Wings Across Alabama Strengthens Governance with AAN Support and Saves $26,000

A leadership transition can test any nonprofit, but for Wings Across Alabama, it left the organization with just four board members; a governance gap that Executive Director Charisse Rupert knew needed to be addressed quickly.

Wings Across Alabama is the state's largest mental health consumer-run organization, offering peer support, a warm line, and recovery programming built on the belief that healing happens through shared experience. Running that work well depends on a strong, engaged board, and Charisse knew a four-person board wasn't going to be enough to sustain it.

She started where many nonprofit leaders start: outside help. A national nonprofit coach reviewed the organization's needs and came back with a proposal for $26,000 in governance consulting services. For an organization Wings' size, that price tag made getting the support they needed feel like a real trade-off against everything else the budget needed to cover.

As a member of the Alabama Association of Nonprofits (AAN), Charisse reached out to see what was available to her. The answer was more than she expected. Through AAN's Standards for Excellence® program, she found model bylaws, an employee handbook template, governance resources, and direct guidance — all part of her existing membership, at no additional cost.

"AAN pointed us in the right direction and gave us the tools we need to move forward," Charisse said. "The resources will help us begin strengthening our policies and understanding our board's responsibilities without the significant expense of outside consulting."

With those tools, Wings Across Alabama has started rebuilding its governance foundation: clarifying board roles and responsibilities, updating organizational policy, and putting a plan in place to grow the board back to full strength. The $26,000 consulting proposal is no longer necessary because the resources to do the work are already part of their AAN membership.

For nonprofits facing their own leadership transitions, Charisse's experience is a reminder to check what's already available before looking outside. Sometimes the support you need is already part of your membership.

Learn more about Standards for Excellence®  and other professional development trainings that AAN has to offer members.