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Powering Nonprofit Success Through Participatory Processes:

Did you know that organizations prioritizing participatory processes and deliberately decreasing barriers see a significant increase in program effectiveness? This Fall, I’m excited to delve into how this framework powers real-world success through our three-part webinar series, Insights for Impact!

On September 18th, Dr. Inderjit Vicky Basra, President and CEO of the Delores Barr Weaver Policy Center, and Jessica Raymond, former Chief of Staff of the YWCA, joined Sharity Global Expert Anne Miskey to offer real-world examples of ways participatory processes elevated their organizations’ mission and impact. Dr. Basra emphasized the importance of including direct and indirect experts in decision-making conversations. She noted, “…layered communication makes the change.” When those in the community who experience the challenges your organization strives to address work alongside those with academic or professional experience in key areas, your organization can begin to affect systemic change. Jessica added, “When we talk about advocating for people and engaging their voices…here is the mic! You sit at this table, you tell me what you need from us, you make the decision…”

Key takeaways from the conversation included:

  • Write equity into your policies and procedures.
  • Avoid “tokenizing” the community you serve. Ensure that if you ask something of your community members, such as asking them to share their stories, you are developing and strengthening a mutually beneficial relationship with them.
  • Identify ways your organization may connect direct experts, those with lived experience, with donors, elected officials, and other community leaders and influencers.
  • Engaging all voices allows you to review and evaluate the impact of your programming with an open mind and heart.
  • Give credit to all the experts helping you execute your mission. Whenever possible, compensate and recognize direct experts, those with lived experiences, for their work on behalf of your organization, just as you would an indirect expert with academic or professional experience. 

Dr. Basra summed up the importance of engaging all voices when she described the success her organization has had with connecting survivor mentors with the recently rescued. “[Survivor’s] concepts around hope look very different because they’re sitting across from somebody, that at some point, was in the same space that they are in…Their survivor-mentor becomes a beacon of hope!” Anne added, “The little ways you can connect your donors in real ways to people” will bring about transformation.

Watch The Full Video Now

 

I just got my 501c3; now what?

Ask Me Anything Summary

I just got my 501(c)(3); now what? well as soon as you get your 501(c)(3), a lot of groups that are doing nonprofit work, the first thing they do is they go out and they just start doing services and before you know it they’re so overwhelmed with actually performing the day to day functions of the nonprofit that they never take the most critical stuff, and that is developing your business plan.

I mean no entrepreneur in the for-profit world would ever go out and set up a business without some sort of business plan on how they were actually going to succeed. so once you have the 501(c)(3) paperwork in your hands, pause, take a deep breath, pull those close advisers, that new board of directors around you, develope that business plan, because you’re never gonna be able to make it to the next step, which is having paid staff and being able to get government funding and all of those other things that makes you grow as a as a nonprofit, if you don’t have a plan in place and you know where you’re going to be over the next couple of years. so get that plan and if you don’t have one or you don’t know where to start, head over to the sharity knowledge center. we’ve got some great videos and templates, all kinds of tools for you to get your first steps off right, so that your nonprofit can be successful.