2002 Report Index

	Cher Hersrud, Director In 2002, the Otto Bremer Foundation awarded The Resource Center a grant for an evaluation of the Center’s impact within the state. Thomas Backer, a renowned expert in capacity building research, agreed to undertake the project because he believes that the Resource Center is the only statewide grassroots capacity building program in the country. His report, received in December, included several recommendations. These recommendations have helped formalize a three-year plan for The Resource Center.
	To date, the Center has provided individualized technical assistance to organizations across the state, created publications, offered regional workshops, and presented sessions at conferences. The Center will move forward in 2003, to better network both nonprofit organizations and rural communities. The Center will develop and offer a Nonprofit Management Institute in fall, 2003 that will be the beginning of a network of nonprofit managers.
	A partnership with Northwest Area Foundation has provided resources to develop a rural community listserv that will encourage peer support by directly connecting community leaders across the state. A second project, the production of a Rural Community Planning handbook, will be distributed to community leaders across the state in May.
	The Center recently completed The Arts of North Dakota, a publication that documents the significant impact of the arts across the state. It was produced with support from Land O’ Lakes Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, and the North Dakota Council on the Arts, and distributed at the Governor’s Awards for the Arts Dinner.
	It has been an exciting year; I wish to thank the NDCF, Otto Bremer Foundation, Northwest Area Foundation, and the organizations and communities across North Dakota for making it one.