The James House
Since 1989, The James House has been committed to providing comprehensive, cost-free services for people who have been affected by sexual violence, domestic violence and stalking.
The James House has a small staff of eight. Three years ago, its board members recognized the fact that the organization needed a strong strategic plan to lead the group into the next phase of operations. They also understood that, as a board, they could work more effectively if they had better training and tools in place. The James House sought TA funding from The Cameron Foundation to secure the consultants that were needed to assess the organization and make recommendations that would enhance its internal capacity.
The Foundation has provided The James House with TA funding for three consecutive years, enabling the organization to contract with multiple consultants. To date, the group has developed and begun to implement a five-year strategic plan, has completed executive training for the organization's CEO and has realized a stronger, more effective board.
Gay Cutchin, board chair agrees. "In its 21 year history, The James House has never been more organized, focused and mission-driven." She added, "As a result of three years of admittedly hard work, staff and board are on the same page, with the same agenda, which I am confident will greatly enhance our sustainability as an organization and our effectiveness in helping people in our area who have been affected by sexual and domestic violence."
Serenity
In a region where the number of residents with HIV is the highest in the Commonwealth of Virginia and one of the highest in the country, an organization like Serenity, which is committed to reducing the transmission of HIV, plays a critical role in the health of the community. But while Serenity has spent years championing the health of our community, as an organization it has put its own health on the backburner.
"The organization's sustainability was questionable at best," said Rosa Tuma-Johnson, executive director. "Just like building a sustainable house, our organization needed a strong infrastructure - a strong foundation, roof and bearing walls - as well as people to take care of it." Recognizing this critical need, Rosa turned to The Cameron Foundation for TA funding to help build her organization's infrastructure to ensure its sustainability into the future. Using these funds, the organization's board of directors contracted with a consultant to receive training strategic planning and financial management.
As a result of a sound strategic plan, Serenity has re-established an independent office from which it can administer and deliver its programs. The plan has also helped the board improve policies and procedures to ensure all staff and volunteers have a full understanding of the overall operations of Serenity. And it has helped the board and staff to become more involved in other areas of the organization, such as grant writing, program planning and evaluation and public relations.
Serenity also contracted with an additional consultant for financial management training. Having completed the training, the board was able to develop its first ever fundraising plan. "The board became more involved than ever before in the evaluation of current policies and procedures - suggesting revisions and additions," Rose stated.
Sycamore Rouge
Sycamore Rouge is a relatively new professional theater company in downtown Petersburg. To an outside eye, this little regional theater looked like the ultimate cultural success story, however, that was not completely true. "I think the board and staff would agree that for the first couple of years, Sycamore Rouge focused more on bringing quality productions to the stage than on developing internal processes to become self-sustaining and efficiently managed," reports kb saine, producing artistic director. Recognizing this organizational capacity shortfall and not possessing the in-house expertise to remedy it, they turned to The Cameron Foundation for TA funding.
Focusing on board development, human resources, and fundraising as their major areas to improve, Sycamore Rouge contracted with multiple consultants to reach its current organizational development goals. To create a more efficient board, the consultant was contracted who immediately identified the need for a formal board book that would clearly define board expectations. In terms of human resource management, staff evaluation forms were developed and implement. Through the development of a fund development plan, a fundraising committee was formed on the board and the fundraising budget was analyzed and increased.
As a result of being financially able to hire outside consultants to evaluate current organizational practices as well as recommend and implement changes where needed, Sycamore Rouge is much better positioned to achieve its mission.