Arts & Entertainment  January 5, 2016

Nonprofit accelerator unveils third cohort

LONGMONT – Officials for the Colorado Nonprofit Social Enterprise Exchange have announced the third class of nonprofits that soon will start building businesses with assistance from the accelerator.

The Exchange is a joint project run by Longmont-based interSector Partners L3C – a consulting company that works with nonprofits and socially purposed businesses – and Denver-based JVoyles Nonprofit Consulting.

The Exchange operates like a startup accelerator, helping nonprofits launch businesses that create jobs for the communities that they serve and/or sustainable revenue streams to help support their missions. As an example, a nonprofit with a mission of helping homeless people might launch a coffee shop that both employs some of the people it serves as well as providing funding for the nonprofit.

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Rather than taking an equity stake in the companies that are formed like in a startup accelerator, charitable foundations fund roughly two-thirds of the cost of the program while the nonprofits also pay a fee to participate in The Exchange.

The two-year program takes in a new class each year, helping them with business plans, strategy and fundraising. Seventeen nonprofits have taken part in the first two classes, raising $1.5 million toward their business startup costs and creating 21 new jobs.

The Exchange is run out of the Denver Community Credit Union and Mile High United Way, and so far has served nonprofits mostly in the Denver and Colorado Springs areas. The four nonprofits in the new class include Denver-based Colorado Youth Matter and Work Options for Women, Castle Rock-based The Crisis Center and Aurora-based Arc of Aurora.

Caryn Capriccioso of interSector said she’s hopeful that a Northern Colorado class could be on the horizon.

“We are eager to figure out how to do a Northern Colorado cohort,” Capriccioso said. “I think there’s definitely interest. We just haven’t had enough to get it going up this way.”

LONGMONT – Officials for the Colorado Nonprofit Social Enterprise Exchange have announced the third class of nonprofits that soon will start building businesses with assistance from the accelerator.

The Exchange is a joint project run by Longmont-based interSector Partners L3C – a consulting company that works with nonprofits and socially purposed businesses – and Denver-based JVoyles Nonprofit Consulting.

The Exchange operates like a startup accelerator, helping nonprofits launch businesses that create jobs for the communities that they serve and/or sustainable revenue streams to help support their missions. As an example, a nonprofit with a mission of helping homeless people might launch a…

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