Approve agreement with the Yolo Community Foundation using American Rescue Plan funds in the amount of $25,000 for the period of July 1, 2022, through October 31, 2023, to increase the capacity of the Yolo County Nonprofit Leaders Alliance to assess expansion opportunities, conduct outreach to engage new participants, and increase the Yolo County Nonprofit Leaders Alliance activities such as trainings and events. (No general fund impact) (Pinedo/York)

American Rescue Plan Background
On September 28, 2021, the Board of Supervisors (Board) approved the initial American Rescue Plan (ARP) Expenditure Plan, which allocated the $42.8 million provided to the County by the federal government in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and associated economic recovery. On April 12, 2022, County staff brought forth a comprehensive review of ARP expenditures and a list of projects for consideration. On May 24, 2022, the Board provided direction on projects that are located throughout Yolo County that would serve many internal unmet needs and may not fit under a specific ARP bucket, but that would otherwise be funded through the County's General Fund or a State or Federal grant source, and this included funding the Yolo Community Foundation.

Yolo Community Foundation- Yolo County Nonprofit Leaders Alliance
The Yolo Nonprofit Leaders Alliance (NPLA), created in 2012 with support from the Yolo County Library, the California State Library, and the Institute of Museum and Library Services Act, is run by members of the nonprofit community who plan and organize quarterly meetings, including the Yolo Community Foundation. The Yolo Community Foundation (YCF) promotes philanthropy by serving as a public foundation through which: 1) community members pursue their own charitable goals; 2) local nonprofits benefit from YCF programs and events; and 3) youth learn the meaning of community involvement and service. Yolo Community Foundation will be the recipient organization.  

Funding this contract with the Yolo Community Foundation will increase the capacity of the Yolo County Nonprofit Leaders Alliance(NPLA) by assessing expansion opportunities, conducting outreach to engage new participants, and increasing the Yolo County Nonprofit Leaders Alliance activities such as trainings and events. NPLA seeks to experiment with offering a wider range of formats to the quarterly meetings and events, including expert workshops and panels, peer discussions, office hours with professional advisors, a board member fair, networking events, and sessions intended to foster collaboration among local nonprofits. NPLA seeks to identify new ways of serving members, such as creating a listserv, Slack, or Facebook group in which members can interact with one another to compile resources available to local nonprofits.

Additionally, NPLA seeks to conduct more proactive outreach among local nonprofits, including small and volunteered nonprofits across Yolo County. NPLA will start with a strategic planning phase to review existing resources like Yolo Community Foundation’s State of the Yolo Nonprofit Sector survey and post-event surveys from past NPLA events, conduct interviews, focus groups, and surveys of current and prospective NPLA members and review programming from similar groups. NPLA will have a member engagement phase to strengthen relationships with existing members and bring representatives from additional Yolo County nonprofits into the organization. In the member outreach phase, NPLA will focus on connecting with nonprofits in the West Sacramento and rural areas, small and volunteer-led organizations, fiscally sponsored organizations, and Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC)-led nonprofits to ensure that NPLA is serving a wide range of nonprofits in Yolo County. NPLA will create an event calendar for the 2022-2023 programming year and develop additional resources to serve participating nonprofits.

The performance measures associated with this project include having at least 10 events and analyzing participant feedback through surveys and interviews to create more tailored events and meetings to the members. More information about this contract, including a statement of work, budget, and performance measures, may be found in Attachment A.

No competitive bid is required. The countywide ARP funds were allocated as part of the Board's FY2021-22 budget hearing on September 28, 2021.