Secured Alliance was incorporated by founding organizations The Good Shepherd Fund, a California Nonprofit Organization, and Secured Futures, a Pennsylvania Nonprofit Organization, in 2018. Secured Alliance is governed by a 9-person Board of Directors and managed by an executive team who oversee the day to day operations.  Secured Alliance executives each serve the same role for every Affiliate Organization, and the Affiliate Organizations are staffed by employees in several states. The Secured Alliance National Headquarters is located in Phoenix, Arizona, with operational staff and infrastructure in California, Colorado, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Florida.

Secured Alliance came to exist for the following three primary reasons:

• To professionalize the nonprofit help and fiduciary services sector.
• To provide a succession-planning option for executives in localized, regional organizations serving the help and fiduciary services sector.
• To address “mission saturation” – the prevalence of multiple providers serving the same geography or demographic with the same or similar service(s) – and streamline service delivery of the affiliate organizations to maximize community impact.

Secured Alliance and the Affiliate Organizations adhere to the following values and principles:

Values

• Honor Code – to be uniform, fair and equitable in all decision making
• Ethical Best Practices – to be educated and educators of best practices in service delivery
• Customer Service – to be accountable to the Affiliate Organizations
• Outcomes Metrics – to show quantifiable impact
• Compassion – doing what’s right, not what’s popular

Principles:

• Affiliate Prominence. That the Affiliate Organizations are central to Secured Alliance’s purpose and mission.
• That Secured Alliance will be underpinned by technological solutions that enhance operational efficiency and client satisfaction.
• That Secured Alliance and the Affiliate Organizations shall seek to operate sustainably.
• Delegated Authority. That the Affiliate Organizations will execute day-to-day business with as much autonomy as possible to fulfill their unique missions.
• Strategic Leadership. That Secured Alliance shall provide strategic leadership to the collective, according to the following hierarchy:
  • Grow the Alliance to expand the mission
  • Enhance the service delivery of the Affiliate
• That diversity is seen as necessary for the strength and growth of the mission of the Alliance.

Overview:

The purpose of creating the Alliance was to achieve optimal operational efficiency, enhance long-term sustainability, and reduce mission saturation at the network affiliate levels. More broadly, the framework of the Alliance was created in such a way that other organizations might graft into the Alliance through mergers, acquisitions, and strategic partnerships in the future.

Although the Alliance framework does not limit for-profit companies from joining, the primary impetus for this launch was to professionalize the nonprofit sector represented by the services provided by Good Shepherd Fund (GSF) and Secured Futures (SF); a sector often dominated by localized “mom-and-pop” operations. Although many of these small-to-midsized organizations have been addressing an important public service, the sector has operated in a largely unsophisticated manner. An example of the unsophisticated nature of the sector is evidenced by a widely fragmented approach to systems modeling. Where one company accomplishes trust administration with pen, paper and a calculator, another does so with robust (and expensive) trust-accounting software. In another example, one company might discharge legal guardianship duties with no credentialing, while another adheres to National Guardianship Association best-practices with licensed or credentialed social workers.

This lack of sophistication in the sector has not served clients well and has led to a rise in anti-guardianship groups, accounts of fiduciary malpractice, and no shortage of lawsuits. Complicating the matter is the fact that laws and regulatory standards differ greatly from state to state.

The Alliance was created not just to streamline the founding organizations’ operations, but to meet a growing demand for sector-wide service delivery standards. These founding organizations each brought key components to the Alliance. Good Shepherd Fund brought financial stability, credentials, and a long history of operating under a rather sophisticated set of rules and regulations in the state of California and beyond. Secured Futures brought proprietary cutting-edge technology, scalability, and a national presence.

Through mergers, acquisitions and strategic partnerships, the alliance continues to grow. Organizations and sole proprietors in the trust administration or case management delivery field are encouraged to reach out to the alliance and explore collaboration opportunities!

Why the Alliance:

Affiliate Organizations are client-focused and compassionate. Each has a fierce dedication to best practices guidelines and education. With over a half-century of cumulative service-delivery expertise, the affiliate organization clients have benefited from the vital services they provide. By coming together as an alliance, the affiliate organizations expand their access to technology and inherit a diversified menu of services that are immediately made available to their clients.

For information about joining the alliance, organizations in this sector or sole proprietors with a book of business are encouraged to read more. Read More

Organizational Purpose:

Secured Alliance (the Alliance) is a nonprofit organization, incorporated to support Affiliate Organizations (e.g. Good Shepherd Fund & Secured Futures) with strategic leadership, infrastructure, and office support. The Alliance uses proprietary technology developed in-house, designed specifically for trust administration and social service delivery. Because the typical affiliate organization client often requires services beyond trust administration, the Alliance was built to wrap those services to achieve efficiency, continuity, and a better overall customer experience.