Alliance for Nonprofit Management › Annual Conference › C05 Tracks › C05 Track: Capacity Building Models and Techniques

C05 Track: Capacity Building Models and Techniques

Capacity Building Models and Techniques

Building Capacity of Nonprofit Organizations: The Role of Readiness to Change

Friday, July 15, 4:15pm - 5:30pm

Presenters: Joanne Sobeck, Elizabeth Agius and Vanessa Mayers, Wayne State University; Sonia Plata, New Detroit, Inc.

How do we know when organizations are ready to fully participate in capacity building? Organizational change requires readiness on many fronts including executive director preparedness, board support, and an organizational culture that has a commitment to growth, willingness to seek help and a responsive approach to change. This session will focus on issues of readiness as examined through a recent study on urban nonprofits. Participants will share their experience in addressing motivation and barriers to change and explore how the research findings translate into planning and practice for building nonprofit capacity.

Building Capacity Through Effective Strategy Formation — Beyond Strategic Planning

Sponsored by Managance Consulting

Friday, July 15, 2:15pm - 5:30pm (Half-Day Workshop)

Presenters: Michaela Hayes and Vance Yoshida, La Piana Associates, Inc.

Starting with an overview of the our research and learning in the area of strategy formation, this session will engage participants in a discussion of their experiences in strategy formation for nonprofit organizations, and will elicit reactions to the research findings and tools/processes we’ve developed to date to help nonprofits form effective organizational strategies. The session will focus on sharing tools and processes for forming organizational strategies, and gaining input from participants toward the objective of enhancing the knowledge and skills of all attending the session.

Excellence in Performance: An Introduction to Using the Drucker Foundation Self-Assessment Tool

Thursday, July 14, 9:00am - 12:00pm (Pre-Conference Session)

Presenters: Keith Timko, Leader to Leader Institute; Barbara Raye, Center for Policy, Planning, and Performance

Price: $75 Members; $125 Non-members

This workshop introduces a strategic planning framework for consultants and facilitators who work with nonprofit organizations. Cost of the session includes the "Drucker Foundation Self Assessment Tool Workbook and Process Guide" and "Learning Styles Inventory."

Executive Transition Management Services

Thursday, July 14, 9:00am - 4:00pm (Pre-Conference Session)

Presenters: Tom Adams, TransitionGuides; Lynne Molnar, Third Sector New England

Price: $100 Members; $175 Non-members

This full-day pre-conference session will bring together leading practitioners in developing and delivering Executive Transition Management services with those interested in exploring application to their management support organization or consulting practice. This session provides a step-by-step review of the Executive Transition Management process for working with nonprofit boards in planning for and successfully completing a change in executive director/top staff leadership. The session will also offer consultants and management support organization managers and staff proven and practical suggestions on how to develop or expand an executive transition services consulting practice. This session will offer participants an overview of lessons learned from 12 years of research and field practice as well as from the recent work of the Annie E. Casey Foundation with a growing network of management support organizations and for-profit consultants. In line with the conference theme, the session will address the results and impact these services make for organizations and the communities they serve.

Getting the Right People in the Room: Applying Future Search Principles

Thursday, July 14, 9:00am - 4:00pm (Pre-Conference Session)

Presenter: Sandra Janoff, Future Search Network

Price: $100 Members; $175 Non-members

In this full-day workshop we will introduce a theory of system's change, a set of design principles and a proven, innovative methodology for transforming large systems and enabling unified action on difficult social, economic and technical issues. The workshop is designed for community leaders and advocates who understand the potential of collaboration, engagement and discovery of common ground.

Interim Executive Directors: A Special Corps of Nonprofit Capacity Builders

Thursday, July 14, 9:00am - 4:00pm (Pre-Conference Session)

Presenter: Don Tebbe, TransitionGuides

Price: $100 Members; $175 Non-members

An interim executive director can be the perfect solution for an agency’s temporary leadership needs. However, due to the short-term and often emergency nature of the interim assignment, many of the skills and techniques required of the interim leader are different than those of the permanent executive. This full-day, pre-conference workshop will provide training for consultants looking to maximize their capacity-building skills when serving as interim executive directors for local nonprofits.

Network Capacity-Building Initiatives

Friday, July 15, 9:00am - 10:30am

Presenters: Bryan Barry and Sandy Jacobsen, Fieldstone Alliance (formerly Wilder Center for Communities)

Helping clusters and networks of organizations achieve a shared goal and build scale is a more effective capacity-building strategy than simply responding to scattered technical assistance requests from individual organizations; it is also less expensive. This session will illustrate three different network capacity-building approaches — Leadership Foundations of America’s thirty-city network, Habitat for Humanity International’s Urban Program, and the Twin Cities-area New American Collaborative. These large initiatives link the resources of organizations within and across communities to successfully achieve their goals and build capacity across a broad spectrum of organizations.

The Masterful Trainer: Principles and Strategies for Delivering High Impact Training

Friday, July 15, 2:15pm - 5:30pm (Half-Day Workshop)

Presenters: Courtney Bourns and Bruce Truitt, Interaction Institute for Social Change

We approach training from the belief expressed by W.B. Yeats: "Learning is not the filling of a pail, it is about the igniting of a fire;" and we develop trainers who wish to approach capacity building in this way. In this workshop, participants will explore three essential principles of the facilitative, interactive trainer. We will also experiment with three fundamental strategies for delivering high-engagement, high-impact training: sharing responsibility for success with participants; creating content, process, and results satisfaction; and using the learning pathway. Finally, we’ll explore tools for leading a discussion and telling stories as techniques for creating powerful learning experiences.