Training and TA Plan to Complement
ACQUIRING PUBLIC GRANTS
View this e-learning module
Plan 1
Purpose: Review and share information from a grant-related website.
Strategy: E-learning lesson with work assignment prior to in-person training/webinar.
Details: Prior to a training event on this topic, ask participants to review this e-learning lesson. Specifically, direct them to follow the link to the Grantsmanship Center located in Chapter 2 under text heading “Make the Decision to Apply.” Ask them to explore the website, including the “Resources” section (publications, magazine archives, etc.) and come to the class/webinar prepared to share one relevant resource or piece of information they found.
Plan 2
Purpose: Discuss the Grant Proposal Checklist.
Strategy: E-learning lesson with work assignment prior to in-person training/webinar.
Details: Prior to a webinar or in-person training, assign participants to review this e-learning lesson. Direct them to the downloadable handout in Chapter 4, Writing a Great Grant Proposal Checklist. Ask them to think about additional items they might add to the checklist, based on prior experience with grant writing or suggestions from others in their organization. Ask them bring the checklist to the in-person session/webinar and facilitate a discussion of the checklist, including participants’ added items.
Training and TA Plan to Complement
BUILDING MULTIPLE REVENUE SOURCES
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Plan 1
Purpose: Identify financial goals and revenue sources.
Strategy: E-learning lesson with work assignment prior to technical assistance (TA) engagement.
Details: Prior to your in-person training on this topic, assign participants to review this e-learning lesson. Ask them to download and complete the Goals and Financial Resources document in Chapter 2. Encourage them to collaborate with key staff and board members to complete this profile (where their fundraising goals and revenue sources are today and where they need to be). Ask them to use the completed form to create a one to two paragraph summary statement of their organization’s key revenue development goals. Consider providing a two paragraph sample. Have them email this to you prior to your one-to-one TA phone conference. Help your clients clarify their revenue goals and expand their ideas on potential funding sources.
Plan 2
Purpose: Discuss online fundraising tools.
Strategy: E-learning lesson with work assignment prior to in-person training/webinar.
Details: Ask participants to review the e-learning lesson, download the Web 2.0 Report Card in Chapter 1, and consider which tools might be useful for their revenue strategy. Then, during the in-person training, go online to show participants these fundraising sites. Facilitate a discussion about their features, advantages, and disadvantages. Share your own experiences and solicit experiences participants may have had with online fundraising tools.
Plan 3
Purpose: Create revenue source plans.
Strategy: E-learning lesson with work assignment prior to in-person training and post-training conference call.
Details: Ask participants to review the e-learning lesson and complete the Revenue Source Plan Template in Chapter 5 for at least two different revenue sources they’d like to develop or expand. Ask them to bring their draft plans to the in-person training. Break participants into small groups to provide peer input on plans. Encourage participants to share their draft plans with organization staff and/or board members for additional input and finalization. Schedule a post-training conference call at an agreed-upon time for participants to share their successes and challenges with plan implementation to date.
Option: If you feel participants will feel uncomfortable sharing revenue source plans with each other (e.g., the community is small, they’re competing for the same funding sources, etc.), replace in-person training and the group conference call with one-to-one TA.
Plan 4
Purpose: Diagnose revenue source performance.
Strategy: E-learning lesson prior to in-person training/webinar, with post-training peer work.
Details: Assign participants to review the e-learning lesson prior to your training event. Six or more weeks after your in-person training or webinar, pair off participants for a post-training activity they can do by phone or in-person, depending on feasibility. Direct them to use the Revenue Source Diagnostic Tool in Chapter 6 to discuss which revenue sources are performing well (i.e., in sync with their revenue source plans created earlier) and which are underperforming, along with corrective steps that can be taken. Encourage pairs to use each other as sounding boards to improve their diagnosis and corrective plans. You might consider providing pairs with the following questions:
- Which of the revenue sources currently show few, if any, symptoms of underperformance? Provide examples.
- Which of the revenue sources show significant underperformance symptoms? Provide examples.
- Among the underperforming revenue sources, what are the top two priorities at this time and why?
- Would other key staff and board members agree with this assessment?
- What next steps make sense? (e.g., discussing the diagnostic tool with others in my organization? Developing a concrete plan that focuses on corrective action? Something else?)
Training and TA Plan to Complement
COLLABORATING AND SHARING RESOURCES ONLINE
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Plan 1
Purpose: Explore online collaboration/resource sharing tools.
Strategy: E-learning lesson with work assignment and follow-up phone meeting.
Details: Direct participants to download two documents from Chapter 1 of the e-learning lesson: the Report Card and the Feature Comparison Spreadsheet. Ask them to explore the websites of at least two of these collaboration tools to learn more about their features. Ask them to create a list of ways their own organization might use an online collaboration tool. If there are participants whose organizations have already begun using one of these tools, have them list the ways it’s being used, along with benefits and limitations. Facilitate a group conference call to discuss their work.
Plan 2
Purpose: Create an action plan.
Strategy: E-learning lesson with work assignment, combined with remote peer review.
Details: Assign participants to review this e-learning lesson, complete the Action Plan template in Chapter 4, and download their plans to a community file sharing site (Sharepoint, Wiggio (free), Dropbox (free), etc.). Pair participants up to review each other’s action plans by phone conversation. The goal is to share ideas, provide feedback, and sharpen the plans. Consider providing a structure for the peer review. Suggested peer review questions include:
- How do you know your target users would use this? What effort would you have to put in to ensure adoption of the technology?
- How will you know if the desired benefits to the users are being achieved? What measures can you put in place to test this and demonstrate the success of your initiative?
- Tell me more about the person who needs to authorize the initiative. What are her key concerns? Why might she not want to authorize this? What risks might concern her?
- Now that we’ve had this discussion, are there action steps you would like to add to your plan? What are they?
Training and TA Plan to Complement
CONDUCTING A COMMUNITY ASSESSMENT
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Plan 1
Purpose: Identify the focus of a community assessment project.
Strategy: E-learning lesson prior to phone meeting.
Details: Direct participants to review the e-learning lesson prior to attending the phone conference. As pre-work for the phone conference, ask them to prepare a half- to one-page write-up that defines the focus and scope of a community assessment their nonprofit would like to undertake. Chapters 1 and 2 of the e-learning lesson are most relevant. Assign participants to email their statements of focus/scope in advance so you can post them to a community file sharing site (Sharepoint, Wiggio (free), Dropbox (free), etc.). During the phone meeting, ask participants to talk about their work and seek input from each other. Offer suggestions to help them sharpen their focus. Consider using a few questions to structure sharing, such as:
- On what central community issue or need will your assessment focus ?
- How did you arrive at this focus?
- What key questions do you want the assessment to answer?
This process can work well with a fairly small group (four to eight participants) on a sixty to ninety minute conference call. If the group is larger, you’ll need to hold separate phone meetings with sub-groups.
Plan 2
Purpose: Create a data collection plan.
Strategy: E-learning lesson with work assignment prior to in-person training.
Details: Ask participants to review the e-learning lesson and download the Data Collection Plan Worksheet from Chapter 4. Direct them to fill out the worksheet and bring it to your in-person training on conducting community assessments. Break participants into small groups to discuss and offer input on the data collection plans. Consider using questions to frame the sharing, such as:
- How do the secondary sources you’ve listed provide information relevant to your assessment questions?
- How do the primary sources you’ve listed provide relevant information?
- What specific information are you seeking from primary sources?
- Do others in the group have suggestions for additional secondary or primary sources that this person might consider?
By sharing their initial data collection plans and seeking input, participants may discover additional data sources and approaches they’ll be able to incorporate in their own community assessment projects.
Plan 3
Purpose: Summarize and share assessment results.
Strategy: E-learning lesson followed by post-training phone conference.
Details: Assign participants to review the e-learning lesson. Schedule a phone conference, allowing enough time for participants to implement their community assessment. Ask them to complete the Key Findings Worksheet (Chapter 5) prior to the phone conference and send it to you in advance for posting on a community file sharing site (Sharepoint, Wiggio (free), Dropbox (free), etc.). During the phone meeting, ask people to describe key assessment findings, including any results they found especially significant or surprising (and why).
Training and TA Plan to Complement
CREATING AND IMPLEMENTING A DATA COLLECTION PLAN
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Plan 1
Purpose: Choose a data collection method and develop a data collection tool appropriate for a project.
Strategy: E-learning lesson prior to a series of technical assistance (TA) engagements.
Details: Once your client has a logic model and performance measures in place (see blended strategies for Developing a Data Collection Plan), he will need to identify the most appropriate system for collecting data. Ask the person to review the e-learning lesson, paying particular attention to Chapter 1, including completing the assessment on which method to use (bottom of Chapter 1). Ask your client to write down the assessment results and initial thoughts about possible methods to use. Then, in a one-on-one TA engagement, talk through the questions in the download from Chapter 3, Checklist for Data Collection Design, to uncover resources and constraints that might inform the development of a data collection method. Through conversation, help your client decide which method to select and, together, create an action plan for getting the system up and running.
Plan 2
Purpose: Solicit feedback and share ideas on how to increase the quality and volume of data; create an action plan for doing so.
Strategy: Facilitated small group discussion (via conference call, ideally with a web-based screen sharing program (e.g., GoToMeeting.com, Wiggio.com (free), etc.), with follow-up technical assistance (TA).
Description: Prior to this session, direct participants to complete logic models and select performance indicators (see blended learning strategies from the e-learning lesson, Developing an Outcome Measurement Plan). Ask them to identify a data collection method (see blended learning strategy above). Prior to the conference call, ask participants to review Chapter 4 and complete a registration survey answering the following questions:
- What key measures and outcomes will you track?
- What data collection method(s) will you use?
- How will you gather sufficient high-quality data?
Compile answers on a handout to send out to participants prior to the call. Make the handout visible to participants on your computer screen during the call via a web-based screen sharing program. At the beginning of the call, explain that each participant will share what she wrote on the handout, detailing her ideas for ensuring adequate data quality and volume. After each speaker, ask the group if they have feedback or additional suggestions. Track these ideas live on the screen, adding to the existing handout. After the phone conference, follow up with participants individually to confirm their approach and identify action steps and a timeline to put the plan into motion.
Training and TA Plan to Complement
CREATING YOUR SUSTAINABILITY PLAN
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Plan 1
Purpose: Tackle key questions at the beginning of sustainability planning.
Strategy: E-learning lesson with follow-up assignment prior to in-person training/webinar.
Details: Ask participants to review the e-learning lesson, download the Sustainability Planning Questions worksheet in Chapter 1, and work with organizational stakeholders to complete the worksheet prior to attending a webinar or in-person training. Use online chat groups or in-person breakout groups for participants to share their work and discuss what they learned from this initial planning step that might shape how their organization approaches sustainability planning.
Plan 2
Purpose: Build a case with donors.
Strategy: E-learning lesson with follow-up assignments prior to in-person training.
Details: Assign participants to review the e-learning lesson. Ask them to download and complete four worksheets from Chapter 2: Targeting Your Audience, Selling Your Organization, Sharing Your Vision, and Organizational Costs. Request that participants email their worksheets to you prior to the in-person training event. Based on your review of their worksheets, prepare a set of tips to help them strengthen the clarity and appeal of their cases for donor support. Discuss the tips during the training and elicit additional tips from the group.
Plan 3
Purpose: Practice how to ask for donor support.
Strategy: E-learning lesson prior to in-person training and follow-up technical assistance (TA).
Details: Ask participants to review the e-learning lesson, with instructions to download the Tips for Presenting handout in Chapter 2. Ask them to identify, prior to the training, at least two target donors their organization plans to approach. Devote one segment of your training to (1) a review of the presentation tips and (2) role-playing rounds done in three-person small groups. For each role-play, one person plays the donor, one person practices making the “ask,” and the third person serves as an observer and offers feedback at the end of the practice. Rotate roles so that everyone in each group has a practice opportunity. Even if some of your participants are not the organizational members who will be making donor presentations, practicing will better prepare them to support or coach those who will be presenting. This activity will be more valuable if participants have already worked through the four worksheets in Chapter 2 that help them build their case with donors (see previous blended strategy, Build a case with donors).
After the training, offer remote TA to help individual participants refine their “ask” for a priority potential donor they have in mind.
Plan 4
Purpose: Identify prospective partners and create a strategy to approach them.
Strategy: E-learning lesson with work assignment prior to in-person training/webinar.
Details: Assign participants to review the e-learning lesson and complete the document, Who to Partner With, downloaded from Chapter 3. Prior to attending the training or webinar, ask them to write a one-page summary of their potential serious partners, potential minor partners, and potential alliances. In addition, they should tailor a case for partnership for each potential serious partner. Ask them to bring their work to the training to be shared and refined in participant pairs or small groups. During the training you might explain that doing a cost-benefit analysis can help organizations decide whether the benefits of forming a partnership are likely to outweigh the challenges. Provide a simple format for doing a cost-benefit analysis and suggest they do this analysis with others in their organization for each of their potential serious partners.
Training and TA Plan to Complement
DEVELOPING A PLAN FOR OUTCOME MEASUREMENT
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Plan 1
Purpose: Identify a program that needs evaluation and develop outcome statements.
Strategy: E-learning lesson with work assignment prior to in-person training.
Details: Prior to training, have learners answer the questions and respond to statements in Chapter 1 Getting Started text. These questions will ensure that learners come to your training having thought through what program they want to measure, why they want to measure it, and what resources they have at their disposal to execute the initiative. Ideally they will have reviewed the entire e-learning lesson, giving them baseline knowledge for the group training. The instructor should review the concept of outcome chains or if-then statements (described in Chapter 2). Ask for a volunteer to share pre-work, describing a program he wants to evaluate and why. Then, collaboratively work through an outcome chain with this person on a white board or flip chart. Elicit questions from the group.
Break participants into small groups and ask them to share which program needs evaluation and why. Reconvene participants and ask them to work individually on an outcome chain for their programs. The training facilitator(s) should float among participants, coaching and offering guidance as they work. Consider inviting a guest to your course who specializes in outcome measurement and has on-the-ground experience with nonprofit evaluation.
Plan 2
Purpose: Select appropriate performance indicators to track and measure.
Strategy: E-learning lesson with work assignment prior to technical assistance (TA) engagement.
Description: Have learners complete the e-learning lesson, paying specific attention to outcome chains in Chapter 2 and logic models in Chapter 3. Request that learners complete the logic model prior to your TA engagement and send it to you for review. Prior to your meeting, highlight areas on the logic model where you have questions or suggestions. During your engagement, ask the following questions to help your clients identify performance indicators that are measurable:
- How could one see the change? (Through what kind of observation?)
- How could one hear the change? (Through interviews? Focus groups?)
- How could one read the change? (Through surveys? In records?)
Do this for each area of change to help your client identify a complete set of potential performance indicators. After this collaborative process, ask your client to work with other organization members to determine which of these indicators to measure. Suggest that they use this set of questions found in Chapter 3 of the e-learning lesson:
- Do your indicators make sense in relation to the outcomes they are intended to measure?
- Are your indicators directly related to the outcome? Do they define the outcome?
- Are your indicators specific?
- Are your indicators measurable or observable? Can they be seen (i.e., observed behavior), heard (i.e., participant interview), or read (i.e., client records)?
- Is it reasonable that you can collect data on the indicators?
- Who is the appropriate party to collect the data? (You? Others in your organization? A third party?)
- Is it within your resources to have data collected?
Training and TA Plan to Complement
ESTABLISHING COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS
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Plan 1
Purpose: Plan participation in interagency organizations.
Strategy: E-learning lesson with work assignment prior to in-person training/webinar.
Details: Prior to training, assign participants to review the e-learning lesson. Ask them to complete the Joining Interagency Organizations worksheet from Chapter 1. During the training, create pairs to discuss their work. Questions to guide discussion might include:
- What are the advantages and disadvantages of joining each of the interagency organizations on your list?
- Of the organizations on your list, to which one would you give top priority and why?
Training and TA Plan to Complement
IDENTIFYING AND DEVELOPING DONORS
View this e-learning module
Plan 1
Purpose: Create a prospective donor list and donor record.
Strategy: E-learning lesson prior to in-person
training/webinar, followed by phone conference.
Details: Assign participants to review the e-learning lesson.
In the webinar or training event, review the “ABC” and three tier approaches for
mapping networks and identifying prospects highlighted in Chapter 2. Give
participants a post-training task: encourage them to work with their
organizations to identify and research new prospects and complete the Master
Prospect List and Prospect Record forms from Chapter 3. Schedule a post-training
conference call to check on participants’ donor identification and solicitation
progress. You might use this blended strategy in combination with a previous
blended strategy – (see Creating Your Sustainability Plan, Practice
how to ask for donor support).
Plan 2
Purpose: Generate ideas for donor recognition.
Strategy: E-learning lesson prior to webinar.
Details: Ask participants to review the e-learning lesson and
pay special attention to methods for recognizing and appreciating donors,
discussed in Chapter 5. Direct them to Chapter 4 of another e-learning lesson –
Planning for, Securing, and Documenting In-kind Donations –
which also focuses on ways to acknowledge donors. Conduct the webinar and
display photos and screenshots of donor recognition methods used by
local/national nonprofit organizations (e.g., recognition walls, newsletters,
thank you letters, etc.). Ask participants to share the methods they currently
use and identify new methods they’d like to try out.
Training and TA Plan to Complement
LEADING A NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION
View this e-learning module
Plan 1
Purpose: Assess your leadership strengths and challenges.
Strategy: E-learning lesson with work assignment,
combined with remote peer sharing and/or in-person training.
Details: Ask participants to review the e-learning lesson and
complete the self-assessment form in Chapter 1. Pair off participants and direct
them to schedule a phone conversation with their partner to discuss the
self-assessment. The self-assessment form provides a structure for the
conversation. You might use this activity as pre-work for in-person training.
Ask participants to bring their completed assessments to class and form small
groups to discuss the “Next Steps” portion of the assessment. Prior to the
training, you might ask participants to post their response to Question 3 (What
is your single most effective team building practice, tool, or solution?) and
related attachments to a file sharing site (Sharepoint, Wiggio (free), Dropbox
(free), etc.).
Plan 2
Purpose: Assess your leadership style.
Strategy: E-learning lesson with work assignment,
combined with remote peer sharing and/or in-person training.
Details: Ask participants to review the e-learning lesson and
complete the Leadership Style Assessment instrument in Chapter 6. Pair off
participants and ask them to schedule a phone conversation with their partners
to discuss the self-assessment. Alternatively, during an in-person session you
might review the three leadership styles explained in the e-learning lesson.
Then, have participants complete the instrument and share their results,
followed by a discussion on the appropriate uses of each leadership style.
Questions to guide the discussion could include:
- What are some circumstances in which an authoritarian style might be most
appropriate?
- What are some circumstances in which a participative style might be most
appropriate?
- What are some circumstances in which a delegative style might be most
appropriate?
Plan 3
Purpose: Evaluate team progress.
Strategy: E-learning lesson prior to in-person training/webinar.
Details: Assign participants to review the e-learning lesson, focusing their
attention on the issue of team management, presented in Chapter 7. Download the
Team Status Check-In document from the chapter and make copies for your
in-person training event. During a segment of your program, give participants
time to complete the form individually and discuss their work in small groups.
You might add an additional action-planning step in which they identify two to
three priority actions stemming from their team evaluation (e.g., follow-up
measures, employee recognition, information-sharing with team, etc.)
Plan 4
Purpose: Create a fundraising plan.
Strategy: E-learning lesson with work assignment prior
to in-person training.
Details: Direct participants to review the e-learning lesson.
Ask them to begin work on a new fundraising plan, using the six step model
outlined in Chapter 5. Instruct participants to bring their work on Steps 1
through 3 to the in-person training event. Lead a discussion on the six step
model, including tips from your own experience and suggestions and questions
from participants.
Training and TA Plan to Complement
MANAGING CRISIS
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Plan 1
Purpose: Develop a crisis response plan.
Strategy: E-learning lesson prior to in-person
training/webinar with post-work.
Details: Assign participants to review the e-learning lesson.
During the in-person session, review the key activities involved in crisis
response planning (e.g., SWOT analysis, creating a communication plan, etc.).
Show an abbreviated crisis response plan that you prepared in advance as a
sample. Structure a post-work assignment: instruct participants to develop their
own crisis response plans during a designated timeframe. After the designated
time period, schedule a group phone conference for participants to discuss
whatever stage of crisis response planning their organizations are in. You might
consider using discussion questions, such as:
- Since our training, what crisis planning steps has your organization
taken, if any?
- If no steps have been taken, what are the barriers to crisis response planning?
- Regardless of the stage you’re in, how can you create or maintain momentum for
crisis response planning in your organization?
Plan 2
Purpose: Refine your employment interview questions.
Strategy: E-learning lesson with work assignment prior
to in-person training/webinar.
Details: Prior to the in-person training event, assign
participants to review the e-learning lesson, with special attention to the
document, Sample Interviewing Guidelines found in Chapter 6. Ask participants to
bring in a list of questions for an upcoming interview or a standard set of
questions used by their organization. During the in-person session, review the
material in Sample Interviewing Guidelines. Provide time for participants (in
small groups) to compare their currently used questions against the legal
guidelines and sample questions, refining their own questions in the process.
Training and TA Plan to Complement
MANAGING PUBLIC GRANTS
View this e-learning module
Plan 1
Purpose: Review the fundamentals of public grant management.
Strategy: E-learning lesson with work assignment prior
to in-person training or webinar series.
Details: Assign participants to review the e-learning lesson.
Instruct them to keep a running list of any questions they have related to the
following sub-topics addressed in the e-learning lesson:
- What are the responsibilities of being a grant recipient?
- How do we ensure compliance with the grant agreement?
- What is the process for receiving and distributing Federal funds?
- What are the reporting requirements (administrative, financial, audit)?
- How are grant funds requested and received?
- What is the process for budget changes?
- What are the most frequent causes of noncompliance?
- What are the remedies/penalties for noncompliance?
- What is the process for continuation funding?
- What is required for grant closeout?
Ask them to bring their questions to the training session or to send them to you
in advance. Build your in-person training around a deeper discussion or
clarification of the topics listed above.
Training and TA Plan to Complement
ONLINE TOOLS FOR DATA MANAGEMENT
View this e-learning module
Plan 1
Purpose: Assess data management needs.
Strategy: E-learning lesson with work assignment,
follow-up phone conference, and peer support.
Details: Assign participants to download the Comparison Table
spreadsheet document from the Overview section of the e-learning lesson. Ask
them to highlight the tool features that are most relevant to the needs of their
organization and write a statement about each feature that explains how they
envision it making a difference in their data management initiative. Facilitate
a group conference call to discuss their work.
At the end of the phone conference, form pairs or small groups that combine
people who are interested in similar tools. Ask them to serve as informal
technical support groups that offer mutual assistance as members move through
tool adoption and the usage learning curve.
Purpose: Advocate for data management tool adoption.
Strategy: E-learning with work assignment and follow-up
remote peer review.
Assign participants to download the Report Card and Comparison Table spreadsheet
documents from the Overview section of the e-learning lesson. Ask them to use
the information to select the data management tool that may be right for their
organization. Assign them to draft a memo to an appropriate target audience
(executive director, board of directors, funder) explaining how the features and
benefits of the tool will help to address an existing need or problem and the
value of adopting the tool. Ask them to post their work to a file sharing site
(Sharepoint, Wiggio (free), Dropbox (free), etc.). Create pairs for peer review
by phone. The goal is for participants to give and receive feedback on each
other’s “pitches” for the adoption of a data management tool.
Training and TA Plan to Complement
PARTNERSHIPS: FRAMEWORKS FOR WORKING TOGETHER
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Plan 1
Purpose: Start the process of partnership development.
Strategy: E-learning lesson prior to in-person training
with follow-up remote peer support.
Details: Assemble a group of participants who are either
considering forming a partnership or who have recently formed one. Direct them
to complete the e-learning lesson and also identify, before coming to the
training, one or more organizations they’re considering approaching about a
partnership arrangement or have already approached. In your training, discuss
the key components of successful partnership (see Chapter 1), including some
real world examples of effective partnerships. Review the different types of
partnerships highlighted in Chapter 2 and ask participants to define what
category their proposed or current partnership falls into. Distribute the
Checklist for Starting the Process and the Checklist for Setting Up and
Maintaining the Partnership. Allow participants twenty minutes to jot down their
thoughts in response to the checklist questions. If they haven’t formed a
partnership yet, they should record initial ideas. For those who’ve recently
formed a partnership, they should use this checklist to identify what key
elements are in place and what remains to be done to get the partnership off to
a solid start. Either discuss their responses in the full group (if small) or
break participants into small groups, each with a mix of those who haven’t
formed partnerships yet and those who have. You might ask them to discuss:
- What are the benefits to the target groups of forming this partnership?
- What are the shared goals and vision of the partnership? If this isn’t clear, by
what process will it be clarified?
- What specific parties are/will be involved and what are their responsibilities?
If this isn’t clear, by what process will it be clarified?
- How will the partnership develop an action plan that sets out specific goals,
accountabilities, and timelines?
What are the immediate next steps that need to be addressed to support the
development of this partnership? Form pairs who will schedule phone conferences
with each other during a designated post-training timeframe. The purpose of the
pair conferences is to discuss progress made on partnership development and
serve as mutual advisors.
Plan 2
Purpose: Build collaborative work plans.
Strategy: E-learning lesson with work assignment and
follow-up one-on-one technical assistance (TA).
Details: Ask your client to complete the e-learning lesson and
download and fill out the Collaborative Workplan Worksheet from Chapter 5. Ask
her to send you the completed worksheet before your scheduled technical
assistance meeting. Use the meeting to help your client think through the best
strategies and next steps for ensuring their partnership has a feasible
collaborative workplan in place. Schedule a follow-up meeting to check in on
progress to-date and offer additional suggestions.
Plan 3
Purpose: Explore frameworks for partnership norms and
communication.
Strategy: E-learning lesson prior to webinar.
Details: Instruct participants to review the e-learning lesson
prior to the webinar, with special attention to Chapter 4, which focuses on
partnership norms and communication processes. Prior to the webinar, familiarize
yourself one of the communication frameworks identified in the Chapter 4 text
(e.g., “Fierce Conversations,” “Difficult Conversations”, etc.). Include in your
webinar a discussion of the Partnership Norms Template (Chapter 4 download) and
one of these communication models, using nonprofit examples throughout the
session. Build in multiple opportunities for the participants to ask questions
and share experiences.
Training and TA Plan to Complement
PLANNING FOR, SECURING, AND DOCUMENTING IN-KIND DONATIONS
View this e-learning module
Plan 1
Purpose: Explore resource information on in-kind donations.
Strategy: E-learning lesson prior to webinar/training.
Details: Ask participants to review the e-learning lesson prior
to attending the webinar or training. Familiarize yourself with the resource
websites identified in the e-learning lesson Summary (e.g., the Foundation
Center website, Idealist.org, etc.). Reference additional websites from your
experience that you would recommend. Dedicate part of the training to going
online to these websites. Point out some of the most useful aspects of the
sites, answer participants’ questions, and ask if they have additional resources
to add (websites, articles, books, etc.).
Plan #
Purpose: Review guidelines for documenting in-kind donations.
Strategy: E-learning lesson with work assignment prior
to webinar.
Details: Assign participants to review the e-learning lesson
prior to attending the webinar, including Substantiating Charitable
Contributions, located on the IRS.gov website via the link located in Chapter 3.
Prior to the webinar, ask some or all participants to send you a list of
specific in-kind donations they’ve received in the last twelve months. Use these
lists to prepare examples of how to document a wide variety of in-kind
donations. Discuss the referenced information from IRS.gov website
(Substantiating Charitable Contributions) and answer participant questions.
Training and TA Plan to Complement
RECRUITING AND ENGAGING VOLUNTEERS ONLINE
View this e-learning module
Plan 1
Purpose: Share online volunteer recruitment and engagement action plans – Option
1.
Strategy: E-learning lesson with work assignment prior to in-person
training.
Details: Prior to an in-person training engagement on this topic, assign
participants to review this e-learning lesson and submit the action plan
template found in Chapter 4 to you via email. Facilitate a group discussion
about the key themes from the action plans. For example, the group may benefit
from talking through gaining authorization for online outreach or they may pick
up additional ideas for online recruitment and engagement they hadn’t
considered.
Plan 2
Purpose: Share online volunteer recruitment and engagement action plans – Option
2.
Strategy: E-learning lesson combined with remote peer review.
Details: Assign participants to review this e-learning lesson and complete the
action plan found in Chapter 4. Ask them to upload the plans to a community file
sharing site (Sharepoint, Wiggio (free), Dropbox (free), etc.). Pair
participants up to review each other’s action plans by phone conversation. The
goal is to share ideas, provide feedback, and sharpen the plans. You might
consider providing a structure for the peer review. Suggested peer review
questions include:
- How do you know your target users would use this? What effort would you have
to put in to ensure adoption of the technology?
- How will you know if the desired benefits to the users are achieved? What
measures can you put in place to test this and demonstrate the success of your
initiative?
- Tell me more about the person who needs to authorize the initiative. What are
her key concerns? Why might she not want to authorize this? What risks might
concern her?
- Now that we’ve had this discussion, what action steps would you like to add
to your plan?
Plan 3
Purpose: Select an appropriate online vehicle for volunteer recruitment and
engagement.
Strategy: E-learning lesson prior to one-on-one technical assistance.
Details: Provide the following questions to your client via email or online
survey and ask the individual to return his/her answers to you.
- What is your budget?
- Which of the following are you most interested in accomplishing?
- Viral marketing through existing social networks
- Both recruiting and activity planning functions (calendar, message boards,
etc.)
- Targeting people who have gone online specifically to find a volunteer
activity in which to participate
- Tapping into new markets of people who may not have been seeking a volunteer
opportunity
- What is your (or the administrator’s) skill level?
- Comfortable using Microsoft Word and Email
- The above, plus comfortable surfing the Internet
- All of the above, plus comfortable posting content to sites such as Facebook,
Twitter
- All of the above, plus comfortable subscribing to RSS feeds and commenting on
blogs
- All of the above, plus comfortable using web-based tools or building websites
- How much time will you have to set up the system?
- How much time per week can you dedicate to maintaining the system? Set up a
consultation (by phone or in-person) to review the requirements. Prior to your
meeting, request that the client review the e-learning lesson to gain baseline
knowledge about some available systems. At your meeting, print out the report
card found in the Summary chapter. Using the answers that your client provided,
look through the report card together and assess which systems would be a good
fit for both the purpose and skill level described. Technology is constantly
evolving. Feel free update the report card with new systems that you learn
about.
Training and TA Plan to Complement
UNDERSTANDING FEE-FOR-SERVICE MODELS
View this e-learning module
Plan 1
Purpose: Explore the viability of a fee-for-service model.
Strategy: E-learning with work assignment, combined with remote
technical assistance (TA).
Details: Ask the client to review the e-learning lesson and complete the table,
Can Fee for Service Work for your Organization? from Chapter 3 and email a draft
of his work to you. Review the table, provide concrete feedback, and write
probing questions directly on the document. Send the document back and schedule
a meeting to review your comments and questions with the client by phone.
Plan 2
Purpose: Develop language to use when requesting fees from clients.
Strategy: E-learning lesson with work assignment prior to in-person
training.
Details: Ask participants to review the e-learning lesson and submit case study
information prior to the training event. The information they need to submit
includes the following:
- Participant’s name
- One paragraph description of the organization
-
One paragraph description of the clients served by the organization
(demographic information, strengths, challenges, goals)
-
Services offered and associated costs
|
Services Offered
|
Cost of Offering
Each Service
|
Breakeven Point
(see Chapter 2)
|
|
1.
|
|
|
|
2.
|
|
|
|
3.
|
|
|
- List any anticipated obstacles or barriers to implementing fee-for-service
-
List any successful experiences the organization has had in implementing fee-for-service
At the training event, break the participants into small groups to share and
discuss their case studies. Instruct the groups to provide peer brainstorming on
strategies to implement a fee-for-service model. Reconvene the large group and
ask for volunteers to share ideas from their small group discussions that they
plan to incorporate.
Training and TA Plan to Complement
VALUE-DRIVEN DONOR DEVELOPMENT
View this e-learning module
Plan 1
Purpose: Research potential funders.
Strategy: E-learning lesson with work assignment prior
to webinar.
Details: Ask participants to review the e-learning lesson and
download the Funder Priority Research Template from Chapter 3. Ask them to
research and identify at least two potential funders prior to attending the
webinar and email the completed Research Template to you before the session.
Focus the webinar presentation on how organizations can effectively pitch their
organization and its services in ways that will appeal to different types of
funders. Use information from selected templates to develop a variety of sample
“pitches” or value statements that demonstrate the overlap between what an
organization has to offer and the funder’s priorities.
Plan 2
Purpose: Create value statements.
Strategy: E-learning lesson with work assignment prior
to remote peer review.
Details: Ask participants to complete the e-learning lesson on
this topic. Have them download the Aligning Needs with Strengths Template in
Chapter 4 and create a value statement for at least one potential funder they’ve
identified through their research. Consider having them complete the Funder
Priority Research Template beforehand and selecting one funder from that
worksheet to focus on. Ask them to download their work to a community file
sharing site (Sharepoint, Wiggio (free), Dropbox (free), etc.). Pair
participants up to peer review each other’s action plans by phone conversation.
It may be helpful for pairs to visit the websites of their partner’s
organization prior to the call to get an overview of its mission and services.
The goal of the peer meeting is to share ideas, provide feedback, and sharpen
the value statements. You might consider offering a structure for the peer
review. Suggested peer review questions include:
- How well does this value statement capture the overlap between the
funder’s priorities and the organization’s offering?
- What else might be added to strengthen the value statement? What elements, if
any, could be removed or reframed?
- What makes the value statement compelling? What, if anything, could make it more
so?
Plan 3
Purpose: Create concept papers.
Strategy: E-learning lesson followed by post-work and
phone conference.
Details: Assign participants to review the e-learning lesson on
this topic. You might consider implementing the previous blended strategies
suggested for this lesson (Research potential funders and/or Create value
statements) to lay a foundation for this focus on creating concept papers. At
the in-person training, provide tips for writing effective concept papers, using
the sample in Chapter 5 of the e-learning lesson, along with other examples
you’ve collected. Encourage participants to come to the course with drafts of
concept papers they’re working on. Give them a post-training assignment to
develop or modify their concept papers, based on what they learned in the
training. Schedule a post-training phone conference to discuss progress and
share some samples of their work (which they’ve sent to you in advance of the
call).
Training and TA Plan to Complement
VIRTUAL MEETINGS AND TRAININGS
View this e-learning module
Plan 1
Purpose: Explore online tools for virtual meetings and
trainings.
Strategy: E-learning lesson with work assignment and
follow-up phone conference.
Details: Direct participants to the e-learning on this topic.
Ask them to download the Report Card and Comparison Table in the lesson
Overview. Ask them to explore the websites of at least two of these
collaboration tools to learn more about their features. Also, ask them to create
a list of ways their own organization might use an online collaboration tool. If
there are participants whose organizations have already begun using one of these
tools, have them list the ways it’s being used, along with benefits and
limitations. Facilitate a group conference call to discuss their work.
Plan 2
Purpose: Create action plans.
Strategy: E-learning lesson combined with remote peer
discussion.
Details: Assign participants to review this e-learning lesson,
complete the Action Plan template in Chapter 5, and upload plans to a community
file sharing site (Sharepoint, Wiggio (free), Dropbox (free), etc.). Pair
participants up to review each other’s action plans by phone conversation. The
goal is to share ideas, provide feedback, and sharpen the plans. You might
provide a structure for the peer review. Sample peer review questions include:
- Who are your target users?
- How do you know your target users would use this? What effort would you have to
put in to ensure adoption of the technology?
- How will you know if the desired benefits to the users are achieved? What
measures can you put in place to test this and demonstrate the success of your
initiative?
- Tell me more about the person who needs to authorize the initiative. What are
his key concerns? Why might he not want to authorize this? What risks might
concern him?
- Now that we’ve had this discussion, what action steps would you like to add to
your plan?
Training and TA Plan to Complement
VOLUNTEER RECRUITMENT AND MANAGEMENT
View this e-learning module
Plan 1
Purpose: Explore creative ways to use volunteers during
resource-constrained times.
Strategy: Web-based group consultation, using resources
from the e-learning lesson, followed by e-learning lesson.
Details: Enroll participants who are not yet using volunteers
or who you suspect could benefit from more creative use of volunteers. In your
online meeting registration, ask if and how participants currently use
volunteers and why they’re interested in this topic. Show the Robert Egger clip
featured in Chapter 1 at the beginning of the meeting. Facilitate a discussion
using the following questions:
- What was Robert Egger’s main point?
- What needs does your organization have right now that are unmet?
- How could volunteers help meet these needs?
- What kind of volunteers would best meet these needs?
Plan 2
Purpose: Develop a recruiting message, ideas about sources for
volunteers to meet organizational needs, a volunteer position description, and a
recruiting action plan.
Strategy: E-learning lesson prior to in-person
training, followed by technical assistance (TA).
Prior to the training, assign participants to complete Chapter 1 of the
e-learning lesson and draft a three part recruitment message as described in
that chapter for at least one volunteer position. At the training, pair
participants together to share and give feedback on their three part recruitment
messages. Based on this input, participants should re-work their recruitment
messages. Then, ask a few participants to share their revised messages. Ask each
participant to write his/her recruitment message at the top of a flip-chart
paper. Ask participants to post their flipcharts on a wall.
Instruct participants to circulate around the room and read the messages.
Participants should suggest at least one idea for a source of volunteers to meet
the need on each flipchart and indicate if they could help make an introduction
to the organization. Ideally, the trainer would then schedule follow up TA with
each participant to flesh out the volunteer position description found in
Chapter 1 and to make an action plan for recruiting.
Plan 3
Purpose: Explore reasons for using volunteers and developing
recruitment strategies and volunteer structures.*
Strategy: Pre-work and in-person training, followed by
e-learning lesson and follow-up conference calls.
_____
* This blended learning strategy was contributed by Maria-Elena Augustin,
Program Coordinator, University of Central Florida Center for Public and
Nonprofit Management, an SCF grantee.
Training and TA Plan to Complement
WORKING WITH CONSULTANTS
View this e-learning module
Plan 1
Purpose: Incorporate essential elements in a draft RFP.
Strategy: E-learning lesson with work assignment prior
to remote peer review.
Details: Direct participants to the e-learning lesson on this
topic. Ask them to download and read two documents located in Chapter 3:
Elements of a Request for Proposal and A Sample Request for Proposal. Ask them
to draft their own RFPs for upcoming work that will require external expertise
and post their RFP drafts on a file-sharing site (Sharepoint, Wiggio, Dropbox,
etc.). Set up three-person conference calls for peer discussion and review of
the RFP drafts.
You might provide a framework for discussion with questions such as:
- Does this RFP contain the essential elements listed in the handout (Elements of
Request for Proposal)? If not, what’s missing?
- How clear is the project definition? The expected outcomes? The performance
standards?
- What other suggestions do you have, if any, to further refine this RFP?
Plan 2
Purpose: Learn best practices for contracting with and managing
consultants.
Strategy: E-learning lesson prior to webinar.
Details: Assign participants to review the e-learning lesson,
with special attention to Chapters 4 and 5, which focus on creating consultant
contracts and managing consultant work. During the webinar, review the
e-learning lesson material contained in Key Contract Elements and Sample
Contract in Chapter 4, along with content from Chapter 5. Add your own tips
about writing effective contracts and managing consultants’ work. Solicit
“lessons learned” from participants.
Training and TA Plan to Complement
ANALYZING DATA AND COMMUNICATING RESULTS
View this e-learning module
Plan 1
Purpose: Share visual displays of data.
Strategy: E-learning lesson with work assignment followed by remote or in-person peer review.
Details: After they’ve reviewed this e-learning lesson, direct participants to select a data set that would be valuable to communicate to an important target audience. Ask them to display the data visually, with a brief caption. Pair participants up to review each other’s charts, graphs, etc., by phone conversation. The goal is to share ideas, provide feedback, and improve the visual displays to ensure they are accurate, clear, and communicating the desired message. You might consider providing a structure for the peer review. Suggested peer review questions include:
- Do you think this data is important to my target audience?
- What message does my visual depiction of data communicate to you?
- Is this the right visual display for my data?
- What can I do to improve this visual display to make it clearer or more compelling?