Two northwest Louisiana nonprofits have created a spin-off enterprise that will enable them to merge the data they keep on charity organizations.
The Community Foundation of North Louisiana and the United Way of Northwest Louisiana have created Community Resource Management LLC.
The firm will be headed up by Susan Campbell who will manage a sophisticated database on nonprofits that was created by the Urban Institute several years ago.
“It’s a searchable database for the community and other nonprofits so that they can learn about what other organizations are doing in their community to reduce duplication of services,” Campbell said, who has been on the job for about a week. “The hope would be they can develop partnerships between one another.”
There are more than 1,000 active nonprofits in northwest Louisiana. Campbell says the database, called LINCC, currently houses detailed information on 120 of them. She’s urging nonprofits to update their information on LINCC. She says it already culls information that they report to the Internal Revenue Service, but she would like agencies to provide more details on their programs, services and needs.
“Our goal is to get all the active nonprofits in the database so that our community will have a full picture of what our nonprofits are doing in northwest Louisiana,” Campbell said.
Campbell envisions the LINCC portal will be used in a variety of ways, such as mapping where nonprofits are located and what they have to offer. She says the Urban Institute’s tool is used in about 10 regions nationwide.
Campbell is the first director of the newly formed entity. She holds a doctorate in social welfare from the University of Kansas and most recently worked as a research specialist for Shriners Hospital for Children - Shreveport.
