A nonprofit has developed a new model that enables senior living operators and third-party service providers to start their own nonprofit chapters dedicated to supporting residents and staff.
SHORE (Senior Housing Relief for Elders), which is dedicated to reducing financial barriers for older adults moving into senior living, launched the ready-to-deploy chapter model program this year and is working to spread the word about its potential benefits. Through the new program, SHORE provides the 501(c)(3) infrastructure, compliance and administrative oversight – including granting and fundraising – for the individual chapters, enabling organizations to launch their own branded nonprofit chapters without starting from scratch or having to devote personnel and resources to launching and operating them.
Jennifer Prado, executive director for SHORE, said the turnkey chapter setup arose from SHORE’s desire to maximize its impact and build broader access for residents across the industry. “We wanted to replicate what we were doing at SHORE already because we thought we were doing it pretty darn well,” she said. Prado said SHORE previously had heard from operators who had an interest in starting a nonprofit chapter, but they had failed to follow through on that interest because it’s “a huge lift,” requiring financial resources and specific expertise.
“We’re doing this to make the lift a small one without a big administrative burden or a big financial burden,” Prado said.
Prado said SHORE will serve as an umbrella entity for nonprofits that align with the basic mission of the organization – getting seniors into senior living so that they can thrive. She believes that the organization’s experience in senior living and commitment to the field will make it a natural partner for those in the industry who are looking for a philanthropic outlet.
“We’ve kind of turned into a nonprofit management company, where we are replicating and implementing the model that we have, and then we’re managing it day to day for you,” Prado said.
When operators start nonprofit chapters, it opens up new funding channels for tax-deductible donations. Prado noted that while many operators were already hosting events and activities with philanthropic potential, these efforts were often fragmented rather than part of a cohesive, strategic initiative.
Prado said the interest she has received from operators centers on their understanding of the financial barriers that some older adults face to getting into senior living or staying there. She believes SHORE’s program provides them with a structure to help solve that problem. “A lot of what drives operators is occupancy and retention,” Prado said. “This is another tool in their tool belts to help drive occupancy and retention.”
“The operators have potential residents who can’t afford to move in, or they have current residents who need financial support for hardships that they’re facing,” Prado said. “If they could ask their own network of folks, such as vendors that are supplying food and linens and all those people to help with the financial hardship, and we provided the structure, would they do that? And the answer we got from the industry was, ‘Yes’, we would love to do that.’”
For operators, Prado believes that offering move-in or hardship grants to subsidize costs for residents and families who need it will provide a valuable return on investment through strengthened occupancy and putting the resources in place for those residents to provide “a life cycle of revenue” that the operator otherwise never would have seen because of the obstacles the residents faced.
Prado said some operators currently do nonprofit work in an “untraditional format” through benevolence or hardship funds for their staff members, often with support from residents who want to help the team members who look after them. Prado said SHORE’s model will support operators to develop staff-focused grants, saying those grants align with SHORE’s mission because of staff members’ critical role in supporting residents.
“We’ve seen these communities come together to raise funds, and we’ve seen how impactful it can be,” Prado said. “This is a way to grow that impact.”
For third-party service providers, Prado said the nonprofit chapter model gives them an opportunity to demonstrate their dedication to the industry and to support operators and their residents and staff. Prado said part of the decision-making process for third-party service providers will be around how to focus their nonprofit’s purpose.
“For some of them, they’re trying to figure out what it looks like internally, because they each offer a different product or solution or service,” Prado said. “And so they want to see what makes sense. You’re not going to be a health care company selling a medical device, and then you’re going to offer random grants – it has to match. So if you’re technology-based, what can we do that’s missing in technology? We’re trying to make matches and see what works and then customize a grant offering to fit for the communities and operators they serve.”
Prado said SHORE charges a nominal initial implementation fee to start a chapter and establish the infrastructure to raise and use money and then a small monthly management fee that will be tied to the scale of the nonprofit and its activities. SHORE also provides seed funding to help each chapter launch quickly, create immediate impact and begin supporting seniors right away.
“We start by understanding what some programs or events are already happening in your communities that we can turn into philanthropic work. How can we structure fundraising for you? Who are we asking? What are the buckets that we’re trying to fill with the money to help your seniors move in or stay in?” Prado said. “And then we build a model that works for them.”
SHORE manages preparing the nonprofit, planning the rollout, training staff, communicating to the community and establishing how and when funds will be used. Prado said SHORE recommends that operators identify a nonprofit ambassador among their staff to serve as a liaison for the partnership, such as a team member in sales or marketing – “someone has their hands on the community but also knows what’s happening at the management level.”
SHORE launched the nonprofit chapter model at the beginning of 2025 and has its first operator on board – who Prado said SHORE cannot name formally yet – as well as its first third-party provider chapter, Catalyst Senior Living Solutions, which provides contact center solutions and financial advocacy services.
“We really want to drive numbers for this,” Prado said. “We’re committed to helping the industry integrate philanthropic giving as a core strategy, and we want to get seniors into senior living because we know they thrive when they get there.
About Senior Housing Relief for Elders (SHORE):
SHORE is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization committed to improving access to quality housing and offering financial relief to seniors. SHORE envisions a future where all older adults can thrive in affordable, supportive housing environments. Through custom grant programs and strategic partnerships, SHORE helps seniors overcome financial barriers to move into senior living communities. https://seniorhousingrelief.org/