How Nonprofits are Coping

Technology
Knowing that it had many more clients than resources, the Legal Aid Society of Orange County years ago created an online system to walk its constituents through document preparation for pro se cases. Today, the system?called I-CAN Legal?is more useful than ever, accommodating at least 400 clients each month that the Santa Ana?based organization would otherwise be unable to help.

Pro Bono
Demand for law-firm services is down, so plenty of talented lawyers have extra time on their hands. Many legal nonprofits are taking advantage: For example, at Inland Counties Legal Services in Riverside, Executive Director Irene Morales plans this year to institute the center's first-ever program for working directly with pro bono attorneys. (See also "A Call to Service," in Expert Advice.)

Needs as Opportunities
Los Angeles's Advancement Project often advises policymakers about how to reduce violence and save money by creating safe and healthy communities replete with job opportunities. "Focusing on the prevention of youth violence, rather than on the suppression of it" costs one-seventh as much, points out Codirector John Kim. "The trick will be how do we package our recommendation to organizations" so that they can see an opportunity to save, rather than the obligation to spend.

Networking
When the JEHT Foundation closed its doors at the end of last year (Bernard L. Madoff Securities had managed all of the New York foundation's money), the Advancement Project lost several hundred thousand dollars in grant funding. To make up that loss, the project teamed with political group MoveOn.org to raise money from MoveOn's vast network. An online fund-raiser brought in $180,000 in one week, Kim says.

Staying Lean A downturn can be a tempting time to hire a fund-raising consultant. But Antonia Hernández, president and chief executive officer of the California Community Foundation in Los Angeles, recommends against it?for the time being. "It's an investment that will take time to yield," says Hernández. "And one thing nonprofits don't have right now is time."

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