Children's Trust to require life-cycle self-assessments for funded partners to build capacity

The Children's Trust said it will require trust-funded partners to complete a nonprofit life-cycle self-assessment and capacity-building plan in the upcoming fiscal year.

Director Conner outlined a pilot process the trust used with a facilitator and the Center for Nonprofit Excellence. Partner organizations will complete a self-assessment ("selfie"), receive facilitated feedback and develop an annual action plan focused on governance, management and operational capacity. The trust expects to start the pilot with after-school provider partners during the summer and to launch the full program on Oct. 1 in the new fiscal year.

Several nonprofit leaders who piloted the process described it as useful. Sherry Kitchens, president and CEO of the Child Advocacy Center, said the process improved board-staff relationships and helped the organization identify internal governance and operational priorities. Jeff Parker of IGB Education said the exercise helped larger and smaller partners identify sustainable strategies and prepare for changes in funding streams.

Trust staff said the policy shift is part of a strategic plan adopted in March and is intended to strengthen provider sustainability ahead of an uncertain budget environment.

The trust also described programmatic funding shifts: the trust reduced a prior enrichment allocation (roughly $900,000 previously) to a $100,000 pool to allow after-school and summer programs to access enrichment vendors, and will shift more resources to prevention and capacity building in line with strategic priorities.

Next steps include the summer pilot with after-school providers, facilitator support, and a report back to the trust and county on initial findings to inform the Oct. 1 rollout.