UMass Donahue Institute Announces Nonprofit Support Services

HADLEY — UMass Donahue Institute announced the formation of a new business group that will focus on supporting the financial strength of nonprofit organizations.

Led by Sharon Vardatira, who boasts 19 years of nonprofit consulting experience, the Nonprofit Funding & Fiscal Solutions group will provide customized consultation, coaching/mentoring, and hands-on intervention for clients to strengthen and expand their financial capacities, manage their finances, and respond to funding crises.

“I have been privileged to spend the better part of my career building the capacity of nonprofit organizations to bring about positive change in their communities, help vulnerable and disadvantaged populations, improve quality of life, and establish long-lasting, positive social change,” Vardatira said. “We look forward to significantly increasing the financial stability of a wide variety of nonprofits working on a range of critical issues.”

Added J. Lynn Griesemer, executive director of the UMass Donahue Institute, “the addition of Nonprofit Funding and Fiscal Solutions to the Institute broadens and deepens the scope of services we provide to the Commonwealth, New England, and across the country. Ms. Vardatira is well-known to the Institute as a highly experienced grant-writing and fund-development consultant. She brings a wealth of expertise and experience assisting organizations that possesses a wide range of missions and populations served.”

The new group will complement the Institute’s other services, including applied research and program evaluation, economic and public policy research, early-childhood services, organizational development, and democracy education and international programs.