Background & Mission

NorthSky’s mission is to build strong communities by helping nonprofit organizations achieve and sustain excellence.

NorthSky is a nonprofit program of Rotary Charities of Traverse City that assists northern Michigan nonprofit organizations strengthen their capabilities through capacity building and sustainability support. It provides a wide range of services and resources to help nonprofit organizations deliver programs effectively and efficiently. It also serves as an advocate—securing state and national support and technical and financial resources, bringing them home to the nonprofits in its region.

NorthSky’s primary service area includes the counties of Antrim, Benzie, Charlevoix, Emmet, Grand Traverse, Kalkaska, Leelanau, Manistee, Missaukee and Wexford. Within this predominantly rural area, more than 1800 nonprofit organizations serve sectors that include arts and culture, education, environment, faith-based, health care, and social services.

In the past three years, NorthSky conducted 120 consulting engagements and presented 136 professional development sessions to 1,775 people, a 22% increase between 2009 and 2010. The NorthSky website received 84,345 visits from 24,227 visitors in 2010, a 45% increase over the previous year.