Skip to main content
Tag

mission

Nov 27

CAFE: Investing in the community through strategic partnerships

By Sponsor Insight, Uncategorized

by Melanie Priest, director of grants services, Hedges

Collaboration. Relationships. Connections. Alliances. According to Merriam Webster Dictionary, these are all words that are synonymous with partnerships. Strategic community partnerships in the nonprofit sector are the key to success for many reasons including:

  • Achieving greater programmatic impact;
  • Increasing visibility and awareness;
  • Diversifying staff skills and expertise;
  • Improving sustainability; and
  • Attaining additional resources such as increased volunteers and funding

In fact, of 1,192 grant makers surveyed by the Urban Institute, 69 percent reported that they actively encourage collaboration among grantees. Of those respondents, 42 percent indicated they often require partnerships as a condition for funding. Grant makers also indicated that strategic partnerships with clearly defined roles improve cooperation among agencies, leading to greater accountability, capacity building, and better program results (Mission Driven Strategies for Effective Nonprofit Program Development, Candid, 2020).

One Indianapolis nonprofit organization that has emerged as a leader in investing in the community by developing and engaging in strategic partnerships is the Community Alliance of the Far Eastside (CAFE).

CAFE has served as an anchor institution in Indianapolis’ Far Eastside neighborhood for the past 26 years. Guided in the last two years by CEO Kendra Nowell, the organization has widened and deepened its role, moving from a traditional community center to a community leader committed to building the long-term sustainability of the Far Eastside.

Sensing the organization had outgrown its previous vision and mission, CAFE’s board of directors and key staff engaged in a process in 2023 to review, reflect on, and revise its vision, mission, and values statements, concluding with new, adopted statements to guide the organization’s continued impact in the Far Eastside.

Through this process, CAFE casted a vision where the Far Eastside is an “inclusive, thriving, and safe community where people of all ages can live, learn, work, and play with a spirit of caring.” CAFE will achieve this vision through a mission that places a strong emphasis on partnerships. The updated mission is to “elevate quality of life within the Far Eastside by strengthening partnerships, maximizing resources, and empowering residents to achieve their highest potential through increased economic mobility, stability, and self-sufficiency.”

As a result of this new vision and mission, CAFE has leveraged its position as a pillar of the Far Eastside and focused attention on how to best invest and improve the Far Eastside community through partnerships. While CAFE has worked in the past 26 years to diligently to develop community collaborations, the shift to more strategic partnerships that truly advance the neighborhood has become evident in the following ways:

Delivering programs. CAFE collaborates with an array of local community organizations, apartment complexes, schools, and churches to provide direct services for clients in the areas of housing, legal services, immigration services, mentoring, employment readiness and skill building, early childhood education and childcare, health care services, and other basic needs. The number of partners is too long to list and ever evolving to meet clients’ needs however a few examples include Indianapolis Neighborhood Housing Partnership, IndyReads, Pathway Resource Center, Easterseals Crossroads, Indianapolis Neighborhood Resource Center, and the John H. Boner Center. In recent years, CAFE has also partnered with grassroots organizations such as and businesses such as Heart2Heart Counseling, The Ross Foundation, and J. Posley LLC which truly understand the community through lived experiences of the Far Eastside neighborhood and are able to deliver services with a focus on cultural competency.

Sharing space. CAFE partners with community organizations to rent space onsite at its facility. This provides clients with many services under one roof which is valuable in a neighborhood where residents often face transportation barriers. CAFE’s 56,000-square-foot facility houses its own comprehensive services along with programs provided by La Plaza, Family Development Services/Head Start, the Marion County Health Department’s WIC program, Finish Line Boys and Girls Club, the Damien Center, Marion County Sheriff’s Parole services, Indiana Department of Workforce Development’s Work One program, and Warren Township School’s Walker Career Center.

Convening and facilitating: CAFE also convenes and facilitates many groups that exist to advance a variety of community improvements and economic development projects that increase the vitality of the neighborhood. Groups and initiatives like the Far Eastside Community Council, Collective Impact Council, Apartment Managers Roundtable, and the Eastside Neighborhood Action and Community Team hold their meetings at CAFE’s facility and are instrumental in addressing needs related to education, employment access, crime, safety, and food access.

In the past two years, there have been increased opportunities for funding to elevate the quality of life while reducing violence and poverty for vulnerable populations who have experienced inequities for generations. The Central Indiana Community Foundation’s Elevation Grant and the Urban League’s Indianapolis African American Quality of Life Initiative are both opportunities that align with CAFE’s vision, mission, and strategic goals.

These revenue streams have enabled CAFE to embark on enhanced partnerships and invest in the Far Eastside community by working with community-based organizations. To date, CAFE has partnered with and invested in six organizations that have a spectrum of experience, capacity, and readiness to complete the requirements for the grant proposals as well as to manage significant funds. The organizations are Crown Community Development Corporation, The Kween Project, M.O.V.E., New Direction Church, Project Free University, and The Ross Foundation. CAFE worked with these organizations by:

Allocating resources. CAFE’s consultants work closely with the organizations to learn more about their programs, identify programmatic outcomes and impact, and develop budgets. As a result of this information exchange, comprehensive grant proposals are prepared and submitted on behalf of the organizations. The expenses for these services have been covered by CAFE.

Taking fiscal responsibility. Once the grants are awarded, CAFE’s staff works with the organizations on management of the grants. Managing the grants during periods of one or two years requires regular reporting, careful monitoring of how the funds are spent along with gathering the corresponding documentation, and data collection and analysis.

Building capacity. CAFE’s staff and consultants do not do the work for these organizations alone. It is because of true collaborations and significant input and effort from the organizations’ staff members that the partnerships have been a success. The funding has enabled the organizations to hire more staff, provide services to more clients, and make a deeper impact. The organizations have also learned how to manage grant funding. In fact, two of the organizations are now managing grant awards without CAFE as a fiscal agent and another is emerging and aspiring to get to this level.

CAFE’s partnerships with these agencies have provided the funding needed to significantly expand and enhance their programs, build organizational capacity, and achieve greater sustainability. These investments and collaborations are solutions that will contribute to increasing the quality of life and the vitality of the Far Eastside community for years to come.

Melanie Priest is passionate about making Indianapolis a great place to live, having strong connections in the community, and helping nonprofits share their stories of impact. For nearly 25 years, Melanie has worked closely with the Central Indiana philanthropic community to provide creative solutions to complex problems. As Director of Grants Services at Hedges since 2012, Melanie has secured hundreds of grant awards for dozens of Indianapolis nonprofit organizations to ensure they are able to advance their missions.

Mar 13

What now?: 4 steps to revisit your vision, mission, and values

By Sponsor Insight

by Kate Brierty, consultant at Hedges

Keeping an organization aligned during times of relentless rapid change can seem like an impossible task. Yet, it’s a task that many nonprofit leaders have faced on a whole new level since our world has been repeatedly hit with landscape-shifting changes over the past few years. The most successful leaders have taken on the difficult task of finding ways to keep what’s essential to their organization, while helping their team adapt their work to make meaningful impact in this new landscape. However, kicking off the plan to revisit, update, and align what’s at the core of your organization can be daunting.

In 2021, we gave organizations 5 questions they could answer to determine if the time is right to revisit their organization’s Vision, Mission, and Values. Many of you then shared that your organization’s essential statements were overdue for a review and refresh. So, today we want to offer insights into the obvious next question: What do we do now?

Although reviewing and revising your organization’s Vision, Mission, and Values is no small undertaking, there are a few straightforward steps you can adapt to implement a successful process for your team. We’ve outlined a 4-step update process that can leave your organization feeling more aligned, relevant, and ready to take on the changing landscape with confidence.

Step 1. Design and communicate the plan

An effective Vision, Mission, and Values review-and-revision process is intentional and inclusive, which does not happen by accident. Before you jump into editing, create a game plan for your organization’s approach. There are a few key questions to consider when structuring your revision process: What is actually up for adaptation? We encourage you to be open to reviewing all components of your Vision, Mission, and Values since they are so tightly linked and are all essential to your organization’s work.

Remember that leaving a statement open for review does not necessarily mean it will lead to any edits. However, if there is a piece of your Vision, Mission, and Values that is not on the table for potential edits, you should be transparent and provide context for that decision with all process participants to avoid frustration down the line.

Which stakeholders need to be invited to the process, and at what level of participation? Consider what voices and perspectives are needed at the table and then determine the most effective ways to allow those folks to participate. If these statements were originally created by a small group, then this is the perfect opportunity to be more inclusive and allow more voices to inform the process.

How will decisions be made? Get and be clear about how input will be considered, when decisions will be made, and who will be making them.

What is the timeline and what are the resources needed for this process? Once you know who will be included and how decisions will be made, then determine the timeline and resources (financial, staffing, etc.) that will be needed to complete this process as designed. Note: If you have another planning process happening soon (like strategic planning) you can consider how to thoughtfully combine these two planning pieces to maximize the resources allocated.

Once this plan is mapped, ensure that it is communicated to all relevant audiences in advance of asking them to participate. No one should find out about the process for the first time while being asked to give input on drafts. Thoughtful planning and communication can make sure no one feels blindsided or marginalized. Before the process begins, let your team know:

  • How the process will look and who will be involved
  • What about the Vision, Mission, and Values is actually up for review and adaptation
  • Who will make decisions and how the decisions will be made
  • How they specifically will be invited to participate throughout the process

Step 2. Answer core questions

Although it can be tempting to jump right into editing your current statements, consider beginning with an open conversation about what should be true for your organization’s Vision, Mission, and Values.

Revisit the definition of each of these statements and invite your team to answer the central questions that define them:

  • Vision- If your organization were successful, what would the new reality look like for your community?
  • Mission- What role does your organization play in helping create that new reality?
  • Values- What beliefs and principles are central to how you do your work and operate in the community?

Whether you find that your team’s responses are perfectly aligned or very different, taking the time to openly answer these questions from the outset can help inform and strengthen the rest of your process. If you see lots of alignment, this can help you prioritize those concepts most important to people across your organization. If there is a great deal of misalignment across responses, it can pinpoint areas where you will need to put in effort to help everyone understand and get inspired by your organization’s updated Vision, Mission, and Values.

Step 3. Re-visit each statement in your current context.

Now you can draft updated statements in an informed way by bringing together your current statements, your team’s reflections from Step 2, and any other research and data you have available. While each statement should be tailored to meet the unique needs of your organization and its context, there are some tips to consider to help you draft the strongest statements with your team:

  • Strong vision statements…
    • are specific and simple, so everyone can easily understand this essential message.
    • provide a challenge by describing the ideal reality your organization wants to see.
    • inspire action and attract people to your cause.
  • Strong mission statements…
    • are succinct enough to be remembered and repeated by your team.
    • utilize positive language to describe the important work your organization does.
    • balances the emotional and pragmatic aspects of your work to ensure it is engaging but practical.
  • Strong Values Statements…
    • help to tell your organization’s story by expressing who you are and how you want to be known in your community.
    • have enough context to help folks understand what this value means to your specific organization.
    • can be utilized to guide decision-making and measure how these values show up in your work at the team and individual level.

Once these statements are drafted, be sure to follow the inclusive review and revision process that you mapped out and communicated in Step 1. It can be helpful to remind folks of the research and feedback steps that informed these updated drafts when you share them out.

Step 4. Share and incorporate

This is the easiest but often the most skipped step for a successful update process- Once you have these updated statements finalized, you should utilize them!

  • Be thoughtful about how you want to roll out these updated statements with internal and external audiences:
    • Consider how you can use these updated statements to help better align your current stakeholders and attract new supporters to your work.
    • Be sure that stakeholders who were involved in the update process are thanked for their perspectives and time when these new statements are shared.
    • Be proactive about providing context for any significant content changes you made, so that folks can understand the intentionality behind any of those larger edits. For Example- If you changed the way you identify the audience you serve in your Mission Statement, then you should be proactive in the way you communicate why the change was made and why you’re excited about it.
  • Update all tools that are tied to your Vision, Mission, and Values to ensure these updated statements are guiding your work:
    • Update all digital and printed materials to reflect your refreshed statements.
    • Utilize the updated statements to help guide decision-making across the organization. Make sure leadership is modeling how these statements are used in critical full-team decisions and planning as well.
    • Revise the structures and tools utilized to recruit, train, and evaluate the entire team- including staff, board, and volunteers- to ensure alignment with your organization’s updated Vision, Mission, and Values.

The best part is that these simple steps are also a cyclical process that can keep your organization ready for whatever changes come your way in the future. Consistently utilizing these updated statements (as outlined in Step 4) should help you easily identify when your organization has grown to the point where a Vision, Mission, and Values review and revision process might be needed again.

When you do determine it’s time for that update, you can simply repeat these 4 steps to help you shape a process that will leave you with a more invigorated and aligned organization primed for even greater impact. If you are interested in how Hedges can help your team engage in this 4-step process, please reach out to me at kateb@hellohedges.com so we can find a time to chat.

Kate Brierty is passionate about asking the right questions to help groups have conversations and make decisions that will create real impact for the people they serve. She has lived out this passion for over a decade in education and nonprofit spaces in Charlotte, Detroit, and Indianapolis. In all her work as a consultant at Hedges, Kate is focused on pursuing meaningful results while keeping people at the center of her work.

Jan 09

Making inroads towards equity in the nonprofit sector

By Feature

The Indianapolis Foundation’s Pamela Ross shares insights about the organization’s initiatives

by Shari Finnell, editor/writer, Not-for-profit News

Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives have been at the forefront of priorities for many nonprofit organizations in recent years. However, as many leaders have recognized, implementing DEI initiatives can be complex considering that many leaders and employees will have different perspectives on how to successfully move forward.

We recently talked to Pamela Ross, vice president of community leadership and equitable initiatives for the The Indianapolis Foundation to gain insights on the inroads the organization has made since changing its mission to focus on equity initiatives nearly five years ago. The philanthropy, which was established in 1997, and its family of funds contribute more than $40 million annually to nonprofits in Central Indiana. In 2020, it was the steward of more than $825 million in charitable assets. 

As Ross puts it, even after several years of being immersed in DEI initiatives, the foundation still is in the beginning stages of initiating change because it involves uprooting deeply ingrained institutionalized systems.

“We changed our mission to mobilize people, investments, and ideas to create a more equitable Central Indiana where everyone has the opportunity to reach their full potential no matter their place, race, or identity,” Ross said in describing the foundation’s shift in focus. “In order for people to reach their potential and have the most opportunities, we couldn’t keep ignoring the fact that race is a factor in who gets access — access to money, access to resources in all the different sectors, including education and the workforce.”

Ross noted that one of the most important steps for any nonprofit leaders who are seeking to make progress with DEI is to start by addressing institutional racism within their own organizations. 

“We have to have different perspectives at the table — not just those who are working in the community but those who work in finance, those who sit in leadership seats,” Ross said. “We must change the institutional makeup of the organization.”

Ross said that the process requires taking a critical look at hiring practices. “If all of your staff is white and you serve a population that is 90 percent Black, there’s something wrong with that,” she said.  It’s not a matter of looking at diversity but people who have lived experiences. The people who are most impacted by them will be the best advisors on how to create programs, build out programs, and deliver messages. Their perspectives should be represented.”

With institutional change, the organization must be structured in such a way that it persists beyond a momentary place in time, Ross said. “Several things have changed in all of our departments, including practices, policies, and accountability,” she said. “Many nonprofits struggle with making real change because there haven’t been substantive changes within the organizations for years.”

Embracing community representation 

The foundation also implemented a Community Ambassador program to include decision-makers that represent the communities it serves. That program has been instrumental in giving people throughout Central Indiana a voice about critical decisions, including the foundation’s grant-making process. 

“It’s important to ask, ‘What’s your feedback loop for getting information?’,” Ross said. “For us, it was with our community ambassadors through a program that was started five years ago. It made us better in our own anti-racist practices and policies because the ambassadors are our feedback loop. They’re the ones who will say, ‘Why are you still granting dollars to ‘ABC’ organization? This is what they’re not doing in our community.’”

Ross noted that community ambassadors provide an extra level of accountability. “When you say you’re planning to change something, they will hold you to the fire about it.” 

Supporting grassroots organizations

The foundation also examined avenues to support more grassroots organizations that are making an impact in their communities but may not have the resources to invest in traditional grant-making procedures, Ross said. 

According to Ross, a shift toward a more equitable grant-making process requires a willingness to give up a risk-averse approach. “Not everyone has to show up with a beautiful well written proposal,” she said. 

Ross also pointed out that many grassroots organizations may not have the infrastructure typical of larger nonprofits. “We’re not scared away if they don’t look like the most developed and scaled institutions that are typically led by white executives,” she said. 

As part of its equity focus, The Indianapolis Foundation is dedicated to helping grassroots organizations become more sustainable. The foundation has launched a $3 million, 3-year initiative to help grassroots organizations scale through infrastructure development.

“In the not for profit world, it’s called capacity building,” she said. “We call it infrastructure development, because capacity building has this overarching assumption that there’s a deficit within the organization. The organization … the people who are doing the work … can be very solid in what they’re doing, but they need the structures that typically have not been invested in black and brown grassroots organizations in the same way that they have been for other organizations .”

Through the initiative, the foundation helps these types of nonprofits with various aspects of successfully running an organization, including program evaluation, data management, executive mindset, grant writing, board development, and fundraising. 

This March, the foundation also will host a BIPOC (black, Indigenous and people of color) bootcamp that is focused on the challenges of being a black or brown leader in the nonprofit area, Ross said. “We’re trying to create more equitable opportunities for them to scale without feeling like they should be ashamed because they’re not in a certain space,” she said.

Movement of 10,000 app

The Indianapolis Foundation also sought to engage a large community on equity solutions through the development of the The Movement of 10,000 (MVMT10K) digital platform, which is accessible through an app and online. It supports people who are genuinely interested in ways to become more conscious of their decisions and how they invest their dollars and time to create a more equitable society, Ross said.

“If you’re an individual who really wants things to be different, this is a convenient space to learn about what has happened as well as create relationships,” she said. “There’s so much we can learn. We are where we are because too often spaces of power are typically held by white people. And if we’re actually going to change systemic racism and institutional racist structures, we must get to a place where people recognize their power to break those systems by making different decisions.

“The hope is that a lot of different people, especially people who are white and in spaces of power and influence,  can engage so we can see some change,” Ross said.

Oct 31

Indiana Landmarks expands its mission to recognize historic significance of demolished sites

By Feature

Virtual experiences could be central to capturing Black history through a new program

by Shari Finnell, editor/writer, Not-for-profit News

A vintage photograph of the 300 block of Indiana Avenue captures a moment in time — when the area was nationally recognized for its bustling Black-owned businesses, and arts and culture scene.

Some of the buildings likely would have been identified by Indiana Landmarks as historic sites worth saving — if they hadn’t already been demolished. With the exception of the Madame C.J. Walker Building, most of the black-owned buildings in the 1950s image, including the jazz clubs Sunset Terrace Ballroom and Royal Palm Gardens, no longer exist because of highway construction and modern urban development during the 1960s and 1970s.

However, Indiana Landmarks recently launched the Black Heritage Preservation Program, which effectively establishes a new concept for the nonprofit — recognizing the heritage of a place, whether or not a building still stands at the location.

People who may not have been familiar with the Black history of Indiana Avenue and other historically significant places like it will soon have the opportunity to gain an appreciation of their impact and influence in the state, said Eunice Trotter, who recently assumed the role of the program’s director.

Trotter, an author, journalist, and long-time community activist, said the new initiative is important because of the disappearance of many historically Black neighborhoods, schools, and businesses throughout the state through demolition or gentrification.

“It is extremely significant because so much of our history has been erased or ignored — even by ourselves,” Trotter said of Black residents. “We know it somewhat but, with each generation, we know even less. When you couple that with the tearing down of the physical evidence of that history, we become a history-less people. There’s no proof of anything that we’ve done, challenges we’ve overcome, or contributions that we’ve made.

“Those stories are important — particularly to our young people,” Trotter added. “They are evidence of our resilience, our determination, and our ability to pull together.”

Re-imagining a central mission

Indiana Landmarks, which was founded in 1960, previously had recognized the importance of focusing on historically significant Black sites through its African American Landmarks Committee, which was established in 1992.

Through its Black Heritage Preservation Program, which was funded by a $5 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc., and other financial commitments from private donors and the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund, it also recognizes the loss of many important buildings throughout the state’s history

As Trotter and committee members of the Indiana Landmarks’ Black Heritage Preservation Program start imagining how to capture the vitality and essence of historically Black physical structures, they have considered the possibilities of using innovative technology like QR codes, augmented reality, virtual reality interactive experiences, and hologram-like projections such as those used in the Indiana Historical Society’s exhibit Eva Kor: From Auschwitz to Indiana.

“My No. 1 goal is to tap into the use of augmented reality,” Trotter said. “I was really sold on that method of heritage preservation after visiting the EJI Museum in Alabama,” she said.

Some current possibilities include allowing a person to use their smartphone to access a QR code on a marker near a historically significant Black site to hear a recording about the history of a place or using augmented reality platforms to animate historic photographs, said Steve Mannheimer, who is Indiana Landmark’s chairman of the technology subcommittee for the Black History Preservation Program.

As technology advances, new ways of bringing history alive will continue to emerge, Mannheimer noted.

The latest artificial intelligence innovations include extensively interviewing elderly people about their experiences so that, through artificial intelligence, people can talk to them — even years after their death. The innovation through the USC Shoah Foundation is now capturing stories from Holocaust survivors.

Mannheimer said that the Black History Preservation Program represents a reckoning of the role that race has played in the history of the United States. “It’s not something that could be solved by a significant event such as the election of Barack Obama,” he said. “It’s an ongoing requirement for the future of this country.”

During a recent trip to Germany, Mannheimer said, he walked around Berlin and Munich where he saw extensive documentation of the Holocaust — memorials and tours primarily launched during the late 1960s as homage to victims and survivors.

“I’m Jewish, and it was just unsettling, disquieting on a profound level,” said Mannheimer, who included a visit to the Dachau Concentration Camp on his trip. “As Americans, we have danced around this issue — the debt we have to pay for the treatment of African Americans. We have an obligation … working on this project seems like a step in the right direction for me.”

Dec 06

6 leading nonprofit trends to look out for in 2022

By Feature

Philanthropic researcher, educator predicts a year focused on equity, smaller donor pools, innovation, mission and new HR policies

by Shari Finnell, editor/writer, Not-for-profit News

As local nonprofit teams plan for another calendar year, the agenda most likely will include strategies for embracing change, innovation and sustainability in numerous areas, according to Amir Pasic, Eugene R. Tempel Dean of the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy.

With the pandemic and social protests representing some of the most disruptive events in the nation’s history, nonprofits are being forced to regroup on how to carry out their mission and operations, Pasic noted. “Almost all of our lives were turned upside down in many ways,” Pasic said. “The nonprofit philanthropic sector was no exception.”

Pasic pointed out six trends that nonprofits will likely need to address as they move into a new year.

1. Integrating equity as a long-term solution. While conversations and news around racial equity may not be as intense at the height of social justice protests, it will remain at the forefront of agendas of nonprofits, Pasic said. 

“When you had the kind of material, economic consequences of COVID, and then afterwards the killing of George Floyd and other black citizens, you saw the rise of racial reckoning and that becoming a global phenomenon. Equity and inclusion became major topics,” he said. “The fervor might have dissipated a bit, but I think those priorities are going to be there permanently for the nonprofit sector because so many of us became aware of the fact that our institutions and practices have been exclusionary.”

With the growing awareness around racial equity, Pasic added, it will have a “differential impact on nonprofits, depending on where they stand.”

2. Relying on a smaller pool of donors, mostly wealthy. Another trend that emerged during the pandemic is a shrinking pool of donors, Pasic said. “One of areas of research that has been interesting but somewhat worrisome is that giving continued to grow, but it came from a smaller number of donors,” Pasic said. “There was pretty strong evidence that donations are coming from a smaller number of wealthier people. We will be looking to determine if that trend will continue.”

Pasic said that nonprofits will need to make further adjustments if that trend remains. They will need to understand the best strategies for engaging a smaller number of donors until they can expand their donor base. “They need to ask, ‘How do you balance that with planning for a future where you’re trying to replenish those donors over time?’,” Pasic said

3. Rethinking employee work schedules. Another concern related to equity emerged during the pandemic when some employees easily transitioned to working online, while others faced downsizing or layoffs because they jobs demanded an in-person presence,according to Pasic.

Human resource leaders will need to explore ways to adopt hybrid work models while addressing the needs of all employees. “It looks like there’s going to be all kinds of different combinations of people working remotely,” he said.  

4. Offering a mix of in-person and online volunteer/giving opportunities. During the pandemic, a significant number of nonprofits offered volunteers ways to continue to support the mission remotely, Pasic said. “More people started giving online, engaging online and trying to figure out who they can help online,” he said. “At the same time, we saw an upsurge in neighbors helping their neighbors. We saw people knocking on the doors of neighbors they may never have met before to see if they could help by shopping for groceries.

“I think we’re going to see more of this type of decision-making in the future,” he added. “People will continue to figure out what it is that they can do remotely and when they have to travel.”

5. Remind your team of your mission. With many nonprofit organizations undergoing unprecedented changes in adjusting to challenges, it’s important to take the time to focus on the mission, Pasic said.

“In times of difficulty, it’s important to remind yourself why you exist. What is your mission?” he said. “Revive that purpose. It’s not only a time to remind yourself of what that is, but for those who are your champions. It can sometimes be forgotten when we’re all scrambling to make it through the day, but I think that that sense of mission can be rejuvenated and give you some energy to start the next day.”

6. Embrace innovation as an ongoing pursuit. “The pandemic has shown us that there’s no reason to keep doing the way we’ve been doing,” Pasic said. “A sense of innovation and possibilities are some of the positive things that came out of the pandemic. When we know our mission, then we can think of innovative and interesting ways to pursue that. We need to take some of the things we learned during the pandemic and apply it to the future.” 

Oct 25

Is now the time?: Revisiting your vision, mission and values

By Sponsor Insight

by Kate Brierty, consultant, Hedges

Rapid change has been relentless. Over the past 18 months, many organizations have been forced to make tough decisions about how to continue their work with limited resources and difficult contexts. Others have swiftly and significantly expanded programs and staff to meet a growing demand for their services. The ability to make split-second decisions and fast adaptations has been essential for every nonprofit organization to survive.

As we begin to consider how to reliably deliver meaningful impact in our new context, many organizations have carved out space to reflect on what’s new, what’s next and how to move forward in a sustainable way. Now more than ever, we are hearing that strategic planning has been challenging as organizations have found increased misalignment between their stated mission, what they do currently, and what future actions the changes in their communities call for. After factoring in the desires of a community, funders and a team, it can feel like an organization is left trying to be everything to everyone.

If this frustration or misalignment feels familiar, your organization might benefit from pressing pause on strategic planning until you can revisit and realign what’s most core to your organization: your vision, mission and values. It can sometimes be difficult to tell when this reflection process is needed, but the five questions below can help you determine if investing the time on vision, mission and value work now might help you avoid frustration, build alignment, and create a stronger plan for your organization’s future.

  1. Does your organization need to define its vision, mission and values?

This might seem obvious, but you’ll first want to consider if your organization has taken the time to clearly write out its vision, mission and values. You might use different terms to describe this work (like calling it an organization’s purpose or commitment); regardless it is important for these core pieces to be internalized and aligned across the organization.

Before this alignment can occur, Board and executive leadership need to start by ensuring the organization’s vision, mission and values exist and are current, by asking: Is there a document where these pieces have been defined? Do internal and external audiences know where and how to find these definitions?

Although the format of the content might look different for each organization, these documents should contain formal, scripted answers to a few simple questions:
Vision- If your organization were successful, what would the new reality look like for your community?

Mission- What role does your organization play in helping create that new reality?

Values- What beliefs and principles are central to how you do your work and operate in the community?

Stakeholders look for and expect vision, mission and values to be spelled out publicly, and you don’t want to leave those stakeholders wondering why the organization is not being transparent about its purpose. Without having all three foundational pieces clearly outlined, internal and external stakeholders can also be forced to create their own definitions that may or may not align with the organization’s actual strategic direction. Formalizing these definitions before beginning any planning ensures that teams can ask clarifying questions and build understanding of these core facts about the organization before jumping into planning from them.

  1. Is there significant misalignment or disagreement within your team?

Having your vision, mission and values defined and known is essential, but it is often not enough to create the clarity your team needs to utilize these tools in planning. With many of our nonprofit partners we have found that when there is significant frustration on a team during a planning process, it is coming from each member of the team fighting for what they personally believe must be prioritized based on their own interpretation of the organization’s foundational pieces.

Sometimes when we feel that tension at the start of a planning process, we’ll hear folks say things like: “Remember that we’re all here for the same mission!” And that might be technically true. However, each team member’s view of that mission is shaped by their own experiences and interpretations. Creating intentional space to help the organization discuss and align on these core components can allow your entire team to create a shared understanding of how you would define these pieces in your organization’s context. We have seen defining values to be a particularly impactful exercise to create alignment with staff and board teams, as the full organization works together to craft a definition for each value that is relevant and meaningful to the team’s current work.

Even with shared understanding, there might still be significant misalignment or disagreement about the organization’s future. However, building the team’s capacity to utilize this common language and shared commitments in the planning process can help you productively move through disagreement towards stronger results for the organization and less frustration for everyone involved in the process.

  1. Does your organization no longer effectively utilize your vision, mission and values?

Vision, mission and values define what is core to your organization. They are the foundation for everything you do. That means they should be a part of every planning or evaluation conversation in the organization.

These foundational pieces of the organization should be a large piece of comprehensive planning processes, and they should serve as guideposts when making decisions around budget, staffing, development, or program evaluation. For example:

When you are considering applying for a new grant opportunity, do you revisit your mission and check that the expanded programming falls within the work you’ve committed to do?

When your Board is creating their personal fundraising messages, do you share tools to help them stay vision-focused?

When you are creating your staff performance evaluation systems, is there a portion focused on how their work aligns with the organization’s values?

If your team doesn’t incorporate your vision, mission and values into planning or your current definitions no longer feel like valid tools that can be used in decision making, then it might be time to re-visit these foundational pieces with your team. Building comfort with applying these core components of the organization to everyday work can help your team see and connect with vision, mission and values in a more substantial way.

  1. Have your organization’s programs or services shifted significantly?

If the pandemic has caused your organization to drastically shift what you do to serve your community, you are far from alone. In BKD’s State of the Nonprofit Sector- 2021 Annual Report, of the over 300 nonprofit organization respondents:

  • 89% said they had altered their delivery of programs and services in 2020.
  • 63.7% said they were likely to maintain their current programs and services and add some new.
  • 29.3% said they were likely to eliminate some current programs and services but not add any new.

While some of these program shifts might be meeting a temporary need, many organizations have also been including conversations about how to incorporate some of these updates into their long-term plans. For example, we are seeing some organizations consider shifting their geographic reach to grow to a statewide impact with more virtual services offered, while others are looking to hone their focus on more deeply impacting a specific community.

Before considering the sustainability of any enhanced, expanded, or shifted services, it can be helpful to step back and evaluate what fits with the organization’s current mission. If there is misalignment between proposed services and the current mission, then the organization can have a frank conversation to decide if that mission or the menu of services needs to be adapted.

  1. Have the needs of your community shifted significantly?

A strong vision is based in the context of the community that a nonprofit engages. That community has likely gone through some meaningful change since your organization’s founders crafted the original vision and mission for your work. Moreover, that community has likely changed drastically in the last 18 months as individuals adjust and adapt to the new context in which we all live.

Drastic changes, like those brought about by the pandemic, can be good reminders that every organization needs to be consistently assessing the needs of their community. We have partnered with organizations that have gathered this feedback effectively through a large formal landscape analysis and through intimate feedback conversations with their closest partners and those utilizing their programs and services. It does not need to be a complicated process, but it does need to work for your team or else collecting this data can easily become a low priority that gets pushed to the back burner. No matter how it’s collected, frequent community feedback can alert you to even gradual changes in the landscape and help you identify when it’s time to revisit your vision, mission and values to check their relevance and remain responsive to your community.

If you answered “yes” to any of the five questions above it does not mean you are experiencing an identity crisis or that you are facing major change as an organization. It does mean that taking time to intentionally revisit your organization’s vision, mission and values could be a meaningful experience for your team in this moment.

Your organization’s level of need should determine the depth of engagement your team needs in this work right now. You could make this a formal process tied to larger landscape analysis or long-term strategic planning, or it could be a limited internal conversation to help everyone get on the same page before jumping into the coming year.

No matter how you approach it, being open to this important conversation shows internal and external stakeholders your organization is responsive to the changing needs of your community and ready and willing to take on what’s next.

Kate Brierty is passionate about asking the right questions to help individuals and groups have conversations and make decisions that will create real impact for the people they serve. In all her work as a consultant at Hedges, she is focused on pursuing meaningful results while keeping people at the center of her work.

Jul 20

Websites Simplified

By Feature, Technology

By Lynn Sygiel, editor, Charitable Advisors

In May, we asked readers for perfect tech or software solutions that have reduced costs or saved time. Last week, Keep Indianapolis Beautiful and the Indiana Society of Association Executives shared use of tablets and software that improved the organizations’ productivity. This week, Mary Rigg Neighborhood Center and Small Box recommendations focus on website integration and social media.

MARY RIGG NEIGHBORHOOD CENTER

CHALLENGE

Treva Burgess wears at least two hats at the Mary Rigg Neighborhood Center. She is the volunteer coordinator and manager of the website.

Burgess was frustrated with the number of communication platforms she had to use. She knew there had to be a better way to disseminate information about events, allow clients to register for activities and share information with supporters and board members. The center’s existing website had no way to connect to the center’s newsletter and event registrations, which were all managed by using separate providers. In addition, the website wasn’t mobile friendly.

But the largest challenge was that with all these different programs, the center’s audience – both clients and supporters — didn’t often land on the center’s website and learn about its mission, message and overall services.

SOLUTION

While Burgess was negotiating with a company for a new website design, hosting and support services, a Mary Rigg board member recommended evrconnect, a Noblesville-based company. The board member, who is a nonprofit consultant, was aware of the company because other nonprofits had used its services.

Burgess did some investigating and found evrconnect charged fraction of the price, and she liked what she saw. The company was founded by three men who were working in the tech field, and created the company to help nonprofits do more with less and integrate design and content management, donor management and crm, fundraising, volunteer management and communications.

Burgess said for her, the most difficult part of the process was designing a site map. She sought input and ideas from Mary Rigg staff members to determine how they wanted to use the site, and then created a map of how it would work. Then they looked at sites evrconnect had created and borrowed basic design elements before meeting with the company’s staff. As part of the process, they realized they needed to refresh the center’s logo, and do some branding with the site launch. Working with another company, the logo was designed before the launch.

The website launched three months ago. A comprehensive dashboard tells the administrator who has posted comments, added a photo or content. One of Burgess’ co-workers handles the events calendar posts and can update regularly. Now as event details need to be changed, they can be updated, which is a simple process.

Right after the site was launched, Burgess realized that recurring events couldn’t be changed. If she wanted to delete or change a regularly scheduled Tuesday food pantry on the events calendar, she couldn’t do it. She says, however, evrconnect understood the problem and was quick to remedy it.

Soon others in the organization will receive training to ensure managing the information on the website and keeping it up to date.

The center uses the blog feature for news items, and has added a historical section with pictures. Established in 1911 as Foreign House and Immigrant Aid Association, it the organization initially served as a center of learning and recreation for foreign immigrants coming to Indianapolis to work in industrial and meatpacking plants.

Registration for particular events has been simplified. Annually, one of the center’s largest fundraisers is a dodgeball tournament. This year there were 19 teams, each with eight team members. “That’s a lot of folks to register,” said Burgess. “But it was easy, and right on the website, which didn’t happen with previous registration system.”

One website feature that was used this summer was peer-to-peer fundraising. It allows individuals to set-up a campaign to solicit their friends for contributions. The center used it for its Fill-the-Bus campaign. During the summer, Mary Rigg staff work with 25 middle school students on college and career readiness. As part of the program, the kids visit area colleges. With this website feature, some college alumni helped raised funds to get the bus to their aluma mater.

Not all pages are public. Take for example, the Connecting Hearts and Home a partnership between United Way of Central Indiana, the Eli Lilly company and Mary Rigg Neighborhood Center. The pilot program started in March, and will continue for a year. Five Lilly staffers are ambassadors and work with Burgess to identify needs and help communicate and recruit from the pool of 400-company volunteers. Burgess noted, however, the difficulty communication with volunteers in large company, is often e-newsletters are blocked by the company’s firewall. With the new website, she can create a specific url that she can provide to the Lilly volunteers so they can check volunteer opportunities.

Similarly, a board-only section will provide each board member with an individual login, and can contain materials like bylaws, minutes and agendas, making it easy for board members to have access materials needed for their position.

Soon, Burgess will migrate the newsletter to the website from e-newsletter provider, integrating another communication tool. Other website services on her radar are volunteer sign-ins, which will keep a comprehensive volunteer profile.

INVESTMENT

  • Flat fee for the design $1,500, but additional costs to customize components
  • Hosting and on-going customer support is $200 monthly
  • The company regularly backs up the site, and helped the nonprofit become PCI compliant so they could take donations online using BluePay

BENEFITS

  • Streamlined communication for clients, donors, staff, particularly those not in the building but working in schools, and interns
  • Can update information easily and quickly
  • Ongoing support from web-design company