The Nonprofit Center of Milwaukee plans to sell its office building on the city’s west side as it evaluates the future of the organization in the coming months.
2819 W. Highland Blvd.
In a letter sent to the community on Monday, the Nonprofit Center said mounting financial constraints, including delays in grant funding payments, have prompted the decision to sell its property at 2819 W. Highland Boulevard. The organization’s office has been located there since 2000.
Finding a buyer for the building is the first step in the Nonprofit Center’s board efforts to identify a sustainable path for the organization moving forward, said Raejean Kanter, board director of the Nonprofit Center.
“The building became very costly to operate as a small nonprofit,” Kanter said. “The operations of the whole building really did lead to some financial challenge. And I think we also have come to a point where we need to re-evaluate the way we do business. The Nonprofit Center has done tremendous work in the community for many years. It’s helped train so many nonprofit leaders. We have to look at continuing to do that, but in this century.”
Kanter said the organization has eliminated a few staff and consultant positions, and remaining workers are currently working at home until the organization finds a new location. As of Sept. 1, the organization stopped collecting dues from its nonprofit members.
The Nonprofit Center serves more than 400 nonprofit member organizations and more than 40 corporate members of the Business Volunteer Council, according to its website.
The board plans to take time to find a sustainable solution for the organization, but doesn’t have a defined timeline for that process, Kanter said.
“We’re just going to do it well,” she said. “We would rather do it well than say we’ll have it done in a few months … The board and staff are working very hard. This is a plan we’ve come up with and feel will help the community. This isn’t something that was done on whim.”
The organization’s history traces back to the mid-1960s, when a group of spiritual leaders in the city formed Milwaukee Associates in Urban Ministry to sponsor Volunteers in Service to America projects in central city churches. The group morphed in the early 1970s into the Milwaukee Associates in Urban Development, and grew its programs to include running a resource center for other nonprofits and a neighborhood data center.
It officially adopted the Nonprofit Center of Milwaukee name in 1996. Its services today include Volunteer Milwaukee, the Jobs That Serve nonprofit employment website, and the Finance Center, which provides financial management training and services.
The organization will continue to offer the Jobs That Serve site, according to the letter.
