Early detection may have saved Leigh Hurst’s life when she was diagnosed with breast cancer.Hurst took her newfound knowledge of cancer and started a campaign to remind all women to do breast self-examinations.
Feel Your Boobies, a nonprofit organization with a provocative name, reminds women to know their bodies and report any changes to their doctor.
Hurst is not alone. Many women who are faced with challenges, turn their knowledge into successful nonprofit organizations.
Ruth Koup formed the Central Pennsylvania chapter of Dress for Success in May because she believed in the power of providing women with the clothing necessary to lead professional lives. She was touched by the mission of the Dress for Success campaign and worked to bring those opportunities to the region.
These women and others like them helped inspire a Penn State Harrisburg researcher to study gender roles in nonprofit organizations.
“I have always been interested in gender issues and this study will focus on the influence of social, cultural and political factors on the leadership style of women leaders in nonprofit organizations in light of their dealing with the male-dominated policymaking world,” said Triparna Vasavada, professor at Penn State Harrisburg. “I recently received a grant and am still in the planning stages for the study. I plan to interview about 30 women across Pennsylvania.”
Build a network The results of Vasavada’s research could help women currently running nonprofits, as well as lend a helping hand to those thinking about starting a nonprofit.
For Hurst, her passion for the nonprofit came from her personal experience with breast cancer. She talked to her friends and utilized the breast cancer community to spread the word of her campaign.
“It’s really an evolution,” said Hurst. “I talked to friends and set up lunches with women to discuss ideas. It helped me weed out what I didn’t want to do. Over time the networking has changed and now we are working on Facebook and Twitter. It’s become a virtual campaign.”
Koup said that to start up something from nothing you have to generate support from the community. The support she received from the community and from grants helped Dress For Success grow out of a grassroots campaign.
“My biggest challenge is not having enough time to do everything I need to do,” said Koup. “We do everything for free – so it’s hard to generate money in the activities that I do, but generating the support of those around you is really what makes you successful or not successful.”
Vasavada said her research will be more qualitative, in that she will ask umbrella questions and really just let the women tell their story. She said once she knows all the stories then she may be able to draw parallels between the women and how their nonprofits operate.
“I want to let them tell me what is important and then I will follow up on that,” she said. “I hope in the end that something comes out that will provide
helpful tips for women beginning nonprofits, or for people who want to work in a nonprofit atmosphere.”
Know your market Hurst has some suggestions for women in nonprofits as well – know your subject and your audience.
“Being intimately familiar with the disease you are serving helps,” she said. “Plus, I am the target market that we are serving, so it is easier for me to come up with ways to focus on early detection when it comes to young women who may not think about it. Being that that was my story, it makes it easy for me to think about how I want to approach that audience.”
Koup said Dress For Success was started as a lean nonprofit – and it is being lean that has helped them survive budget cuts and an economic downfall.
“With all these budget cuts we’re able to stay status quo because we get the clothing donated for free and give it away for free. We have to budget for our staff and housing – we are run very lean – we plan on lean times because that is the population we serve and that is how we operate,” said Koup. “We rely a lot on donations, volunteers and our events.”
Dress For Success will host a fashion show Sept. 25 to help raise money to keep providing free professional suits to women in the Central PA region.
Vasavada will examine the connection between the women’s lives and the nonprofits they are serving to see if it helps them gain success, or network with other businesses. Networking is key when it comes to the success of a nonprofit because funding is the way things get done, she said.
“I use a special software to map different networks,” said Vasavada. “It is then possible to find a key person in one network, who could also be helpful in another network. Then further connections can be made and it gives a person access to a new network.”
For Hurst, most of her targeted networks are those who have also been affected by breast cancer. She said she can run into some discomfort among older men who run businesses because of the name of her nonprofit – Feel Your Boobies.
“Some men might shy away from talking to me about it, but I haven’t come across that too much,” said Hurst. “In general, with nonprofit work I think
you have to have some sort of connection with the cause. Most people I have talked to have been affected by the disease or the purpose of the nonprofit.”
Koup said Dress For Success hosts an annual inventory reduction sale where any woman can spend $10 and get a designer suit. During regular events, the suits are given to low-income women for free.
“We rely on grants, but even when they aren’t coming through like now, we are able to operate because of the support we receive,” said Koup.
“Even our landlords bend over backwards to help us. The women need us – especially now.”
Vasavada expects her research will be completed by December, then she will be able to work on getting the results out to women in nonprofits.
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