Program Management Resources

This NCSALL Occasional Paper describes five models that the staff at the New England Literacy Resource Center at World Education, Inc., categorized through a survey of adult education centers with transition components from around the United States. This NCSALL Occasional Paper describes the five models (Advising, GED-Plus, ESOL, Career Pathways, and College Preparatory) and themes and recommendations that others contemplating adult transition services might find helpful. It also chronicles the experiences of four states (Connecticut, Kentucky, Maine, and Oregon) in their efforts to institutionalize transitions for adults.

To download the paper, go to http://www.ncsall.net/?id=26

The Center for Nonprofit Advancement is the largest and most experienced membership organization in the Washington, DC metropolitan area. This Center offers programs and services for the regional nonprofit community. You can find out more by looking on the Center’s Web site: www.nonprofitlearning.org

The Clearinghouse for Volunteer Accounting Services (CVAS) provides accounting services to nonprofit organizations by matching accountants with organizations in need of accounting services. All accountants work on a volunteer basis, and offer their services free of charge to eligible nonprofits. This enables nonprofit organizations to obtain professional accounting services at no cost. Click here for the CVAS Web site.

www.craigslist.org is a site where you can easily post items that you are looking for or are trying to get rid of. For example, our office was looking for a lateral file cabinet. We posted our wish on craigslist and within days someone who was trying to get rid of theirs donated it to us. If you have extra furniture or an old printer you want to donate instead of throw out, post it on craigslist and see if anyone else will take it off your hands first.

Similar sites are:
www.freecycle.org
www.throwplace.com

Both sites aim to reduce waste by connecting people and businesses who
are throwing away good with others who are seeking the same goods. Most
importantly, all goods are offered for free!

Energize, Inc.: Energize, Inc. maintains a Volunteer Management Library that includes selected articles from print sources, excerpts from books, and complete electronic books available for free, as well as links to Web sites containing collections of materials or statistics on volunteering.

LEARNS Partners Start-up Resources for Tutoring Programs: The LEARNS partners -- the
Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory and the Bank Street College of
Education -- provide training and technical assistance to Corporation
for National and Community Service and Federal Work Study projects
focused on literacy and education and have compiled this list of Web
sites and other resources free to programs. Funded by the Corporation
for National and Community Service.

LEARNS Partners Built for Success Video: To request a copy of Built for
Success: Good Practice in Volunteer Tutoring Programs, contact: nsrc-shipping@etr.org The
30-minute documentary tour of four national service tutoring programs
highlights characteristics of program success. Tutors featured are from
AmeriCorps and AmeriCorps*VISTA, Learn and Serve America, and National
Senior Service Corps.

Points of Light Foundation: The Points of Light Foundation supports research and evaluation activities that seek to build a bridge between volunteer management practitioners and the academic community to increase knowledge of volunteering and its effects on social problems. The Foundation Web site offers more information on awards, training, and volunteer management.

Senior Corps Web-based recruitment system is one more way to find senior volunteers.

The UPS Foundation features The Best Practice Toolbox on its Web site to help charitable
organizations improve their volunteer management practices. This
resource provides tools designed to more effectively manage volunteers
and produce measurable results for communities in need.

Beginning a Literacy Program is a publication of Adult Literacy Action at Penn State.
Guide for Managers of Adult Education Programs is a publication from New York State's Adult Education Office. Click on Administrator's Forum; then click on the link for the guide.

BuildLiteracy.org answers Frequently Asked Questions about adult literacy, libraries, and coalitions. BuildLiteracy.org is an initiative of the American Library Association (ALA) Office for Literacy and Outreach Services (OLOS).

Community Partnerships for Adult Learning: The Community Partnerships initiative, a project of the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Vocational and Adult Education, envisions businesses, social service and workforce development agencies, libraries, local schools and colleges, faith-based organizations, and community-based organizations developing a system to identify issues, share resources, and otherwise face challenges together.

National Alliance of Urban Literacy Coalitions (NAULC): NAULC's missions is to promote and strengthen urban literacy coalitions in their efforts to create literate communities and to enhance the quality of life and the vitality of cities.

The Generic Mentoring Program Policy and Procedure Manual, produced by NWREL's
National Mentoring Center, provides a standard set of mentoring policies
and procedures, along with sample forms, to create, revise, or
supplement local program manuals. Electronic templates are included for
topics faced by most established mentor programs. Included are
guidelines and sample policies and procedures for Recruitment, Inquiry,
Eligibility, Screening, Training, Matching, Support and Supervision,
Recognition, Record-Keeping, Confidentiality, Transportation, Overnight
and Out-of-Town Visits, Mandatory Reporting of Abuse or Neglect, Use of
Alcohol, Drugs, Tobacco and Firearms, Unacceptable Behavior, Closure and
Evaluation. Clear policies and procedures addressing these topics
protect both children and mentors, and limit program liability.

The Aspen Institute's Nonprofit Sector Research Fund (The Fund) has
released two new studies on the negative impact the current economy is having on the nonprofit sector. While some indicators suggest that the economy is beginning to recover, nonprofits are likely to still feel economic pressure for the foreseeable future, according to The Fund.

BoardSource: The BoardSource site
includes information, tools and best practices, training, and leadership
development opportunities for board members of nonprofit organizations.
The site also includes frequently asked questions about the nonprofit
sector.

One of the best places to find tools of all sorts to help you start,
manage or fund a non-profit organization is provided to you through idealist's website. Topics
include: Technology for Nonprofits, Diversity in the Workplace, HR
Resource Guides, Recruiting and Managing Volunteers & Interns,
Fundraising, Nonprofit Support Organizations.

Nonprofit Finance Fund’s DC based office provides capital and advice to
help non-profits achieve their mission, improve their capacity to
deliver services and strengthen their communities. NFF offers low cost
trainings in DC. www.nonprofitfinancefund.org
202.785.3985

Center for Nonprofit Management: The Center offers publications that address
the needs of the nonprofit sector in readable, nonprofit-specific terms.
Get Ready, Get Set is a free guide that helps a reader explore
the necessary preliminary questions to address before setting up a new
nonprofit, such as . . . "is there an unmet need?" and "will the
organization attract funding?"

McKinsey's Nonprofit Practice has produced a report on lessons learned from high-performing nonprofit boards. Board leaders of organizations that are recognized as successful were asked how they used their time. A series of interviews with 32 board chairs, CEOs, and
executive directors yielded a set of three distinct roles that a
high-performing board plays: first, the board must shape the direction
for the nonprofit through its mission, strategy, and key policies;
second, the board needs to ensure that the leadership, resources, and
finances in place are commensurate with the vision; and finally, the
board must monitor performance and ensure prompt corrective action
when needed.

The Nonprofit Risk Management Center, in cooperation with
TransitionGuides, CompassPoint Nonprofit Services, and the Public Entity
Risk Institute, developed a free accountability
assessment tool for nonprofits. This online tool introduces six
Pillars of Accountability: Ethical Fundraising, Strategic Risk
Management, Cultural Competence, Fiscal Integrity, Dynamic Programming
and Leadership Sustainability.

Nonprofit Sector Feeling Squeeze of Budget Government Cuts: July 2003 Press
Release from Johns Hopkins University Center for Civil Society Studies
includes a list of the top 10 challenges facing nonprofits.

The Partnership for 21st Century Skills is a new public-private organization formed to promote the teaching of skill sets demanded by growth industries. The Partnership brings together a wide spectrum of stakeholders to define and assess 21st century skills, to make recommendations, and to provide tools for implementation. Members include Apple, Cable in the Classroom, Cisco, Dell, the National Education Association, Microsoft, SAP and The Time-Warner Foundation. The Partnership is also supported, in part, by The U.S. Department of Education. The Partnership's Web site offers a free report Learning for the 21st Century and companion document
Milestones for Improving Learning and Education (MILE), and an online
self-assessment questionnaire to Help communities develop a framework
for moving forward.