Announcing the Goodman Nonprofit Center
In May 2024, at Madison Community Foundation's annual dinner, Madison Gives, E.G. Schramka announced that the Irwin A. and Robert D. Goodman Foundation was making a $5 million lead gift to help endow the new Goodman Nonprofit Center at MCF.
Schramka, Executive Director of the Goodman Foundation, noted, “The Goodman Foundation has worked with many local nonprofits. This gift will preserve and enhance the legacy of the Goodman brothers by ensuring that the leaders running nonprofits addressing strategic focus areas that were important to the Goodman brothers will have access to the professional development resources they need to continue to expand their impact.
Need for a Nonprofit Center Well Documented
Madison's philanthropic leaders have long discussed the need for a nonprofit center to support area organizations. As one of only three states lacking a statewide nonprofit association, the absence of a dedicated resource center leaves nonprofits struggling to piece together professional development resources on their own.
Andy Davey, MCF's Director of Research & Advocacy, teamed up in 2021 with Sharon Lezberg, Community Development Educator for UW-Madison Extension Dane County, to identify the most important needs for nonprofit organizations in Dane County and determine how to better meet those needs. They published their research in 2021 in "Toward a Stronger Nonprofit Sector: Addressing Capacity Building Needs in Dane County."
In 2024, several of Madison's nonprofit leaders shared with MCF what a Nonprofit Center would mean to them, their organizations and the community overall. Their thoughts were captured in the video, "Why Madison needs a Nonprofit Center."
Support Grows for Nonprofit Center
Since the Irwin A. and Robert D. Goodman Foundation announced its $5 million lead gift, support for the Nonprofit Center has continued to grow, with the Roots & Wings Foundation and United Way of Dane County making gifts in support of the Center.
“These gifts deepen support of the philanthropic community in the region and bring us closer to realizing our full vision for the Goodman Nonprofit Center,” said Bob Sorge, Madison Community Foundation’s President and CEO. “We are deeply grateful to the Irwin A. and Robert D. Goodman Foundation, Roots & Wings Foundation and United Way of Dane County for their commitment to our community and to ensuring the Nonprofit Center thrives as a hub for learning and capacity building.”
Center Timeline
The Goodman Nonprofit Center will be housed at the MCF offices in downtown Madison. Beginning in late 2025, the Goodman Nonprofit Center will launch the Goodman Fellows Program. This year-long program will focus on professional leadership development for a cohort of nonprofit leaders who will gather monthly, build relationships, and foster skills in finance, program evaluation, human resources, marketing, fundraising, and other topics.
Additional plans for the Center include hosting a free, online resource library providing curated materials on fundraising, board development, capital campaigns, finance and operations, advocacy, and impact investing. The online resource will provide a dynamic calendar of events and provide a way to learn about consultants who are experts in a variety of areas.
Future plans for the Center include adding additional professional leadership development cohorts; bringing nonprofits together to collaboratively apply for national and/or federal funding; identifying gaps and redundancies in strategic plans for organizations operating in similar parts of the nonprofit field; and identifying opportunities to create greater change at the policy level through advocacy.
Andy Davey has shared insights into how we expect to be Forging Connections Through the Goodman Nonprofit Center in our blog.
Community partnerships are critical to our quality of life here. There’s no bigger partner than the Madison Community Foundation.”
- Neil Heinen, Editorial Director, WISC-TV3