What if Henry Ford Threw in The Towel?

Currently we are working to flesh out an in service workshop to offer to teachers. After reviewing the history of character based education, the question is not whether CBE failed, but whether the methodology came up short. Any program requires a baseline and outcome measures. Program evaluation is also an essential element, but that alone is insufficient. No program works without fine tuning it. Consider the manufacture of automobiles. What if Henry Ford threw in the towel the first time his efforts failed? There is a progression when properly applied leads to a successful outcome.

Next week a member of our team will meet with a new business adviser. Together we will assess and strengthen our several aspects of our business and marketing plans.

Is Your Organization Grant Ready?

How many grants has your organization received in the past four years?
If the answer is none, or sparse, it's time to do some homework.
Homework assignment will vary depending on whether the organization has established a track record. Does your organization have cash sponsors or corporate donors?

Small and large organizations struggle to get aspects of their plan together. Here are some very general questions. Do you know how to write outcome measures? What kind of statistics are tracked? Can your team manage a project timeline? Is your funding plan reasonable? How will you demonstrate fiscal responsibility?

Make sure to have a copy of nonprofit status, tax identification number and other documents to send as attachments.

Set up a simple form to track research. Use the research to decide if the organization meets the grantors funding guidelines and other pertinent information.

Determine if the grantor accepts unsolicited letters of inquiry or full grant proposals. What are the grant reporting requirements?

There are different types of grants-program, project, operational funding, capital projects, capacity building grants, technology, equipment and mathing grants to name a few. Most do not fund 100% the identified need. Be prepared to submit required figures, ratios, corresponding budgets if requested, and a list of other supporters.

Urban Solutions: Ministry, Math and Melissa Data

The last post was on Urban Solutions: Creating Strategic Ministry Partnerships. If you have read our mission and vision statement, you already understand that our focus is on helping small businesses, churches and other nonprofits improve their capacity to serve others. Our premise is that employees and members must improve their own resilience in order to improve sustainability. We cannot afford to operate in isolation. Instead we need to transition to a model of healthy interdependence.

So let’s breathe some life into this by understanding the big picture. Once church leadership teams help their members understand how to implement this simple concept in their neighborhood, the steps are repeatable. Try to imagine this. Oregon has 36 counties, 471 zip codes and 1,349 profiles on populated areas. In the City of Portland alone there are over 1,200 Christian churches. By building on the work of the US Postal Service, internet maps and databases, coordination and measuring outcomes at the neighborhood is both realistic and necessary. Here is an example of what how to bring this idea down to the neighborhood level.

First, figure out which of neighborhoods are in your zip code. Then find a map of the neighborhood and identify your location on the neighborhood map. The last step is to dentify several homes and make a commitment to develop some level of relationship with someone in each household. Since that represents such a diverse area, divide the neighborhood into ten sections with the goal of developing a relationship with at least one person in each of the ten sections. If this seems like a daunting task, enlist the help of ministry partners by using entering "nonprofit organization lookup". Melissa Data allows users to enter a zip code to identify all nonprofits within that zip code. This allows church leadership teams to build strategic partnerships closest to them and build out thir resource list in concentric circles.