Peggy Morrison Outon

Executive Director,
Bayer Center for Nonprofit Management
at Robert Morris University

I would not have a career in capacity building if it were not for some very generous and talented members of the Alliance who have taught me so much and helped me grow my programs.

Peggy Morrison Outon is the founding Executive Director of the Bayer Center for Nonprofit Management at Robert Morris University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  Prior to establishing the Bayer Center, Peggy founded similar institutions in Austin, Texas and New Orleans, Louisiana.

Peggy has three decades' experience in the nonprofit sector as development officer, management support professional, board member and volunteer.  She has served as a management consultant to more than 600 nonprofit organizations in fund development, board development, strategic & operational planning and volunteer management.  As a volunteer, she has served on 34 boards—7 as president, including chairing the founding board of the Alliance for Nonprofit Management, a national network of nonprofit capacity builders.

She has taught graduate students at both the University of New Orleans and Robert Morris University.  She is a founding member of the Peter F. Drucker Foundation international training team and serves as a trainer and advisor to the Institute for Global Ethics.  She has spoken to audiences locally, nationally and internationally. In July 2006, she was named to the Nonprofit Times Power and Influence Top 50.

We asked Peggy a few questions regarding her career and capacity building, here are her responses ...

How long have you been involved in nonprofit capacity building?

I have been involved in capacity building for over 20 years.

What roles have you played?

I have founded three MSOs in Austin, TX - New Orleans, LA - and now Pittsburgh, PA. I have been E.D. of all three...

What is your current capacity building work?

I am E.D. at the Bayer Center for Nonprofit Management at Robert Morris University which is a comprehensive nonprofit management and governance resource.  We offer extensive consulting services in financial management, use of technology, governance, fund development, strategic & business planning, pro bono legal services; 80-100 topics in nonprofit management education annually; teach in the Masters of Nonprofit Management at RMU; and do applied research. 

What is the most exciting possible outcome of your work as a capacity builder?

The most exciting outcome of our work is to see our nonprofit clients and students thrive and fully deliver on their charitable mission.  I have enormous respect for the idealism and courage that people who choose the nonprofit sector exhibit.  At BCNM, we seek to provide them with tools, education and support that allows them to make the best possible use of all community  investments of time and money.

What do you find most challenging?

I find the relentless need for more money & the lack of stable funding for many NPOs and the resulting hold it all too often has people's imaginations and aspirations to be one of the most challenging aspects of my work. 

How do you participate in the Alliance, and why?

I was the Founding Board Chair of the Alliance and before that, served on the board of the Nonprofit Management Association.  The friendships that have grown from my work with the Alliance are some of the most sustaining relationships I have known.  I have learned so much from my friends and colleagues - I prize the intelligence and generosity of the people drawn together by the Alliance.

What would you like to see happen in the field?

I would like to see our field have the resources to create measurably better solutions to some of the most intractable problems we face (issues of finance and governance, primarily)...to do this, we need time for reflection and opportunities to be really challenged to think differently and not repeat old answers, but build new ones.

As a Founder and 1st Board Chair what would you like to see happen in the Alliance?

I would like to see the Alliance continue to deepen its ties to its members, to challenge them to think deeply and share their insights generously with each other and grow the pie for capacity building.  I always hold to a vision of a map of the United States with a light marking every community that has talented & skilled capacity builders at work - and that no nonprofit would be more than an hour's drive from help...we're not there yet, but because of the Alliance, we are far closer than we were 20 years ago.

How has your relationship with the Alliance impact your career?

I would not have a career in capacity building if it were not for some very generous and talented members of the Alliance who have taught me so much and helped me grow my programs.

If you could offer advice to someone who is young and emerging into the field, what would you offer?

This is my life's work - and it has been a career full of challenges and great joy in seeing my community strive to improve, to believe that the correct bottom line is that of lives changed for the better.  For a young person entering the field, if you are committed to building community and seeking greater justice in the world, there is no better place to work than an MSO that is actively engaged in the lives of the passionate social sector people who get up every morning itching to see that things work better for all.  This work is a privilege - people bring their hopes and dreams in their hands and we help to make them practical and useful and alive!