As in 2006, The Survey Research Center conducted a universal survey of CCF's 2007 capacity building programs. Additionally, those findings were compared to the findings of the nonprofit capacity survey conducted in 2005-which continues to shape our annual offerings.

In alphabetical order, the sixteen programs that CF funded in '07 were:

• Culture of Service Consortium
• Fundraising 101
• Grantseeking Academy
• Inclusive Boards for a Diverse Community
• Management MAP
• Maximizing Your Message
• Milestone
• My Leadership Path
• Nonprofit Resource Center at Fayetteville Public Library
• NP Boards: Governing from the Mission Statement
• Reaching Peak Performance
• Stakeholder Focus Groups: A Navigation Tool
• Strategic Planning
• Team Alignment
• Team Building with a Purpose

The Survey Research Center provided a comprehensive report. In the report they:

• compared and rated (ranked) participant perception of facilitator knowledge and delivery,
• compared perception of respondent skill levels of '06 and '07, and
• summarized their findings.

During this year:

• 268 (unduplicated) individuals participated in programs (up from 206 in '06).
• However, fewer individuals participated in the universal survey.
• 45% of those that participated in trainings and evaluated them had not participated (or didn't remember participating) in Care Fdn trainings before.
• One quarter of respondents were new to their position-with a year or less in their current position; another 19% had spent less than 3 years in their position.
• 13% of participants were board members, 26% of attendees were executive directors, 60% held non-executive positions.
• Small organizations (with operating budgets of less than $100,000) doubled their participation in this year's sessions.
• Overall, participants considered the facilitators more knowledgeable in '07.
• As a result of the trainings, participants feel their organizations are better equipped to serve NWA. (Ratings are higher than in '06)
• With exception to one program, the participants of the programs that were designed to help agencies leverage additional funds reported that they were better to do so. (The exception will not be repeated in subsequent years.)
• The average level of participants claiming they would recommend the training without hesitation is significantly higher than last year.
• The average ratings for programs that provided tools/information that the participants actually need are significantly higher this year.

Some additional questions were asked to folks that attended '06 trainings to determine what, if any, longer-term benefits had occurred.

• Of the people that attended last year's trainings, 33% reported that, during the past year, they spent some time in review of the materials; 42% reviewed them occasionally; 9% had spent enough time with material to have integrated it; and 15% integrated the material so well that they ruminate on it through the normal course of their lives.
• Direct comparison between leaders of agencies who both took the '05 survey and participated in '06 trainings indicate that their ratings in 8 of the 12 measurable skills increased between spring '05 and fall '06.

When looking at '05, '06, and '07 findings side by side, the following conclusions were made:

• There was an increase in the importance in the role that CF plays as a source of support and training. (Now, CF is considered to be a "very important" source.)
• Importance also increased for the role that management teams and peers play as support sources; whereas the role that board members played decreased. (This may mean that, as a result of the trainings, nonprofit leaders are sharing knowledge more openly, and better appreciating their management team.)
• There was an even greater increase in the role that paid consultants and professional associations played as sources of support and training.
• Furthermore, another outcome was that a larger share of directors are building more staff and/or board training and development funds into their '07 budget
• Improvement is shown in skills: grants administration (significantly), employment and labor law, fundraising/development, advocacy, managing/training staff, and marketing/public relations (significantly).
• Managing/training volunteers and program evaluation and outcomes assessment skill levels are lower in 07 than in 05

Survey Research Center's conclusions were:

• Facilitators and programs were better on the whole in '07. Additionally, the range of ratings was narrower, primarily because the lowest evaluations were higher in '07 than in '06. Given this, it may be concluded the set of programs offered in 2007 was stronger.
• As last year, programs considered to be most effective are most likely to be recommended to other nonprofit leaders, but are also viewed as unaffordable.
• Capacity with respect to ethics, board recruitment and training, and fundraising increased.

Staff notes:

• In the original 05 survey, there was an obvious need for training in outcomes assessment and program evaluation. The self-rating of skill levels by training participants is lower now. There is a concentrated effort to offer a program that addresses evaluation in 2008.
• Legal eSource has had 6200 visits!
• The grant seekers collection at Fayetteville public library assisted 1,234 searches for organizational funding.
• Several agencies have hired facilitators outside of CF- funded training to provide additional training.

Participant Comments:

Given the chance to reply to open-ended questions about the trainings, most participant comments were positive. The ones that were not, were suggestions about the format of the training (e.g. need more time on a particular section), length of the program (e.g. meeting for 3 hours instead of 4 would have been easier to accommodate in schedules), etc. Overwhelmingly, though, the comments were similar to those that follow:

• I love this and will make every meeting I can - Great job!
• I feel our board is better prepared to be more inclusive and operate with higher impact.
• Our facilitators are two of the most knowledgeable, impressive, engaging and positive speakers that I have seen in a long time.
• I am better prepared to lead our board to greater effectiveness. I feel great being in the presence of such educated and experiences people who have dealt with board building and expanding for some time and they know what it takes to make it happen.
• Our trainers are phenomenal!
• The advice you've given me and the practice and tips and how to approach difficult topics have been invaluable.
• This program has made me aware of areas that need improvement and given me many ideas on how to implement the changes.
• The program has helped me both personally and professionally. My work will continue for a long time, but I appreciate your getting me on the path
• I flew to Chicago for a two-day workshop last December and I received much more information in two hours here.
• Now, I have tools to reference my agency's core values and to clarify my own personal values.
• I realize that I can change how I portray myself under stress.
• The training was better than I anticipated.
• This is by far the best and most useful training that I have attended.
• I like that it was only our organization at the training. We could really talk and really relate the content to our actual work. I've been to too many generic training that are not relevant to the real work an agency does.