Congress is looking to eliminate funding for AmeriCorps programs.  Such a bad idea – especially in these tough economic times when the demand placed on nonprofits has never been higher.  I am amazed that after my 16 years of working with the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), state service commissions and AmeriCorps State and National programs throughout the country, how many people are still unaware of AmeriCorps and the MANY benefits the program brings to local communities.  When I mention to people that I train and consult with AmeriCorps, I often still have to say, “you know…it is the domestic Peace Corps.”  Then people get it.

AmeriCorps has never received the widespread recognition that it deserves and that is a true shame.  One of the topics I have done extensive work on with AmeriCorps programs nationally is performance measurement and evaluation – a key requirement of all AmeriCorps programs.  The bar is high to show real impact – and CNCS is enforcing even tougher standards through Agency-Wide priority measures tied to their strategic plan.  So what I know to be true is that these programs are providing fabulous service to their communities and making a significant measurable impact - because I have helped them figure out how to measure it!

What is AmeriCorps?

For those of you that don’t know, AmeriCorps is a National Service program that places members (aka volunteers) at nonprofits and state/local government agencies, often in teams, to provide volunteer service addressing specific local social and environmental needs. One of the things I really like about AmeriCorps is that it is great example of a federal/state/local partnership.  The federal portion of the dollars provided by CNCS for the program is matched locally via cash and in kind resources – basically dollar for dollar. AmeriCorps resources are focused on evidence-based programming in seven key areas (education, veterans and military families, disaster services, economic opportunity, healthy futures, environmental stewardship, and nonprofit capacity building) to leverage the greatest impact nationally. Each hosting organization tailors their program to provide locally relevant services

Full-time members give 1700 hours of their time, receive a tiny monthly living stipend, and at the end of their service commitment an educational award to pay for additional schooling or past educational debt.  While the majority of members are in the 20′s, there is no upper age limit and it is not uncommon to see 20 somethings working alongside people in their 40′s, 50s, and 60s from a wide range of backgrounds!  The monthly stipend is great, in my opinion, as it levels the playing field allowing people of any financial background to participate – not just those whose parents can afford to support them while they serve!

AmeriCorps members work directly with the beneficiaries of their hosting organization doing such things as tutoring students having trouble in school, running afterschool programs, cleaning up neighborhoods, developing neighborhood watch programs, assisting communities hit by disasters, running food pantries, and building homes – just to name a few.  All AmeriCorps programs are required to provide direct service to meet a documented community need, provide the necessary training for members to effectively provide high quality service and become more civically engaged, develop/strengthen partnerships among community organizations, and recruit other community members to get involved in giving back as volunteers.

Why should you care?

AmeriCorps truly expands the capacity of local nonprofits to meet local needs and allows them to offer services to the needy that would not be possible otherwise due to stretched resources due to diminishing charitable donations, hiring freezes and staff shortages.  Do a little research of your own and you’ll quickly see – AmeriCorps is no loosey goosey – pork barrel program.  AmeriCorps is a powerful investment in our country’s future.   Tell your Congresspeople to Save AmeriCorps!  Go to Voices for National Service or AmeriCorps Alums to learn how you can have your voice heard.

From their website, “Last year, Ace Hardware customers across the three states donated more than 30,000 pounds of holiday lights to the campaign, raising $14,000 for families of children diagnosed with cancer and bringing the total amount of lights donated by local Ace customers since 2008 to more than 77,000 pounds. Local stores hope to increase this year’s donation by 50 percent and have set a goal of collecting 45,000 pounds of holiday lights and extension cords during the 2011 holiday season.”

“Each year, more than 200 million strings of incandescent lights are sold in the U.S., and most of them end up in the landfill,” said Linda Worthington, marketing director Lights For Life. “Just the small act of dropping your broken or old lights or extension cords in a collection bin at an Ace Hardware can make a big difference in the lives of the families of kids with cancer.”

Holiday lights and extension cords can be dropped off at participating Ace Hardware stores between November 15 and February 15. The holiday light recycling program adds to the growing list recycling programs offered by area Ace Hardware stores. Many Ace Hardware stores also accept used compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs), mercury-containing thermostats, used cell phones and rechargeable batteries for recycling.”

Great idea!  I always feel bad putting my strands of dead icicle lights in the trash…I have a box to go to Ace today!  How about you?

About ImagineNations Network

From their website:  ”ImagineNations Network is a social networking platform for young entrepreneurs to connect to their peers, supporters, NGOs, financing sources, commercial outlets and others committed to helping young people build businesses and livelihoods around the world.

ImagineNations Network helps educate, mentor and empower young entrepreneurs (ages 15-29), linking them to local and global organizations and connecting them with each other to develop friendships, provide encouragement, share ideas, develop business plans and learn from other young people whose ideas have become a reality.

Developed by ImagineNations Group in partnership with Mercy Corps, with support from the Global Partnership for Youth Investment (GPYI) of the World Bank and Cisco Foundation, ImagineNations Network is an innovative solution for organizations and individuals building an online community of resources and support networks focused on youth enterprise development.

For more information, contact us at support@imagine-network.org.”

From the TerraPass website, “Purchasing TerraPass offsets sends a strong message about your values to your employees, customers and stakeholders. People prefer to work with organizations they believe in. As one component of your environmental strategy, a TerraPass carbon offset program will provide your company with the unique ability to empower your customers and employees to take action on climate change.

Additionally, committing to purchasing carbon offsets for your business creates the right internal incentives to reduce your footprint over time. Each year, the conservation and efficiency measures that you implement will lower your carbon footprint, requiring you to purchase fewer offsets.”

Join me?

The Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act outlines 6 priority areas in which the service and volunteerism programs funded by CNCS (AmeriCorps State and National, AmeriCorps VISTA, Senior Corps, and Learn and Serve America) will be focused moving forward – Education, Healthy Futures, (Economic) Opportunity, Veterans, Disaster Preparedness, and Clean Energy.  In each area, CNCS has identified draft key objectives that are felt to be areas in which targeted service and volunteerism can truly move the needle and make a significant contribution.

(Chart from CNCS Strategic Plan Fact Sheet.)

The small group discussion processes I have been facilitating seek input on whether the key objectives for success in 5 years seem sound, if there are other key objectives that should also be considered, and what stakeholders view as the challenges and opportunities available for programming in these areas.

Stakeholders invited to participate include a broad range of organizations – representatives of state service commissions, CNCS state offices, National Service programs, corporations, foundations, local and state government officials, community-based organizations, and faith-based organizations.  It has been very interesting to me to hear the differences in need and perspective based on regional differences and local needs as groups engage in the dialogue and I am processing the collected data.

I have been impressed with the quality of input the invited stakeholders have offered, the openness in which Patrick Corvington – CNCS CEO, Board members, and senior staff have received the input, and the real time revisions of the preliminary key objectives the agency is doing based on the input they are receiving.  Well done all around!

If you would like to provide input on any of these focus areas, CNCS has set up a website to collect public feedback.  Click here to go to that site.  CNCS is also hosting a series of webinars also designed to collect stakeholder input.  The dates of the webinars are:

• Education: Tuesday, July 13 at 2:30pm EDT
• Opportunity: Wednesday, July 14 at 1:30pm EDT
• Clean Energy: Thursday, July 22 at 2:00pm EDT
• Healthy Futures: Tuesday, July 27 at 1:30pm EDT
• Veterans: Thursday, July 29 at 1:30pm EDT
• Disaster Preparedness: Wednesday, August 4th at 1pm EDT

For information about how to access the webinars, click here.

Next week, I travel to Indianapolis to facilitate another Community Dialogue.  Later in August, I will also be in Detroit, Flint, and New Orleans for their Community Dialogues.  Makes for a busy summer…and I love doing this work!

If you are like most nonprofit leaders, you probably are very concerned these days about the impact of a tough economy on your ability to get needed resources for your organization or program. You see the need mushrooming in your community every day…and you see the companies around you starting to tighten their philanthropic belt. So what to do?

No matter how good your program or organization may be, if you can’t clearly make the case for why a business should support YOUR nonprofit organization over all the others also seeking their support, you are bound to fail. You need to know the right formula for approaching businesses to create win-win partnerships to secure the resources you so desperately need.

In this call, Susan Hyatt reveals how to move past the old school “beg for donations” and checkbook philanthropy mentality to present your organization, NOT as needy, but as a valuable partner – offering to share your assets (such as networks, publications, special events, etc.) with companies that choose to partner and share their resources with you. If you want to strengthen your “ask” and improve your success rate, you definitely need to attend this FREE teleseminar to:

• Learn about 4 current trends in the business world that affect giving practices;
• Discover the 4 critical needs of businesses that you can help address through a partnership;
• Learn the 10 biggest mistakes nonprofits make when seeking business support – so you don’t make them!
• And much more!

Get ready for an hour of information and insights that will change the tone and success of your business partnerships forever.

More Information about Susan Hyatt:

Susan Hyatt is the author of The Nonprofit Toolkit: Designing Strategic Partnerships with Businesses. She is a nationally-known consultant, trainer, and speaker and the founder of Business Nonprofit CONNECTIONS, Inc., which is dedicated to helping nonprofits and businesses partner more effectively for real impact on pressing social issues. Working with nonprofit organizations domestically and internationally for more than 20 years, Susan continually pushes the envelope to find NEW ways to address issues of nonprofit sustainability through strategic business partnerships.

Susan has conducted training in 49 states for over 10,000 nonprofit leaders and their board members on such topics as strategic business partnerships, performance measurement and evaluation, and using data effectively to gain stakeholder support. Susan has conducted interviews with more than 50 business leaders as part of the research for her forthcoming book, Strategic Business Philanthropy: How Smart Companies Do Good AND Do Well.” She has been featured in Entrepreneur Magazine, The Akron Times Beacon, and the Denver Business Journal. Her insights and articles regularly appear in her email newsletter, CONNECTIONS, which reaches business and nonprofit leaders worldwide.

REGISTER HERE FOR THIS FREE TELESEMINAR!

You will receive all the call information sent to the email you submitted. Please check your spam box if you do not receive the email within a few minutes.

If you are concerned about the impact of a tight economy on your ability to get needed resources for your nonprofit, join me for my four-part nonprofit teleseminar series, RECESSION PROOF RESOURCES: How SMART Nonprofits Partner with Businesses, on Tuesdays in March (9, 16, 23, and 30) from 12:00-1:30 pm ET. Get ready for six hours of information and insights that will change the tone and success of your business partnerships forever!

For more information and to sign up, go to: http://tinyurl.com/yg9u6z9

Please pass the word to nonprofit leaders you know who could benefit from this important information!!

As a thank you for reading my blog, I would like to offer you a $50 discount on the RECESSION PROOF teleseminar program – enter RPR-5 when registering to receive the discount! Hope you will be able to join me!!

Join me, Sue Hyatt, for this free teleclass in which I will walk you through five easy to follow strategies for your 2010 business giving so you can authentically support your favorite causes in heartfelt ways and grow your business, as well.

To register and get the call in number, click here.

Hope to “see” you there at 3-4 pm MT/5-6 pm ET on January 21st! If you can’t make this time “live,” no worries! The call will be recorded –so register anyway and you will be sent the email link to listen later when you have time.

You can go to Kiva’s website and lend to someone across the globe who needs a loan for their business – like raising goats, selling vegetables at market or making bricks.  Each loan has a picture of the entrepreneur, a description of their business and how they plan to use the loan so you know exactly how your money is being spent – and you get updates letting you know how the entrepreneur is going.
  
The best part is, when the entrepreneur pays back their loan you get your money back – and Kiva’s loans are managed by microfinance institutions on the ground who have a lot of experience doing this, so you can trust that your money is being handled responsibly.

One of the things I really enjoy is getting the monthly update email from Kiva which tells the status of my microloan repayments.  This month, I had $17.66 payed back and I decided to reinvest it in another entrepreneur, which I did.  My loan selection criteria is as follows.  My first choice is a female entrepreneur in a country where I have spent time, usually a solopreneur, where I can easily see how the loan will increase her ability to expand her business and help support her family. To date I have made loans to 5 women in Peru, 1 in Pakistan, and 1 in Samoa – all places I have been.

So, I just made a loan to an entrepreneur named Otgonbat Tseesuren in Mongolia, a place I have not yet been.  They still need another $2,025.00 to complete their loan request of $2,775.00 (you can loan as little as $25.00!).  Help me get this entrepreneur off the ground by clicking on the link below to make a loan to Otgonbat Tseesuren too:

http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=125293

It’s finally easy to actually do something about poverty – using Kiva I know exactly who my money is loaned to and what they’re using it for.  And most of all, I know that I’m helping them build a sustainable business that will provide income to feed, clothe, house and educate their family long after my loan is paid back.

Join me in changing the world – one loan at a time.

Thanks!

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What others are saying about www.Kiva.org:

‘Revolutionising how donors and lenders in the US are connecting with small entrepreneurs in developing countries.’
– BBC

‘If you’ve got 25 bucks, a PC and a PayPal account, you’ve now got the wherewithal to be an international financier.’
– CNN Money

‘Smaller investors can make loans of as little as $25 to specific individual entrepreneurs through a service launched last fall by Kiva.org.’
– The Wall Street Journal

‘An inexpensive feel-good investment opportunity…All loaned funds go directly to the applicants, and most loans are repaid in full.’
– Entrepreneur Magazine