Staffing for the Future

From inception in late 2006 until just recently the Endowment operated with what we believe is the leanest staff model in our peer group. That model -- three full-time staff and a rotating university intern; later augmented with a part-time financial consultant -- served us well through our start-up and early program implementation phase.

As we've learned more about how we can best achieve our mission and stick to our niche, the Board and staff have been looking at options to ensure that we can meet the needs of the future. Our leadership began discussions in mid-2009 and presented a staffing plan for the Board late that fall. After thorough discussion and review the Board agreed that it was time to make some adjustments. As a result, we beefed-up the finance role and added depth to the program staff. Those changes, which we'll address in a bit more detail, position us well for the next several years.

Getting our Financial Systems in Order
The Endowment began like few other organizations with a one-time infusion of funds that had to be placed under management all at once. While many organizations have the benefit of a "quiet period," often of three years or more to allow the corpus to grow, the Endowment had no such buffer. Our overhead costs began on day one even as we were just starting to consider how best to achieve our challenging missional objectives. Timing is everything. Our entry into the market allowed us the all-too-brief euphoria associated with the upward ride of an aging bull market; followed by harrowing declines associated with the "Great Recession."

But for the wisdom of a Board that had adopted a "down market" programmatic investment spending plan before the market declined, things would have been even more chaotic. The good news of the saga is that we have been very successful in forging strong partnerships that have allowed us to "leverage" our diminished spending potential to still have a total impact near that anticipated pre-market decline. In short, we've been able to commit nearly $40 million to missional investments.

The flip side of that coin is that each of those partnerships -- especially those with federal agencies -- has added complexity and need for additional review and controls. Thus, we "up-graded" our part-time Chief Financial Officer role to a full-time Director of Finance. Kim Morgan, a deeply experienced CPA, joined us in March to help steer the financial ship day-to-day.

Re-directing and Expanding the Program Team
The Board also agreed that it was time to add some all-star strength to the program team that had been represented by significantly less than two full-time equivalents of the original three-person model. We began with a commitment to add senior experience. With the addition of a Senior Vice President who brings rich program experience augmented by a re-direction of our community development program, we were able to do just that. These two new team members -- Peter Stangel and Alan McGregor -- respectively, along with our President who also serves a dual role as a program officer, position us well for the future. Each brings significant experience and a proven record of success.

Stirring the Technology Pot
As if adding three new faces to a five-person staff model all at once wasn't enough, we determined that is was also time to up-grade our information technology systems. That transition has proven challenging but holds significant promise of better days for those who survive the journey.

The Future is Now
As we begin the second half of 2010 -- which coincides with the second half of our fourth year as an entity -- we believe we are well positioned to serve the needs and challenges of these trying times. Our five full-time team members are individually and collectively excited to be granted the privilege of being a part of the important work being undertaken by the Endowment and our partners. Too, we want to assure you that even with this significant growth -- from 3+ to 5 -- we remain among the leanest organizations of our kind and we don't expect that to change.

One of our beliefs is that this small staff model, while challenging at times, ensures that we keep the focus on delivery at the wholesale vs. retail level. We plan to remain a grantmaking institution that works with strong partners in the field to achieve important "systemic, transformative and sustainable" advances for the nation's working forests and forest-reliant communities.