The latest ideas and information from CPA Co-op
Now more than ever, CPA Co-op is focused on listening and responding to the needs of our community. We’ve been in communication with leaders in five regions of the country, and the vast majority of them have indicated a willingness and need to continue purchasing PPE and other COVID Response supplies in the anticipation of reopening by the end of the summer.
Read MoreIt all started with an avocado. I was a teacher in Detroit with a classroom that door didn’t lock and an unavoidable open door policy. Students sought refuge from the lunchtime fray in my quiet classroom, and thus our “Lunch Bunch” was born.
Read MoreLast week, 150 congregational leaders from across the country gathered to learn from one another and discuss a response to the recent economic crisis.They shared the challenges they were facing, administratively, financially, and ministerially. Across regions and denominations, we found common concerns around decreased giving, caring for church employees, the pros and cons of virtual worship, and the way COVID-19 was affecting their ability to serve the most vulnerable among us.
Read MoreOne of things that I wish my seminary would have offered when I was a student was a course on church facility management. I soon discovered, upon entering my first pastorate, that the maintenance cost of the church facility can severely hinder the congregation’s ability to fund the operating and programmatic side of ministry. Every dollar spent on the electric bill, trash pickup, cleaning, and building repairs was a dollar not spent on furthering the work and mission of the church. While these expenses are a necessary part of being a property-owning congregation, pastors and trustees are often confronted with decisions amidst complex industries, misleading sales tactics, and burdensome contracts. We do not always have the time or capacity to ensure that we get the best pricing by researching policies, vetting vendors, and getting multiple bids for all of our facility needs. As a result, we often end up paying more than we should for the basic services that ensure we can keep the building and our ministry up and running.
Read MoreLast month CPA Co-op executive director Felipe Witchger hosted a strategy input session on how to breathe new life into a broken economy. Felipe set the stage for the call by sharing CPA Co-op’s success adding value on contract decisions for organizations who work together to tackle ambitious, mission-aligned economic actions. These actions position CPA to help community institutions writ large to think about all of their economic transactions, and integrate their values and mission and purpose into not just their purchasing, but also their real estate and their investing. Felipe brought together representatives from stakeholders across the country: co-op organizing and finance, credit unions and church mutuals, national co-op organizations and new start-ups, to explore this new economy. What follows is a series of highlights from this conversation.
Read MoreI’ve heard some nightmarish HVAC tales, stories of success, and mostly lots of frustration, confusion, and anxiety around dealing with a building’s costliest and most complex systems.
These stories stem from the people who run many of our CPA member organizations - church administrators, school-based facility managers, and synagogue Executive Directors. They’ve been telling me about how they approach preventative maintenance (quarterly checkups vs. wait til it breaks), the ups and downs of service tech quality (some are trustworthy while others needed to be babysat), and how a new $2 Million system never worked quite right (and still doesn’t).
What I’ve learned that impressed me the most is that many have done an incredible job keeping old systems operating for decades, through a combination of regular maintenance, emergency repairs, and a little bit of duct tape and prayer.
Read MoreAs CPA deepens its investment in the DC region and continues to look to growth in new regions, we convened a group of inspiring partners and entrepreneurial strategists interacting with the church and co-op sectors today. In a recent video call, our Executive Director, Felipe Witchger, reached out to colleagues across disciplines to do just that.
Read MoreWith the recent Amazon HQ2 bidding wars, it is clear cities need a more thoughtful approach to local economic development. As more nonprofits consider what a deliberate approach to re-making the economy might look like, we want to offer our community purchasing co-op model as a complement to the growing work of universities and hospitals trying to refocus on local, equitable economic development.
Last year over 100 small anchor institutions in Washington DC purchased $16.7 million of goods & services through the Community Purchasing Alliance Cooperative (CPA), with almost $10 million going to minority owned businesses.
Read MoreWe've spoken with a number of suppliers over the last few months about this legislation and potential impact, and here's what we've learned:
In short: If you're currently in a third party supply contract (including CPA aggregations), this legislation won't affect your current contract.
Read MoreWe invited leaders in our member network to share their experience and insights to ensure that your next Janitorial RFP will run as smoothly as possible. Click to watch our video and learn more.
Read MoreStrength in numbers is not just a tagline for CPA Co-op, it is the philosophy behind everything we do. The strength of our group was displayed in full force last month when a routine PEPCO bill review forced us to confront the realities of a shifting energy industry.
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