Self-sufficiency for both the agencies and the people they serve is the mantra of today's leading nonprofits, according to three local organizations that have been nominated for this year's Alfred W. Wishart Jr. Award for Excellence in Nonprofit Management.

Leaders of the nominated agencies -- Goodwill Industries of Pittsburgh, North Hills Community Outreach and the Human Services Center Corporation -- say that with needs growing and resources from government and foundations shrinking, they must manage to be self-sufficient in order to survive.

"We strategically planned to be free of foundation support for operations this year, and we are there," said Dave Coplan, executive director of the Human Services Center Corporation, an umbrella organization for 15 social-service agencies that reach out to more than 750 residents every day in 37 Mon Valley communities. The corporation has a $628,000 budget this year.

"The trend toward self-sustainability has been a real influence for us," Coplan said. "Although we wanted to get to this point anyway, I will say that foundations are pushing an agenda with agencies to become more self-reliant and to use their funds for short-term projects, as opposed to paying for agencies' operating support."

Winner of the Wishart Award, which carries a cash grant of $5,000 from the Forbes Fund, will be announced Thursday in the Pittsburgh Athletic Association building. The award honors the local human-services or community development agency that best demonstrates leadership in its staff and board of directors; accountability, a commitment to excellence in human resource management; that measures and monitors outcomes; and that shows continuous improvement in delivering services.

The agencies say they want to be more self-sufficient because it gives them flexibility in designing services, meeting human needs and helping their clients make their own way in the world.

The term self-sufficiency is poignant for the North Hills Community Outreach. The agency, with a $1.2 million budget this year, serves the northern part of Allegheny County, offering basic human services for people who are in poverty, hardship and crisis, with an eye to helping them get back on their feet.

Its services include food pantries, health and employment assistance, legal aid and scholarships, and providing as much as $2,000 in matching funds for families saving for home ownership.

Because parts of the North Hills were devastated by the recent major flood, the agency is helping victims become self-sufficient again and weather the ravages of that event in their lives, said Fay Morgan, executive director of North Hills Community Outreach.

"The agency was founded in 1986 after that big flood that year, and it took us $40,000 to help the community to get back on its feet and recover from that flood, which ravaged Etna and O'Hara Township," Morgan said. "Now we are very, very active in a flood relief effort, and this time, I think we will spend close to a half million dollars."

Morgan said the agency has received over $200,000 in donations, primarily from grass-roots communities, plus a local foundation that gave the group "a significant amount of money."

Self-sufficiency, and moving poor people toward it, has driven some dramatic changes in policies and programs at Goodwill Industries of Pittsburgh.

"As a not-for-profit, you have to keep your finger on the pulse of where funding is coming from and where it's available," said Mike Smith, chief executive officer of the local Goodwill, with a budget of $33.7 million.

Ten years ago, Goodwill served many welfare recipients directly. Under welfare reform, its mission changed as it began contracting with the state Department of Public Welfare to train and ready former recipients for work.

"Over the years, we began serving populations that we had never served in the past, so our new mission statement simply says we are helping people improve their quality of life through work and related services," Smith said. "It's all-encompassing with a variety of programs and services that we provide," Smith said.