Celebrating One Year of Nonprofit Collaboration at the Palau LinkCenter
A bold new idea creates a thriving community in just one year!
Our visits have been frequent over the past year as we watched the Palau LinkCenter (PLC) grow and flourish. Every time we drop by, a new nonprofit partner tells us a story about reduced weariness, increased impact, generosity, and friendship. The one-year celebration was no different. More stories, more friendships, and most importantly, more incredible work around the world accelerated by this thriving shared space.
Here are just a few highlights from the past year…
A Coworking Space for 23 Faith-Based Nonprofits (and counting!)
A few years ago, the Luis Palau Association determined that they had a stewardship opportunity. They decided to raise funds to remodel their building, move their team closer together, and make room for a 10,000 square foot coworking space for small faith-based nonprofits. Last summer, we celebrated the opening of the PLC! It did not take long for word to spread. There are currently 23 like-minded organizations sharing the space, and it continues to grow.
An All-Star Community Director
Meet Laney, the PLC’s amazing Community Director! Over the past year, she has spent time getting to know each tenant partner and familiarizing herself with their needs. She helps connect organizations within the network that might benefit from each other. (To learn more about the role of a Community Director, read our recent article.) Laney has administered surveys and arranged town hall meetings to inform the resources and enrichment opportunities the PLC provides for partners (event planning training, social media best practices, grant writing resources, etc.) She also solicits feedback about what is and isn’t working well in the space. We believe that Laney is a major factor in the success of this past year. This is why we advocate for Community Directors in every shared space!
Organic Friendships Lead to Organized Cohorts
Without any prompting from PLC staff, nonprofit tenants have launched their own regular meeting groups to encourage one another, learn, and accelerate impact. Various cohorts meet weekly or monthly to share ideas, hardships, and ask questions. There is an Executive Director cohort, Development Director cohort, and small groups that meet for coffee weekly or monthly to encourage one another.
‘It Feels Like Family’
It feels like family should be when organizations are having fun with one another. The Aids Orphan Education Trust’s mascot, a stuffed office hedgehog, was kidnapped by Pure Life Alliance this summer and taken on a trip to visit their field operations. Every once in a while, they receive a new photo of the hedgehog in Uganda. We frequently hear from organizations that the culture and community in the space ‘feels like family.’
Hallway Conversation or Board Strategy Session?
Blake Williams, Executive Director of Pure Life Alliance, was sitting at his desk and overheard a hallway conversation between another nonprofit partner dealing with some issues concerning their Board of Directors. His interest was piqued, because his nonprofit board had a similar issue. He stepped out into the hallway and fielded a few questions to the other tenants who had more experience with board leadership structure. As a result of that conversation, he had an immediate takeaway to address the situation. The LinkCenter fosters opportunities for smaller organizations to learn and grow simply by sharing space. Spontaneous conversations happen, friendships are made, resources and advice is shared, impact is increased!
Collaboration Increases Impact
Mission Connextion, a nonprofit partner at the LinkCenter, hosts a conference each year with paid booths for organizations to raise awareness, recruit volunteers and donors, and network with other organizations and churches. One of the nonprofit partners from the Link Center heard about the event and paid to host a booth at Mission Connextion’s conference. A new donor stopped by their booth, attended a fundraising event, and pledged to give $10,000 over the next five years. ($50,000 total!)
Energy and Camaraderie Improves Well-being
Many of the small nonprofits officing at the PLC were officing at home or in a small office by themselves before they moved to this space. Multiple tenants have expressed the immense improvement of their work life simply by sharing space with other like-minded organizations. The PLC not only offers a lower overhead with shared resources, it also improves small nonprofit culture and individual worker well-being. Shared space is not just about resources, it’s about enriching lives and community!
It feels like just yesterday that we were putting the finishing touches on this space and preparing to launch a bold new model with our friends at the Luis Palau Association. We had done our research, found incredible champions, and believed that this had the potential to be world-changing. It turns out we really are onto something big! The space and community has a new life that we could have only imagined. As always, we believe the best is yet to come.
