How and why was the company started? When? By whom?
TACS was started in 1977 by co-founders Kay Sohl and Jean DeMaster. They recognized that there was a wave of nonprofit organizations sprouting up in the area, organizations which were led by amazing people with great ideas and great intentions. But while their hearts were there, these leaders didn’t necessarily have the skills or experience with the nuts and bolts of day-to-day operations. They recognized that the work of these organizations was important to the community, and that their own financial and management skills could fill a niche by helping to develop and strengthen these organizations.
Who owns the company?
TACS is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, the Board of Directors provides fiduciary responsibility. The executive director is Carrie Hoops.
How is it funded?
TACS’ training and consulting services generate about 45% of the organization’s income. Local foundation support provides about 40% of the organization’s income, individual donations about 5%, and memberships (TACS is home of the Nonprofit Association of Oregon) about 5-10%.
How many employees work for the company?
19, plus two De LaSalle interns
Organizational chart
This is in the works. The organization is undergoing a pretty significant shift in their business model. I’ll post the business model/broad program strokes tomorrow (don’t have the file here), and the org chart as soon as it is available.
What salary ranges exist?
I believe salaries range between $30,000-$70,000
Other pertinent background information
The organization’s founding director of 30 years retired in July of 2008. The new director came on board in June of 2009. The Nonprofit Association of Oregon was launched as a program of TACS in 2007. Recent strategic planning efforts determined a new organizational direction of an association-based business model. There are lots of unanswered questions. The new direction will roll out in the next several months, along with a new name and mission statement.
Hours worked/tasks performed:
1.5 hours, take staff photos for website (used skills developed in IM282, Digital Photography)
2.0 hours, prep/crop/save photo files
4.0 hours, style guide research. Reviewed a few examples from Oregon Council for the Humanities and the Ford Family Foundation. The former was most useful and will provide a framework that I can adapt to meet our needs. Developed lengthy list of relevant instances to include in SG based on familiarity with inconsistencies. (will include these in the outline next week).
3.0 hours, prepare one-pager for Executive Transition Services (ETS) program. This document provides information about the services provided through the ETS program; is set out at training events and taken to meetings. Created in InDesign to print in-house. (Note: this was not in objectives, but I think relevant)
Ok, so I think it is going to be a challenge to stick completely to my learning objectives. I did set aside time to work on them but something more imperative would inevitably arise. This will be a good exercise in setting boundaries, but I’ll also need to keep larger priorities in perspective. Fortunately skills-wise, many of the tasks overlap, i.e., the one-pager mentioned above wasn’t in the objectives but the skills it required were similar to the skills required by the objectives. Does that make sense? If you have any suggestions or concerns, I’d love to hear them!