4 PROJECT

city
D E M O N S T R AT I O N
Tacoma p4 Knoxville p6 Memphis p8 Phoenix p10

ANNUAL REPORT
©2005 Northwest Leadership Foundation

Letter from the Director p2

Wilder Evaluation p3 Cute but mischievous, God only knows

Participants Talk Back pp5, 7, 9
Financial Report
the trouble Mariano could get into.
p12 A sweet and docile kid,
he just lacked direction.
Yesterday his cousin Julio pushed the kids down the alley in a
grocery cart. Mariano pulled his baby brother in a stroller by a
rope from his bicycle.

Julio’s mother is in jail; his father is nowhere to be found. The boys

live with his grandmother.

There are three youth-serving non-profits within a block of the

boys’ home that could provide a safety net. But one of them recently
closed for lack of funding. The two others lack the staff to get out
and fulfill their missions.

The Compassion Capital Fund is bringing new hope for more

effective service to small non-profits like these in Tacoma,
Memphis, Knoxville, and Phoenix.

A street poster in Memphis cautions pedestrians about

panhandlers by saying: “Your change doesn’t change a
thing.”

The federal government might wonder whether a three-

year grant is making a justifiable change in the nearly
150 organizations that are being served through the
Four City Demonstration Project.

The encouraging macro-evidence is contained

on page 3; and the “Capacity-Building Spotlights”
from each city show that substantial change is
occurring through management consultations, peer
learning, hard work and long-awaited, clear steps to
organizational health.
 4 city
D E M O N S T R AT I O N
PROJECT

Relationships the 4CD way

A
glimpse into the world of nonprofit management reveals that development takes time! It doesn’t matter whether
the focus is leadership development, relational development, or organizational development – time is an element
that cannot be ignored.
For 16 years the Northwest Leadership Foundation (NLF) has been in the business of developing leaders and
grassroots human service providers. During the last two years, NLF has maximized its relational capital by partnering
with the Memphis and Knoxville Leadership Foundations, Collaboration for a New Century, and the Amherst H. Wilder
Foundation to serve our cities through the Four City Demonstration (4CD) Project. And it’s been a great experience!
Each partner brings a unique, local perspective that can only be found within the Leadership Foundations of America
whose ethos is caring for the social and spiritual renewal of cities. We try to capture the responsive civic character of each
foundation in the feature articles that follow.
Additionally, each partner brings expertise in management support, capacity building, and leadership development. The
4CD has served well over 100 grassroots organizations and networks looking to “take it to the next level.” The “next level”
for most of these organizations includes:
• securing diverse and stable funding
• development of a board of directors that understands its responsibilities and is able to implement strategic plans
• the ability to evaluate programs
• the ability to communicate mission and services to the broader community
Many of these visionaries and their volunteers have not had access to a free coach or consultant to assist them in time
management techniques, the development of organizational goals, or the implementation of best practices. Having this
type of assistance, many surged ahead. Kemberly Michaels’ organization felt like they had been “dragging boulders uphill”
as they sought a model to expand their family services, but remarked that they were now “light years ahead” of agencies
that lack this support (P.5).
The 4CD has assisted many like Michaels’ Families Unlimited Network to garner financial resources and strengthen
networks (see evaluation results on the next page). The ingredients to our success include customized training, coached
grant writing with a special emphasis on hands-on technical assistance, and collaboration building. “Capacity-building
Spotlights” from each city will show that our results were both quantitative and qualitative.

Inside you will read about inspiring leaders serving some of

our country’s toughest cities who have benefited from this
relational, hands-on approach to capacity building.
Those benefits become more real when more families in need are
moved to self sufficiency and when a grassroots organization can com-
pete on a level playing field with a large, established nonprofit. The
leadership foundations will continue to walk alongside community
partners, large and small, to build healthier and safer communities
the relational way.

Patricia Talton
National Project Director
Four City Demonstration (4CD) Project

2
 Wilder Evaluation
4CD Project results exceed expectations

T
he following report by the
Amherst H. Wilder Founda-
tion evaluates the first year
(2003-2004) of operations of
the Four City Demonstration Project,
which is comprised of partner Leader-
ship Foundations in Tacoma, Phoenix,
Knoxville, and Memphis. The four cit-
ies together applied for and received a
Compassion Capital Fund (CCF) grant
that spans from 2003-2006.
The purpose of the CCF grant is to
build the capacity of faith- and commu-
nity-based nonprofits in each city through
the granting of sub-awards, training,
technical assistance, and one-on-one
GOAL 2 GOAL 5
At least 2,500 additional people will be Service delivery networks will be
served by participating organizations in strengthened
year 1, and 5,000 in year 2
Result
Result 20% of participants reported that
Based on nonprofits reporting, participat- they were now networking with
ing organizations served an estimated other organizations as a result of
2,400 additional people in year 1 participating in the Compassion
Capital Fund project
The 61 (of 98 participant) organizations able
to report the number of people they served
have increased their reach to 68,200 people
served in the four
cities. Additionally, Goal 3: Diversification of funding sources received in year one
there was a net gain
of 18 paid staff in
��
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those organizations, �������������������� ��

coaching. The five goals and results are totaling 574, and �����������������������
��

summarized below. a net gain of 547

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“We were very pleased with the volunteers, totaling �������������������
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results,” said 4CD National Director 6,314. ����������������

�

Patricia Talton. “It also gives us clear ��

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marching orders and an understanding GOAL 3
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����������������������� ��

of where we can improve. But overall, �����������������

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we’re making our target goals thanks Participating

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to hard work in every city.” organizations will ����������
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In the four cities, the Leadership secure at least ��

$800,000 in funding �����������
Foundations invited community and � �����������������������������������������������������

from new sources in ��

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faith-based organizations and networks year 1 and at least

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to apply for sub-awards and technical $2 million by the

assistance. Knoxville had 20 participat- end of year 2
ing organizations, Memphis had 22, Result
Phoenix had 31, and Tacoma had 25 for The additional funding in year 1 from new Goal 4: Diversification of funding
a total of 98. Here were some results. sources was slightly under $1.6 million sources received in year one

The largest new funding sources were

GOAL 1 private philanthropies or foundations, ���
���
���

churches or religious organizations, gov- ���

At least 70% of participants’ capacity- ernment agencies, and individual donors. ���
building objectives will be achieved by ���
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the end of year 1 and 85% after year 2
GOAL 4 ��������������������
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Result ������ ������ �����������������
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80% of participants received needed 75% of participants will be able to report ��������������������������������

assistance with key capacity-building
objectives (resource development, mar-
keting, networking, and governance)
To reach the four objectives common to
more than two-thirds of participating
organizations, more than 80 percent of
organizations reported that they had
received needed assistance. The objective
achievements include fund development
(96%), development of communications
and marketing strategy (83%), collabora-
tion support (74%), and assistance with
board governance (72%).
the volume of their services and the im-
������������������������������������
������������������������������
pact of their work by the end of year 1
and all will be able to do so by the end
of year 2
Result
74% were able to
count the number of Major bonding vs. brain dump!
people served and
54% were able to As Stanley Taylor of Knoxville said, “Technical assistance
track the amount of for us is not an event and a packet. It’s an ongoing
service provided in
relationship, and that takes time.”
year 1. 35% were able
Just how much time? During the first year of operation,
to measure the impact
of their work with an a total of 77 organizations reported receiving over 13,000
outcome measure hours of personalized technical assistance from the Four
City Demonstration Project. 3
 Families Unlimited Network Macedonia Project GET Fab 5 Peace Community Center

Harbor town hub churns

out community leaders

O
nce a timber town blessed
with Puget Sound’s waters,
blazing flowers, and tall ships,
Tacoma for many years had
bragging rights as Washington’s eco-
nomic mecca and employment capital.
But by the second half of the 20th cen-
tury urbanized Tacoma was viewed as
Seattle’s “dumpy sister,” said Dave Hillis,
president of the Northwest Leadership
Foundation (NLF) who along with Pa-
tricia Talton spearheaded the Four City
Demonstration (4CD) Project.
an absolute ghost town,” he said refer-
ring to the impoverished Hilltop com-
munity, home to NLF.
Urban sociologist Ray Bakke said of
that period that Tacoma was the only
city in the country with more kids on
gang rolls than on church rolls.
On the corner where 4CD par-
ticipant Peace Community Center
stands, locals say, drug dealers paid
gang leaders $1,000 a day to sell
crack cocaine there.
be closed, removing 70 adult staff who
served up to 2,000 youth.
Hillis rallied pastors from 65
churches that provided nearly 500
volunteers to keep those clubs open,
stamping out further violence that
summer.
This launched the NLF as the conve-
ner and developer of community lead-
ership for creative responses to social
need. Since that time over 50 faith-
based organizations have flourished
in the soil of NLF’s capacity-building

T acoma’s social need. “When

I arrived here
A catalytic moment. In 1996,
tensions over the civic neglect
of Hilltop flared when a kid named
leadership.
“Our mission is to develop, strengthen
and sustain leadership for the social and
this neighbor- Corey Pittman, on break
spiritual renewal of the city,” said Hillis.
hood was from college, was “in
the wrong place at
CAPACITY-BUILDING SPOTLIGHT:
the wrong time,”
PROJECT GET
said Hillis, and
was shot and A proud former U.S. Marine, Rev.
killed. Kenneth Tunch was humbled by a work
Ta c o m a injury in 1987 that limited his ability to
policemen find meaningful employment. Today,
attending to help others, Tunch runs a job place-
the funeral ment service in his small Macedonia
predicted Baptist Church.
a f lurr y of In Tunch’s first year he placed
violence, as dozens of workers designated “hard-
to-employ” by Washington State case
gang leaders
managers. Currently the program Get
we r e a b o u t
Employed Today (GET) places 84 per-
to be released
cent of its caseload, about 200 clients
from jail. And
each year.
i n a n i ron ic
Nonetheless, when GET re-applied
convergence
for state funding, barriers arose to
of events,
continuing the program, said Annie
Boys and Girls
Jones-Barnes, 4CD Project Director
Clubs an-
in Tacoma, who hired consultant Judy
nounced that,
Jones to work with Tunch.
due to lapsed
funding, six af-
ter-school pro-
grams would
A ccounting help salvages a con-
tract. “Rev. Tunch was a great
bookkeeper,” explained Jones. “He used
4

FAMILIES UNLIMITED NETWORK
Families Unlimited Network
(FUN) is another community-serving
offshoot of a local church, a Presbyte-
rian congregation of 1,800 members.
Known for managing a Food Bank
that today serves 1,000 individuals
each month, the church wanted to
develop a ministry that provided
a broader spectrum of services to
hundreds of families in crisis.
But developing the vision for new
programming was slow, said Board
President Kemberly Michaels.
Tacoma
need to support that and what it
will cost.”
Next, NLF facilitated a re-
treat with FUN board members
to develop a strategic plan and
div v y out assignments, said
Jones-Barnes. “This was a time
for them to say, given our mis-
sion and vision, what expertise
will the board need, what energy
and what partnerships.”
“We actually had founding
board members unselfishly move
out of the way to make room for
people who have the skills we need,”

D ragging boulders uphill.

QuickBooks and had his payroll auto-
mated. But he didn’t understand why
he had to keep two set of books, one
for the church and the other for the
government-funded programs.”
“The first year we introduced
Rev. Tunch to a whole new paradigm,”
continued Jones-Barnes. “He was used
to doing things his own way, and he
was brought up with a ministry model
that was patriarchal and traditional. He
had to adjust to receiving technical as-
sistance from three African-American
women!”
But to his credit, Tunch welcomed
any consultant that would improve
“Initially it felt like dragging
boulders uphill,” Michaels said. “In
said Michaels.
FUN is still young and in process.
But, said Michaels, “We now have
2002, two of us were asking, ‘OK, what people looking ahead two or three
would this look like? Who are we going years, and NLF coming right behind us
to serve?’ We tried
to recruit other “Initially starting our organization felt like
people to join us, dragging boulders up a hill,” said Michaels.
and began looking
at other non-profit “But today we’re light years ahead of agencies
models.” that don’t have this support. Instead of board
“The Four City members that just rubber stamp what the
Project was there director says, we have people with skills who
at just the right
time for us,” said
are looking two and three years into our future.”
Michaels. “They
provided intentional, targeted, strategic saying, ‘OK, lets breathe on that vision
help, saying, ‘OK, here is the next step.’” and make sure you can get there.’ It’s
It helped that Michaels was tena- just incredible.”
cious, said Jones-Barnes. “She was the
first one there at every training. She
had tons of energy.”

his organization and came to every
workshop, she said.
“He was a sponge, absorbing it all
and implementing it, including advice
regarding his accounting systems,”
said Jones-Barnes.
Today Tunch has new computers
through a CCF grant, a website, and a
strategic plan. Most importantly, new
accounting practices not only preserved
his $100,000 a year state contract, but it
prepared the way for a $50,000 Depart-
ment of Labor grant that Jones helped
him write.
Summarized Tunch: “The people at
NLF have helped us in so many ways.
They’re good people. And I’ve met so
many other non-profit directors through
this program, I don’t feel like we’re op-
erating on an island anymore.”
B
eing light years ahead. Michaels
raved about their progress. “In
two years we’re light years ahead of
agencies that don’t have this support,”
said Michaels, who formerly served doz-
ens of non-profits with United Way.
“We have decided not only that we
would like to make a long-term impact Dave Hillis, President Annie Jones-Barnes
in a family’s life and how we would Northwest Leadership 4CD Project Director
like to do it, but the infrastructure we Foundation
What helped your organization the most?
• Learning how to network and collaborate with other organizations (19%)
• Contact with other organizations in our cohort expanded our knowledge (17%)
• Improved our fundraising practices and strategies (16%)
• Learned to develop methods for program evaluation (13%)
• Board development, building a stronger board (12%)
5
 Hand Up for Women Teen Challenge Joshua Resource Center Lost Sheep Ministries

Knoxville partnerships transform

old solo mentality

N
ear the outskirts of the spirit of KLF and 100 civic and faith- technical assistance to dozens of com-
beautiful Smoky Mountains based organizations that are trans- munity service organizations through
is a Tennessee city born and forming the community one leadership 4CD’s Compassion Capital Fund grant.
bred in the heat of war. initiative at a time.
Named after America’s first secre-
tary of war, Henry Knox, and in the
K LF’s communit y- building
work. Since 1994 KLF and its
4 CD selection/administration
process. Hoping to use the
4CD Project to stimulate greater
region of the WWII laboratory for the
partners have: cooperation among Knoxville non-
creation of the atomic bomb, Knoxville
• Mobilized more than 9,000 volun- profits, Dickerson sent out an RFP to
has worked hard to shake its legacy as
teers to serve over 5,500 Knoxville find Compassion Capital participants
“an embattled and divided city,” said
neighbors. who had “a strong desire to learn more
Stanley Taylor, Director of Leadership
• Provided affordable housing by about joint service delivery to meet
Development at the Knoxville Leader-
building and repairing 360 homes. community needs.”
ship Foundation (KLF).
• Rallied nearly 5,000 teenagers from “We saw this as an opportunity to
“We’re heavily influenced by in-
200 churches to pledge sexual absti- expand the area of our service,” said
dependent-minded Scots-Irish Ap-
nence until marriage. KLF President Chris Martin, “so we
palachians,” adds Brook Dickerson,
• Built a network of mentors for chose to work with organizations from
Tennessee’s Project Director for the
children whose parents are in five surrounding counties.”
Four City Demonstration
prison. KLF staff said that the resulting col-
(4CD) Project.
Building on this suc- laboration of 22 groups this year has
But the cit y is
cess, KLF has thrived yielded unprecedented results and cre-
also heavily in-
as a trusted inter- ated a new head-turning paradigm for
f luence d by
mediary, de- partnership in and around Knoxville.
the collab-
livering Dickerson and Taylor provide lead-
or at ive
ership consultations together. The key,
they say, is “the way” they provide their
training.

R elationships, not seminars. “The

traditional model of a two-hour
seminar with experts and a packet of
information didn’t work with these
directors,” said Taylor. “If it had, they
wouldn’t be at our table today.”
Traditionally technical assistance
has been about doing things “for
people,” said Taylor. “We do things
‘with people.’” Most directors have
experienced technical assistance as an
“event.” With KLF they get an “ongoing
relationship.”
“People need time to get to know
each other, to feel trusted and to be
encouraged. That may take 20 hours
rather than two.”
6

CAPACITY-BUILDING SPOTLIGHT: A
NEWFOUND PARTNERSHIP
Drawing together more than 20
non-profit leaders has created impor-
tant new partnerships in Knoxville.
A natural alliance forming between
three ministries serving women is a
prime example.
Director of Teen Challenge Barbara
Mitchell admits that initially she was
skeptical whether the demands that
came along with CCF funding would
be worth the time investment.
As a national organization Teen
Challenge has carefully scrutinized
and weighed the cost versus benefits
of government funding. Since Teen
Challenge has succeeded with recov-
ering addicts using private funding,
it is tempted to be content with just
“praying for God’s provision,” said
Mitchell.
“It used to be that you could just
trust the Lord to send ministry sup-
porters. Now they require a business
plan,” she said.
Paperwork and strategic planning
can seem “unspiritual” in some Chris-
tian traditions, said Martin, and older
non-profits can be entrenched in a cul-
tural milieu that is hard to change.
Using a metaphor for 4CD’s tech-
nical assistance work, he said, “Some-
times it’s harder to rehab a house that’s
been around awhile than it is to build
from scratch.”
Yet Dickerson’s work has left no
stone unturned with Mitchell. Funding
has produced computers and a grant
writer, outcome measures are being
implemented, and work plans have
graduated the ministry from living
“month-to-month,” Mitchell said.
The board and staff are now imple-
menting their one-year plan and will
soon establish a five-year strategic
plan. “They see more clearly what their
responsibilities are,” said Mitchell.
Mitchell is learning the benefit of
good management through practice.
Reporting for the first time that her
small branch had 1,500 calls for
counseling and 700 counseling ses-
sions in 2004, she cracked a smile of
satisfaction.
Yet one development holds even
more exciting potential for Mitchell.
Knoxville
A new three-way collaboration.
In a conversation between three
ministry directors at a monthly CCF
has broadened the network of
churches that can both refer
women and receive women into
training, it dawned upon them that supportive communities, fulfill-
together they could provide a con- ing organizational goals for both
tinuum of care to homeless women, a Pierce and Mitchell.
demographic that often reaches crisis Meanwhile, Dickerson and
proportions in Knoxville. Taylor are working with the en-
Lost Sheep Ministries reaches as tire network, helping to generate
many as 100 homeless women every more examples of how Knoxville
Wednesday night with van loads of non-profits are stronger working
food, clothes and care packages beneath together than working apart.
a bridge in an abandoned industrial “One of the most satisfying
shipping yard in Knoxville. things for me about the Four
“In many cases these women medi- City Project,” said Taylor, “has been
cate their pain
with life-con-
trolling sub- “One of the few times people come together for a
stances, a fa- common purpose in Knoxville is during University
miliar service of Tennessee football games. Our hope is that,
area for us,”
said Mitchell. through our work, people from our city will join
W o m e n together to volunteer or financially support the
who “dry out” dozens of non-profits that are making an amazing
and are serious difference in our community.”
about making
-Brook Dickerson,
a change then
seek jobs to 4CD Project Director
ga i n a foot-
hold. That ’s
where a third ministry, directed by watching program directors come
Eva Pierce, comes in. out of isolation. They now know that
The Knox County Christian Wom- they are not alone, and their vision has
en’s Job Corp provides the empathetic expanded.”
encouragement, work wardrobe, hard
and soft-skills workshops, computer
training, and job search skills that a
woman needs.
“We’ve already created a reference
book to eliminate duplications in what
each of us provide, and KLF has helped
us submit grants to acquire an assis-
tant to coordinate work within our
collaboration,” said Mitchell.
Moreover, the partnership between Chris Martin, President Brook Dickerson
three faith-based service providers Knoxville Leadership 4CD Project Director
Foundation
If I could do it over again…
Participants were asked, if they could repeat the project, would they do
anything differently. One-third said, “No.” Of those who said yes, the two
common themes were to make sure their organization was more involved
(including staff and board participation) and to better take advantage of
the capacity-building assistance.
7
Emmanuel Episcopal Center
Memphis youth worker web
reaches over 50 sites
T
he nation knows Memphis as
the home of multi-millionaire
Elvis Presley, but the demo-
graphic reference is misleading
— most of Memphis is neither white
nor wealthy.
In fact two-thirds of the center city
is African-American and one-half
of the black population in the entire
metro area lives in poverty, according
to the U.S. Department of Housing and
Urban Development.
Moreover, beneath the Hollywood
radar, far from fame and fortune, a
8
For the Kingdom Camp City Builders
story greater than the rock-and-roll
king’s is being told.
A youth crisis. It starts in 1993
when the Memphis Leadership
Foundation (MLF) and area church
leaders faced the unconscionable fact
that 14,000 Memphis young people
were being arrested each year and 35
percent were dropping out of school.
Radical intervention was needed.
So they held a youth outreach event
at the Pyramid Arena that drew an
unprecedented 25,000 kids for pop
music, adventure sports demos, and a
straightforward message that God’s
love could help kids reach
their highest potential.
The event exceeded
expectations. Over
3,0 0 0 k ids “made
commitments” to
stra ig hten out
their lives, many
of them at-risk in-
ner-city youth, re-
calls Foundation
President Howard
Eddings.
But ironically
there was no
delivery system
in Memphis to
help these youth
make lasting life
changes, said Ed-
dings. “Even most
of the 70 churches
that co-sponsored
the event had no
trained youth lead-
ers to empower
these kids.”
MAYPS
Moved by this irony, generous
donors helped launch the Urban
Youth Initiative (UYI), housed at
the MLF.
M LF incubates leaders. For over
12 years UYI has recruited,
funded, and trained 170 interns, invest-
ing over $13 million in staff who work
with over 10,000 urban youth annually
in the most underserved communities
in Memphis. Over 123 UYI youth lead-
ers are currently working at over 50
Memphis sites and beyond.
UYI is just one of 20 programs that
MLF has helped develop since 1986, in-
cluding 52 staff workers, many of whom
partner with Memphis schools, busi-
nesses, courts and government officials,
said Eddings. “By design, building the
capacity of leaders and urban ministries
is what we have always been about. The
Compassion Capital Fund (CCF) work
is just an extension of that.”
4 CD administration process.
Memphis Four City Demonstra-
tion (4CD) Project Director Terri Gor-
don began her CCF work by placing
an ad in the Memphis city newspaper
inviting non-profits that served at-risk
youth and needed technical assistance
to apply for sub-grant awards. Over a
two-year period 60 have applied and
33 have received assistance.
Drawing from 15 years as a manager
with IBM, Gordon personally consults
with each non-profit leader monthly. In
addition she conducts or coordinates
monthly training workshops on the
seven greatest capacity-building needs
selected by the group. “The top needs
have been strategic planning, staff de-

velopment, and outcome evaluations,”
said Gordon.
CAPACITY-BUILDING SPOTLIGHT:
CITY BUILDERS
The families of Executive Director
Victoria Noblett and James Moore, an
indigenous leader being trained to take
her job, are two of 10 families who have
relocated from the Memphis suburbs
to join the mission of City Builders
Youth Organization to rebuild High-
land Heights “one youth at a time.”
“Gangs, drugs and the crime and vi-
olence that go with them are prevalent
in our neighborhood,” said Noblett,
who received training in urban youth
work through UYI at the Memphis
Leadership Foundation.
Noblett, who has been working
with youth in the juvenile courts,
schools and at City Builders since
1977, is serious and good at what
she does – relationally, that is. Yet
as an organization, City Builders has
hobbled along since 1994.
F irst long-term plan. “All of us,
we’re ministers, teachers, and
social workers,” explains Noblett. “The
first thing we think about is, ‘Let’s take
the kids to this activity or let’s go to
this camp.’ That’s what we do. That’s
who we are.
“But now we see that until we plan
strategically and look long term at what’s
going to help us the most, we’re not go-
ing to grow or attract new sponsors.”
R etaining, developing staff. City
Builders has an uncanny ability
to raise up youth not to escape, but
to stay and help rebuild their com-
munity. Yet City Builders, which has
only two full-time workers, lacks the
financial capacity to hire and retain
more leaders.
Thus, by default, City Builders has
generated at least 25 indigenous lead-
ers for other social service agencies
in the area, said Noblett. “I look at a
gifted college graduate and I want to
hire him, but I know he’ll end up at the
Boys and Girls Club because we don’t
have the money.”
N ew financial credibility. No-
blett has the foresight to see
Memphis
what will get her to her goal. “When we tion has laid a safety net over the
build financial credibility and better city of Memphis,” said Noblett.
business practices, it will bring in the Some may say about govern-
money.” That would also make her or- ment grants for at-risk commu-
ganization more attractive to talented nities what a local government
board members, she admits. poster on the famous blues strip
In the first year Noblett asked for Beale Street says about giving
and received a 4CD grant to purchase money to pan handlers: “Your
Non-profits Office Books. “This soft- change doesn’t change a thing.”
ware has allowed us to streamline our But most Memphis non-prof-
bookkeeping and provide professional, its receiving management help
deta i led repor ts
to f unders a nd
prospective board
”We’re ministers, teachers, and social
members.” workers. The first thing we think about
They have added is, ‘Let’s take the kids to activities or camp.’
a new board mem- That’s what we do. That’s who we are. But now
ber and now more
we see that until we plan strategically, we’re
quickly gather in-
formation to apply not going to grow or attract new sponsors.”
for more grants. - Victoria Noblett,
“We are able to fo- Executive Director of CityBuilders
cus on donor man-
agement issues,”
said Noblett. from MLF through the 4CD Project
The second year of 4CD funding has said that organizationally, it is
enabled City Builders to hire a book- positively changing almost every-
keeper to better use the software and
bring their financial management
thing.
processes up to speed.
“More funds equals reaching more
children,” said Noblett. “We are already
open for more hours a week.”
C onclusion. Researching urban
youth development throughout
Memphis, one finds that most roads
lead in some way to the Memphis
Leadership Foundation and the Urban
Youth Initiative.
“The Memphis Leadership Founda-
Howard Eddings, Terri Gordon
President, Memphis 4CD Project Director
Leadership Foundation
4 most fulfilled goals
Of 15 technical assistance goals, the following areas scored highest in the percent-
age of 77 reporting organizations saying they received the needed assistance.
Support in collaborating or networking with other organizations (91%)
Assistance with fund-raising, resource development or grant writing (90%)
Help with board development or governance structure (84%)
Develop a communications or marketing strategy (81%)
9
Women in New Recovery Help4Kidz Extended Hands Food Bank Helping Hands

Phoenix partners join forces

to create lasting change

H
ome to the coyote, cactus,
and a scathing sun, Phoenix,
Arizona is drawing waves of
new residents who are glad
to endure horribly hot summers for the
heavenly remainder of the year.
“Some consider our city a place to
retire,” said Collaboration for a New
Century Executive Director Steve Ca-
pobres. “But more are
migrating here for
jobs and the
better cost
of living.”
In fact,
more
people now move to Phoenix monthly
than to any other city in America.
“We have a special concern for the
growing 1.7 million poor and working
poor that comprise one-third of our
state’s population,” said Capobres.
S ocial services overwhelmed.
Phoen i x’s poor have over-
whelmed the lower end of its economy
and the available social services,
said Capobres. The stress on
child care services is but one
example.
“In 1997 the state knew
of over 300,000 latchkey
kids under the age of 13,
yet we could only sub-
sidize child care for
3 5 , 0 0 0 of t hem,”
said Capobres, who
wrote Arizona’s
Poverty Report in
2003.
“Improved
child care was
just one of the
gaping holes the
C o l l a b o r at i o n
sought to address
in the fall of 1999,”
s a id C apobre s ,
who joined
Col laboration
founder Bill Starr
and major sponsor
Jerry Colangelo
in creating a
community-wide
dialogue.
ernment, business, faith, non-profit
and philanthropic sectors, the Col-
laboration addressed the issue of
homelessness and affordable housing
before going on to health care, child
safety, and living wage employment.
“This was the defining moment,” said
Capobres, “because we knew that home-
lessness was not going to go away.”
As the Arizona state housing direc-
tor for 10 years, Capobres posed an-
other question that prefaced its current
work with the network of Compassion
Capital participants.
“How do we create lasting change
and not just provide services in one
area? The person who needs housing
may also need child care, an education
and bi-lingual assistance. We had to
get players in the community working
together. The Collaboration is an agent
to coordinate that continuum of care
within our community.”
The Compassion Capital Fund
(CCF) grant provides the Collabora-
tion a platform for continuing that
work, said Capobres.
CAPACITY-BUILDING SPOTLIGHT:
HELPING HANDS
The Arizona Poverty Report states
that without an education, only one in
10 single mothers have the chance to get
out of poverty. With a high school edu-
cation, a single mom averages $26,000 a
year. With a two-year associate’s degree,
income climbs to $34,000.
“It’s obvious that a college education
is key,” said Chris Coffman whose $6,000
CCF grant helped him transition out of

C ollabora-
tion begin-
nings. Gathering
pastoral work and develop resources for
Helping Hands for Single Moms, estab-
lished in 2002. “But moms also need a
10 leaders from gov- community to surround them.”

Helping Hands uses a broad array
of community partners to surround
welfare mothers with children in a
program designed to move them to
self-sufficiency in three years.
Mothers receive a mentor, child care,
a mother’s support group, and spend-
ing money while they attend college
and get their lives together. Helping
Hands community partners provide
housing, tutoring, “wealth-building
skills,” computers, dental assistance,
over-the-counter medicine, and even
auto repair and towing services.
“We built the model with input
from the Collaboration,” Coffman
said. “They connected me with board
members who embraced the vision of
Helping Hands and became the back-
bone of our organization.”
Board members include a social
worker, educator, corporate lawyer,
retired banker, business leaders and a
professor.
Coffman has received technical
assistance from the Collaboration in
strategic planning, fund development,
and public relations, he said.
“Helping Hands is the one-stop shop
mothers in our community need,” said
Capobres. “It’s also the perfect vehicle
for volunteers with different skill sets to
serve people who are less fortunate.”
SPOTLIGHT TWO: HELP4KIDZ
Arizona ranks fourth lowest in the
nation in children’s overall well-being,
seventh lowest in child health insur-
ance coverage, and dead last in high
school drop out, according to advocacy
group First Things First.
Mexican immigration is one of the
main subplots to this story. One-third
of Phoenix is Latino and 55 percent of
the state’s Latinos live in Phoenix.
“Low-income families who come
to the United States for the promise
of a better life find the educational,
language and employment barriers
insurmountable, and many turn to
drug sales, theft and prostitution just
to survive,” explains Latino Pastor Eve
Nunez, Director of Help4Kidz.
Nunez gets 40 calls a day for food
boxes and daily calls about child abuse
in her community, she said.
Help4Kidz is a Latino child rescue out-
reach that has served over 40,000 people
Phoenix
in 10 years, 86 percent of them Latino. met commissioners in the De-
Sixty-seven percent of Help4Kidz chil- partments of Labor, Education,
dren have a parent who is incarcerated. and Human Services.”
“This ministry has potential to make “Pastor Eve was an untapped
a tremendous difference,” said 4CD resource in Phoenix,” said Kuehl.
Project Director Martina Kuehl. “Yet “The Compassion Capital Fund is
it has only 40 volunteers
and has been hampered
by a lack of both part- Help4Kidz has provided child rescue
nership and training.” and emergency services to over 40,000
Nunez recognized
people in 10 years, a saving grace in
the need to strengthen
her operation from the the Latino community. Yet its potential
time she was introduced was hampered by a lack of volunteers,
to the Collaboration, she partnership and training. Thanks to the
said. “I said, ‘This has Collaboration, it has been networked and
got to happen,’” said the
peppy Nunez. “’I’m go- nearly doubled its resources.
ing to get educated and
certified in every area.’”
Nunez has attended Collaboration allowing us to both find and foster our
workshops on organizational manage- best community development leaders
ment, resource development, organi- to reach very needy populations.”
zational planning, board development
and grant writing.
Today Nunez has risen from a lo-
cal Mother Theresa figure, unknown
except in her own poor neighborhood,
to a Washington D.C. presence, thanks
to the Collaboration networking.
“Through the contacts they provided,
we have almost doubled our resources,”
said Nunez, who visits Washington
D.C. at least six times a year. Steve Capobres, Martina Kuehl
“Now I am also able to advocate for Executive Director 4CD Project Director
Collaboration for a
the greater Latino community, having
New Century
How were most sub-awards used?
Across the four cities 57 organizations received sub-awards totaling $300,000
in the first year of the project. The median amount awarded was $5,000. The
minimum grant was $1,000 and the maximum grant was $25,000. In the second
year 73 organizations received subawards totaling $400,000. In the first year
36 organizations used their grant to expand “program operations;” 7 used it to
expand “strategic relationships.”*
New or expanded program operations
Computers and technology
New staff positions
Internal operations and management
Resource Development
Strategic Relationships*
11
*Marketing, website, PR
4CD 2003-05 Financials

S
ince the annual budget varied The purpose of the Four City Dem- tion); and subawards (the small grants
from the first to the second onstration Project (4CD) is to increase made to 4CD participants through a
year, these numbers represent the program and organizational capa- competitive process).
an averaged amount in each bilities of faith and community-
category for the two funding years. based organizations that
Income was received from the Com- serve individuals and
passion Capital Fund, from private families in need in our
funders, as well as from individual four cities. The Project
donations. was administered by
Administration the Northwest Lead-
$235,630
ership Foundation in
Tacoma, Washington.
The expenses associ-
ated with the 4CD include
Subcontracts/ project administration
Averaged Partners (contracting, accounting,
Total Budget $525,719 national staff, travel and
$1,111,349 other project administra-
tion costs); subcontracts with
Subawards partners (including Memphis
$350,000
and Knoxville Leadership
Foundations, the Collabora-
tion for a New Century, and
Amherst H. Wilder Founda-
Macedonia Youth Enrichment Project - Tacoma, Washington

Writing, editing, photography and design: Storycraft Communications, Inc., 612.578.2292

The agency photos in the headers of pages 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 were taken as part of a communications capacity-building project,
serviced by Storycraft Communications, Inc., that produced fundraising literature for 16 ministries in four cities.
(Tacoma Dome photo on page 4 ©2003 Strode McGowan Photography)