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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

Carol Wick, CEO, Sharity
Last week:

    HELPING NONPROFITS: Amid unprecedented suffering and increased demand for services, helping nonprofits has never been more urgent. Throughout COVID-19, nonprofits have stepped up in extraordinary ways, as community foundations, philanthropists and businesses contributed billions nationally. Our own CFL Community Foundation directed $1.6 million (plus $1.3 million from donor-advised funds) in critical relief to nonprofits in the areas of mental health, the elderly, animals, health care, hunger and homelessness. Others have followed suit. If we are to bounce back in this time of “reeling and reinvention,” we need everyone to continue pledging more and thinking outside traditional funding models. Make your dollars count.
  1. Looking ahead: HOLD ABUSERS ACCOUNTABLE: As we mark this Domestic Violence (DV) Awareness Month, we must double down on supporting survivors and crisis centers impacted by the terror of DV during this pandemic. Like COVID-19, DV knows no partisanship. In the U.S., 24 people every minute are victims of physical violence, rape, and/or stalking from their partners; the numbers are even more stark for women of color. Freedom from fear and abuse is a fundamental human right. Now, more than ever, we must break the silence of this shadow pandemic and rededicate ourselves to holding abusers accountable.