Leaders of nonprofit organizations often approach ESC when they enter particularly challenging times, and sometimes those times can result from their rapid success in meeting a need in the community.

Ginger Young founded Book Harvest in the Triangle because she had identified a way to enrich the lives of local children. “Many research studies have shown that children who are brought up in homes with books are far more likely to succeed academically than those in homes with no books,” Young said. “Without early exposure to books in the home, children often struggle at school and in later life.”

Young created Book Harvest to enable Triangle children living in poverty to grow up in a book-rich home environment. She began by collecting new and gently used books from families whose kids had outgrown them, and then distributing these books to kids in need. The model met with success almost immediately.

“I had intended to spend a good part of my first year simply trying out my idea,” Young explained. “I just didn’t expect the deluge of books that I received or the huge numbers of requests for them. After nine or ten months, I sat down with ESC to talk about how to make sure that Book Harvest had the infrastructure it needed in place to make it last.”

Developing Financial Acumen

ESC recommended that Young and her board focus on ensuring the financial stability of the organization while also engaging in communications and board development work, and went on to work with Book Harvest on two engagements during 2012.

“Our first engagement with ESC really helped to put us on a sound financial footing,” said Young. “Because of the work we did with our consultant, we now receive professional financial services and reports, and we have recruited a key new board member as Treasurer and Chairman of our Finance committee. ESC could not have been more professional or responsive to our concerns.”

Facilitating a Board Retreat

In addition, ESC helped Book Harvest to organize and facilitate a board retreat that aimed to clarify the organization’s long-term dreams and its message to stakeholders. The ESC consultants helped coach and facilitate the Board Retreat, where the Board gained clarity about the organization’s vision and renewed confidence in its ability to succeed.

“The generous and effective way in which our consultants shared their insights and wisdom helped set the stage for success,” Young said. “I felt that our consultants took our concerns very seriously and were there for us at every step.”