When Will Brown was in college, he had no idea that he was laying the groundwork for a career that would impact nonprofits across the globe. “My undergraduate was in human services,” he says. “I started in social work with a social services orientation — thinking about providing needs and services.” He worked with emotionally disturbed children, the developmentally disabled, and with mental health organizations. But he soon realized that was not where his interests lie. He went on to get his graduate degree in organizational psychology.
“I was curious about how nonprofits work — how they fund themselves, how they sustain themselves, what work they do, how much money do they get, how do they keep their people connected, how do you work with volunteers. That’s what got me interested in them.”
There really wasn’t academic study into nonprofits back then, he explains. “It wasn’t really a field.”
What made them interesting? his advisor wanted to know.
“They’ve got these volunteer boards,” he replied.
His advisor gave him the go-ahead to study nonprofits from an organizational standpoint. That eventually led to his creation of a research and educational program in 2007 at The Bush School at Texas A&M University.
Three years ago, with an investment from a donor who wanted to move forward with some of the program’s work, the Center for Nonprofits & Philanthropy was born.
“The investment allowed us to invigorate our work that was related to outreach,” Brown says. “As part of that, we wanted to provide support for the Brazos Valley nonprofit organizations.”
That effort became what’s called the Brazos Valley Initiative.
Initially, he reached out to the City of Bryan, the City of College Station, the Community Development offices, and the United Way — all granting entities. The Arts Council of Brazos Valley was informally part of that group as well, and eventually the Community Foundation joined in too.
“We say our mission is to support vibrant nonprofit philanthropic sector in Texas,” Brown says. “We are here to support the organizations and the people who work in the organizations.”
Being part of an educational institution, the center has access to limitless resources regarding any number of topics, including fundraising, finances, performance management, program evaluation, and more. “With our own cohort of people, we can provide the training on just about anything,” Brown says.
“It’s a tricky job to run a nonprofit organization. It’s tough. Competing demands, scarce resources, high expectations — you’ve got increasing need and demand,” Brown says. “If you look what is happening in the Brazos Valley, you continue to see the need of community members. Like the continuing divide that we see across the country, we see it here as well — people who have and people who don’t.”
Many of these nonprofits are in there trying to be able to make a difference, he explains. “That’s part of what I do. I help people think about working in these organizations,” he says. “I live here, and if I can, I want to help these local organizations.”
To find out more, visit bush.tamu.edu/nonprofit.
More about Will Brown:
William A. Brown is a professor at the Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University and holds the Mary Julia and George Jordan Professorship. He serves as the director of the Center for Nonprofits and Philanthropy and teaches Nonprofit Management, Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Human Resource Management, and Capstone courses. He has worked with numerous organizations in the provision of services, consulting, and board governance. His research focuses on nonprofit governance, strategy, and organizational effectiveness. Brown has authored research articles, technical reports, and practice-oriented publications, including Nonprofit Governance: Innovative Perspectives and Approaches (Routledge, July 2013) with Chris Cornforth and Strategic Management in Nonprofit Organizations published in March 2014 (Jones & Bartlett).
