Culture of Service Consortium

Providing quality service to our growing, culturally diverse community requires that your nonprofit be culturally competent...but what does it mean to be culturally competent?

Cultural competency is the ability of individuals and systems to respond respectfully and effectively to people of all cultures, classes, races, ethnic backgrounds and religions. Just Communities' Culture of Service Consortium is designed to support you in your efforts to be more culturally competent.

The Culture of Service Consortium monthly lunch meetings bring nonprofit representatives together to network around issues of interest regarding cultural competency, diversity and inclusion. The Consortium will help you advance diversity, challenge your own assumptions about difference, and advocate for understanding and respect at your nonprofit.

Each month's lunch program will feature one of the following:

• Guest speakers discussing cultural/diversity issues.
• Just Communities leading interactive exercises designed to continue awareness-building regarding cultural competency and diversity.
• Video presentations that focus on important diversity and cultural awareness issues.
• Round table discussions among participants regarding best practices/successes and/or challenges in being culturally competent.

Serving Northwest Arkansas since 1997, Just Communities is a human relations organization dedicated to advancing diversity, challenging assumptions and advocating for understanding and respect among all races, religions and cultures. Just Communities of Northwest Arkansas is a trusted and dynamic resource dedicated to the discovery, development, understanding, and celebration of our diverse human community.

Program Goals/Objectives/Outcomes

• Maintain and/or increase the cultural competency of nonprofit organizations in Northwest Arkansas.
• Create a strong network of culturally competent nonprofits that provides ongoing support for meeting the needs of a culturally diverse community.
• Decrease sense of isolation in dealing with cultural challenges in the non-profit sector.
• Provide forum for ongoing cultural competency education.
• Provide forum for peer-to-peer sharing of best practices/successes regarding cultural competency.

Program interest may be expressed by:

Deadline to express your interest is: One week prior to each Consortium meeting date (Consortium meetings are the last Thursday of each month).

Why do people give to certain organizations, but NOT to others? What does it take to develop donors into long-term, personally-invested resources for your organization? This group training session will answer these questions, as well as detail a systematic approach to resource development and provide you with the tools necessary to create a detailed fundraising plan.

Why should your organization receive training in fundraising? Employees within nonprofit organizations are often charged with many different roles and responsibilities - often roles they were not specifically educated or prepared for - so making sure those who are responsible for fundraising are effectively and efficiently trained is important.

In addition to the 4-hour group training session, one individual follow-up consultation will be held with each organization to assist with your specific fundraising challenges.

• Provide a basic understanding of fundraising
  • Where does the money come from?
  • Who gets it?
• Provide an overview of systematic resource development
• Understand methods of increasing private contributions
• Gearing up to "make the ask"
• Understand the "Five I's" of development.
• Increase the capacity of nonprofits to better serve their communities

Program interest may be expressed by clicking here.

Deadline to express your interest is: May 20, 2007

Grantseeking Academy

More and more non-profits need to win grant funds to achieve their mission, but the skills needed to be successful at grantseeking are different from other fundraising or writing skills. If you are serious about winning grants, you need to learn more than just information that can be communicated via a PowerPoint. You need to learn and practice the skills that will help you find the right grants for your agency.

The Grantseeking Academy is an intensive, hands-on learning experience. You attend the Academy 2 hours per week over six weeks so that you have time to digest what you're learning and begin putting it into practice back at your agency. While you learn useful information about seeking and obtaining grants, you are also receiving one-on-one mentoring from two professional grant writers. The instructors provide a thorough critique of your grant proposal in-progress, offering suggestions for improvement and guiding you to getting it into final form for submission. You will leave the Academy with a real grant proposal to a real funding agency and excellent reference materials that you can use in writing future proposals.

• Develop skills and knowledge in basic terminology, research strategies, and proposal development regarding grantseeking.
• Prepare an actual funding proposal unique to your agency for submission to a real funder.
• Network with colleagues from other non-profits and discuss ways to partner or collaborate on future programs.
• Learn to focus on developing proposals that fit your mission as well as the funder's priorities.

Program interest may be expressed by calling Cheryl L. Kester at (479) 582-1053 or emailing her at ckester@cox.net.

Deadline to express your interest is: June 30, 2007

Inclusive Boards for a Diverse Community

• Your Board will have 1 or 2 new non-Anglo board members-from NW Arkansas institutions such as Wal-Mart, P & G and the University of Arkansas-who have been well-trained on all aspects of serving on a non-profit board.
• Your agency's board-now newly diversified-will receive an on-site day-long cultural awareness/diversity training, tailor made to your agency's unique needs in becoming more inclusive, coupled with board development and planning for being a higher impact board and organization.
• Your Board Chair (or representative) and your Executive Director will have an increased understanding of, commitment to and skills in creating a diverse and inclusive board and organization.
• Your agency will complete this program with a larger, stronger, more diverse board and an action plan for building upon this foundation of inclusion.

Care Foundation's commitment to helping increase the diversity of nonprofit boards allows this unique program to be offered for a participant fee of only $400.

Program details
Ultimately, this two-track program will place well-trained non-Anglo board recruits onto nonprofit boards that are trained in cultural competency and high-impact governance. In track one, this program recruits and trains new non-Anglo board members who want to serve successfully on nonprofit boards. Concurrently, track two provides nonprofit boards with diversity and cultural competency training to help them become more inclusive and successful in building and sustaining a diverse, high-impact board.

To achieve this goal, requirements have been set to help participants-both nonprofit boards and new recruits-be successful.

• Be at least one year old
• Have a working board with regular meetings (minimum of 6 per year)
• Have active board committees (3-4 meetings/year/committee)
• Have identified board diversification as one of their strategic goals (with 0 - 10% non-Anglo members currently serving)
• Commit to sending the same key board member and key staff member to the two required trainings
• Approve to accept up to 2 of the new recruits (facilitators will give careful assessment during the placement process and final placement will consider organizations' choices)
• Commit to having key staff and a majority of board members participate in a customized day-long follow-up training for their organization.
• Complete a pre & post organizational assessment survey regarding diversity, inclusion, and board effectiveness.

• Be identified by colleagues as a true team player and leader
• Have been called to "serve" the NWA community
• Be committed to being placed on one of the participating nonprofit boards
• Have a letter of support from their employer
• Be able to commit to full participation of all four 4-hour training sessions
• Be committed to becoming an active member of a participating nonprofit board

Over the course of several months, nonprofit boards will receive their diversity, cultural competency and high-impact board training, while new recruits receive their board readiness training. After placements are made, each nonprofit will receive a customized day-long workshop for board and staff leadership.

Upon completion, non-Anglo recruits will be empowered to serve as successful board members trained in:

• Role and responsibilities of nonprofit boards
• Legal overviews pertaining to board service
• Board policy development
• Fundraising ethics and accountability
• Diversity and cultural awareness
• Nonprofit financials 101

• Increase the number of nonprofit boards that reflect our diverse NWA community
• Increase the number of non-Anglo board members serving nonprofits
• Create successful board cultures that are healthy, diverse, and sustainable

• Diversity Awareness
• Cultural competency
• Successful and high-impact board practices
• Building an inclusive boardroom and organization

Deadline to express your interest is: March 26, 2007

Legal eSource website
http://www.uacted.uark.edu/Legalesource/

• provide the nonprofit community with online information and education
• assist in achieving and maintaining compliance with state and federal laws

• visiting the website at http://www.uacted.uark.edu/Legalesource/
• contacting Tim Tarvin at ttarvin@uark.edu

There is no deadline to express your interest. You may visit the website at your convenience and as often as you'd like.

Management MAP (Mapping for Accelerated Performance)

Managers today play many roles: decision-maker, planner, mediator, convincer, director, problem-solver, spokesperson and entrepreneur just to name a few. These are complex and ever-changing roles, and most managers feel ill-prepared to play them well.

In addition, many likely feel overwhelmed by the amount of work they are required to do and the competing demands they face on a daily basis in their jobs. A ground-breaking article titled "The Manager's Job: Folklore and Fact" appeared in Harvard Business Review giving the highlights of a research project studying the many roles chief executive officers play. Half of the activities engaged in by the CEO's lasted less than nine minutes and only 10% exceeded one hour. In addition, a separate study of 56 U.S. foremen found that they averaged 583 activities every eight-hour shift or an average of one activity ever 48 seconds. A diary study of 160 British middle and top managers found they worked without interruption for a half-hour or more only once every two days.

Clearly managers do far more than most people really realize. How prepared are these managers to fulfill the needs of their job now or in the future to ensure their organizations meet their overall mission and specific business objectives?

In Northwest Arkansas, Care Foundation is focusing on building the capacity of non-profit organizations. "Management MAP" will help the Foundation achieve this goal by helping managers of non-profits better understand the many roles they must play, how they are currently fulfilling these roles and what they can specifically do to improve in roles where they need to be stronger - all for the benefit of their organizations and the region (see specific goals and objectives below).

Program Goals/Objectives/Outcomes

Program goals

• Adequately prepare managers to lead their teams to greater success
• Equip managers to be more effective in their current and expanding roles
• Encourage managers to role model for those they lead and mentor
• Raise awareness for three key areas of management effectiveness: interpersonal role, information role and decision role

Program objectives

• Assess participants' current management and leadership skills
• Create an action plan for skill enhancement to fulfill current or future roles
• Educate participants about the specific roles they are to play to manage successfully in the three key areas of management effectiveness:
  • Interpersonal roles: figurehead, leader, liaison, visionary
  • Informational roles: monitor, disseminator and spokesperson
  • Decisional roles: entrepreneur, disturbance handler, resource-allocator, negotiator, decision-maker
• Elaborate on one of the key roles today's manager must do exceptionally well --making difficult decisions.

Format of the training (five steps)

Step One (pre-training)
Pre-training questionnaire

Step Two (pre-training)
On-line administration of DiSC Profile Classic 2

• Participant evaluation day of the event (immediate insights)
• Comprehensive evaluation after the training to determine participant progress and additional opportunity to move forward (6 months)

Deadline to express your interest is: April 1, 2007

Maximizing the Message: Developing and Delivering Compelling Messages in Good Times and Bad

Many managers and leaders are not comfortable handling media interviews, difficult public speaking situations or Q-and-A sessions. Most miss opportunities to leverage media interviews - even on difficult topics -- for the greater good of their organization. All organizations are vulnerable to experiencing crisis situations; most do not know how to manage the communication aspects of those situations effectively for both internal and external audiences, particularly with the media.

Program goals

• Help participants become more effective public spokespersons for their organization
• Help participants understand the value of and techniques for developing and delivering compelling messages
• Teach participants how to manage the communication aspects of crisis situations

Program objectives

• Understanding the media today
• Learning and applying media interview techniques: bridging, flagging, hooks, transitions
• Developing key messages for media and other audiences
• Crafting two-part "message packages" customized for the issue and the audience
• Analyzing and preparing for difficult audiences or contentious situations
• Handling negative questions or negative news
• Preparing for a crisis
• Developing "holding statements" to use during crisis situations
• Preparing your entire team for a crisis situation
• Role-playing media interviews on camera, group critique (two opportunities)
• Small group crisis scenarios: learning to manage all aspects of crisis situations including communication opportunities

Program rationale

• Full day training with two on-camera individual role-playing experiences; participants will take this DVD home with them for further study and learning.
• Complete package of materials with techniques and templates for future use in crisis situations and many other media and speaking situations.
• Crisis management is critical for non-profits to maintain the good will they have with their many constituents and not lose significant ground they have worked hard to gain prior to a crisis

Deadline to express your interest is: April 1, 2007

Milestone

Milestone begins with a 4-day, 3-night retreat experience at Greystone Estate, and concludes after 3 months of professional coaching. Each participant will benefit by becoming a stronger decision maker, strategic influencer, and ethical champion. Selected participants will complete several assessments (TAIS, Meyers-Briggs Type Indicator, and Birkman Method).

Program Goals/Objectives/Outcomes

• Increase emotional intelligence
• Align personal and organization values
• Develop stronger decision-making, strategic-influencing, and ethical-championing skills
• Utilize self-awareness and self management to avoid leadership derailment
• Focused goal-setting and achievement
• Enhanced ethical leadership

Deadline to express your interest is: March 12, 2007

My Leadership Path: Leadership Development Coaching

The program will kick off with one brief phone meeting with your coach to introduce the program and set up your on-line assessment tool, followed approximately one month later with a group leadership retreat, where the TLC results will be provided, along with the interpretive guidance. Then, through October 2007, meet with your coach 6 times to work on your IDP, growth and development, as well as run a follow up TLC. We will also run the People Styles® Inventory for further self-awareness. An additional group workshop will be held during the month of June to offer additional leadership training; this workshop will be offered at two alternate times to accommodate all participants' schedules.

• Enhance leadership skills of nonprofit executives based on their individual needs
• Enhance emotional intelligence through accelerated self-awareness and individual coaching
• Enhance performance of agency through more effective leadership

• Broad and deep feedback to leaders regarding their skills, leadership qualities and behaviors through conducting The Leadership Circle Profile® 360 leadership assessment tool. This assessment instrument will be run both at the beginning and at the 7 month point in the project to determine improvement. Additionally, the People Styles profile instrument will also be completed and reviewed.
• Individualized coaching goals will be determined through interpretation of leadership assessment results
• Six individual coaching sessions (First one or two are face-to-face, subsequent sessions over phone). Note: if participant desires, select coaching session(s) could include key board member or employee where significant benefit could be gained through "facilitated" conversation.
• Coaching includes creation and implementation of an Individual Development Plan (IDP)
• Two face-to-face group workshops for participants

Deadline to express your interest is: March 5, 2007

Nonprofit Board of Directors: Governing From the Mission Statement

What is the difference between management and governance? Gain a new perspective on the interaction between the roles of the board of directors, management and staff. The group training session includes an overview of board of director's responsibilities, as well as information on potential areas of personal liability that exist within the membership of the board of directors. It is ideal for both novice and veteran board members. In addition to the 4-hour group training session, one phone consultation will be held with a key representative from each organization to provide individualized follow-up assistance.

• Provide a general overview of board service
• Board member responsibilities
• Recognizing and dealing with potential board member liabilities
• Understand the complimentary roles of governance and management
• Understand the "dynamic tension" that exists between the board and chief executive
• Review the phases of evolution of the nonprofit cycle
• Introduction to the board's role in the development of a strategic plan
• Increase the capacity of nonprofits to better serve their communities

Program interest may be expressed by clicking here.

Deadline to express your interest is: April 16, 2007

Non-profit Resource Center @ Fayetteville Public Library

Never before has there been a location in Northwest Arkansas with a collection of materials specifically geared toward the non-profit community. Many of these materials and resources are too expensive for area non-profits to purchase on an individual basis. Our vision is to become powerfully relevant to our community. An important step is providing a resource center that offers professional journals and resources on board development, annual giving, campaigns, etc. to increase the capacity of area non-profits.

• Provide local non-profits with access to the Foundation Center's most comprehensive database of more than 80,000 grant makers and half a million grants, updated weekly, Foundation Directory Online Professional.
• Utilize trained librarians to provide on-demand assistance to agencies seeking grant information.
• Provide on-going training opportunities for grant seekers.
• Provide local non-profits a collection of books, periodicals and research resources unsurpassed in the Northwest Arkansas area.

Deadline to express your interest is:
Three days prior to training:
April 1, June 11, August 6, October 3

The materials may be used during regular library hours.

Reaching Peak Performance

• Many managers and leaders have a difficult time being effective spokespersons for their organizations.
• These individuals usually have many things they could share with audiences, but they often do not know how to determine the best things they should say and how to communicate those in a compelling and appropriate way.
• Often they feel they are scattered and do not understand how to package or prepare memorable themes or messages for audiences to grasp and remember.
• Many times they get lost in the details and do not come across as strategic or visionary.
• Their overall personal speaking style is not as strong as it should be and can get in the way of the organization's message being delivered effectively.

Program goals

• Teaching participants how to prepare strong, memorable, organized content.
• Enhancing personal delivery style and effectiveness.
• Understanding and making good decisions about key messages; developing critically important key themes for the organization.
• Providing encouraging but specific critique for each participant on ways to improve individual performance.

Program objectives

• Advanced presentation tips: insight, context, perspective, expertise
• Charisma
• Individual style test: How I want to be perceived as a speaker, strengths and weaknesses
• Developing strong content and memorable messages
• Impromptu speaking exercise: developing content for shorter talks
• Preparing for longer talks: main points, supporting thoughts, examples, fearless start/fabulous finish

• Creative ideas for fearless starts, engaging themes
• Staying on message
• Transition techniques
• Scripting

• Beating fear
• Enhancing your presentation style: delivery tips
• Final recorded presentation exercise with critique

• This is one area where most managers and leaders fall short and truly value practical training that will help them be better presenters starting immediately.
• We have presented this workshop for six years; it is one of the most requested workshops we deliver and receives consistently high marks from participants for practical, useful tips and significant presentation experiences with detailed critiques.
• Full day training with several individual presentation experiences plus group and coach critiques; participants will take their DVD home with them for further study and learning.
• Complete package of materials with resources, techniques and templates for future use in public speaking situations

Deadline to express your interest is: April 1, 2007

Stakeholder Focus Groups: A Navigational Tool for Making Organizational Decisions

Nearly every growing organization has a significant decision or decisions they are facing in the next 12-18 months. In the process of making such decisions, many assumptions are made without concrete knowledge, research, or benchmarking being done to guide them to the best decision possible on behalf of the organization, the people it serves and our community. In many cases, if organizations would gather original research from key stakeholder groups through focus groups, they might have a better idea of what strategies they need to implement and decisions they need to make during the next year - or the next 10 years.

Program Goals/Objectives/Outcomes

• Determine key issues and/or stakeholder groups to plan and prepare for an effective focus group(s);
• Facilitate one or more focus groups with key stakeholders whose feedback would help guide a key decision;
• Provide recommendations to the organization based on focus group findings to help make strategic decisions to move the organization forward.

Program Format - Five Step Process
A comprehensive approach to focus group planning, facilitation and reporting:

• Step One - Initial Understanding and BackgroundIdentify the focus of the study and what the client wants to learn.
• Step Two - Statement of Purpose and ProposalPrepare a statement of purpose based on discussions with the client and a proposal for implementation including an agenda and initial questions to ask participants.
• Step Three - Organize the EventDuring step three, we begin the process of planning the event(s). This could include but is not limited to:
  • Continue working on the set of questions to be asked during the focus group;
  • Draft a questionnaire to gather relevant data about participants;
  • Identify and invite prospective participants.
  • Confirm the date, location and timeframe with participants.
  • Arrange for food, drink and compensation for the participants.
• Step Four - ImplementationWe host and run the focus group, gathering all data requested by the client. Two methods are used to capture discussion data: a.) recording the session; or b.) comprehensive note-taking during the session. We also administer a questionnaire to gather relevant individual data about participants.
• Step Five: Observations and RecommendationsBased on all data gathered, we provide a comprehensive report including both observations and recommendations.

Approximately two - six weeks are needed to plan and implement the focus groups depending on the number and size of groups as well as the complexity of the project.

Deadline to express your interest is: April 1, 2007

Strategic Planning: How to Get From Here to There

Determine where your organization is going and how it's going to get there. This course is both motivating and practical, helping you understand the true purpose behind strategic planning, as well as giving you the tools to establish realistic goals and objectives that are consistent with your organization's mission. Our training is geared towards creating plans that are practical, realistic, dynamic, and well-used.

This course consists of one 3-hour large group training session, as well as one in-person consultation and one follow-up telephone consultation for each organization to provide specific assistance in the creation of a strategic plan.

• Provide an understanding of the need for ongoing strategic planning
• Develop a cyclical planning process for the organization
• Assist with the development of an initial plan
• Provide ongoing monitoring and consultation concerning the plan development
• Increase the capacity of nonprofits to better serve their communities

Program interest may be expressed by clicking here

Deadline to express your interest is: March 11, 2007

Team Alignment

Team Alignment involves a balanced focus on results, relationships, and process. It answers this question: How do we continue to stay mission focused while growing to meet the needs of our constituents? In addition, time is spent analyzing the current state of the organization (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) and identifying critical issues that must be addressed in the next 12 months. The program lasts 2½ days and is held at Greystone Estate.

• To solidify the mission, vision and values of a not-for-profit organization that is experiencing growing pains.
• To identify the critical issues that enable an organization to move from today's reality to tomorrow's potential
• To fully align staff and/or board members to accomplish the greatest results

Deadline to express your interest is: March 1, 2007

Team Building with a Purpose

Building a cohesive team takes more than just getting along with one another. It takes an intentional effort to bring the best out in others and for all to work well together. This program challenges participants to "stretch" themselves to identify, understand, and overcome dysfunctions within a team setting. The areas of focus will center on trust, conflict, commitment, accountability, and results. The two session program (one six- hour session and one four-hour session) will be designed around each agency's "team perspective" and participants will be challenged to engage in dynamic and interactive team building activities. The LIFE Adventure Center will be used for the training sessions, and is a "The Choice is Your's" program empowering participants to decide on their own level of engagement (should someone be fearful of heights). The book "The FIVE Dysfunctions of a Team" by Patrick Lenconi (provided) will be required reading and utilized for discussion.

This program is not just for mid to large size agencies. Through open enrollment (April 27 & May 25) two sessions will be devoted to smaller agencies with fewer staff members, board members, and volunteers.

• Increase participant's ability to identify, understand, and overcome dysfunctions within a team setting.
• Increase levels of understanding and application in the areas of trust, conflict, commitment, accountability, and results to a team setting
• Produce healthier, more effective, high performing non-profit teams
• Provide participants multiple opportunities to offer feedback to determine effectiveness of the program