Promising Practices for Improving the
Capacity of
Faith- and Community-Based Organizations
Table of Contents | Chapter 4: Group Training |
Chapter 6: Sub-Awards
Chapter 5.
Technical Assistance
In contrast with large group training sessions, technical assistance—as it is defined in this report—refers to instruction or guidance provided in one-on-one or small group settings. It is tailored to an organization's specific needs and is, thus, a more customized approach than workshops, conferences or other group training activities.
The intermediaries in our sample differed in the numbers of organizations they served in this way over the course of a year, and in the amount and intensity of technical assistance provided to each organization. For example, one intermediary served 84 FBOs and CBOs in its first year, with each organization receiving an average of 30 hours of consultant or staff time; another supplied almost seven times as many hours (200 hours) to 12 organizations. Intermediaries provided assistance over the course of a few months to a year or longer. Technical assistance was usually governed by an official agreement, signed by both the intermediary and FBO or CBO10, which identified the areas the technical assistance would address, who from the intermediary and the FBO or CBO would be the primary contacts, and a timeline for the technical assistance services.
The areas addressed through technical assistance reflected the needs that emerged from the organizational assessment, as well as the organization's interests and willingness to expend time addressing these issues. In some cases, the availability of experts also played a role in determining the focus of technical assistance. Among the most common topics addressed, four dominate the list: board development, strategic planning, financial management and fundraising. Where appropriate, intermediaries also assisted organizations in learning to use specific software that would increase their capacity in such areas as financial management.
Depending on the intermediary, technical assistance was delivered by in-house staff, consultants, or some combination of the two. Some intermediaries had staff with both specific subject matter expertise (e.g., workforce development, housing, business development) and expertise in such organizational areas as performance measurement, MIS and financial management, which allowed these people to serve as technical assistance providers. Others created consultant pools, and allowed the individual FBOs and CBOs to interview several consultants from a group and to select the one they felt was best suited to work with them on a particular issue.
Benefits
One-on-one assistance allowed intermediaries to meet the needs of diverse organizations at varying stages of development. For example, one intermediary reported that approximately one-third of its constituent organizations had not previously received technical assistance. The intermediary used this information to decide how best to allocate its staff and other resources, and, as a result, reconfigured its offerings so it could introduce these relatively inexperienced organizations to the basic elements of board development, writing a proposal and developing a budget.
FBOs and CBOs valued the concrete benefits of technical assistance. One CBO noted that the intermediary's critique of its fundraising proposal had improved the organization's funding prospects by strengthening the wording in the proposal, making it more action and outcome oriented. In addition to these kinds of tangible benefits, organizations benefited from the exposure they gained to ideas that they might not have thought of on their own, such as developing partnerships for joint funding. (See the box on the next page for a description of how one organization benefited from technical assistance.)
The CBOs and FBOs particularly valued technical assistance that increased their capacity for using technology, especially assistance with new software. One intermediary even incorporated a technology component into its overall organizational assessment, and provided technical assistance in such areas as website development, virus protection, and broadband access to those organizations that could benefit from it. Another intermediary provided assistance in using "Quick Books" financial management software to improve the CBOs' and FBOs' financial record keeping. And a third intermediary strengthened organizations' capacity to conduct outcomes measurement by teaching them to use a customized web-based database that enabled them to track such measures as attendance, grades and students' goals.
Promising Practices
Project-Based Technical AssistanceProject-based technical assistance provides FBOs and CBOs with tools and expertise in conceptualizing, designing and pursuing an actual program initiative. Thus, the learning takes place in the "real world" of program development.
Seedco. Seedco's technical assistance philosophy is to enhance organizational capacity through a comprehensive, practical "hands-on" approach that leads FBOs and CBOs through the process of developing and implementing a specific project. This philosophy is embodied through the intermediary's rigorous Capacity Building Institute model.
The institute begins with a day-long orientation, to which 50 or more FBOs and CBOs are invited to attend. There, in addition to learning about the institute model, the organizations have an important opportunity to meet and network with groups that have similar missions or interests. Organizations that want to be considered for ongoing participation in the institute then develop a preliminary proposal that describes the idea or strategy they are interested in pursuing. Using these proposals, Seedco selects a subset of 8 to 10 organizations to participate as a cohort in the next phase, and then provides grants to those organizations to cover expenses related to planning their project.
The second phase typically centers on a two-to-three-day workshop in which participating organizations receive intensive support and guidance to fully develop their proposal into a comprehensive plan. (A plan might, for example, involve designing a four-week workforce development training program for a class of 20 people seeking employment in the hospitality field.) During the workshop, the FBOs and CBOs receive group instruction and intensive one-on-one guidance from subject matter experts, as well as peer input from cohort members. The technical assistance is often devoted to strategic implementation and operational issues, such as identification of partners, funding options, and marketing and communication strategies.
The third phase of the Capacity Building Institute model provides for ongoing technical assistance as organizations face the protracted challenges associated with implementation. This technical assistance, provided by Seedco staff on a flexible, "as-needed" basis for as long as a year, is often highly customized to accommodate the unique needs of the individual organizations at varying stages of implementing wide-ranging initiatives.
This approach to technical assistance allows Seedco to effectively support a diverse group of FBOs and CBOs. While much of the technical assistance is individualized for each organization, the intermediary's strategy is based on a consistent set of principles. Seedco: 1) Focuses on "doing"—capacity development becomes nearly a by-product of the development and implementation of an actual plan; 2) Requires each FBO and CBO to demonstrate extensive commitment by developing its own project idea and dedicating staff time to pursue it; 3) Emphasizes the importance of an entrepreneurial outlook in which even the smallest organizations must incorporate key management concepts of accountability and performance measurement; and 4) Underscores the importance of a realistic appraisal process in which investments are curtailed if a promising idea ultimately is determined to lack viability.
Another defining characteristic of Seedco's technical assistance is the importance it places on identifying and tracking programmatic outcomes. To support its approach, Seedco has developed several proprietary resources. Most noteworthy is the Performance Measurement & Managementsm (PM&M) system, which provides the tools needed to develop and assess a business plan, as well as measure and track program performance. PM&M helps organizations identify the outcomes most important to their project, as well as the measurable indicators associated with these outcomes. Organizations then develop methods to track these indicators and measure their performance over time. Though all constituent organizations reportedly benefited from implementing the PM&M model, Seedco staff felt it was particularly useful for smaller organizations with little prior training in this area.
Using the Expertise of Existing StaffIn making decisions about who will provide technical assistance, intermediaries must balance the costs associated with using existing in-house staff against those associated with hiring consultants. Leveraging the expertise of in-house staff who are either involved with direct service (e.g., running an after-school program) or administrative functions (e.g., responsible for payroll) to provide technical assistance can be more cost-effective—and it grounds the assistance in real-world problems and constraints.
Father Joe's Villages (FJV). Father Joe's Villages is a large, well-established and highly regarded community service organization dedicated to the provision of homeless rehabilitation services in Southern California. These services are delivered through more than 600 employees who operate transitional and longer-term housing facilities, a residential teen center and school, a food pantry and soup kitchen, and facilities for those with HIV and AIDS.
To leverage this vast array of expertise and experience, FJV used part of its CCF grant to form the Village Training Institute (VTI). VTI offers highly specialized technical assistance that is provided by 35 FJV employees who have been trained to serve as "mentors" to outside organizations seeking assistance. To ensure that these employees see this role as an essential part of their work, mentoring responsibilities are formally incorporated into staff members' job descriptions.
Through these mentors, VTI can provide technical assistance in a wide range of managerial and operational areas, including payroll and accounting, fundraising, grant management and compliance, volunteer mobilization, adult residential programs, after-school programs, case management, emergency shelters, and facility management. The mentors have a depth and breadth of knowledge that comes from their day-to-day experience working in these areas.
To maximize the value of the individual mentors, technical assistance is targeted to a specific problem or issue. VTI requires organizations to submit descriptions of their questions or specific needs in order to match them with appropriate mentors. The mentor and organization staff then meet in person, through telephone conversations and/or by e-mail to discuss and address the issue. Organizations have the option of seeking mentoring assistance in more than one functional area, but they must complete their work with one mentor before moving on to the next. FJV has found this to be an effective and cost-efficient method for providing expert and targeted assistance to a broad group of FBOs and CBOs.
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An FBO Story Organization: Crossroads of the Rockies Intermediary: JVA Consulting
Crossroads relies on a variety of methods to staff these projects, including paid staff, volunteers and partnerships with other organizations. One unique approach is the manner in which it staffs its food and clothing bank. The organization created a "Very Important Volunteer" team, whose members receive food and clothing in exchange for serving six hours a week. The volunteers also receive leadership training and learn team-building skills, in the hope that they will transfer those skills to a paid position. Because of Crossroads' reputation in the Denver community, its programs are outgrowing their present facilities. Its most urgent need at the present time is to raise money to completely renovate its building to include a gym for youth recreation. It was this need that drew Crossroads to JVA's Compassion Capital Program. Crossroads had only an ad hoc fundraising plan, and its board—potentially a key element in successful fundraising—was not fully engaged with the organization. To address these problems, JVA assisted Crossroads in developing and implementing a strategic planning retreat for the staff and board. Among the major outcomes of this retreat were a detailed fundraising plan, a board manual with expectations clearly laid out, and functioning board committees. The technical assistance from JVA paid off for Crossroads, as their first fundraising event after the retreat raised approximately $20,000. The organization has since won two awards involving federal funds: a $60,000 Latino Coalition grant through the U.S. Department of Labor, and an Emergency Services Grant through the Denver Mayor's Enterprise Community Office, which receives federal funds. |
Table of Contents | Chapter 4: Group Training |
Chapter 6: Sub-Awards