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An electronic publication of the Community Action Partnership's Risk Mitigation Center
Dear Community Action Colleagues-
We have an exceptionally full edition of the TTA news for March! Make sure not to miss the first story below which features our Executive Director Denise Harlow's presentation at the annual National Community Action Foundation conference last week. Of special importance are the memos that follow which include comments from the Partnership and the broader Community Action network on the draft Model State Plan and State and Federal Accountability Measures. These memos provide valuable information on issues that agencies should discuss with their states in conversations around the continued development of state monitoring procedures for the new organizational standards. We know that Community Action Month is right around the corner, so please let the team here at the Partnership know how we can best support your work through conference presentations, webinars, and the development of new technical assistance resources. Please make sure to get your proposals in by April 10 for workshops at our Annual Convention, and we look forward to seeing you in San Francisco!
Sincerely,
Jarle Crocker, PhD
Director, Training and Technical Assistance
Community Action Partnership
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PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT UPDATE
Submitted Comments and Denise Harlow at NCAF
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Community Action - Empowering Families, Transforming Communities
What Will You Share?
Call for Workshop Proposals Deadline April 10th
Community Action Partnership seeks presentation proposals for the 2015 Community Action Partnership's Annual Convention, August 25-28, 2015 in San Francisco, CA. We welcome proposals from local Community Action Agencies, State and Regional Associations, national partners, and experts in the field of nonprofit and public administration. This year's theme is "Community Action - Empowering Families, Transforming Communities."
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We are specifically
looking for proposals that focus on:
- Management
- Advocacy
- Leadership and Governance
- Community Economic Development
- Innovative Programs
- Marketing/ Communications
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Online registration for the conference is available at
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RESOURCE OF THE MONTH: BATTER UP! BUILDING YOUR LEADERSHIP BENCH
Written in 2012 with Brown Buckley Tucker, Batter Up! walks through the process of setting up a leadership development program in your organization. Succession planning helps protect the agency and its clients from disruptions in services or operations, but does not provide the future forward look that a long term strategy for leadership development does.
In addition to the step-by-step process and key considerations for planning a leadership development program, tools available include:
- Emergency Succession Plan template that is program specific
- Position Impact to help prioritize the needs
- Individual Development Plan and Levels of Leadership Assessment - used in the Emerging Leaders Institute for Training and Excellence (ELITE) curriculum
- Individual Potential Assessment
- Succession Planning Guiding Principles
The COE-developed CSBG Organizational Standards focus specifically on the CEO position with 4.5 "The organization has a written succession plan in place for the CEO/ED, approved by the governing board, which contains procedures for covering an emergency/unplanned, short-term absence of 3 months or less, as well as outlines the process for filling a permanent vacancy." Batter Up! goes beyond compliance with the standard and looks at leadership at all levels as well as intentional ways to assess and develop bench strength.
Additionally, Standard 7.9 states "The organization/ department conducts or makes available staff development/training (including ROMA) on an ongoing basis" and Batter Up! presents one way to structure ongoing staff development.
Batter Up! is available in the Resource Bank of the CSBG T/TA Resource Center as well as from the Partnership's website under Resources. This toolkit does have a recorded webinar and slides available, also in the Resource Bank of the CSBG T/TA Resource Center .
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THE TCC GROUP'S EVALUATORS SHARE TOOLKIT TIPS
Resource toolkits are collections of items like articles, templates, tools, and worksheets that reduce the difficulty for each nonprofit to track down useful resources. Since toolkits can be offered to hundreds of organizations simultaneously at approximately the same cost as being offered to one, they are also a relatively low-cost way to help build the knowledge and motivation capacity of nonprofits. Through recent engagements, TCC Group has evaluated and provided guidance to nonprofits and foundations to strengthen their toolkits with the goal of offering low-cost, high-impact resources. Through this experience, we have identified several best practices in toolkit design and implementation. This article lays out five key elements involved in maximizing toolkit utility.
Read the full article here.
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4-Part Webinar Series from
BoardSource, NPQ, & Raffa P.C.
Recent research indicates that nonprofit CEOs are aging in place-that is, that approximately 40 percent have been in their jobs for over ten years, and a majority are over 50 years old. This translates to a significant potential for turnover, whether planned or unplanned. With that turnover of longstanding execs or even founders come opportunities but also real and serious risks . . . to reputation, organizational relationships, and-generally-the sustainability of your organization.
Executives should be able to move out of leadership with the strategic and management capacities of the organization robust and vibrant and broadly held. Succession planning and executive transition, done well, deliver this.
This series of webinars involves some of NPQ's most expert authors on the issue and addresses the components of good succession planning and transitions, from deepening the leadership "bench" to creating exit agreements.
- Webinar #2 CEO Confidential: Making, Communicating, and Implementing Your Organizational Exit
- April 28, 2:30-3:30 pm EDT
- Webinar #3 The Common (and Sometimes Pernicious) Traps in Executive Transitions
- Webinar #4 Preparing for the Inevitable: The Board's Role in Succession Planning
- June 16, 1:30-2:30 pm EDT
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MOVING BEYOND A CULTURE OF COMPLIANCE TO A CULTURE OF CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT IN HEAD START
Moving Beyond a Culture of Compliance to a Culture of Continuous Improvement is a resource guide to help leadership, management, supervisory, and data-focused staff in Head Start and Early Head Start programs
(1) understand how data, including data they already collect, can help them achieve their program goals;
(2) learn techniques for fostering a culture of learning in their organization; and
(3) increase their ability to identify and address gaps and continuously improve their programs.
It was designed to complement existing technical assistance resources through tip sheets, examples, and links to multiple resources.
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VISIT NASCSP'S THE STATE OF POVERTY BLOG
Or Write Your Own Post as a Guest Blogger
The State of Poverty blog is brought to you by the National Association for State Community Services Programs (NASCSP). We'll share the latest news, legislative updates, and our insights on the role States play in preventing and reducing poverty across the nation.
Recent posts include:
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GETTING THE MOST OUT OF EVALUATION
From Nonprofit Quarterly
Just as every youth-serving organization or program is unique, so every evaluation presents its own challenges and opportunities. One size does not fit all. But over the years, we have made some general observations and learned some lessons that we hope policymakers, funders, and nonprofit practitioners may find helpful as starting points when they consider how to interpret and use evaluation findings.
- Rigorous evaluation is risky business. The more rigorous the evaluation, the less likely it is to show dramatic effects. A well-designed randomized controlled trial (RCT) identifies impacts-measurable changes that can be attributed primarily if not entirely to the program under evaluation. It is important to distinguish impacts from outcomes-changes that may have had other causes in addition to the program...
- Yet the potential benefits far outweigh the risks. The funders and leaders of service organizations are committed to making the world a better place. For many of them, evaluation is a moral imperative, because it helps them understand what works and how to make it work better...
- Rigorous evaluations are the surest way we know to establish whether a program works. Two or more rigorous evaluations, including RCTs, when they are conducted at different locations and incorporate cost-benefit analyses, make a powerful case for supporting a program, especially when money is tight and private and public funders are increasingly interested in directing their limited resources to evidence-based programs...
Read the full article from NPQ here.
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Foundation for Financial Planning Accepting Applications for Pro Bono Programs for Underserved
The Foundation for Financial Planning awards grants to nonprofit organizations for pro bono financial advice and outreach activities to underserved communities.
Grant amounts range from between $5,000 and $300,000. In 2014, the average grant awarded by the foundation was $18,000. The grant's average is not a benchmark and is subject to change annually, depending upon the number of grants received and allocation amounts. The foundation's focus is to support one-on-one sessions with pro bono financial planners and to fund sustainable programs. After you start the grant application an implementation tips document will be available to assist you.
To be eligible, applicants must utilize financial planning professionals, or local affiliates of financial planning organizations, through pro bono activities; deliver programs to specific target audiences who are underserved by the market, in need of financial guidance, or in a financial crisis; and provide opportunities to obtain unbiased financial advice in time of crisis or disaster, or financial life skills education, through financial planning professionals, to those of diverse socioeconomic levels to help them take control of their financial lives. In addition, projects need to incorporate the involvement of financial planning professionals as community volunteers and in pro bono activity, or in partnership with local affiliates of financial planning associations.
Visit the FFP website for complete program guidelines and application instructions. View the RFP by clicking here.
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Partnership Praise for Leap of Reason
The nonprofit community across the country is in the middle of a paradigm shift when it comes to using outcome data to manage organizations. A challenging economic environment and shrinking public resources makes it more critical than ever for service providers - including the Community Action Network - to effectively gather and use data about outcomes in ways that tells a compelling story about the importance of our work. Mario Morino's new book Leap of Reason challenges managers and executives to think about how they can truly transform their organizations around the principles of high performance and continuous improvement. This concise guide helps to clearly define what "high performance" means in practice, describes the seven organizational pillars that support the change process, and provides helpful examples of steps organizations can take to achieve the "Performance Imperative" that Morino describes. This book is essential reading for Community Action Agencies because it speaks directly to the principles and practices embodied in Results Oriented Management Accountability and similar frameworks in use across our network.
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The Performance Imperative: Living Up to the Promise of the Social Sector
Hosted by PerformWell
We rely on the social sector to meet urgent needs and address pervasive problems, and we cannot afford for organizations to deliver anything other than high performance. But what does "high performance" look like?
In the past year, a group of leaders has come together around the mission to inspire, motivate, and support nonprofit and public sector leaders to build great organizations for greater societal impact. Convened by Leap of Reason author Mario Morino, this group of "Leap Ambassadors" has collaboratively created the Performance Imperative, which offers a definition of high performance and lays out seven pillars of high-performance organizations.
April 16, 3 pm EDT: "The Performance Imperative: Living Up to the Promise of the Social Sector," hosted by PerformWell; moderated by Ingvild Bjornvold; and featuring Molly Baldwin, Michael Bailin, Paul Carttar, David Hunter, and Mary Kopczynski Winkler. Register here .
Hear how nonprofits, foundations, and public agencies can use the Performance Imperative as their North Star to guide them on a journey of continuous improvement to achieve better, more sustainable outcomes for communities, children, adults and families.
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RECORDED AND UPCOMING WEBINARS FROM BOLDER ADVOCACY:
LEGAL TIPS AND TOOLS
Community Action Agencies and Associations understand first-hand the needs of their community and have the stories and the data to advocate on their behalf. Learn what advocacy steps you can and cannot take as a 501(c)3 organization with Bolder Advocacy's 2015 Public Webinar Series.
Webinars are presented by one of AFJ's attorney coaches and last approximately 1 hour. All of these workshops come with access to resources, a PDF of the information and 30-day access to a recording of the webinar.
- Election Rules for 501(c)(3) Organizations on February 24th and September 24th
- Social Media Advocacy Rules on March 18th
- Advocacy Evaluation and Capacity Building on April 7th and October 29th
- Working in Coalitions and Affiliated Organization Structures on April 23rd
- Recordkeeping and Reporting for 501(c)(3) Organizations that Lobby on June 24th
Register for the above webinars and more by
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REGISTER FOR 2015
CAPLAW NATIONAL TRAINING CONFERENCE
The Community Action network is facing a deluge of new rules - from the Uniform Guidance to the CSBG Organizational Standards to new Head Start regulations! Stay ahead of the curve by attending this year's conference. Our expert panel of presenters will not only help you understand the impact of the various requirements on the Community Action network but will also offer practical tips and tools for compliance.
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UPCOMING TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES FROM WIPFLI
May 14, 2015 10 a.m. - 11 a.m.
And Before the Annual Convention* 
August 24-25, 2015
OMB's New Uniform Guidance
San Francisco Marriott Marquis
San Francisco, CA
* $625 per participant registering on or before July 27, 2015.
(Partnership Members must use the promo code CAPSF* when registering or they will be charged the regular early bird rate of $645)
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VISIT THE CSBG T/TA RESOURCE CENTER
Share your events on the Shared Calendar for the CSBG Network to see. Log into the CSBG TTA Resource Center and click " Shared Calendar." There will be an option to request an event. Fill out the date and time and include a link with more details about your conference or event, and it will be added to the calendar.
View the calendar for state/regional events but also national partner and federal partner activities.
And don't forget to visit the Resource Bank to view toolkits and webinar recordings or start a conversation on the Discussion Forum.
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NASCSP CONFERENCE
NASCSP 2015 Annual Training Conference
Hyatt Regency Sacramento
September 15-18
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STATE AND REGIONAL CONFERENCES
North Carolina Community Action Association
May 5 - 8, 2015
Texas Association of Community Action Agencies
May 5-8, 2015
Region 8 and Region 10
May 11-14, 2015
Florida Association for Community Action
FACA 35th Annual Training Conference
Oklahoma Association of Community Action Agencies
May 13-15, 2015
Northern New England Community Action
May 20-22, 2015
Arkansas Community Action Agencies Association
May 27 - 29, 2015
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Learning Communities Corner
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Individualized T/TA Opportunity for Cluster Members
The Learning Communities Resource Center is extending an opportunity to less than 10 organizations from the Bundled Services and Place Based Cluster Groups to receive individualized T/TA to equip them to move forward on achieving greater outcomes. Participating organizations will be contacted by Barbara Mooney, T/TA provider and ROMA expert, to schedule a preliminary meeting, with subsequent meetings involving a team of peers at your organization.
In order to understand the level and type of technical assistance desired, please take a look at the tier that best describes the current experience of your organization and the according assistance you are seeking. Note that this designation is not an official designation by any means, and is only being used for internal purposes to better coordinate technical assistance efforts.
Tier 1:
Your organization has no immediate issues with your work plan, goals or data processes, but is simply seeking new ideas and improvements for growth. You are seeking assistance in developing a framework to replicate your processes.
Tier 2:
Your organization has started the process of collecting, analyzing, and utilizing data to build capacity but is seeking assistance in sustaining your plan. You are overcoming challenges, but seeking assistance on the best way to move forward.
Tier 3:
Your organizations is stalled in the achievement of your goals and requires assistance in the foundational planning and groundwork. You are seeking assistance to clearly identify and overcome your barriers.
To participate, contact your subject matter expert or email Barbara Ledyard, Project Director.
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Thank you for reading. We hope you found the content helpful.
Do you have questions for the Risk Mitigation Center? Contact our team:
@NatTrainingCTR
This publication was created by National Association of Community Action Agencies - Community Action Partnership in the performance of the U.S. Department of Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Community Services Grant Number 90ET0437 and90ET0436.
Any opinion, findings, and conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families.
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