Nonprofit Banking

Kerry:

When the pandemic hit, nonprofits like many of our industries today faced unprecedented challenges with COVID-19. Yet you kept going because the nonprofit mission is the lifeblood of a country that must continue to take care of those who need us the most. At J.P. Morgan, we are deeply committed to being there for when you need us, which is why we have over 200 people dedicated to the nonprofit space all across the country. And it’s why we’re opening branches in all communities and why we are delivering our firm to critical areas such as those that you serve. I’m thrilled to share highlights right now from our recent nonprofit webinar, Pivoting and Thriving During Challenging Times. We will continue to get through this pandemic, and please know that J.P. Morgan is here to support you through it. Thank you.

Kyle:

My name’s Kyle Williams, and I’m happy to moderate a panel of three tremendous leaders, including Jonelle Procope, president and CEO of the Apollo Theater In Harlem; Dan Varner, CEO of Goodwill Greater Detroit; and Jamie Bruning-Miles, CEO of YMCA San Francisco. Let’s talk a little bit about the pathology behind the COVID impact, and specifically recognition: Did you instantly recognize what this meant for you? Your nonprofit?

Jonelle:

It wasn’t until early March that we began to become aware of it in New York City. And our governor issued-- some guidelines that called for everything to shut down. And that happened March 16th of 2020.

Dan:

We’ve got three different social enterprises that we run as well as the mission services. And so some of our divisions were deemed essential-- service provides by the Governor's Executive Order, and some of them were not, were gonna have to close.

Jamie Bruning-Miles:

We had to shut down March 16th. Our organization’s structure centered around our 120 physical locations, mainly in schools, so we had to pivot. We were doing food pantries, mental health services. We’re not a traditional YMCA, as you would think of it, and so immediately the city deemed us essential.

Kyle:

We’d love to just hear your perspective around the business and the mission.

Jamie Bruning-Miles:

We became essential child care almost immediately, developed a national model, so that’s kind of what we did as, like, "Who are we gonna be?" Our mission will be the same, but temporarily, our vision must change for 2020," as we confronted it.

Jonelle:

Our mission and vision didn’t change during this crisis. However, we did make adjustments. So we pivoted-- like many cultural organizations, and we launched the Apollo Digital Stage. And so we began by offering programming that was in our archive, and then we begun producing programs specifically to be on the digital stage.

Kyle:

Dan, I’d like to turn to you: The competing demands of employees and managing the issues that this presents, whether it’s returning to work-- health and wellness. How did you manage the issues?

Dan:

We asked for patience. So-- you know, the intersection of people and their needs with the unique challenges brought by this pandemic required patience. So, you know, would could make a quick decision-- and potentially be wrong, or we can slow down, really work the angles, ask for input from everybody, right, be as inclusive as possible-- in order to make the right, or the best decision.

Kyle:

How do you think you guys sort of handled the crisis, and pulled through?

Jamie Bruning-Miles:

We lost $1.5 million in one month. And that was because we opened too soon. We didn’t really understand what the impact, and that we’re gonna go through a wave that’s gonna shut us back down again. So what we did is we had to learn that we need to make sure that we’re careful.

Jonelle:

We’ve learned that you can’t do everything. And one of the failures on my part was when we made the pivot-- trying to do the same amount of programming and it caused burnout with our staff. As we begin to think about reopening, we will need to take into consideration really how much people can actually do.

Kyle:

Let’s turn our attention to what the future looks like for nonprofits.

Dan:

Two big things, I think. One is-- all of us will move more-- I mean, it’s just accelerated all of our transitions to the use of digital tools. And then the second thing is-- this idea of partnerships, peer networks. You know, if you’re not in one, you should be in one.

Jonelle:

Necessity is truly the mother of invention. We knew that we wanted to implement a five-year plan to be in the digital space. When COVID hit, this five-year plan-- was executed in a matter of months.

Jamie Bruning-Miles:

The final lesson learned is do not forget the strategic need to develop your boards. And then even in the dark times, when it got really, really dark, it was a collective action of a strong, strategic board getting us through it. So I hope we don’t ever forget that in the future.

Kyle:

And that is the final word. Jonelle, Jamie, Dan: Thank you for your time, candor, and inspiration.

END