Planting a Seed Foundation Guidebook Launched by The NonprofitCenters Network and Tides Shared Spaces

Download a free copy of the guidebook at www.nonprofitcenters.org/publications.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA; DECEMBER 3, 2008; The NonprofitCenters Network and Tides Shared Spaces released the first in a series of guidebooks today on the economic, environmental and community benefits of shared workspace and services.  Planting a Seed: Foundations Build Communities with Shared Nonprofit Workspace illuminates the benefits and challenges foundations experience in creating mission-focused office facilities for themselves and other nonprofit organizations. The free guidebook showcases foundations that have succeeded and provides concrete examples of the resulting benefits to the nonprofits, communities, and the foundations themselves.

“As the challenges facing the world continue to mount, philanthropic organizations are seizing on new ways to help their communities and the nonprofit organizations within them.  We are fostering nonprofit sustainability through real estate investment and are seeing real benefits from long-term infrastructure cost savings.” --China Brotsky, Senior Vice President at Tides and Managing Director of Tides Shared Spaces.

Especially suited for foundations and nonprofits planning to weather hard economic times, Planting a Seed is an inspirational and practical tool for foundations interested in using their own headquarters or investing in nonprofit building projects to promote healthy, vibrant communities. Nonprofit centers become strategic investments for foundations that reflect their mission and values. Foundations have turned office buildings into community assets by developing diverse spaces providing everything from quality workspace to community conference centers to incubators for social change.

Nonprofit centers also increase long-term savings, create employment opportunities for local residents and support local businesses. These shared workspaces showcase the work of foundations’ tenants and grantees. Set in green spaces and grounded in eco-friendly values, nonprofit centers enhance sustainability by modeling energy efficiency and by using sustainable materials to create healthy workplaces.

The guide includes seventeen profiles of facility projects across the United States which model best practices in providing quality office and community space for nonprofit organizations. Revealing the logistics and inner workings, the guide details key information about their histories, operations and financing.

Sample visionary nonprofit centers include:

• The Wilson Historic District, which grew from the Meadows family’s desire to combine historic preservation with adaptive reuse of some of the last remaining examples of Victorian architecture in the city of Dallas. Their efforts created a nonprofit campus, revitalized a once deteriorating neighborhood, and served as a model for many other foundations.
• The Knight Nonprofit Center, which was created after Hurricane Katrina to house nonprofit organizations left homeless by the devastation of the storm. Once the renovations are completed in January 2009, the Center will be a stable, state of the art home to 22 organizations working to rebuild the region.
• The Thoreau Center for Sustainability in San Francisco, which was created during the early stages of the green building movement. By living its commitment to a healthy and sustainable environment, Tides was the first foundation to combine a nonprofit center with green design.

Download a free copy of the guidebook at www.nonprofitcenters.org/publications.

About Tides Shared Spaces: Tides Shared Spaces creates, operates and promotes sustainable workspace for nonprofits and strengthens nonprofit capacity in the real estate arena. Tides Shared Spaces is part of the Tides network of organizations which actively promotes change toward broadly shared economic opportunity, robust democratic processes and the opportunity to live in a healthy and sustainable environment where human rights are preserved and protected. Founded in 1976, Tides provides an array of services that amplify the efforts of forward-thinking philanthropists, foundations, activists and organizations to make the world a better place. Tides Foundation, Tides Center and Tides Shared Spaces together provide fiscal sponsorship for over 200 groups across the country, operate and support green nonprofit centers and have granted more than $600 million since 2000 alone. For more information, visit www.tidessharedspaces.org.

About The NonprofitCenters Network:  The NonprofitCenters Network offers training, technical assistance, consulting, education resources, and connections to help communities develop and manage their own nonprofit centers. Our vision is a future when every nonprofit organization has access to the workspace it needs to support and promote healthy, vibrant communities. The NonprofitCenters Network is a program of Tides Shared Spaces. www.nonprofitcenters.org.

For media inquiries, contact Christine Coleman at 415.561.6354.