As many of you know, the VCF has been working with nonprofit leaders, consultants, and funding institutions to create a financially sustainable organization that will help strengthen Vermont's nonprofit sector.

Our work over the last year included sector-wide meetings, surveys, and a Grafton Conference, all of which allowed us to collect valuable information. I'm pleased to report that we've secured funding to put the plans that came out of these initial meetings into action.

As a result of a $25,000 grant from the A.D. Henderson Foundation, to be matched with a $25,000 grant from the VCF, we are ready to begin work on an online resource center that will provide some of the nonprofit sector's most frequently-requested tools: a calendar of nonprofit trainings and events, job listings, and a searchable database of both nonprofits and consultants/businesses that work with nonprofits. This online center will also support regional and local networking events that connect Vermont nonprofits with one another, and will include the Vermont Directory of Foundations, which was released this past summer.

We have already begun the search for a resource center manager to develop and launch the center in the first half of 2008 (you can find a full job description at www.vermontcf.org/jobs/). We are also working with the Vermont Secretary of State to identify what we hope will be an ongoing source of funding for the center and its work in support of the sector (look for more about this shortly). We will be asking for feedback from Vermont nonprofits throughout this process.

The road to building these resources has been long and complicated, and we are grateful for your support, ideas, and participation along the way. We believe the development of this online center will be the cornerstone of an independent, financially sustainable organization that provides much-needed tools to the sector and helps to connect the nonprofit community.

We'll continue to post updates on this page, so check back soon.