The Vermont Nonprofit Capacity Survey Debrief
August 4, 2026
AGENDA
Welcome
Shared Services Basics
Survey Results
Breakout Discussion
Full Group Share & Closing
11:30 – 11:40
11:40 – 11:55
11:55 – 12:20
12:20 – 12:50
12:50 – 1:00
LOGISTICS
What are SHARED SERVICES and why are we looking at them?
Shared Services
Two or more nonprofits share functions, staff, or resources to reduce costs and increase mission impact.
What can be shared (for example)
Financial: Accounting, bookkeeping, financial advising
Tax Status: Fiscal sponsorship
Human Resources: Payroll, benefits, hiring support
Operations: IT, office space, insurance, purchasing
Advocacy: Collective voice, policy coordination
Training: In person and virtual
Employee Benefits: Benefit administration and potential for large group cost savings
Impact: Collaboration can strengthen outputs and outcomes
Types of Shared Services
Membership Model: Like-minded nonprofits share services through a membership network. Members pay fees, help shape services, and fund coordination.
Fractional Service Provider: A nonprofit or business provides shared services for a fee, often replacing an internal staff role. In Vermont, this is mostly used for accounting and finance.
Fiscal Sponsorship: Groups operate under another organization's 501(c) status to access grants and tax-deductible donations. This model is increasingly common among emerging nonprofits and mutual aid groups.
Pooled Resource Model: Nonprofits jointly access costly resources that would be difficult to afford individually. This model is currently being explored in Vermont.
Why Vermont and Why Now
The Problems Shared Services Solve
Resource scarcity limiting nonprofit capacity to achieve impact.
Small state, many small nonprofits: Hard to afford and access full-time specialists individually.
Eroding federal support: Nonprofits need to do more with less.
Tight-knit: Trust and relationships are already strong in Vermont.
Advocacy: Nonprofits are major employers in Vermont and can have a strong, collective voice.
Sector Cohesion: Nonprofits serve as essential infrastructure that benefits from collaboration and coordination to achieve impact.
The Survey
What We Asked About:
Organizational Demographics: To understand who responded and identify trends by nonprofit type, size, and location.
Capacity & Functional Needs: To identify operational gaps, priority needs, and current approaches to addressing them.
Shared Services Perceptions: To measure awareness, interest, perceived benefits, and concerns about shared service models.
Excess Capacity: To identify organizations that could potentially provide shared services to others.
Contact Information (Optional): To recruit pilot participants and share future project updates.
154 Complete Responses
Region
Who Responded?
Sector
Size
The Collaborative Landscape
Moving From Collaboration to Intentional Shared Services
Organizations who have considered, explored, or engaged in a shared service model
Organizations who participate in a collaborative group
(shared services, collaboration, coordinating body, umbrella organization)
Top Capacity Needs
Top Capacity Needs
Select Quotes
“Even though we are well-resourced compared to some, we still struggle as we are doing more than we currently have capacity for and our staff are stretched thin.”
“One person does all of these jobs.”
“We just need more funding to support the positions we already have...”
“Having sharing staff benefits (health insurance at a more reasonable price would be huge).”
“We've inquired with other orgs about sharing resources and have had little success.”
67% of Nonprofits Face Capacity Challenges
Yet nearly 1/3 of those organizations have not sought help.
What Organizations have tried on their Own
Opportunities to Explore Shared Services
Yes
92%
No
8%
Do you see a benefit to sharing services?
Excess Capacity
Emerging Shared Resources & More Information