Last Look: An Interview With Vince Micone, Vice President of Development, Partnership for Public Service

The Washington, D.C.-based Partnership for Public Service was founded by Samuel J. Heyman in 2001. A veteran of the Kennedy Justice Department, Heyman created the Partnership in an effort to restore prestige to government service and re-establish the federal government as an attractive employer for America’s best and brightest.

Working to revitalize public service and improve government performance, the Partnership pursues three strategic goals: building communities of support, securing the right talent and fueling innovation.

Here, we talk with Vice President of Development Vince Micone about the organization and its fundraising strategies and challenges.

FundRaising Success: How do you fund your mission?
Vince Micone: Our mission is funded through a variety of revenue streams. Our goal is to expand our portfolio of revenue and increase our fee-for-service income. Currently, our programs are funded by individual and corporate contributions (50 percent of revenue), foundation grants (27 percent of revenue), fee-for-service reimbursements (22 percent of revenue) and miscellaneous income (1 percent of revenue).

FS: What are the biggest challenges your organization faces as far as fundraising is concerned? How do you overcome them?
VM: We believe that finding and retaining the right talent for the federal government is essential at a time when the challenges facing our nation and government are so significant. Our programs, research and training activities are focused on federal employees — our key constituents and benefactors. However, we cannot solicit these constituents in the same way that other nonprofits may solicit those who benefit from their services. (It’s prohibited to solicit federal government employees outside of the narrow parameters of the Combined Federal Campaign.) As a result, we work hard to identify those with an interest in good government and nurture them to become donors.

FS: Do you foresee any big changes in the way you reach potential donors and other supporters in the near future?
VM: Every nonprofit must be nimble in reaching new donors in this economy. We will continue to build our core fundraising capacity and try different ways to attract supporters to our cause of good government. One of our strategies is to diversify our revenue by increasing fee-for-service efforts and attracting supporters through the programs we administer.