Nonprofits are constantly being assessed by potential funders who are seeking to understand the impact of nonprofits in the communities they are meant to serve. Without knowing how to clearly evaluate and articulate their impact, nonprofits run the risk of inspiring less support for their mission.
April Turner, Student and Intern, North Carolina Center for Nonprofits
Evaluation is arguably one of the most important ways to drive improvement. It provides valuable information on what can be changed to improve the services provided. Evaluation can also be used to gather important information to inform other program offerings and services. While evaluations are the crux of driving improvement, it is not always easy to get them right.
It's through continued effort that policy changes to promote equity are implemented and imbedded into practice. Tracking the progress of equity advocacy is important and does not need to be complex or daunting. Getting Equity Advocacy Results (GEAR) from PolicyLink is a suite of benchmarks, methods, and tools for advocates, organizers, and their allies to track the results of their equity campaigns to:
The BetterEvaluation.org website offers free information and downloads about the Rainbow Framework to help your nonprofit select the correct methods and processes for designing evaluations. It seeks to provide a means to clarify the purpose of conducting an evaluation (e.g.
More Than Numbers: A Guide toward Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) in Demographic Data Collection outlines best practices and provides recommendations for inclusive and respectful demographic data collection by organizations.
Whether leading a project, chairing a committee, or trying to keep a board meeting on track, project management principles can guide diverse groups and maintain the focus on a shared vision of success. In this session, you’ll learn the importance of defining a scope and deliverables; strategies for reaching and maintaining consensus; and using and communicating timelines and tasks. Participants will come away with actionable ideas for improving the effectiveness of collaborative projects and for working better within and across diverse groups.
Just as we use a compass or GPS to show us where we are and where we want to go, the public values of liberty, equality, community, and prosperity can illuminate our positions and guide our decision making as we envision and navigate toward our community’s future.
While many organizations use the buzzwords diversity,’ ‘equity,’ and ‘inclusion’ as a value, employees can’t articulate actions by their leadership around this pivotal issue. If you want to ignite excitement and purpose around DEI at your workplace, this session will provide actionable steps you can take to spearhead change at any size organization, and share resources including a workplace checklist, tips on how to form a DEI working group, and statistics that help support your case for DEI.
Recording length: 1 hour, 9 minutes
Kathy Ridge, Founder and CEO, LevRidge Resources, LLC
We now know a single vaccine will not instantly obliterate the COVID virus. Instead, we must depend on personal behaviors, along with contact tracing and vaccines, to decrease infection rates. As organizations face an unknown future, how do we plan, prepare, and organize for the ‘lost horizon’ that is 2021 and the post-virus world?
You don’t need a new strategic plan – you need a short-term business plan based on what you do know to get through the next 18 months and develop more resiliency.
Bellwether Education Partners' COVID-19 Strategic Planning Toolkit for Education & Nonprofit Leaders is an easy-to-use resource that aids leaders in making rapid decisions and actionable plans during the global COVID pandemic.