Hello AllIn response partly to an earlier message from Dan Bassill regarding raising support on behalf of grassroots organisations in the developing world.I am co-founder of a small trust operating in Zimbabwe. We provide drama and arts based activities with young people living on the street.Would anybody like to consider volunteering in this country in the not too distant future?I am currently engaged in remote fundraising support by way of project bids though in the current financial credit crunch, existing donors are becoming less. This must pave the way for changing strategies in line with the times.Zimbabwe has for long been the subject of widespread media reporting in terms of governance and politics though if one would simply like to visit a project there, it has been a safe place to visit for me some nine times.I would like to extend invitations for short stories around 300 words either factual or examples of creative writing by young people for the next issue of The Street Home newsletter.The launch edition may be downloaded here as a PDF document: Under publications heading, by clicking on the last item;"The MUSTLE Trust newsletter No 1.http://www.streetchildren.org.uk/resources/details/?country=21&type=countryDoes anybody out there have any experience of volunteering by way of working remotely, perhaps like editing a newsletter, drafting proposals etc etc?Has it been mutually beneficial?Have a great day!James Robinson.Liverpool, United Kingdom.
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At Kids Learning Adventure, I help by giving them snack and after snack I help them with their Homework. When they are playing I just make sure everything is okay.
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Public Allies Chicago Presents: A Forum for Nonprofit LeadersMarch 25, 2009NOTESWhat can we expect from the philanthropic community in this new economic environment?Consuella Brown, The Woods FundThe bad news:• Don’t rely on government stimulus money – most of it has been or will be spent to plug up deficits.• Foundations have experienced significant drops in assets. It’s serious enough that they are having to consider cutting staff. While foundations used to be able to fund staff’s personal favorite projects, they can’t anymore and are using this time as an opportunity to let go of low performers. Recommendations: 1) Expect at-level funding or less from your current funders, 2) Think about how you are communicating your impact, and 3) Get to know foundations’ priorities.• Individual donors are continuing to give but in lower amounts and in more targeted ways.• Will likely get worse in 2010 and 2011. Small and mid-size organizations will be hit hardest. Recommendations: 1) Come up with a contingency plan. 2) Don’t pursue stimulus dollars until/unless you’ve thought about how you will sustain growth next year.The good news:• Very useful conversations about budget priorities are happening• Incentive to collaborate with other organizations• Serve America Act will increase the number of AmeriCorps membersPier Rogers, The Axelson Center for Nonprofit ManagementRecommendations for navigating current economic climate:• We have to think creatively, in a way we may not have been doing.• Can’t afford mission drift now. Think ‘what is your core?’• Collaboration allows us to combine resources.• Postpone non-essential expenses.• Clearly communicate strategy and contingency plans to all stakeholders – make sure everyone is comfortable with the way you are handling this crisis. You want your funders to feel secure that you’ve been thoughtful about being prepared.• Call on board members to govern, be part of strategy making, and bring resources to the table. Being able to say “We have 100% giving from our board, they are completely behind us” sends a powerful message to other prospective funders, and is more important than each board member giving a certain amount – allow members to choose how much they give.• Consider social entrepreneurship, i.e. ways to bring in revenue, long-term sustenance to your organization.• This is not an environment where you can come up with quick-fixes (e.g. new funding strategies) overnight.Question and Answer SessionWhat does ‘social entrepreneurship’ refer to?A for-profit initiative with a social mission. It’s been around for a long time but now we’re calling it this. It’s not a panacea.How do I recruit new board members at a time like this?Present it as an opportunity to make an investment and be part of problem-solving and strategy-making. It’s good to know whether potential members are interested in this upfront so you don’t recruit dead wood. Think about each potential member as a strategic investment – what will be the ROI? what can they give/get?How do we cultivate donors in a time like this?Think 9-12 months for cultivation. Before approaching a donor for the first time, find out if they have recently funded anyone like you, and if not whether they are funding anything new. If a donor says no to you, find out why and learn from it.Can we still get general operating support?You can still get a little general operating support, but you have to ask for it (it’s on ‘the back shelf’).What do I need to know about collaborating with other organizations in grantseeking?Make sure to write a Memorandum of Understanding. If you’re a secondary contractor, find your way to the table with the primary contractor. Visit the BoardSource website for more information.What are the considerations and opportunities for building capacity in an era of diminished resources and rising demand for services?Eric Weinheimer, The Cara ProgramWhat doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger. 5 Recommendations:1) Identify your economic engine – what impact(s) does your organization create that will attract investors? Make sure everything you do contributes directly to achieving the impact(s)? Many funders say they are only interested in something new and exciting, but don’t be tempted to follow the dollars.2) Engage funders in a proactive, creative and moving way, not with the normal email, phone call, and walk through the office. Make sure they engage with the people you serve, not just you or your staff. Send a letter to every funder and prospective funder detailing how you are handling this crisis.3) Use the culture of your organization to do more with less. Determine with your staff,what in your culture works (in terms of values and rituals). Embrace these things and run with them. Show that you celebrate your metrics, and share them in a vibrant and accessible way.4) Go beyond collaboration - consider a merger. It’s not about your organization, it’s about the mission.5) Get a Public Ally.Joanne Howard, Metropolitan Chicago Information CenterRecommendations:• Create a strategic plan with a mission, goals, and outcomes with numeric benchmarks. Make sure your whole staff is on board with the plan and revisit it at least every six months.• Know how to frame your success stories.• Know your audience – do an external and internal environmental scan. Think ‘what are our assets and liabilities, what do we need?’ Make sure you have board and staff members in place who have appropriate skill sets to accomplish the mission.• Look at your organizational culture – make sure it is not wrapped up in any one or two people being there. Do plus/delta at the end of meetings.• Trust and use your data. Consider using graduate student interns to get data together, and bringing in an external consultant to check and analyze the data. For more information visit the websites of the Metropolitan Chicago Information Institute www.mcic.org, the Brookings Institute, etc.Macarthur Antigua, Public Allies National OfficeWhat do we need to know about Generation Serve?• ‘Generation Serve’ (a.k.a. ‘millennials’) refers to people born between 1978 and 1993 – they outnumber baby boomers now.• The percent of teens volunteering has doubled since the 1970s.• Millennials want this sector to be the place where talent goes (a non-‘pity’ sector).• They are itching to get in the game, and they look for positions where they can spend 2-3 years developing skills and then move on to another position.• The Serve America Act will result in many more AmeriCorps members nationwide.Recommendations:• Think about succession planning at all levels of your organization.• To attract millennials, create compelling opportunities for them.• Consider hiring an AmeriCorps member as an opportunity to build capacity.Question and Answer SessionWhat are some ways to improve organizational culture?Have your whole staff evaluate what is working and what is not; determine who is going to own making sure that the things that work continue to happen. Think very seriously about who you hire, and make sure many staff members have ownership of new hires. Also think about things like meeting practices, daily practices, where people are working, and dress. Find areas for spending reduction through collective discussion – the people closest to the work have good ideas. Stay respectful of people (appropriate processes) through these times – this is part of your culture.How will funders view staff cuts?Funders want to know that what they have invested in is going to be carried out. Tell the person who reviewed your proposal before you make a public announcement about staff cuts. If you’re in the midst of being reviewed, consider asking for contingency funding (e.g. funding that is contingent on hiring new staff).How do you recommend we collect and present our data?There are many ways to collect and present data, and different funders have their preferences. MCIC is a great resource for data collection and analysis. Funders are digging deeper into data now, but don’t make them have to dig. Also be aware that your organizational reputation is often more important than the data you present.What can we expect from corporate funders in this economic environment?There is still funding available from corporate funders IF you fall in their sweet spot. (They still have an interest in appearing socially responsible especially in these times.) Think about what you have to OFFER them.
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This map is one of the images I shared in the March 2009 Tutor/Mentor Connection eMail newsletter, which you can find on the T/MC web site.
This map can also be seen at the Mapping for Justice web site, along with an article explaining how it can be used to draw volunteers and donors into inner city neighborhoods.
I encourage you to share this with others and help us build a network of supporters for volunteer-based tutoring/mentoring programs in Chicago, and in your own community.
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Dear Community Partners,This summer, the Youth Ready Chicago program will provide up to 7,300 youthwith a government-subsidized paid work experience operating via a system of hubsand worksites. The Department of Family and Support Services (FSS) is seekingproposals from qualified organizations to serve as hubs for the Youth ReadyChicago program.Successful respondents will be able to demonstrate strong experience withWorkforce Investment Act youth program models, youth employment and trainingprograms, or have operated summer youth employment models previously. In orderto be eligible, applicants must have annual operating budgets of at least$500,000 and the financial capacity and experience to manage and distributepayroll for at least 100 youth.Interested applicants are asked to download the complete Request for Proposal(RFP) at the following websites, www.cityofchicago.org/fss orwww.youthreadychicago.org. Paper applications of the RFP will also be availableat the FSS front desk at 1615 W. Chicago Avenue, 2nd Fl.The RFP opening date is March 23, 2009 and the proposal submission due date isApril 13, 2009, 4:00 p.m. Central Standard Time.Responses must be submitted in hardcopy and emailed as directed in the RFP.Proposals must be e-mailed to youthreadychicago@cityofchicago.org and submittedto:Carmen E. Alicea-ReyesDeputy Commissioner of Youth ServicesDepartment of Family and Support Services1615 West Chicago AvenueChicago, Illinois 60622There will be a Pre-Bid Proposal Conference on March 30, 2009 from 1:00 p.m. -3:00 p.m. at 2102 W. Ogden Avenue.For questions regarding the RFP, please contact Julia Talbot at (312) 746-1679or email at jtalbot@cityofchicago.org or Mary Ellen Messner at (312)743-1887 oremail at mmessner@cityofchicago.orgI encourage you to review the RFP and to apply if your organization is able toprovide the required services.Sincerely,Mary Ellen CaronCommissioner
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Children cannot focus on learning when they are worried about living.Editorial from Chicago SunTimes
March 9, 2009
In this school year alone, 25 Chicago Public Schools children have been murdered. As shocking as that is, that number doesn't begin to tell the real story of how deeply violence is a part of the everyday life of Chicago's children.
Try this number out for size: A total of 508 Chicago school kids were shot from September 2007 through December 2008, according to data compiled by the school system and released to the Chicago Sun-Times.
That's almost 32 children shot each month. Most of these kids, thankfully, did not die. But the damage is tremendous nonetheless.
There is the physical damage, which is awful enough. But the psychological damage can last much longer -- both for the victim and their classmates. Many kids in the most violent neighborhoods of Chicago are paralyzed by fear, and it's hard to blame them.
They are thinking rationally.
In 130 schools, at least one student has been shot since September 2007. In 15 schools, at least 10 students have been shot. In 12 other schools, at least 5 students have been shot.
School officials compiled this data to look for patterns that might help them get a handle on the problem. It was collected under former schools CEO Arne Duncan. New schools CEO Ron Huberman is reviewing and verifying the data.
None of these children were shot in school, it's important to note. In fact, Bryan Samuels, the top CPS official who oversaw the data analysis, found the shootings were typically much closer to the victim's home than to his or her school. The median distance from the shooting to the victim's home was 0.4 miles, while the median distance to the victim's school was 1.2 miles.
CPS also found that 70 percent of the shootings took place between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m. -- outside the hours of the school day and after-school programs. But that doesn't mean schools are not profoundly hard hit. Our public schools can -- and must -- soften the blow of such violence and do more to prevent it.
This editorial page believes one answer lies in compelling schools to adopt a radical new approach to teaching -- one that addresses the social and emotional needs of students. In too many Chicago schools, traumatized kids arrive for class each day filled with anger and despair. Inevitably, they disrupt classrooms, slow learning to a crawl and at times become violent themselves.
Most schools have little to offer these kids except overburdened social workers and counselors. Instead, as this page has pushed for months now, CPS should implement citywide a well-established, evidence-based approach now being rolled out in earnest in a handful of schools. The model program teaches basic skills that many kids don't get at home, such as how to get along and how to empathize -- skills that research shows improve test scores and behavior. The program provides more intensive counseling to needier kids.
Duncan, before moving on to Washington to head the U.S. Department of Education, supported phasing in all or parts of the model into all Chicago public schools by 2011. His successor, Huberman, who has a social work degree, says he is studying the model. We urge Huberman to continue this vital work after a thorough review of its progress this year.
An alternative plan has been proposed by state Rep. Monique Davis, a Chicago Democrat and former teacher and administrator. A bill she introduced last month would require schools in violence-prone areas to hire a full-time social worker (most have only part-time help). And, in response to a Sun-Times report last year documenting pervasive fear among kids in violent areas and a lack of opportunities for them to blow off steam, Davis would require struggling schools to offer 10 to 15 minutes of physical activity a day and after-school programming.
The concept is good, but we fear the bill is not sweeping enough and, without a clear funding source, could simply be another unfunded, burdensome mandate. In general, Huberman tells us, he is committed to finding a comprehensive way to address students' social and emotional needs -- one of several areas he hopes to tackle as part of a larger response to violence.
He is identifying schools that have what he calls a "culture of calm" (respect between adults and kids, no kids hanging out in the hallways) and trying to export that culture to schools that clearly could use it.
The new schools CEO also wants to make sure kids get to school safely. With 508 shootings in 16 months, kids on many blocks have every reason to fear walking to school. Those CPS shooting statistics, by the way, do not even include other school-age kids who have been shot. Adding those kids would double CPS' 508 shootings.
Huberman, well-known for his love of data, is analyzing shooting patterns, transportation routes, gang turf boundaries and school attendance boundaries. That data will be used to devise safer routes to school for kids in risky areas, with a team at each school monitoring and updating the routes. A plan that wraps all of these elements together will be announced in May, he said.
Since September, 25 Chicago Public Schools kids have been murdered. That's one shy of the total for the entire 2007-2008 school year. In December 2008, 34 students were shot. In December 2007, there was just one shooting.
If this isn't a crisis, what is?
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Is this a crisis in other cities? What are people willing to do to make programs available in high poverty neighborhoods which can help reverse these trends?
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Chris Warren, who is serving a one year fellowship with Cabrini Connections, Tutor/Mentor Connection, has written a blog post showing how the T/MC seeks to work with teams from universities, professions, businesses, hospitals, etc.. You can read this at http://chrispip.blogspot.com/2009/03/campuscatalyst-cabriniconnections_07.html
We have many groups growing within the Tutor/Mentor Connection Ning.com page, and our aim is to help each group adopt the ideas Chris is writing about, so that they innovate new ways to draw volunteers, operating dollars and other needed resources to constantly improving, volunteer-based tutor/mentor programs in Chicago and other cities.
You can learn more about this concept in the various blog articles at http://tutormentor.blogspot.com and in a set of discussion posts at http://www.tutormentorconnection.org/GetInvolved/DiscussionForums/tabid/474/view/topics/forumid/116/Default.aspx
As these teams form, and do their brainstorming, planning and implement their strategy via these open Ning forums, each team will learn from its own work, as well as the work of other groups focusing on the same goal in other cities. Thus, each year the impact of each team will grow based on how well the learn and innovate from the work of the entire universe of teams working toward a common goal.
I hope you'll use this forum for that purpose and you'll actively encourage others to join.
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I encourage you to visit the groups section to see work done since January by interns from Korea and India (by way of Illinois Institute of Technology and the University of Michigan.
The work one team did was to convert the graphic on this page to an animated presentation which you can view from the UMichigan group page. The graphic illustrates how we're trying to connect people from different industries, different universities, different countries to each other and to information they can use to help volunteer-based tutor/mentor programs grow in big cities, and be more effective helping kids.
We've already been sharing the work these interns do on web sites like the Tutor/Mentor Institute. And blogs posted on the University of Michigan site are spreading the news of this work through their network to even more potential partners.
Visit the Maps group to see work done by another intern from the University of Michigan and visit the Chicago-Korea TMC group to see work done by two interns from Korea who were with us from mid January to the end of February.
This work illustrates ways colleges and interns from different cities can be helping tutor/mentor programs in their own cities, and how we can be networking and sharing these ideas and applications in forums like Ning.
Go out and spread the word and the group's size and impact will multiply.
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Softscripts was established in the year 2003. Our main motto is to help in eradicating illiteracy from the world ,so we developed a platform connecting tutors ,teachers and professors with students and renting books online in an easier way . Teachers can showcase their classes to the world. Students can reach teachers in a better way .Find-guru.com started online quiz for students, teachers. Any one can play weekly quiz and win exiting prizes $50 gift hampers.We launched a new module for students. students can submit their assignments and the expert panel will help in solving the assignments.Ask expert is the another new module for the doubts, our expert panel will answer them freely.Hope every one enjoy the benefits of the new modules.we are looking for teachers who can tutor students online please submit your resumes atinfo@find-guru.comstudents can register for free and they can get the best rated teachers, rent books online and even update their school/college/university.http://www.find-guru.comhttp://www.find-teacher.comWe are working on online learning management system and also search based on SMS which will be upgraded soon. So that teachers and students worldwide can connect using our portal .search results from local teachersrent books onlinealumni for schools colleges and universitiesrating your teachers,tutors ,professors and collegesgo green awarenessOur portal connects teachers students and colleges in easier wayWorking on voice and video tutoring and better search results with mobiles through our portal makes our team to awake at night.Srinivas Nunna, CEO : A Bachelor of Engineering Graduate from Vignan College of Engineering, Srinivas has been using his marketing skills and vision to procure projects from around the world. Has managed delivery and business development for over 1000 clients. At present he is focussing on his pet project find-guru which is a portal meant to revolutionalise the educational field.RegardsFind-guru
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