Author: Ingrid Zacharias

When I first started in the community development field, I was amazed to discover that so many of the target populations that we dealt with really felt they didn’t have a voice and that their opinions didn’t matter or count for anything. At first I had a hard time grasping the concept that someone could believe that their voice could mean nothing. But as the years passed and I worked with more and more people who felt disenfranchised and felt they had no voice, my opinion started to change.

Probably the greatest hurtle that anyone doing community development or capacity building has to overcome is the fact that many of the people they work with feel very alone and because of their dependence upon social agencies and government services, they have been made to feel like they have little control in their lives and so their opinions don’t matter.

But the power of one person can be combined with many others to make a difference in their own lives, in their communities and in our society. The power of one when united with a multitude of others with common perspectives is a huge power and a strong voice.

How do we help people to realize that their one voice has power? Well there are several ways to do this. Community development workers can:

• Build a positive relationship with their clients – Speak sincerely, openly and honestly with your clients and demonstrate that you value their insights, opinions and perspectives. Never promise them anything that you can’t deliver.
• Talk about current issues in the news – Talk to clients about current issues that impact their lives and ask their opinions on those issues. Encourage them to share their opinions through group discussions, coffee meetings, or having them present their opinions in a speech to their peers.
• Ask for clients input on community – Create opportunities for clients to provide input on what they think about their communities and what they identify as issues in their community and challenges they are facing as residents of that community.
• Set a goal – In co-operation with your client and other individuals, set a goal to accomplish in the community. Set a goal and encourage them to take ownership of that process by talking to others about it. Once the goal is achieved, your clients will begin to understand that their voice when united with others can be loudly heard and have a huge impact on their personal lives.

Question of the Day: What other ways can you think of to assist people in recognizing the power of one?

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For more resources, see our Library topic Nonprofit Capacity Building.

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By Ingrid Zacharias

Website: http://envisioningthefutureintl.ca/

To ensure that capacity building by a non-profit will be successful and actually achieve the outcomes that it plans to accomplish, there are things it must do for this to happen.

• Consult with target population – Non-profits are created to fill a need, and so it is important that the initiative be driven by the people who will use the services provided by the non-profit. They are the experts on what the issues in the community are and hold the key to how these problems can be resolved.
• Involve the community – It’s important for your target population to feel a sense of ownership of what your organization is trying to accomplish. So, encourage them to get involved by volunteering for events, as board members, as volunteer manpower to get things done that the organization can’t afford or in whatever capacity they wish to be involved.
• Build Trust – The constituents of your organization must trust you to be willing to provide input and to participate. You build trust by not making hollow promises that you may not be able to deliver on, by following up to ensure that tasks being done by others are completed, and by building positive relationships with your clientele. If you show sincere interest and caring, you will begin to build trust.
• Set achievable goals – Your target population will generate a whole list of issues they want dealt with. However, it is important that you choose your first issue as something that is achievable without it taking too much time. You want to be able to work with your constituents to achieve a goal quickly and successfully because success breeds success. The more people in the community that hear you and community members have successfully achieved goals; the more likely they are to buy into the organization and want to be a part of that success.

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For more resources, see our Library topic Nonprofit Capacity Building.

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Tracking the statistics for a non-profit is an important part of fulfilling accountability measures of funders. Every non-profit should have a statistics gathering strategy. This will ensure that data is gathered accurately and becomes a part of the regular activities of your non-profit.

Your statistics gathering strategy should include:

• Who will do it – It should describe specifically who in the organization will be responsible for day to day statistics gathering for each program and service and who will be responsible for compiling the overall statistics for the organization. Be sure to include this task in the appropriate staffs’ job description.
• When it will be done – Deciding on when statistics will be gathered is an important part of ensuring consistent handling of data. You may want to set daily, monthly, quarterly and yearly deadlines for statistic submissions.
• How to gather the data – The strategy should outline what tools will be used to gather and manage the statistical data. It should include copies of the tools that are going to be used, such as a template.
• How the data will be used – Spelling out exactly how the data can be used is important. Once you have decided how you will use the data, be sure to draft a policy to guide the use of this data. This ensures that all staff are aware of acceptable use of organizational statistical data.
• Where the data will be stored – There are decisions that must be made such as will the data be stored solely electronically, or will the organization prepare a yearly report that provides the statistical data from that fiscal year, so that it can be shared with funders or potential funders in hard copy.

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For more resources, see our Library topic Nonprofit Capacity Building.

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Writing reports for funding received is as important as writing your initial proposal. Too often we forget that our funders are very dependent upon written reports to provide accountability for their own activities and actions. It is through details of these reports that they are able to promote themselves and convince more people to invest in them, which may result in more funding for your organization over the long term.

But there are components that it is important to include in your reports to your funder that will allow them to use the tools you provide in your report to their most efficient and effective capabilities. So when you write a report, include the following:

• Outcome measurement chart- This tool will allow your funder to see the progression of your plan, activities and outcomes at a glance. So make sure you keep it updated throughout the lifetime of the project to ensure you don’t miss any valuable lessons learned by your project.
• Testimonials – Funders love testimonials. So if you can get written testimonials from clients who have participated in the project and felt their lives were impacted in a positive way, this is probably one of the greatest marketing tools that you and your funder could have.
• Lessons learned – It’s vital for a funder to know that their investment left some kind of a lasting impact. So if you include lessons learned, it means that you have learned valuable information that both you and your funder can share with others who may hope to try to implement the same type of project that you have done.
• Financial Report – Every report to a funder must include a financial report and in many cases must be accompanied by copies of receipts. Your financial report becomes a part of your funders accounting system and is an important piece in them being able to meet their financial accountabilities to their contributors, government and consumers of the grants they provide.

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For more resources, see our Library topic Nonprofit Capacity Building.

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Yesterday, I wrote an article about what was important to include in a board orientation package http://envisioningthefutureintl.ca/2010/09/07/6-important-items-to-include-in-board-orientation-packages/ . While some people felt that it would be overwhelming to give new board members all that information. I continue to reiterate that it is important that your board be well informed in order for them to make good decisions.

In one of the LinkedIn groups that I belong to, two people offered up some great additional ideas on what should be included. They are:

Angineeki Jones suggested the following also be included:

• A copy of the Executive Director’s job description because the board does oversee the ED.
• Goals that have been set for the previous and present years.
• A copy of the organization’s bylaws, as this is the basis of all their decisions and how the organization will function.
• A copy of the articles of incorporation.
• A list of other board members with term end dates.

Sally Witte suggested you also include a copy of the most recent audited financial statement.

These suggestions sparked one more idea on my part. That is to include your most recent and previous year’s Annual General Meeting Reports.

Question of the Day: Can you think of anything else that should be included in your board orientation package?

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For more resources, see our Library topic Nonprofit Capacity Building.

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It’s important that a lot of thought and consideration go into the development of your organization’s board package. A board package is an organization’s first opportunity to orient their new board members to their organization. Therefore, your board will be as well informed about your organization as you make them.

Board packages are not just information; they are an opportunity to brand your organization with your new board members. It gives them insight into the type of organization you have how it operates and what it focuses on.

A good board package should include the following:

• Introduction – An introduction to your organization that includes its mission, vision and values and information on what approach it takes in achieving its goals.
• Backgrounder – Educating your board about how your organization began and any changes to its structure and goals during its life span. This should also include information about what and who stimulated the creation of the organization, as well as the process followed to create the organization.
• Board meeting minutes – It should include minutes from the past year’s board meetings, financial reports and any attachments that go with those minutes.
• Organizational Chart – It’s hard for an individual to make good policy decisions for an organization if they don’t have a good handle on what the structure of the organization. That is why supplying an up-to-date organizational chart is important.
• List of funders – Board members should be provided with a list of who the funders of the organizations are, what their investments are in the organization and whether the funding is annual, multi-year or one time.
• Organizational Policy Manual – Board members should be given a copy of the organizational policy manual in either hard copy or electronically. A board member should be able to become familiar with existing policies to be able to make good decisions about adjustment to policies or the creation of new policies.

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For more resources, see our Library topic Nonprofit Capacity Building.

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I came across an article on “The Chronicle of Philanthropy” dated back to March of 2009 about non-profit deficits and how in the USA, the deficits are resulting in loss of programming, staff and services. You can find this article at http://philanthropy.com/article/Nearly-a-Third-of-Charities/63052/ .

In the non-profit world, “deficit” is almost a dirty word, falling into the ranks of other taboo words like “advocacy”. The article speaks of how one third of the non-profits in the USA had operating deficits in 2008. While in Canada, when I did research a few months ago, most said in census that they expected their funding to remain stable or actually increase. But non-profit deficits are what you have to deal with no matter where you are located in the world.

Some organizations that I have worked with, have run deficits for short times, but immediately developed a plan on how to get rid of the deficit. The most I have seen in a deficit is about 3% of the organization’s annual income. This is still manageable. But there are probably other non-profits in the world that run a deficit more often and with a higher percentage of their annual income. But if a non-profit is running a deficit, there are a few actions they can take. They are:

• Reallocate some core funds – If your non-profit receives core funding, then you may be able to reallocate some of the core funds to cover the deficit, by finding economies in your core expenditures.
• Donor fundraising – If your organization relies on donors, then it’s important to kick up your advertising campaign and get your board tapping into their contacts to help raise money to cover the deficit.
• Grant fundraising – There are some grants out there that don’t have a lot of turnaround time. Most funders will not cover deficits, but if you find a funder who will pay for a part of a program that your core funding now pays for in the fiscal year that you are running the deficit, then you can direct those extra funds where you need them provided it abides by the agreement entered into with the first funder.
• Bank line of credit – You could go to your financial institute and see if your organization can get a line of credit. Keep in mind, banks don’t lend you money when you need it, they loan it when they know you have income that will come in shortly that will cover the loan. So if your deficit occurs because of the timing of funder payments, you may be able to get a line of credit from your bank.
• Go to your funder – If all else fails, contact your funder and explain the situation and see if there is anyway, your organization’s next funding cheque can be sent out sooner, explaining that it is a result of cash flow problems, if that is the problem.

Question of the Day: What strategies have you seen non-profits use to rid themselves of a deficit situation?

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For more resources, see our Library topic Nonprofit Capacity Building.

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