"When capacity building is successful, it strengthens a nonprofit’s ability to fulfill its mission over time, thereby enhancing the nonprofit’s ability to have a positive impact on lives and communities." - National Council on Nonprofits
Empowering Mid-Ohio Valley nonprofits
The vision of Nonprofits LEAD is for every nonprofit to have the tools, resources, knowledge, and support they need to meet the needs of their community.
The mission of Nonprofits LEAD is to build a strong, sustainable nonprofit community in the Mid-Ohio Valley in which every organization is able to effectively and efficiently achieve its mission.
The goals of Nonprofits LEAD are to:
- Collaborating within the Mid-Ohio Valley (MOV) to determine the capacity-building needs of the nonprofit sector
- Providing educational opportunities for nonprofit organizations to strengthen their capacity
- Fostering resource-sharing partnerships among nonprofit leaders
- Empowering students to be future leaders in the nonprofit sector by engaging them in programs
- Advocating for the MOV nonprofit community on local, state, national, and international levels
The values of Nonprofits LEAD are:
- Collaboration and Inclusion
All voices and thoughts have a space and all stakeholders are represented. Healthy and diverse groups of organizations and their services provided fill gaps rather than compete or duplicate - Stability
Nonprofits as effective service providers; they have adequate funding, good planning and evaluation, and strong governance. - Active Participation
Actively encourage and strengthen volunteerism, board and committee work, and financial support. - Relationship Building
Social sector partnerships are formed to meet goals and missions. Positive organizational culture; coworkers, clients, volunteers, and donors are all treated well - Community Commitment Heart-work not hard work: Commitment to mission. Organizations are community-based and long-term.
Contact
Nonprofits LEAD
For more information about capacity building, nonprofit leadership, and additional resources, contact
Shannan Tschopp
Nonprofits LEAD Program Director
740.376.4559
smt003@marietta.edu
Capacity Development Focus Areas
Nonprofits LEAD supports the development of organizational capacity by focusing on seven areas:
Finances | Information Technology | Human Resources | Marketing | Networking and Advocacy Operations and Governance | Programs and Planning
Next Gen
Marietta College Students on Boards of local nonprofits!
This intensive two-semester academic program matches Marietta College students with local nonprofit boards. Students attend weekly classes as well as monthly board meetings. They work on specific projects for their nonprofit organizations through the class; a capacity assessment, a grant proposal, and a personalized engagement plan. Support and assistance is provided to the organizations involved to strengthen their boards while in the program.
Outcomes
Engage youth and young professionals; encourage innovation among boards; develop and implement small scale capacity building projects in local organizations.
Annual Capacity Building Conference
Capacity Building and Networking – Locally! A wide variety of topics for Board Members, Executive Directors, Staff and Volunteers.
This one-day, low-cost conference offers a variety of workshops built around an annual theme. Designed as an easy entry point for organizations to connect to Nonprofits LEAD, as well as a useful stand-alone professional development opportunity and networking event for organizations who may not be able to participate in Nonprofits LEAD’s ongoing programming.
Outcomes
Build regional identity and collaboration; re-energize; connect to new organizations; offer a basic level of professional development and capacity building that is easily accessible to all organizations, and engage young professionals.
Community Board Training
A one-time, half-day training open to all interested community members which covers the basics of nonprofit board service in an accessible way. This training has been used by some organizations as an orientation for new and prospective board members, and also utilized by individuals interested in learning more about board roles and governance. Workshop is offered in both Marietta and Parkersburg annually.
Outcomes
Cultivate more community member involvement in the nonprofit sector; increase knowledge about board governance in current and emerging nonprofit organizations.
Workshops
These half or one-day events focus on presenting information and techniques applicable to a wide range of organizations in their day to day work. Topics range from grant writing and sponsorship to marketing and storytelling, and are offered, when possible, in partnership with community foundations.
Outcomes
Fill specific, identified skill or capacity gaps to allow organizations to better meet their missions; encourage awareness and implementation of best practices.
Learning Groups
Nonprofits LEAD has developed 3 learning group series: The Board Learning Group (last delivered 2017-18), Executive Directors Learning Group (Last delivered 2018) and an Emerging Leaders learning group for staff (last delivered 2017).
Outcomes
Stronger leaders within nonprofit boards; more effective and higher functioning boards; more collaboration between board members of different organizations; build availability of peer assistance among community members who serve on boards.
Lunch and Learns
This simple format is common and effective for dissemination of information with very little need for engagement or for beginning conversations that can be carried back to other venues.
Outcomes
Outcomes vary greatly by topic, but the general theme is to increase the audience’s knowledge or understanding in a specific area.
Summits and Collaboration Events
While the networking that occurs naturally in our other programs often will lead to collaboration between nonprofits, a facilitated event can lead to more focused outcomes.
Outcomes
Better awareness and relationships among organizations; mapped assets and gaps among target sectors; increased awareness of Nonprofits LEAD and other support services; setting an informed agenda for future capacity-building work through Nonprofits LEAD; facilitating collaborative work for impact.
Self-Care Retreat
This program was created to counter the likelihood of burnout and turnover in the nonprofit sector. We bring in staff and leadership together to learn, experience and incorporate selfcare techniques including healthy eating, mindfulness, yoga, journaling, positive thinking, healthy workplace culture and goal-setting.
Outcomes
Participants leave feeling appreciated, refreshed and equipped for moving forward to make caring for themselves part of their work and life routines.
Individual Consulting and Support
As-needed assistance is offered to nonprofit organizations in the Mid-Ohio Valley by request. Frequent requests include assistance with board development, mission review and reconstruction, and meeting facilitation. In addition, answers to frequently asked questions are provided, as are resources such as articles, tools, templates, and best practices, and informal referrals to consultants or other programs as appropriate. Organizations regularly tell us how useful it is to them to have, in one director’s words, “someone who will pick up the phone” when they have a question or issue.
Outcomes
Provide access point for services and programs; facilitate organizational development processes; build a sense of nonprofit community by connecting organizations to Nonprofits LEAD and to each other; allow motivated groups to move forward at their own pace.