Capacity Building Blocks
Learning Intensive for Nonprofit and Faith-Based Leaders
March 15, 2024-June 28, 2024
The Capacity Building BlocksTM learning intensive is for nonprofit and faith-based leaders who want to take their organizations to the next level. This includes board members, executive directors, program managers, development managers, clergy and career changers.
Whether you want to assess your leadership style or figure out how to lead your organization through a changing funding environment, we can help. The Capacity Building BlocksTM intensive will give you the tools you need to make the necessary pivots and build a sustainable organization. Every workshop will provide practical information that you can use immediately on the job and to advance your career in the nonprofit sector. You will
- Improve your confidence to lead
- Accelerate your learning
- Increase your fundraising potential
Membership in the Nonprofit Utopia Community
The Capacity Building BlocksTM intensive includes a year’s membership in the Nonprofit Utopia community. The online community provides a safe environment for our members to innovate and share lessons learned. As a participant in the Capacity Building BlocksTM intensive, you will be a part of your own dedicated subgroup within the community. Here, you’ll be able to ask questions about the workshop content and share lessons learned with your peers. You will also be able to take advantage of everything in the main community, including resources, events, courses on demand, office hours, etcetera.
Members of the Nonprofit Utopia community can subscribe to Clear Impact performance management and case management software for unlimited usage (measures, participant records and users) for $2,200 per year, a 78% savings over the regular starting subscription price of $9,600 per year which only has limited usage included. This software suite may be used to track client outcomes, track strategic planning results and manage community collaborations.
Members will also be eligible to subscribe to GrantsStation, a grants management platform, for $95.00 a year, representing a savings of 86% off the regular membership price of $699 per year. This software may be used to research grant opportunities nationally and internationally, and to manage the proposal writing process.
Leadership Assessment
You will complete a series of assessments to help you increase self-awareness. The John Maxwell DISC tool will help you better understand your personality and motivations, as well as the Leadership As Fit tool, developed by the Human Systems Dynamics Institute. This tool will allow you to assess your leadership capacity from a traditional leadership perspective, that focuses on prediction and control; as well as from the complex adaptive leadership perspective, in which the leader gives up control and explores open space of opportunity. The results will help you better understand your leadership style and how to better adapt to your work environment.
You will also complete the leadership tool developed by John Maxwell, to assess your leadership skills and your ability to influence others. The results of both assessments will be used to help you develop individual leadership plans.
Organizational Assessment
You will complete an organizational capacity assessment to assess areas that every organization should develop in order to move towards sustainability. The assessment will also help you know whether you are eligible to apply for Illinois grants and to assess the organization’s strengths and areas that should be improved.
Workshops
The Capacity Building BlocksTM intensive includes a 14-week virtual workshop series. The interactive workshops will provide a balance of instruction, case studies and group activities designed to help you strengthen your organizations’ infrastructure and position it for long term sustainability. There will be links to downloadable workbooks, handouts, templates and other resources to supplement the presentations. The workshops will last three hours, with the exception of the grant writing workshop, which will last a full day. All workshops will start at 9:00 am and go through 12:00 noon. The grant writing workshop will go from 9:00 am until 5:00 pm.
Mar 13
Kick-Off And Orientation
We will provide an overview of the program, go over house keeping and complete initial assessments.
Mar 15
Session 1, Leadership Development
We will provide an overview of a number of topics in leadership development, including the traits of effective and ineffective leaders. We will also share lessons from Maxwell’s 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership. Other topics include leadership succession planning and how to use thought leadership to build organizational capacity. We will show you how to use the Leadership as Fit and Maxwell leadership assessment tools to better understand your leadership style within the context of your organization’s environment. You will use lessons learned from this workshop to develop your own leadership development plan.
Mar 22
Session 2, Developing Effective Boards
This workshop will provide an overview of the roles and responsibilities of boards and executive staff; a review of the major stages of the board life cycle; the various types of boards; board recruitment strategies and how to better engage your board in fundraising. You will also get resources to manage board operations more effectively and to have more productive board meetings.
Mar 29
Session 3, Community Needs Assessment and Theory of Change
We will walk you through the process of conducting an asset-based community needs assessment and theory of change. You will learn how to identify and prioritize community issues so that you can position your organization to respond to changes in the community’s needs.
Apr 5
Session 4, Strategic Planning vs. Business Planning
This workshop will help you and your board make the necessary shifts in response to changes brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic while guiding your organization towards long term sustainability. You will learn how business planning and strategic planning are alike and how they are different. You will also learn traditional as well as streamlined approaches to strategic planning.
Apr 12
Session 5, Program Development
We will build upon lessons learned from previous modules to help you develop data-driven programs that are relevant to the community. You will learn how to lay the groundwork for program implementation and evaluation during the program design phase. We will also share online tools that can help your process.
Apr 19
Session 6, Policy Advocacy
This workshop would show you how to develop policy advocacy plans and strategies at the community and legislative levels. We will also share ways to integrate technology into your advocacy to work more effectively.
Apr 26
Session 7, Collaboration and Collective Impact
This workshop will cover the various types of collaboration; the pros and cons and lessons learned from collaboration. We will also show you how to develop MOU’s and implement the Collective Impact model.
May 3
Session 8, Budgeting and Cash Flows
We will show you how to how to develop program budgets, consolidated organizational budgets and cash flow projections. When you are done with this workshop you should understand how to use financial information to make management decisions and adjust to change.
May 10
Session 9, Regulatory Compliance
We will cover the roles of the various players in nonprofit compliance, including the community, funders and government agencies. We will also show you how to leverage the regulatory compliance process to increase fundraising.
May 17
Session 10, Technology Planning
You will learn how to create a technology plan that is in alignment with your strategic plan. We will share a template that you can use for your technology proposals; to enhance the efficiency of day-to-day operations and maximize fundraising and marketing efforts.
May 24
Session 11, Marketing and Communications
You will learn how to develop and implement a comprehensive marketing and communications strategy to brand your organization’s products and services; reach key constituencies and expand opportunities to attract more resources to your organizations.
June 7
Session 12, Evaluation Planning
This workshop will help you to better understand the relationships between program development, marketing, and the evaluation process; how to develop tools to determine the community impact of your programs.
Jun 14
Session 13, Fundraising Fundamentals
You will learn how to develop a case for support, conduct prospect research, cultivate relationships with funders and develop a fundraising plan.
Jun 21
Session 14, Proposal Writing
This workshop will a full day. We will go through the entire grant writing cycle, with group exercises for every phase. We will include a panel of funders and impact investors, and have you simulate a pitch to funders at the end of the workshop.
Jun 21-28
Ongoing coaching to focus on individual leadership development and organizational capacity development plans.
Pre- and Post-Tests
Before you start, you will be given a pre-test to assess your baseline knowledge of the subjects that will be covered in the workshops. You will be given the same test after the workshops have been completed to measure how much you have learned as a result of the workshops.
Coaching
The coaching component will go throughout the program. The coaching will be delivered primarily through teleconferencing and emails, supported by an online coaching platform. You will be able to see, in real time, how much progress you are making. You can make appointments to discuss any of the topics that are covered in the workshops.
What We Provide
- A hands-on onboarding process to set participant expectations and show you how to navigate the online coaching platform.
- A participant handbook
- Two one-hour online coaching sessions per month with assignments in between sessions. (You will determine what the assignments are, based on your needs)
- Online meeting scheduling and integration into the leading online calendar systems
- A phone app that will allow you to access the coaching console from anywhere, any time
- A detailed workplan with action items to move you towards your respective goals and objectives
- Accountability through meeting notes and the online report card
- Downloadable reports that you can share with others in your organizations
- The ability to see, in real time, how much progress you are making towards your goals, utilizing metrics that are tailored to your individual plans
- Supplemental resources and worksheets to help you flesh out your ideas
- Membership in the Nonprofit Utopia community for the duration of the engagement. You will have access to the resources of the full community while participating in a subgroup consisting of other members of the Capacity Building Blocks intensive cohort.
We want you to succeed. In order to help you achieve your best results, we expect you to
- Have approval from the board chair and executive director or the equivalent organizational counterparts. We have provided a link to a sample letter for you to tailor as necessary. This letter should be submitted when you make payment.
- Be committed to your own success and meeting your goals and objectives
- Show up to sessions prepared—you are mentally present; have completed your tasks in between meetings and have thought about next steps
- Participate in the Nonprofit Utopia community, within a special group designated for Capacity Building BlockTM intensive members. This will be where you can get your questions answered and arrange office hours.
- Feel free to take advantage of the full range of the resources offered by the Nonprofit Utopia community at large.
- Set aside enough time to attend all workshop sessions and complete assignments.
- Have a commitment to completing the Capacity Building BlocksTM intensive program.
Instructor
Meet Valerie F. Leonard your instructor for the intensive.
Hi, I’m Valerie Leonard. I am the founder of Nonprofit Utopia, LLC, where I facilitate an online community, provide leadership coaching and consulting services. I am also a member of the Maxwell Certified Leadership Team. Over the years, I have helped over 1,000 people meet their professional goals, and raise over $100 million through grant writing and technical assistance.
I also teach courses in nonprofit management and social enterprise at local universities, giving students the tools they need to immediately apply their learning to their own situations.
I have lived experience, living and working in a marginalized community, working to effect social change. I’ve worked on several social justice issues surrounding education and school improvement and equitable community development.
I designed the Capacity Building Blocks intensive with you in mind, in hopes of helping you advance your career while you build an organization that can stand the test of time.
Testimonials
Hear from others who have worked with Valerie.
Tuition
The tuition for the Capacity Building Blocks intensive is $7,500.00.
Registration Deadline
The registration deadline is March 8, 2024