CAN History
Key markers in CAN’s history include:
1984 - Three nonprofit professionals establish CAN in response to an insurance crisis that threatens the existence of many nonprofits.
1986 - CAN develops an innovative statewide group health policy and starts the nation’s first self-insurance pool for nonprofits. Eventually, one project becomes CAN Insurance Services, an insurance brokerage exclusively for CAN Members. The other is spun off as Nonprofits’ Insurance Alliance of California. Both organizations still thrive today.
1988 - CAN launches the CAN Alert, the first statewide newsletter targeted at all nonprofit sub-sectors. CAN now receives dozens of requests each year to reprint and distribute articles from the CAN Alert.
1989 - CAN founds the National Council of Nonprofit Associations and, for four years, manages it from CAN’s California office. In 1989, there were 11 statewide nonprofit associations across the country; today there are 40.
1991 - CAN is called “one of the top 10 associations in the United States” by Market-Driven Management, published by the American Society of Association Executives. The Chronicle of Philanthropy chooses CAN as one of the nine most innovative nonprofits in the country.
1992 - CAN holds the 1st Annual CAN Conference to bring nonprofit executives, staff, and volunteers together from across the state to network, learn cutting-edge management and fundraising skills, and build important relationships.
1993 - CAN Membership grows to more than 1,000, and CAN expands its membership to include businesses and consultants as Associate Members.
1995 - CAN establishes its independent public policy advisory group, the Nonprofit Policy Council – now called the CAN Policy Council – to guide CAN in responding to policies, legislation, and regulations. The CAN Policy Council also advocates for increased nonprofit involvement in policy issues impacting the sector.
1996 - CAN first publishes the highly praised Facts and Fallacies: Setting the Record Straight on California’s Nonprofit Community. This biennial book presents real facts and dispels misinformation about the California nonprofit sector.
1996 - The CAN Policy Council holds the first annual Celebrating California Nonprofits and Philanthropy Week – the highlight of which is Nonprofit Policy Days in Sacramento. The event brings nonprofits, philanthropy, and government together to discuss and explore policy issues of mutual concern.
1997 - The CAN Policy Council gives its first Public Policy Excellence Awards at Nonprofit Policy Days. The awards bring attention to the value of nonprofit involvement in public policy.
1998 - CAN kicks off its Nonprofit Quality Reporting Initiative (now called the National Nonprofit Financial Reporting Initiative) in partnership with the California Society of Certified Public Accountants to improve the content, quality, accuracy, and timeliness of Form 990 and other nonprofit financial reporting. With its partners, CAN develops and distributes the Unified Chart of Accounts (UCOA) to help nonprofits streamline accounting and reporting functions.
1998 - CAN initiates the CAN Partners program to provide discounted services and products to CAN Members.
1999 - With funding from CAN Insurance Services, CAN establishes a $5,000 Excellence in Leadership Award, given at the Annual CAN Conference. By 2002, the awards numbered five and boasted four different funders: CAN Insurance Services, The California Endowment, Wells Fargo Foundation, and The Management Center.
2000 - CAN publishes the article “10 Things Nonprofits Must Do in the 21st Century” (also available in Spanish) by Executive Director Florence L. Green. The article becomes an instant hit and is eventually printed as a chapter in the book Improving Leadership in Nonprofit Organizations (Jossey-Bass, 2004).
2001 - CAN establishes a Sacramento office to increase nonprofit visibility and influence in the capital. Thousands of nonprofit professionals statewide are networked through the new online advocacy tool, the CAN Policy Update.
2001 - CAN launches the Energy Equity Program in response to the California energy crisis. Now retired, the program taught nonprofits how to reduce energy use; educated energy companies about nonprofit needs; and advocated for energy-related laws and regulations that treat nonprofits equitably.
2002 - CAN forms the Nonprofit Advisory Body to the State Attorney General and holds its first meeting with the AG’s office in Sacramento. The meeting is now a regularly scheduled part of Nonprofit Policy Days.
2002 - CAN expands its education and conference program to include Nonprofit Finance Conferences and CAN Regional Conferences.
2003 - CAN issues a white paper on the state budget, urging the radical reform of the budgeting process to ensure the growth of healthy communities across California.
2004 - CAN’s education and conference program continues to grow with the addition of the innovative Transform Your Board! day-long workshop and a second Annual CAN Conference to reach nonprofit professionals in both northern and southern California.
2004 - CAN publishes Holes in the Safety-net, a study funded by The California Endowment. The study reveals devastating financial conditions among California’s safety-net nonprofits.
2004 - The CAN Regional Partners Network expands to 18 local coalitions across the state, networking CAN to the majority of California’s nonprofits for information-sharing and advocacy on behalf of the sector.
2004 - CAN celebrates its 20th birthday with eight events across the state, including a two-city Annual CAN Conference in Los Angeles and San Francisco.
2005 - In cooperation with nationally-recognized nonprofit accounting expert Dick Larkin, CAN develops a week-long certificate program in nonprofit accounting for CPAs and nonprofit financial managers. The program is slated for field-testing in 2007.
2005 - CAN kicks off its Nonprofit Accounting Boot Camp, now a regular feature of CAN’s education and conference program.
