Fundraising - Engaging Board Members

Before I share with you How to Get Your Board Members to be Walking Billboards for Your Nonprofit, School or Church, I want to remind you about my seminar the weekend of March 21st.

I'm taking everything I've learned and developed over the past 10 years of working with schools and nonprofits and I'm teaching it to 75 people - I have lots of seats open!  HELP ME FILL THEM. If you're not interested, please let others know.

I will teach folks a new way to think about resource development (money, student enrollment, community partnerships, building awareness), then share the knowledge you need to put these concepts to work, and then give you a big binder and electronic versions of tools and templates you can use (case statement, elevator pitch, student enrollment strategies, communications tools like Facebook, website, flyers for anything, scripts, applications for grants, and much more).

The cost for my seminar is: PAY WHAT YOU CAN OR WANT and attend one or both dates as well as join us for networking.

Click here and request registration paperwork or hit the BUY NOW button on my blog.  To learn more about what I'll cover and to read or hear testimonials from some of my clients, visit my website or my You Tube Channel.

Now, on to sharing my secrets for inspiring your board members to be walking billboards for your organization.

Understanding How to Inspire Your Board Members to be Active Ambassadors

 FIRST - It's About Confidence

Are your board members out there tirelessly promoting your organization?  I guarantee you don't really know the answer to this question.  Whenever I do a seminar for board members, and I ask them, "How many of you are confident and comfortable sharing your organization's story?" only one-third of the hands go up.  Your board members are the guardians of your organization, but most of them are NOT PROMOTING your organization.  Here's the thing though.  They will never admit it because they think they should know how to do this.

Over the past 10 years of working with nonprofits, schools and churches, I've learned that there is a lot of guilt on boards.  It's crazy, because here are people who volunteer outside of their jobs and families to offer their time, support, money and advice to a cause for which they have much passion.

They get onto the board often with little training and orientation and you can tell they're ready to get to work.  After a few meetings of soaking in everyone else's wisdom and perspectives, they are really feeling ready to go.  But then after a few more meetings, many board members begin feeling unsure about what to actually do to help outside of attending meetings and blessing the budget and activities of the director.  Eventually, many of them begin to feel ineffective and like they're not making a contribution.

What often happens on the other end - the staff end - is the director begins to make assumptions about a lack of commitment to the organization.  I have found that this just is not the case.  Through many board engagement projects and confidential interviews with board members, I have found the issue to be one of a lack of direction, training and tools than anything else.

A Real Story - Connecting Youth, Inc. (Milwaukee)

A few years back I was brought in by the executive director of a small nonprofit called Connecting Youth who needed help engaging the board in the organization's work after quickly growing operations.  This awesome organization is a group home for teens that can't be adequately served in foster care.  After my first meeting with the board and staff, even I fell under the spell of making assumptions about whether the president of the board was committed.  I really thought to myself, "This person is probably going to have to leave."

When we started clarifying the organization's mission, developing a compelling vision for the future and outlining three clear priorities and a committee structure to achieve them, you could just feel the difference in energy and motivation.  As part of our project, I asked the board members to personally invite some folks to an information session for the purpose of recruiting some additional board and committee members.  While just five people came, all five jumped in and got involved.  The really awesome story is the professional woman who was invited by the board president not only recruited her daughter to serve on the board (she had marketing expertise), she mailed in a $1,000 check after just that one meeting.  This was a HUGE donation for them.  With some clarity and tools, this board president was really able to share the story and make connections.  

Another Real Story - Eastbrook Academy (Milwaukee)


My last posting about board engagement is one of my most popular blogs.  I thought about this again recently as I started working with my new awesome client, Eastbrook Academy, a school that has one of the most amazing stories ever.  This school started 16 years ago with just a K4, K5 and 1st grade, and this year their first high school graduating class will graduate from college.  They have a 100% high school graduation rate, 100% college acceptance rate, PLUS they are racially and economically diverse, with one-third of their students qualifying for free and reduced lunch and a large portion of their students coming from wealthy suburbs paying private tuition.  Families that choose to go there state that they don't have to choose between diversity AND student achievement - THEY GET BOTH.

Anyway, this school is kind of shy about promoting itself.  They have quietly known that they are doing something really awesome, and their recent accreditation brought accolades from the accrediting association.  But they're still kind of shy, and it's my job to tell them how awesome they are and to teach them how to engage the rest of the world in their amazing story.

In the short time I've been there, there are already getting more results just by encouraging them.  They just held their annual event, which had been on a downward trend for various reasons.  Three weeks before the event, I provided the board members with a script and they signed up to make some personal calls to invite people to come to the event.  That made all the difference.  When the board president went to his company for sponsorship, he said all he had to do was write down some of the achievements of the school and the company said yes right away.  They exceeded their goal!

SECOND - Two Tools for Building Confidence

A past board member of Eastbrook Academy admitted that one of the reasons he left the board was because he didn't know how to share the story.  I'm so glad he admitted that.  You can have all the passion in the world, but if you don't know what to say, then you don't share.

There are three tools that really help your ambassasdors share the story:

1. Professional Case Statement.  Click here to go to my first blog posting about developing case statements. 
2. Elevator Pitch.  Click here to go to my blog posting about developing an elevator pitch. 
3. FAQ (frequently asked questions).  This is another great tool to have available to consistently address common questions that come up.  Click here to send me an email for a sample of an FAQ document.  

THIRD - Professional Nagging and Support Bring Credibility

Years back I read something about all the research that was done on all the millions companies spend on professional development programs for their employees.  Unfortunately, the research showed that most of that money was probably being wasted because there were no long-term changes in behavior and results.  The research did however identify the difference in what did bring lasting results and that was followup and support.  

We all intuitively know that changing behaviors and habits is really, really difficult.  We know that the majority of people who want to lose weight end up putting it back on, many people who try to quit smoking don't succeed until many attempts.  Just think about how unrealistic it is to expect people to expertly manage their time after going to a weekend seminar.  Or expecting harmony in the workplace to go up after sending employees to even a six-week program on how to have difficult conversations.  Without the followup and support from a manager, real change is unlikely. 

So even when you provide your board members with a beautiful case statement and elevator pitch, likely not much will happen - even though they're all motivated and excited about their new tools.  They may have every great intention, but when they get out there your board members will get stuck.  And remember, they won't tell you - they're too embarassed.  

I recommend these three follow-up steps to build the confidence and ensure your board members become active ambassadors for your organization.  If they do, you will definitely see new results.  

FIRST - Build in time to report back to each other on how it's going.  You could add a regular agenda item called "Community Engagement" or "Relationship Cultivation" or "Sharing the Story."  During this time, board members can share their experience of using the case statement and elevator pitch and what results they're experiencing.  How many new people have they shared the story with for example.  I like to actually add a little competition to the mix.  Set a weekly goal for the board members when it comes to sharing the story with new people.  

SECOND - Capture all new relationships in a tracking.  Your board members should know that when they have a meaningful conversation with someone that they are to ask them if it's okay to contact them in the future or put them on the mailing list (this is in the elevator pitch).  This contact information should be passed along to the person who is in charge of the relationship tracking so there is immediately a next step for this relationship.  To get a sample elevator pitch, click here and send me an email.    

THIRD - Celebrate success to build more confidence.  I can't believe how often organizations downplay their successes.  My client just exceeded their goal for an event, and the email that went out from the fund development director was very professional and detailed, but it did not scream - WE EXCEEDED OUR GOAL!  The fact that the board members actively made personal phone calls was something that was new and their efforts resulted in more tables being sold at the event, more attendees and a brand new donation!  THIS IS AWESOME!  Celebrating your successes is important for lots of reasons, but most importantly for helping your board members know that THEY MADE A MEANINGFUL CONTRIBUTION.  When they see that, they will be happy to do it again.  

Your board members are your most important tool for inspiring others to get involved in your organization.  I often remind organizations and board members that it's NOT the job of the fund development director to raise money.  It's her or his job to drive the fundraising plan and to empower as many people as possible to share the story, make connections and cultivate relationships.  The organizations that take this to heart have more donors than they can handle.  

As always, I love to hear your own success stories.  

Please consider coming to my seminar or helping me promote it.  I've got a week and a half to fill my 75 seats.  With a price of PAY WHAT YOU CAN and a guarantee that you'll receive inspiration and knowledge and materials worth thousands there are lots of organizations that can benefit. 

Deb 

  

A Simple alinea Guide to Cultivating Relationships with Linkedin

Are you ignoring social media tools?

Or, do you recognize the opportunities that social media offers but don’t know where to start or feel overwhelmed by the prospect of learning another new technology?

After working with schools and nonprofits for over eight years I’ve come to learn that there’s just not enough time in the day to do everything that organizations would like to do. 

When it comes to using social media, I’ve noticed a growing number of resources devoted to helping nonprofits and schools use social media, like classes, seminars and books.  I get the impression that it still feels overwhelming, especially for smaller nonprofits where this just gets added to the director’s list of to-do’s.

If you understand how to genuinely engage people in person, social media can be a wonderful way to increase the number of opportunities to engage people.   Let’s start with Linkedin, which I recommend is the first tool to use.  First, take this quiz to see how you rate. 

Quizzes by Quibblo.com | SnapApp Quiz Apps

My guarantee:  If you devote 5 minutes each day to Linkedin, you will attract people who will be interested in supporting your mission. 

Before you get started though, you need to plan for two critical factors that will drive your success: 

First, consistency is more important than how much time you spend on Linkedin.  That’s why I ask that you spent five minutes every day.  If you do this, you will quickly develop a new habit of thinking about Linkedin.  I tend to work on Linkedin while I’m watching TV at night.

Second, Be strategic or you will not be efficient or effective.  Don’t just invite anyone and everyone.  Think about what kinds of people you would like to have as your volunteers, donors and staff people.  Think about the expertise and knowledge your organization needs.  For example, you may want to invite people into your network who have expertise in law, accounting, marketing, education, the arts, public relations, human resources.  Or you may want to connect with people and organizations that you want to know about the services you provide to the community. 

Okay, let’s get going.

Step #1 – Complete your profile!  If you’re going to do this, do it well.  Whether you are inviting someone or someone else is inviting you, the first place people will go to check you out is your profile page.  They will look for something that resonates with them, and that could be a mutual past employer, the service you provide to the community, the college you went to or the fact that you were a Girl Scout Troop Leader.  You just never know.  How to complete your profile:

1.              Add an attractive photo of yourself.  This is a non-negotiable.  People connect better when they have a visual. 

2.              Enter your current paid and unpaid positions.

3.              Enter all of your past paid and unpaid positions (volunteer projects, leadership opportunities)

4.              The executive summary is a story about who you are.  Use conversational language and focus on articulating your passion, interests, special talents and the measureable difference you have made. 

5.              Ask for recommendations from people who you have made a great impression on, including past employers, co-workers, fellow volunteers, organizations for which you’ve volunteered and others that think you’re amazing.  Over time, your goal is to have multiple recommendations for each position or item in on your profile page.

6.              Provide recommendations to those you really respect and impress you.  It’s a great way to get a recommendation back, plus you build credibility as someone who is a resource for others.

Step #2 – Begin inviting people.  Begin by importing or inviting people and colleagues you already know.  The, go to the people you may know section and invite those who meet your strategic criteria.  Third, peek at the contacts within the first level of your own network.  When you invite someone, never use just the default language; it’s annoying to get that from someone who doesn’t even know you.  That’s the way people are doing it, but if you really want to make an impression, use someone’s name and something like, “I thought you might be interested in the services we provide to low-income families in the area of education.”  Then you can leave the other language in there. 

Step #3 – Share good news at least once per week!.  Share good news at least once per week.  The strategy behind social media is to build your credibility by being a resource to others.  The more you offer value to others, the more you will gain respect from others.  Don’t ask for things.  Inspire people with success stories or visions of the future.

Step #4 – Participate in at least one discussion per week.  Participate in a group discussion at least once per week.  Choose groups that include people you strategically want to reach and discuss topics for which you could be a resource.  Comment only on a topic or question where you believe you have a unique perspective and something different to say than anyone else. 

Step #5 – Follow up to requests.  If someone responds to your request with a message, be sure to respond and find out more about their interest.  Email info@alineaconnect.com for our handout out on the Steps to Relationship Cultivation.  It might be appropriate to invite them to tour your school or organization.  You can also request our handout on Compelling Tours.  The point is once you open the door to someone,  you must continue to build the relationship for it to result in anything of value to you or the other person. 

Your assignment:

I hope now I have given you the tools to begin to cultivate relationships online.  Give it a week or two and come back and take this quiz.  I'm sure by then you will have some success stories to share.

And stay tuned for my next post about an alinea client who I now consider the King of Linkedin!  In the meantime please connect with me on Linkedin so I can see you share your story as well!

WASB Wisconsin State Education Convention 2012

Lots of Innovation Happening in Small Communities

When I submitted my proposal to present a seminar about sustainability through community engagement at this year’s WASB State Education Convention, I didn’t really expect to get an invitation. 

The reason?  While there is no shortage of small groups of people and individual schools doing creative and successful things to raise the bar for student achievement, you usually don’t see that type of passion and enthusiasm for change at the school district level. 

I was asked to be prepared for 75 attendees; I brought enough materials for 100 and it wasn’t enough.  There weren’t even enough chairs for the more than 110 people who attended my seminar titled Sustainability through Community Engagement.  Not only that, more than 30 people bought my book *The Secret to Better Schools; a New Mindset for Engaging the Community, and 24 schools requested a free consultation to learn about how alinea can help them secure community support to achieve their amazing visions for their schools.

 The energy in the room was hopeful, exciting and contagious.  One of the attendees, a school board member in one of these amazing communities hurried up to me after the seminar exclaiming, “I want to join your team and do this amazing work!”  And guess what?  This past week she joined alinea, LLC for her first team meeting. Stay tuned for more developments!

Shortly after, we headed back to the booth, where a steady stream of principals, superintendents and school board members proudly shared the exciting initiatives and public-private partnerships they were already forming.  It was so exciting, and even hugs were shared.

My team and I have always enjoyed working with schools in smaller communities.  It doesn’t take long to experience the unique personality of a community, nor does it take long for people to step up once there is a clear vision.  We talked with education leaders from the top of the state like Bayfield, Washburn, Drummond and Manitowish to the tip of Door County like Oconto, Gibralter, Little Chute, Seymour and Crandon to the west of Milwaukee like Wisconsin Dells and Montello. 

The passion and optimism of these school leaders was so refreshing!  All they need is a little confidence to know that the community will be there for them if they can learn how to ask for support.  That’s were alinea comes in.  We love helping schools attract resources by teaching them how to inspire people with their stories, be clearer about what they need and how people can help, and strategically cultivate relationships.

We’re so excited to hit the road and bring our proven model to school districts all over the state!     

*P.S.  Following the conference, "The Secret to Better Schools" made it onto Bobby Tanzilo's OnMilwaukee.com blog!  What a great way to start 2012.  

Stay tuned for more developments, we have a lot to share! 

A Personal Story

As I excitedly get ready to launch our plans for 2012, I thought I’d take a moment to share some the motivation and passion behind the work my company does.

I never anticipated building a company full of people that love helping schools and nonprofits attract resources and achieve more than they think possible.  But here we are at the beginning of a new year and after eight years of creating a model that works and a reputation of results for almost 100 schools and nonprofits. 

They say that when you find the work that results from your passion intersecting with your talents, it doesn’t feel like work – it feels like play.  That is how I feel about the work of alinea. 

I want to share a story about my journey.  Three things happened at about the same time that put me on my path.  

Three Gifts From the Universe

As I look back I realize that the challenges on my life journey have been gifts from the universe that have allowed me to combine my passion to have a positive impact on the world with my talent to inspire and empower people and organizations to achieve more than they think they can.  

The First Gift – My Son Billy

Within four weeks after my son Billy started kindergarten at a school in one of the top two schools districts in the state, we got our first call from his teacher.  During group time down on the carpet, Billy couldn’t sit still; he would do a somersaults.  When standing in line Billy would be the one to swing his backpack around and inadvertently hit another child.  That was the start of what has become a very long journey of two parents trying to meet the needs of their child within an education environment that values its systems over meeting the education needs of individual students. 

The most important thing I learned was to trust my instincts about whether my child’s needs were being met and if I hit a road block to move up the chain of decision makers.  For five years we battled against language like “this is our system,” “Billy is making poor choices,” and “bad behavior.”  Until this year, none of his teachers took much time to get to know Billy as an individual.  Billy was evaluated by the school system, outside of the school system, never finding any type of definite diagnosis.  Billy has a little sensory integration issue, is very verbal and likes to use his hands.  All his teachers agree he’s bright, but he’s awkward with his peers.  We’ve seen child psychologists to help him with his behavior in school.  Having an IEP (individualized education plan) was a disaster, doing more harm than good because of its focus on special education versus individual needs.   

After all these years, today Billy has the best teacher ever.  She focuses on finding ways to keep Billy engaged, and she helped us discover that anxiety drove many of Billy’s distracting behaviors.  The love and creativity of his teacher, our unwavering message to Billy that he is unique and wonderful, and a very low dose of medication to help with his anxiety has changed his life.  He’s making friends, focusing in school and most important, he doesn’t start the day with a stomach ache anymore.   

The Second Gift – Launching a New School

About the same time my son entered kindergarten, I was asked to be the first founding board member of a new charter school located in the inner City of Milwaukee and serving low-income families.  During my interview with the founder, I asked “Why me?  I don’t have any experience with schools or education policy.”  I added, “I’m just a parent with children who go to school in a top performing school district.”  But the founder of this school said, “That’s why I want you on my board.”  She didn’t want an insider.  She wanted someone who wasn’t tied to the status quo, as well as someone who would know how to secure resources for the school and build community support.  This experience taught me a lot about education reform, how charter schools get approved, the extent to which politics impacts and gets in the way of making decisions that are in the best interest of children. 

The Third Gift – Charter Schools Ask for Our Help

In about 2000 the City of Milwaukee was blessed with an $18 million donation from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for the Small School Initiative.  An organization was created to facilitate the creation of ultimately about 40 new charter schools.  In about 2005, one of these charter schools came to us feeling very nervous about their ability to keep their new school sustainable over the long term.  The group of teachers who designed an amazing curriculum realized they didn’t have expertise to build community support.  For nine months, we worked with this school to help them tell their story, build community awareness, communicate with parents and recruit professionals to sit on committees to help them with marketing.  Soon after, we were asked by another charter school to help them build community support, and then another.  We became sponges for education reform, and we began to make observations about a very important gap not being address in schools, namely sustainability through community engagement.  This experience became the seed for what is now our proven model for securing community support and resources.

In a way, I was personally led to this work, this way of having a positive impact on the world.  And it has not been difficult to attract people to the alinea team who also have a passion for education.  People want to help, but they don’t know what to do.  When a school hires alinea, they learn how to inspire people with their story, be clearer about what they need and how people can help, and strategically cultivate relationships in order to build community support and resources. 

The overwhelming response I get from people who attend my presentations is “You give us hope that we can do this?”  You see, the issue isn’t money; there’s plenty of money in the world.  The issue is doing what’s in the best interest of children and then learning how to effectively engage the community in your mission. 

Every day, my son William is a constant inspiration and reminder of the importance of the work that alinea does and the need to bring our message of focusing on what’s possible to communities everywhere. 

I hope you will join the alinea team and me on our journey to provide education to children that engages and inspires them to bring their passion and talents to others so they may fulfill their unique purpose.  

How You Can Help

Here are four easy ways you can contribute to the reach of our work:

1.     Become a follower of my blog and pass it along to others, and join our email list.

2.     Refer us to a school or nonprofit that could benefit by alinea’s unique community engagement program.

3.     Purchase my book, The Secret to Better Schools; A New Mindset For Engaging the Community, and give it as a gift.

4.     Make a donation to the alinea Foundation in order to empower organizations with few resources to benefit by our community engagement program. Please email me for more information.

The 2011 alinea Holiday Giving Guide

During this busy time of year, while you are enjoying family and friends and counting your blessings, you might be planning year-end gifts to charities as well.  

We wanted to take this time to make you aware of all the amazing schools and nonprofits we have worked with that could benefit by your donation.  

Enjoy skimming our list and click on the link to learn more about any that interest or inspire you.  Feel free to contact me if you would like to receive a case statement for any of them or schedule a tour. 

Deb and the alinea team wish you a happy holiday season and a prosperous New Year!

Schools and Education 

A2Accelerated AcademicsCharter and Jackson Elementary School Jackson Elementary School promotes high expectations, personal responsibility, independence and life-long learning.  Students develop academic aptitude, social skills, creative talent and their personal best.

A² (Accelerated Academics) Charter Elementary School utilizes state of the art technology and innovative curriculum to promote creative, imaginative and critical thinking through personalized small group and project-based experiences. Students are self directed, embrace challenges and are intellectually curious, willing to lead and accepting of others and themselves.

 

As part of the Sheboygan Area School District, Jackson and A² embrace all students, providing a comprehensive education model that ensures that each child is educated based on their unique skills and talents.

BHK Child Development Board To ensure quality early childhood education and family support by creating positive community involvement and by raising and distributing funds to support excellence and innovation in education.

Christ the King Palm Coast Christ the King is committed to serving, children, family, and community. Though there have been many blessings and successes so far, there are also big dreams for the future!

Oostburg Christian School The mission of Oostburg Christian School is to provide distinctly Christian, quality education, which will equip God's children to function as Christians in society, church, and home.

  

The Center for Teaching Entrepreneurship empowers young people ages 9-24 to see themselves as the CEO of me as they experience personal and professional growth through programs and coaching related to financial literacy and entrepreneurship.

Divine Savior Lutheran Academy Divine Savior Academy will continuously integrate the wisdom of God's Word with the best pedagogical practices to offer a holistic education that allows her students to grow in mind, body, and soul. DSA's faculty will continue to grow professionally by means of seminars, workshops, and advanced studies in order to provide the students of our church and community a challenging, developmentally appropriate and balanced curriculum.

Janus College Preparatory and Arts Academies (JCPAA) is a not-for-profit  organization designed to prepare students for a post-secondary education and a career. 

  

KingsAcademy Mission: To motivate, educate and elevate all students to become productive citizens through a curriculum that promotes academic excellence.

Lutheran Urban MissionInitiative (LUMIN) is setting a new standard for effective, Christ-centered, results oriented urban education in Milwaukee. Under God's provision, we have developed a network of Lutheran schools that shares resources and expertise to create safe, high-quality Lutheran schools focused on educational success, leadership development and spiritual growth. 

Mt. Lebanon  Empowering students to excel in their academic life, Inspiring students to act as Christians, Equipping families to walk the path to heaven

NE WI Montessori Charter School   is a parent- and teacher-initiated, community-supported school offering authentic Montessori education beyond the already existing private schools which serve ages 3 through kindergarten. The school enrolls students in grades 1-6.  

Red Cedar Environmental Institute To give students the opportunity to take ownership of their education by developing 21^st Century skills in a challenging, comprehensive, project-based learning environment with a focus on the Earth system.   

Roosevelt I.D.E.A. School (Instructional Differentiation for Education Achievement) School values the unique strengths and talents of each child.  We are committed to creating a path of instruction best suited to meet individual student needs.  We accomplish this by setting high expectations for each student, offering diverse learning materials, encouraging student ownership of learning, providing opportunities to community resources, fostering character development, engaging learning opportunities, every child finds success in the classrooms, sense of belonging, contributing members/role in community, and a nurturing environment.

SCCHS Sheboygan County Christian High School partners with parents to help students develop the Biblical understanding, tools and proper heart necessary to serve God in his world. 

Sheboygan Christian School partners with families and the community to provide an excellent education rooted in Biblical truth. Our students grow in their knowledge of God and His creation and respond in service to Him.

Shiocton International Leadership Academy empowers students in grades 6-11 to become confident, caring and engaged citizens of the world.   

St. Marcus Lutheran School and Church  We seek to make the compassionate love of God visible and tangible through our church, school and community outreach programs, by reaching out and inviting everyone to celebrate God’s love, strengthen their faith, lead positive lives and share their gifts with others. 

St. Patrick Parish School, being faithful to the Gospel of Jesus, provides a strong academic foundation while teaching the beliefs and traditions of our faith. 

Wauwatosa School of the Trades prepares students for success in college and a career in the trades professions.  Students in grades 11 and 12 experience a rigorous college prep curriculum while learning the technical skills needed to pursue a lucrative career in the trades.  Students who thrive at our school are self motivated and have an intense interest in building.  They are serious about pursuing a career in the trades or seek an innovative hands-on approach to learning as they prepare for college.

 

At-Risk Youth

Above the Clouds, Inc Incorporated in 2001, Above the Clouds, Inc. is a non-profit, faith-based, free, creative arts program, which originated to reach disadvantaged children ages 5-17 years old in the Milwaukee area who would otherwise not have the means, or opportunity to participate in such programs.

House of Love Youth Homes, Inc. is a Christian-based organization, which prepares youth to lead self-sufficient lives by providing the loving family environment that is missing in their lives. We do this through our group homes and independent living support programs. 

Kingdom Princess Society  Our mission is to assist daughters of God who've moved their permanent residence from the World  to the Kingdom in order to firmly establish their dignity, destiny and duty as Princesses.

 

New Beginings are PossibleChristian Youth Center provides urban youth exposed to at-risk conditions in Milwaukee with a Biblically-based moral foundation needed to make healthy choices to become contributing members of the community.

Servant Manor Our vision is achieved through our mission to improve family reunification and permanency rates, utilize the least restrictive environmental treatment approach, deliver youth behavioral treatment in residential and non-residential settings, and offer family support services.  To this extend we have created partnerships with leading community care providers, social services agencies, businesses, foundations, parents, mentors, and religious leaders who enable us to produce concrete results in the lives of our children and their families.

 Tessa’s Black Entertainment and Youth Center (TBEY) strengthens youth and young adults through exposure to the arts and opportunities for creative expression.  Youth and young adults ages 6-19 receive professional arts instruction, enjoy performances and exhibits, and receive tutoring, mentoring and coaching to achieve academically and pursue their interest in the arts.

Arts and Culture

Community Arts and Funk Festival In addition to offering a lively, end of the summer cultural and artistic experience in the heart of downtown Milwaukee, the Community Arts & Funk Festival will offer its guests a multi-media artistic visual experience of music and original art in a festival setting. 

Cream City Baseball  The Cream City Baseball Foundation, Inc. is dedicated to preserving and promoting the game of base ball as it was played in its formative years of the 19^th century.  This interactive style brings the game to life for the kids, families and communities we invite to share and participate in the unique experience of a vintage base ball game. 

Older Adults 

Interfaith Older Adult Programs  Since 1975, Interfaith has established many other programs focusing on quality services, social opportunities, and valuable resources to enhance the welfare of older adults and family caregivers who support them. Our Mission: Linking older adults with a caring community.  

Community 

The Alma Center  works to motivate peaceful change through education in intimate relationships, family and community. The Alma Center provides gender specific training, education and mentorship to men who have a history of perpetrating violence or abuse toward their partner. 

 

Nehemiah rebuilds walls of our community one brick at a time through personal transformation. Like a caterpillar that surrounds itself by a cocoon and emerges as a completely different insect, shedding its old skin, individuals emerge from the difficult internal work required to address root causes of self-limiting behavior, shedding their self- limiting beliefs and able to better respond to their environment.  We achieve our mission by combining personal transformation with these four ministries: Prison After-Care support; Housing; Summer Learning Camp; Low-Cost Incubator Space.  

Sheboygan Neighborhood Pride  is a community resource empowering citizens to work together to improve their neighborhoods, reduce crime and enhance the quality of life in the community.

Foundations and Associations

National Christian Foundation is the largest Christian grant-making foundation in the world. Our innovative, tax-smart solutions help you simplify your giving, multiply your impact, and glorify God. Since 1982, we have received over $4 billion in contributions and made over $3 billion in grants to thousands of churches, ministries, and non-profits.

WCCAAWisconsin Childcare Administrators Association To Support Each Other As Child Care Administrators in Providing Quality Programming for Wisconsin's Families.