Free workshop will help faith-based organizations manage change

The popular Compassion Kansas workshop series returns this month with a new session designed specifically for faith-based organizations.

“The Missional Faith-Based Organization” will be presented from 1 to 5 p.m. Sept. 20 by the Wichita State University Center for Community Support & Research (CCSR). There is no charge for the workshop, but reservations are required and space is limited.

This workshop applies lessons from The Missional Leader, a widely used book about the missional movement in American churches, to faith-based community work and outreach. It is intended to help people who are serving their communities better understand and respond to the changes in those communities – not to mention the changes that may be underway in their own organizations.

CCSR staff members Teresa Strausz and Seth Bate will be the workshop presenters. Both speakers have worked with a variety of community and nonprofit organizations around the state. Strausz is a licensed master social worker and the facilitator of CCSR’s trauma-informed care team. Bate has recently been working with congregations as part of the Leadership and Faith: Transforming Communities project, and this summer he was on a guest faculty team at St. Paul School of Theology, Kansas City.

According to Strausz, part of the session will examine the relationship among faith-based service organizations, congregations and denominations. The workshop will also challenge attendees to consider the impact of spiritual practices that support the work of their organizations.

Bate said that CCSR has a long history of assisting faith-based organizations, but the focus of this workshop still makes it distinct.

“We’re excited to offer something specifically targeted to the situations of people engaged in community ministry through nonprofit and grassroots organizations,” Bate said. “We have some ideas we want to share, and we think we have a lot to learn from the people out there who are committed to this work.”

Call  316.978.3843 or (in Kansas) 800.445.0116 with questions or to make reservations.

Future free Compassion Kansas workshops are set for Oct. 8 and Nov. 9 (PDF flier).

Social Media for Nonprofits and Coalitions | By Amy Delamaide

CCSR presented a Compassion Kansas workshop yesterday for nonprofits and coalitions interested in learning more about optimizing their organizations' use of social media.

We had one handout detailing our assumptions going into the workshop:

Our Assumptions

1. We like social media and think it is useful.
2. We believe that it is no longer on the cutting edge, but that it is mainstream.
3. We believe that social media is most useful for nonprofits when it is used with targeted purpose, rather than as a diffuse, shotgun approach. Nonprofits rarely have the time or resources for anything other than acting with purpose.
4. We believe that when it comes to social media, participating and consuming information is just as important as broadcasting information.
5. We are users of social media, not experts.
6. We can’t teach you everything about every social media website.
7. For a nonprofit organization, your online presence must be consistent with your stated charitable purpose. We assume you will use social media as one method for carrying out your mission and strategies.

We had three presenters from local nonprofits using social media well. They described their roles and responsibilities for social media in their organizations, what they do well in social media, and some of the decisions their organizations have made about why and how to use social media.

• Thomas Stanley, Kansas Leadership Center
• Chandra Stauffer, KMUW 89.1
• Olivia Fletcher, Numana, Inc.

Then we presented a case study from a national nonprofit: "The Case of the Rogue Tweet." Sources for that case study included:

• American Red Cross
• CNN Money
• Tactical Philanthropy
• The Chronicle of Philanthropy
• Dogfish Head Brewery

It was great to have about 30 people thinking about social media and how to use it as one method for carrying an organization's mission and strategies.

Social Media for Nonprofits and Coalitions | By Amy Delamaide

Coming up in about three and a half weeks is our next Compassion Kansas workshop--Social Media for Nonprofits and Coalitions. Seth Bate and Amy Delamaide will moderate a panel of three people using social media effectively in their organizations. Each panelist will share a little bit about what works well for them and how they integrate social media into their existing strategies. Participants will have opportunities to ask them questions. We'll also consider a national case study of a "tweet gone wrong" and what the organization did in response.

The workshop is on June 28, 2011, from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. in Wichita, Kansas.

If you're interested in attending this workshop, call CCSR at 316-978-3843 or email angela.gaughan@wichita.edu to register.

Spotlight on an Initiative: Compassion Kansas

What is Compassion Kansas?

CCSR is in the last year of its Compassion Kansas initiative, a 3-year, federally funded project designed to enhance Faith-based and Community-based Organizations through grants, workshops and one-on-one capacity building assistance.

Capaci-what now?

Community nonprofits, groups, and coalitions can typically be very effective in targeting the specific needs of their local communities. But these smaller organizations frequently lack the organization needed to thrive.

These organizations are far more successful when they operate with adequate funds, thoughtful planning, a well-trained staff, effective boards, and the ability to respond to challenges.

That’s essentially what capacity-building is – giving organizations the tools to do what they do, better.

Okay, so what capacity-building services does Compassion Kansas offer?

In addition to the financial awards, Compassion Kansas provides:
•    Assistance in developing stronger grant applications
•    Strategic Planning
•    Plans for diversifying funding sources
•    Board development and leadership
•    Staff and volunteer management
•    Networking opportunities
•    Statewide attention to the work of these organizations

These services are provided through workshops, and one-on-one mentoring with a CCSR staff member.

What’s in store for the future of Compassion Kansas?

Compassion is undergoing some changes, but the Center for Community Support & Research is committed to continuing capacity-building efforts across Kansas.

So, dear Kansans in community coalitions, alliances, fledgling nonprofits – what would you like to see in the future as far as capacity building efforts go?

Step Away from the Can of Doing: What a Home Depot Commercial Teaches About Evaluation | Dr. Tara Gregory

I've been mesmerized lately—in that kind of love-hate way—by Home Depot commercials wherein a manly man announcer urges people to shop at Home Depot with statements like "turn your doing dial up to 11" and "set your savings swagger on full tilt" and, most nonsensically, "open up a can of doing." I may not be quoting these perfectly except for the "open up a can of doing" phrase. Open up a can of doing? I'm not even sure what this means. But these commercials irritate me quite a bit—mainly because they fill me with an overwhelming urge to run to Home Depot. For what, I don't know.

And that's where my issue lies. Indiscriminate and unplanned opening of a Can of Doing can be wasteful of time and resources. Owning a house that's over 100 years old, as I do, there probably isn't a big enough Can of Doing to cover what needs to be done. If I really thought through what it would take to make my house what I want it to be and made a plan, my trip to Home Depot might be valuable. But I have to admit that my savings swagger will undoubtedly propel me toward superfluous and relatively easy tasks versus those that might actually make my house more solid and valuable.

So what does this have to do with evaluation? I've been involved in a number of evaluation projects where it seems that people have opened up a can of doing without really knowing why. More specifically, organizations often say they want to do an evaluation, but frequently lack a clear idea of what they want to know.

Evaluation is simply a way of answering the big questions about an organization: "What should we be doing? What do people think of our services?  Are we making a difference for those we serve?"

But organizations can get too focused on just doing something, even when it comes to evaluation. I've had multiple experiences where organizations have a list of questions they want to ask, but no real idea of what it is they want to KNOW. There's a big difference here—questions with a capital Q  and questions with a small q. Big Q questions represent your evaluation goal—what you want or need to know. In reality, there aren't that many big Q questions. They're basically about whether your program is needed, how well it's implemented, and what difference it makes. That's pretty much it. But there are a huge number of possible small q questions for each of these big Q questions. And if you don't identify the big Q first, your small q's can go down unnecessary or misleading paths.

If you open the can of doing before really knowing what needs to be done—if you ask the small q questions before identifying the big Q question—at best you'll waste time and energy. At worst, you'll be led astray by information that doesn't really tell you what you need to know.

What nonprofit organizations really need to hear is: Before you get your evaluation swagger on and open up a can of assessment doing, ask yourself what one or two things you really need to know. And step away from that can of doing unless you've finished this task!

For more on evaluation basics, come to the next Compassion Kansas workshop on May 20 (1 - 5 p.m.) called "Does Your Program Work? How to Use Simple Evaluation Techniques and Tools to Answer this Question."  Contact Angela Gaughan at 316-978-3843 or angela.gaughan@wichita.edu to register. (Registration is still open, even if the website says otherwise)




Photo courtesy of  J. Stephen Conn