What role do you think businesses play in the success of the nonprofit sector?

• Position: Industry Outlook: Q&A

FARRINGTON: I think all of us look for business and corporate representatives to sit on our board, to bring a dimension of the business that we're looking at, to bring a dimension of the problem, the challenge that we see in our community. Needless to say, we look to the corporate and the business section for financial funds.

MARTINEZ: In addition to board representation, there is also opportunity for committee representation and one-time projects. Most of us are strapped in terms of capacity, which means the skill set that is brought from the business sector helps us actually with capacity building, which doesn't always require a check to be written.

ACKER: At Fit 2 Recover, one of the things we are most proud of in the last year is we created an interior climbing wall in our gym. It was done with the help of the Petzl Foundation and Momentum Indoor Climbing. What they gave us, in addition to their expertise in that area, is access to their network. So the ways in which we knew people all of a sudden grew significantly. This is an area that we want to be able to communicate with, but we didn't have any access until they became our corporate partners.

CHAMBERS: We look to them for their financial acumen--to sit on our boards to assure that we are sustainable over time and have an understanding of what that financial stewardship needs to be.

CONARD: It's important for the business community to know that nonprofits are community organizations and we have a pulse on what's happening in the greater community. The more that the business community helps to bolster the nonprofit community, the stronger the business community is going to be in return. So it's almost an investment in their own business to contribute to nonprofit organizations and strengthen our community.

WRIGHT: That's one of the myths that we've been dealing with--making sure our business community knows we're interested in partnering...