Community Gems a shining example of collaboration

In the summer of 2004, Rev. Richard W. Richardson, former president and CEO of the Children’s Services of Roxbury (CSR), met with Citizens Financial Group Vice Chairman Robert Mahoney in Richardson’s office.

Richardson, a customer of Citizens, wanted to discuss a joint fundraising dinner for CSR, a community-based organization that provides services for economically disadvantaged children and their families.

“I think it’s a new way of communicating and working together in collaboration to achieve a common goal,” said Richardson.

For Mahoney, this would be an opportunity to do something great.

“I said, ‘Why don’t you find four or five other organizations in the Dorchester, Roxbury and Mattapan areas that also serve families, and we’ll have a bigger fundraiser,’” Mahoney recalled. “One fundraiser for everybody with one room, one band, one caterer, and we could actually make some money doing it. A month later, [Richardson] came back with four other organizations, and Community Gems was born.”

Those four other organizations are the Boston Higher Education Resource Center, Roxbury Multi-Service Center, Roxbury Youthworks, Inc. and YouthBuild Boston, Inc. All four, in one way or another, provide educational and support services to children and families from inner-city areas. All stress the immense importance of community growth.

“Community Gems is not only an innovative program that brings agencies together in our community, but I think it also promotes the work that we do with children and families, particularly youth,” said Richardson.

Yet, until the initiation of the Community Gems fundraiser, collaboration between these strikingly similar nonprofits was virtually nonexistent.

Given the nature of the programs and the problems they address, it doesn’t seem to make much sense for these groups not to cooperate. Most of the organizations operate within close proximity to each other, have similar missions and use a lot of the same resources. Yet they often chose to work for community advancement without each other’s help. Thankfully, Community Gems has provided a compelling case for collaboration over the past three years.

“This started out as a collaboration around fundraising, but the bigger part of it is that now the agencies are working together to increase opportunities for youth in the area,” said Pamela Ogletree, Richardson’s successor as president and CEO of Children’s Services of Roxbury. “Being able to work with other agencies has been tremendously beneficial, not just to our agency, but to all of them.”

All the hard work has paid financial dividends as well.

“The program was guaranteed to make money because we raised roughly $200,000 to $250,000 a year directly from corporations,” Mahoney said. “And this is not a black tie, sirloin steak event. It’s a family affair, a community affair with face painting and a teenage discotheque and entertainment from the neighborhood. Everybody pays 50 bucks a piece to go, so the cost of the ticket pays for all of the overhead, and the corporate contributions all go straight to the agencies.”

Mahoney is proud of what his bank, as well as several other banks and corporate sponsors, have done to contribute to Community Gems. In an age when a lot of corporations tend to hold fast to the bottom line, Boston’s business contributors have made a shining example for corporate responsibility and charity.

“This event is one in which all the banks are in the game, including Bank of America, Sovereign and Mellon [Financial Corporation],” he said. “They are there physically at the fundraiser as participants. Boston’s a pretty philanthropic place and there are a lot of companies that are trying to do more than just write the blank check — their people want to be involved and volunteer, and a lot of corporations are trying to find vehicles for them to do that.”

Since the fundraiser’s inception three years ago, Community Gems has raised $600,000, all of it distributed equally to each nonprofit organization. The goal now, according to Mahoney, is for increased collaboration outside of the event. And the ball has already started rolling, as the Community Gems and several of the more than 5,000 service agencies in Boston have come together and built a plan for strengthening the community.

Set to launch in the spring, the plan will create 1,000 jobs for youth by using the resources of each participating agency simultaneously. The success of such collaboration will hopefully get the attention of more potential donors, both within and outside of Boston.

“We haven’t perfected our model yet. We have a good model for running a party and raising a quarter-million dollars, but we haven’t got a completed model for collaboration outside the party,” Mahoney said. “Charities like the United Way and the Boston Foundation love to see collaboration among agencies because it means less duplication and more efficiency. If we can show that agencies can voluntarily get together and do the right thing for their clients, there’ll be a lot more money on the table.”

The 2007 Community Gems event will again be held during the first week of December, though the event’s planners have their work cut out for them this year.

This past December, a contest was held for best vocalist, with each participant having to sing a song from the Motown era. Eight were chosen to perform, and the winner received a $5,000 scholarship from Citizen’s Bank.

“We did an ‘American Idol’-type scene, and the performances were breathtaking,” Mahoney said. “It was very tough to pick a winner.”

With each successful event, hopes soar for the future of collaborative efforts between nonprofit service organizations, which can mean only good things for Boston’s inner-city communities.

“It certainly is something that Bob Mahoney and myself have been working on over the last three years, and it looks like it’s finally taking off and we’re looking forward to future years when we can contribute even more,” said Richardson.

In the present, Community Gems stands as a testament to the benefits of working together for the common good, and in Mahoney’s eyes, it is something the city never should have been without.

“I’ve been a banker in this neighborhood for 35 years,” he said. “I’ve worked in these markets and know how critical the social services are to the success and safety of Greater Boston. If I can help out with $50,000 of unrestricted funds to five first class agencies, I’m hopefully doing my part each year, and I’m happy to do it.”