Long Island Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence- Combating the addictive climate of our times

The New York Nonprofit Business Examiner recently had an extraordinary opportunity to collaborate with the Long Island Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (LICADD) to profile the organization on their on-going operations during the current recession.

LICADD’s mission is to address the addictive climate of our times by providing initial attention and referral services to individuals, families, and children, through intervention, education and professional guidance to overcome the ravages of alcohol and other drug-related problems.

Over the past week, the NY Nonprofit Business Examiner has been profiling nonprofit organizations that have had to get creative during the recession to not only keep their businesses going, but to also keep morale high while continuing to support vulnerable populations.

In a recent interview with Dr. Jeffrey Reynolds, Executive Director of the LICADD, he recognized five key areas in which he has had to lead his organization through this challenging economic climate.  "The LICADD has seen great success over the past year despite the recession," says, Dr. Reynolds.  " We've actually managed to increase our budget by about 20% in the last year, despite the recession, which is good because our requests for services have increased 400% since last April."

Dr. Reynolds offers the following five areas that he has identified for the LICADD that have helped the LICADD advance their mission, even during a recession.

1. Earned Income Strategy - We re-branded our Employee Assistance Program to "Open Arms EAP" to reflect our diversified focus beyond drug and alcohol abuse to overall employee wellness. This has helped us attract more corporate clients and increased our revenue base from this social venture.
2. Cut costs/Increase Efficiency - We re-launched our website making it easier to navigate and do a weekly eNewsletter, which replaced our traditional mailed newsletter. This saves on printing and postage and allows us to deliver more current news to our supporters more frequently. Of course, we sell eNewsletter sponsorships to make it a revenue generator as well.
3. Found New Ways to Win Community Support - We went heavily into social media as a cost-effective and productive means of recruiting volunteers, attracting donors and promoting our programs. This includes our own Facebook fan page, as well as a Facebook group with more than 5,000 members focused on combating local heroin use. We also have a Twitter account and have published some YouTube videos.
4. Diversification of Programs/Funding Streams - We applied for and won our first Federal grant ($450,000 over three years) to launch a new project to provide mentoring to children of incarcerated women. This has become a showcase program for us that also helps to leverage private support. Though our organization has been around for 50+ years, we had never submitted a federal application and never provided formalized mentoring, though our experience in dealing with at-risk kids and addicted families made it natural for us to provide this important service.
5. Work Harder - Surviving the recession has meant working harder, plain and simple. We've expanded our hours, asked clinicians to work weekends and are doing double-time to keep our events successful.

To support the LICADD, you can join them for their 23rd Annual Angel Ball taking place on May 4, 2010 with 2010 LICADD Humanitarian Award Winner & Keynote Speaker, Christopher Kennedy Lawford.