During his three-decade career with the Connecticut Association of Nonprofits, Ron Cretaro has seen the organization evolve from humble beginnings with just a few members to the largest group in the state dedicated exclusively to working with nonprofits.
Over the years, Cretaro, who is stepping down as the organization’s executive director Dec. 31, said he’s seen nonprofits experience the highs and lows shared by many other businesses: the erosion of employee benefit packages, workforce changes and technological advancements.
At the same time, demand for nonprofit services remains at an all-time high while government funding has been cutback.
During his tenure, Cretaro says his biggest accomplishments include successfully adding group purchasing services for members; implementing several programs such as the Nonprofit Collaborative Incentive Grant Program in 2008, which offers nonprofit funding in excess of $1 million; lobbying for the expansion of state bonding programs to aid nonprofits; and being a founding member of a national unemployment trust helping nonprofits save money.
Much of the organization’s growth over the years is owed to Cretaro’s dedication and leadership, according to Karen Maciorowski, chief financial officer of the Connecticut Association of Nonprofits, or CT Nonprofits for short.
“Ron is a grassroots organizer. He leads with heart and he is fiercely loyal to our members,” said Maciorowksi, who worked with Cretaro for over eight years. “His greatest contribution to CT Nonprofits is the growth and development of this association; an association that has a network of 500 nonprofit members with more than 50,000 collective employees and a combined total revenue base of more than $2 billion per year. He treats every member as if they are our only member.”
Cretaro said his passion for “saving the world” inspired him to pursue a career that would allow him to become a champion for social change and justice.
“In my college years, the Vietnam War, peace, racial and social justice commanded my attention,” said Cretaro. “During these early adult years, nonprofits — such as The Catholic Worker, The Catholic Peace Fellowship, [etc.] — greatly influenced my thinking, values and activism.”
Majoring in religion at Trinity College in Hartford, Cretaro said he became involved in police reform regarding guidelines for the use of deadly force and also served in AmeriCorps VISTA after his graduation.
A need for sustainable income led him to begin fulltime work with the Connecticut Association of Nonprofits — originally called Connecticut Association of Residential Facilities, or CARF.
Today, the organization’s mission is primarily to bring the hundreds of nonprofits across the state together to create a “collective strength” and provide support for its members. In addition, the organization is involved in lobbying for policies that empower and fund nonprofits.
On Dec. 31, Cretaro will step down after a 35-year career with the organization, which he said has given him a front row seat to the changes in both the policies and people who work and interact in the nonprofit sector.
“Scarce funds, government policy and changes particularly in health care have brought a more competitive environment to what was once a more collegial world,” said Cretaro. “There was a time when it felt like nearly everyone wanted to help others succeed. That has diminished somewhat.”
According to Cretaro, the need for and reliance on volunteerism and funding has not lessened.
Meantime, Cretaro said, employees in the nonprofit sector find themselves embattled between their desire to help their communities and a need to provide for their own households.
“Too many good individuals whose hearts are ‘all in’ for the mission are not earning sufficient incomes doing their nonprofit jobs,” Cretaro said. “Nonprofits survive on the backs of their employees’ subsistence. If we are about creating independence and eliminating poverty for our clients and consumers, we should not be impoverishing those who want to look out for the welfare of others.”
One of his best accomplishments, Cretaro said, was the development of the Connecticut Nonprofit Center, formerly Hartford Square West, which houses 15 nonprofit organizations in below-market-rent office space at 75 Charter Oak Ave. in Hartford.
Cretaro spearheaded several other key programs at the association. The group, for example, sponsors the UConn Encore program, which focuses on transitioning private sector leaders into the nonprofit world; the Leadership Development Roundtable, which focuses on developing leadership from within nonprofits; and Public Allies CT, which focuses on Millennial leadership development.
“It is difficult to imagine CT Nonprofits in the absence of ‘the face’ of nonprofits,” said Julia Wilcox, public policy specialist at CT Nonprofits. “At the same time, we are stronger than ever and positioned well to carry on his incredible legacy.”
CT Nonprofits has an annual budget of $1 million and while the organization is stronger today in many key ways, Cretaro said, its margin has narrowed in recent years.
Cretaro said he is hopeful that his efforts have helped to raise awareness of the value and contributions of nonprofits but he acknowledges that there is still work left to do.
“Thirty-five years at one place and one job — that is no longer the rule but the exception. So I style myself as an anomaly,” he said. “As a departing nonprofit colleague stated, ‘I hope I have one more gig left in me.’ I need to take a breath or two and figure that out. I have enjoyed meaningful and compelling work with a bunch of laughs, smiles and hugs along the way.”
