Shared Services: Reducing Strain Through Collaboration

​Shared Services: Reducing Strain Through Collaboration

​Nonprofits Unite Webinar

​Nonprofits across our region are doing more with less. Staffing gaps, rising costs, and administrative burden are not signs of failure. They are shared system challenges.

​This session introduces shared services as one practical response. We’ll explore what shared services can look like in real life, from small collaborations to more structured partnerships, and what it actually takes for them to work.

​You’ll hear examples from organizations already experimenting with shared approaches, including:

• ​Sara Cole, Executive Director of the Lake Superior YMCA, sharing how the YMCA provides shared services such as IT, finance, and operational support to other nonprofits and YMCA partners.

• ​Megan Keogen, Development & Communications Director at the Duluth Library Foundation, sharing a small-scale service trade with CHUM for graphic design support.

• ​Case Studies & Stories on creative shared services, shared space, etc.

​Together, we’ll reflect on:

• ​How to reframe capacity strain as a shared ecosystem challenge

• ​The spectrum of shared services models, from informal exchanges to deeper partnerships

• ​What shared services require to succeed, including trust, coordination, and clarity

• ​How collaboration can strengthen sustainability and organizational capacity

​This session will include light reflection and polling, practical examples from peers, and time for questions and discussion.

​This webinar is part of the Nonprofits Unite series, leading up to the Nonprofits Unite Summit on May 11, 2026, and connects directly to our regional survey mapping needs, capacity, and opportunities for collaboration across Northeast Minnesota and Northwest Wisconsin.

​Related sessions:

• ​Organizational Transitions (April 8) - Register here

• ​Staff Well-Being (April 22) - Register here

​About Nonprofits Unite
Nonprofits Unite is supported by Boreal Waters Community Foundation and led in collaboration with nonprofit leaders and funders across Northeast Minnesota and Northwest Wisconsin.