Cultivating Community Impact: Reflections on Idaho Partners for Good's Third Year
As the newest member of Idaho Partners for Good’s board of directors, it is my great honor to provide my thoughts on the organization’s third birthday and the wonderful celebration with Idaho for Good on July 18 at Lost Grove Brewing. What a terrific evening that was!
On the one hand, it was surprising to see such a big turnout. But on the other hand, it’s not surprising at all! Idaho Partners for Good was founded on a premise that is both timely and timeless, and the word is out! I feel this way not only because the turnout was great in quantity but even more so in quality. Many of our communities’ leaders in both nonprofit and for-profit B-Corp organizations answered the call to learn more while celebrating a great milestone. Regardless of any quantitative results (which have been wonderful), the qualitative results were obvious and, I believe, long-lasting.
For me personally, the evening encapsulates what I have aspired to be a part of for much of my life. Since my teenage years, longer ago than I’m willing to admit to myself, nonprofits have been in my life in some way. While in college and as I started my professional career two things became readily obvious to me: 1) our neighborhoods, cities, states, and regions are much better off with nonprofits in them, and 2) most of them could be more efficient in the delivery of their primary mission. It’s truly amazing to see the results hard work and a great sense of purpose bring. And now, to see a proven method for better leveraging that hard work in line with the purpose inspires me to bring my talent and treasure to the cause.
The process that Idaho Partners for Good uses to come alongside well-established nonprofit organizations and better align their efforts to support their mission does a great job of balancing discipline with innovation. And the best evidence of the effectiveness of the process is Idaho Partner for Good’s very existence. Blossom Johnston and all involved over the past three years have seen to it that Idaho Partner for Good practices what it preaches. In the past few months since Blossom approached me about getting involved, every member of the team, regardless of their role, has shown me they’re all “singing from the same page in the songbook.”
And so, I was pleasantly surprised with the quantity of the turnout on a Tuesday evening in July and not at all surprised by the quality. When any organization is doing the right thing for all the right reasons, people naturally want to associate with and support it whether it’s a nonprofit or not. The cool thing about Idaho Partners for Good is it is both an example and mentor organization striving to ensure as many other organizations realize doing the right thing for the right reasons.