Nonprofit Agency Capacity-Building Project

2010 Spring Workshops

We sponsored two workshops for non profits this spring!

• Board Governance on March 23, 2010
• Strategic Planning on April 20, 2010

Both workshops took place from 7-9 PM at Sakai Intermediate School Library.  The workshops were open to board members and executive direcotrs of Bainbridge Island's non profits.  Priority was given to HHHS-funded and partner agencies.  Registration was open to other non profits on a space-available basis.

The Nonprofit Board Governance Workshop covered the role of the non profit board as well as best practices for creating a healthy, productive board culture.

Participants:

• Learned the eight basic roles and responsibilities of non profit boards
• Evaluated their own board's current performance of these responsibilities
• Understood how to organize and focus the board's work
• Identified steps to take to improve board dynamics, board member satisfaction and retention
• Crafted a customized action plan to strengthen board capacity over the next six months

Nonprofit Workshop Handouts available here >>>>>

Strategic Planning is a process that brings a non profit organization's board, staff and community together to confirm a common mission and vision and get agreement on the organization's strategic direction and areas of focus for the coming years.  By promoting unity of purpose and alignment of everyone's energy and resources, planning improves organizational effectiveness and impact.

This workshop:

• Provided an overview of the strategic planning process,
• Introduced tools to use to map stakeholders, gather community input, prioritize among worthy goals, format your plan for internal and external audiences, and
• Identified measurable outcomes to monitor your progress.

Participants left with an understanding of the value of planning, a good sense of how to design an appropriate process for their organization, and the resources to support the work.

Nonprofit Strategic Planning Handouts available here >>>>>

Laura Pierce

Workshop Speaker

Laura Pierce is the owner and principal consultant of Laura Pierce Consulting.  Laura has worked in and with non profit organizations for eighteen years, including fund development, community organizing, and executive management positions.  Since 1998, she has consulted with a wide-range of non profit organizations, assisting with strategic planning, board development, jorganizational assessment and capacity building. 

In addition to consulting, Laura teaches board roles and responsibilities, board development, philanthropy, strategic leadership and other non profit topics at the University of Washington Evans School of Public Affairs, UW Extension's Non Profit Management Certificate Program, Non Profit Assistance Center, and United Way of King County.

For more information on Laura Pierce, please visit www.laurapierceconsulting.com.

These workshops were made possible by a grant from

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7th Annual HHHS Board Forum Event

"Paths to Stewardship" 

Steps you can take now to ensure your agency's future!

A very successful 7th Annual HHHS Board Forum was held on Thursday, January 28, 2010 at IslandWood. 

The HHHS Board Forum provided cross-agency education and training to the human services organizations of the HHHS-sponsored Community Connections agencies and partner organizations.  The event was FREE to all Community Connections executive directors and board members.

Board Forum Speaker

Susan Howlett was the featured speaker.  She has consulted with hundreds of nonprofits throughout the United States over the last 20 years.

Susan served for many years as core faculty at the University of Washington, in the Fundraising Certificate Program, receiving the 2004 Award for Teaching Excellence.  She developed the Nonprofit Management Certificate Program at Bellevue Community College, wehre she has taught grant writing, fundraising and board development classes for 15 years.

Susan speaks, trains and cosults nationally due to her reputation for offering simple solutions to complex, systemic problems delivered with stories and humor.

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HHHS sponsored a series of two Workshops in 2009 using a grant received from the Bainbridge Community Foundation.  Each workshop will be followed up with individualized agency training.

These workshops were open to board members and the executive directors of the HHHS-sponsored Directors Forum organizations.

Collaboration Workshop

Wednesday, May 13, 7:30 – 9:30 AM at The Commons,

370 Brien Drive SE, Bainbridge Island.

At this workshop we explored collaboration in the nonprofit sector.  Participants:

• Learned the basics of collaboration and be able to define key terms
• Understood the spectrum of collaboration options available, including strategic restructuring and mergers
• Heard about specific examples of successful collaboration among nonprofits
• Learned how to craft a formal collaboration agreement
• Identified the first steps to explore and negotiate a merger

The workshop also offered time to generate ideas for collaboration among Bainbridge Island health, housing and human service providers, and explored how to create the conditions that support greater collaboration locally.

Handouts from the Workshop:

Collaboration Workshop Handouts

Governance Workshop

Wednesday, April 29, 7:30 – 9:30 AM at Bethany Lutheran Church, Bainbridge Island.

This workshop covered the role of the nonprofit board as well as best practices for creating a healthy, productive board culture.  Participants:

• Learned the eight basic roles and responsibilities of nonprofit boards
• Evaluated their own board’s current performance of these responsibilities
• Understood how to organize and focus the board’s work
• Identified steps to take to improve board dynamics, board member satisfaction and retention
• Crafted a customized action plan to strengthen board capacity over the next six months

Handouts from the Workshop:

Nonprofit Board Governance Workshop Handouts

Board Assessment Worksheets

Board Governance Questionaire / Composition Analysis

6th Annual Board Forum Event

"Our Community Safety Net in Action" 

Date:  Thursday, January 29, 2009

Time:  6-9 PM

Location:  IslandWood

The Community Connections agencies (BI Child Care Centers, Boys & Girls Club of BI, BI Teen Center, Bainbridge Youth Services, Helpline House, Housing Resources Board, Interfaith Volunteer Caregivers, JustKnow, Washington State SmilePartners, BI Special Needs Foundation and the YWCA Alive Program) and partner organizations (BI Metro Park & Rec Dist., BI Senior Community Center, BI School District and IslandWood) are working closely together to form our community's safety net. 

The annual Board Forum event provides cross-agency education and training for human service directors, their board members and others interested in human services.

Learn how each agency partners with other agencies to coodinate services.  Deepen your understanding of what services each agency provides and discover additional ways to collaborate.

Connecting to build a comprehensive continuum of services for

all Bainbridge Islanders.

Sponsored by:

Health, Housing & Human Services Council

Community Connections

City of Bainbridge Island

Healthy Community Checkup Report

August, 2008

The Healthy Community Checkup Project is our periodic update of our Needs Assessment. We have updated our original survey of Human Service Needs, and have updated and develed a Community Demographic Profile. Our new component is the development of Healthy Community Indicators.  We are working to establish a set of measurable "Healthy Community Indicators" that can be used over time to see how we are doing in sustaining a healthy community.

To read the full Healthy Community Checkup Report >>

The Health, Housing, and Human Services Council, the Bainbridge Island Arts & Humanities Council, and the Bainbridge Community Foundation partnered to sponsor a series of non-profit workshops.

The First Workshop, Strategic Planning, took place on October 5. The Second Workshop, Financial Practices took place on February 29. The Third Workshop, on Building a Sustainable Fundraising Model, was held on Friday, May 30, 2008 and featured speaker Susan Howlett. For more information about Susan Howlett >>

Implementation of the Human Services Element (HSE)
HHHS Status Report: April, 2007

This Status Report details the progress made through April 2007 to implement the seven goals of the Human Services Element of the the City's Comprehensive Plan.
Read the full report: Human Services Element Status Report>>

The 2008 Annual Board Forum

Our 5th Annual Board Forum event took place on Wednesday, January 30, 2008 at IslandWood.  Executive Directors and board members from the Community Connections agencies and partnering organizations attended the event.  The topic was on Strategic Planning.  The featured speaker was Jill Bamburg, Dean of Bainbridge Graduate Institute's MBA Program

2008 Board Forum

The 2007 Annual Board Forum

The Annual Board Forum event for the board members of the non-profit human service agencies and partner organizations of the Directors Forum, took place the evening of Monday, January 29, 2007 at the Bainbridge High School Library. The Board Forum featured nationally recognized expert and speaker on board development, Susan Howlett.

2007 Board Forum