ways as we can if they really consider what they can create in terms of efficiencies, "Added Raymond.