People have been asking me what my vision for NICE is, so here goes (hang with me, it's pretty painless ...) You might also want to visit www.NICENetwork.org to learn more about our mission and the people behind it. We also have a NICE Forum where people meet to discuss a wide range of human service topics at http://NICENetwork.ning.com.

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Problem Statement: The growth in the large volume of start-up human service nonprofits each year in the United States poses three challenges to the industry which are not being addressed effectively:

1. The success stories of human service nonprofits created by U.S. social and civic entrepreneurs are not typically known outside a given non-profit’s city or region. Few research institutions have taken on the task or mission to document the history of organizations that could act as models for start-ups or who could create a body of knowledge to guide existing nonprofits.

2. A large percentage of successful human service nonprofits are willing to replicate their solutions at little or no cost into other communities. Many are willing to assist new start-ups and help them short-cut the learning curve required to build a similar initiative. However, it’s not uncommon for new human services nonprofits to be unaware of similar initiatives already in existence in their community or across the country.

3. Mentoring is not readily available to those in the human services nonprofit arena due, in part, to this lack of data and nonprofit history. Without a central data-gathering resource in place to facilitate cross-communication between human service nonprofits, mentoring for start-ups on any given human services topic is limited.

Proposed Solution: The National Institute for Civic Enterprise (NICE) is a project that 1) researches and catalogues the histories of successful U.S. human service nonprofits, 2) recognizes and promotes them, and 3) provides networking options and mentoring opportunities for social and civic entrepreneurs to help grow their initiatives.

This is the basic outline I gave to a grantwriter recently who is also the head of a nonprofit in Boston. Her reaction was: "It gives me goosebumps.This is so needed!"

I think so, too. After reading Sean Stannard-Stockton's opinion column in The Chronicle of Philanthropy, "It's Time to Share More Information About Worthy Charities" (Mar 2009), I was encouraged that I was on track. Donors don't have a very good idea of "what's out there" right now nor what's working, short of a basic profile on Guidestar. In this country, there is very little comprehensive research in any university or institute of which nonprofits are offering proven, efficient, and effective solutions which donors, business, and communities can support and replicate into their cities.

I see people going off in corners right now just doing their own thing. Or they're duplicating what someone else has already done. Rather than reinvent the wheel, why not offer a place on the Internet that provides a short-cut for them. We teach how businesses grow and fail, why not nonprofits.. by category... at-risk youth, crime, housing, etc? We need examples and civic-franchised models.

Short of a top-down government strategy that piles on overhead and layers of low-compassionate bureaucracy, isn't it time that we put something in place that brings people together to share what already works? Or am I too much of a Pollyanna? Surely, in the nonprofit world there are people with lesser egos who want to chronicle their successes to support those in need for future generations.

But then I read "Reality Check" by Jill Muehreke at the Society for Nonprofit Organizations this month and she warned me not to plan much beyond 18 months or too rigidly since planning works but the "plan rarely does." I can be flexible. I know I don't have all the answers, but I can find the experts I need, stick with the vision, and revise the plan as I go.

With the advent of social media, I'm highly encouraged about engaging people who understand the vision and are willing to share their successes and failures. And several new steps are already in motion at NICE that we'll be revealing in the very near future. If you want to get on board with the vision, do let us know. It's exciting and WE NEED YOU!

I know NICE is an idea whose time has come. Please contribute to the discussions at www. NICENetwork.org or the NICE Forum page or make a comment here because your input here gets everyone closer to helping more people today and tomorrow!