AnnenbergAlchemy Alchemy refers to the practice of turning something ordinary into something extraordinary.

The Annenberg Foundation named its new capacity building program Alchemy, due to the belief that when executive directors and board chairs are aligned in common purpose, an unstoppableforceforchangewillsparkthatwillthentransformorganizationstoahigherlevel ofeffectiveness.

GLOSSARYOFTERMS

Alchemy aims to reach aspiring nonprofit leaders, align executive directors and board chairs, andconnectthemtoresourcesthatwillsupporttheirreadinesstoleadorganizationsandtheir abilitytoproduceresults,whichinturnbuildhealthy,resilient,andextraordinarycommunities.

We do this by bringing nationally respected facilitators and local practitioners together to instruct and guide interactive sessions for nonprofit leaders. Among the central issues addressed are effective fundraising, board effectiveness, public involvement, and accountability.Inaddition,participantsareconnectedtoanetworkofpeersthroughlearning communities and roundtable discussions where they can share best practices and innovative strategies.

Alchemystheoryofchange Theory of change refers to a strategy for achieving largescale goals. Alchemys theory of changeisthatwhenexecutivedirectorsandboardchairsarealignedincommonpurpose,an unstoppableforceforchangewillsparkthatwillthentransformorganizationstoahigherlevel ofeffectiveness.

AlchemysLeadershipSeminar(LeadershipSeminar) Leadership Seminar is the first phase of Alchemy. There are three central components of the Leadership Seminar: facilitated sessions, Community Champions, and the Alchemy Anthology. Theseminaris2.5days,withthefirsttwodaysbeingsequentialfulldaysoftrainings,andthe lasthalfdaysession,knownastheCallBackday,occurringapproximately7590daysafterthe firsttwofulldays.Theseminarwasdesignedinthisfashionsothattheparticipantscouldtake advantageofthe7590daysbetweenDayTwoandCallBackdaytoworkwiththeirboardand keystaffmemberstobegintoimplementlessonslearned.Facilitatorscovercriticalissuessuch as effective fundraising, board effectiveness, public involvement, and accountability. CommunityChampionsbringthelocalpractitionersperspectivetothethreepersonfacilitation team, and play an integral role with a cohort of participants by using Alchemy Anthology to guide participants through the implementation of four core objectives between Day Two and theCallBackday.LeadershipSeminarrequiresthefullparticipationoftheexecutivedirector andboardchair,andisofferedatnocosttoorganizations.

AlchemysLearningLaboratory(LearningLaboratory) LearningLaboratoryisthesecondphaseofAlchemy.Selectedparticipantswilltakeadeeper dive into the skills and strategies of effective organizational management, growth, and sustainability.Phase two is composed of a complement of ongoing mentorship roundtables, learning communities,technicalassistance,andsmall grants,designedtoaddressthespecific
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 needs of participating nonprofit organizations and their leaders. The competitive application process is open to alumni of Leadership Seminar who have submitted all of the required reflections and who attended the complete threeday session. Former Annenberg Nonprofit LeadershipSeminarparticipantsarealsoeligibletoapply.LearningLaboratoryrequiresthefull participation of the executive director and the board chair and is offered at no cost to organizations.

Assessment Evaluation tool to measure benchmarks of effectiveness and impact. A preassessment is administered upon admission to Alchemys Leadership Seminar to determine objective and quantifiableresponsesofboardandorganizationalperformance.Apostassessmentisgivento all participants at the end of Leadership Seminar to monitor progress in implementing ideas presented.

AlchemyAnthology(Anthology) Anthology is the implementation and reflection tool given to Alchemy participants to use throughoutLeadershipSeminarandLearningLaboratory.Anthologyconsistsofacompilation of documents and resources related to Alchemy themes. It is a tool designed to capture participantsprogressinlearningandimplementingandtodocumenttheorganizationalchange process.ParticipantsreceiveahardcopyofAnthologyanditisalsoavailableelectronicallyto aidinthecustomizationanddisseminationofthelearningwithinparticipantsorganizations.

AnthologyToolKit(ToolKit) Anthology includes four Tool Kits that serve as stepbystep guides to lead organizations throughtheprocessoftransformativechange.AkeycomponentofAlchemyAnthology,each of the Tool Kits coordinates directly with the Leadership Seminar curriculum. They serve as guidestotakeLeadershipSeminarparticipantsfromtheendofthetwofulldaysessionstothe CallBackday.

AnthologyReflections(Reflections) AkeycomponentofAlchemyAnthology,AnthologyReflectionsaffordAlchemyparticipantsthe opportunityforvaluablereflectiontimetotrackprogressmadetodate,identifysuccesses,and gaininput from Alchemy Teammembers. Reflectionscapturewhatis going wellandwhatis needed to work toward ensuring an organizations longterm sustainability. Each member of theorganizationalteamisresponsibleforcompletingtheirAnthologyReflectionsworksheetby 60 days after Day Two and submitting them to the Annenberg Foundation. Completion of AnthologyReflectionsbyeachmemberoftheorganizationalteamisaneligibilityrequirement toapplyforLearningLaboratory,thesecondphaseofAlchemy.

AlchemysStrategicPartners(StrategicPartners) The Annenberg Foundation has recruited a group of capacity building organizations, consultants, and thought leaders to help shape and guide Alchemy. These Strategic Partners include: Achieve LLC, Community Partners, Draper Consulting Group, Healthy City, Human Interaction Resource Institute, Los Angeles Junior Chamber of Commerce, University of SouthernCaliforniaCenteronPhilanthropyandPublicPolicy,andPDSolutions.Eachperforms criticalrolesinAlchemysdesign,implementation,andevaluation.
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 AnnenbergNonprofitLeadershipSeminar OfferedbytheAnnenbergFoundationfrom2006to2009,theAnnenbergNonprofitLeadership Seminarinvolvedtwointensivedaysoftrainingandahalfdayfollowupsessiontocheckinand reinforce learning. Over three years, the Foundation conducted 9 sessions and served 200 nonprofitorganizationsand400individualleaders.

BoardChairandExecutiveDirectoralignment The concept of the critical importance of the alignment of the board chair and the executive directorisacornerstoneofAlchemy.Alchemyshiftsthewaynonprofitexecutivesandboard members serve their organizations by aligning them in common purpose tospark an unstoppableforceforchangewithintheirorganizationsandultimately,ifsustained,withinthe constituencies they serve. This alignment is key to a nonprofits financial solvency, programmaticeffectiveness,andorganizationalsustainability.

BoardChampion Alchemys Leadership Seminar encourages, but does not require, a second board member to participate in Alchemy to provide additional support in implementing lessons learned from Alchemy. This is an important opportunity to engage emerging board leaders or chairs of committeessuchasthefundraising,boarddevelopment,ornominatingcommittees.

DayOneandDayTwo ReferstothesequentialdaysofAlchemysLeadershipSeminarthatoccurinJanuary,February, andMarchof2010.

CallBackday Refers to the third day of Alchemys Leadership Seminar, approximately 7590 days after the initial twoday sequence. The Call Back day is a halfday session. Participants share their progresstowardtheirAnthologyGoalsandtheiruseoftheAnthologyToolkitsandReflections. In addition participants have opportunity to connect with their peers and discuss progress or challenges.

Capacitybuilding The development of an organizations core skills and capabilities, such as leadership, management,boardeffectiveness,financeandfundraising,programdesign,andevaluation,in ordertobuildtheorganizationseffectivenessandsustainability.

Cohort Refers to a specific group of participants in Alchemys Leadership Seminar. Each cohort is assignedtoaCommunityChampionandwillattendCallBackdaytogether.

CommunityChampion Nonprofitexecutivedirectorsandboardleaderswhohavebeenselectedthroughacompetitive processtoserveasAlchemyLeadershipSeminarcofacilitators,aspeermentorstononprofits thatareparticipatinginLeadershipSeminar,andasadviserstotheAnnenbergFoundationand theAlchemyTeamtohelpimproveAlchemyinthefuture.CommunityChampionsarealumni of the Annenberg Nonprofit Leadership Seminar. They receive training on curriculum,
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 implementation, and coaching in intensive sessions and subsequent meetings, as well as ongoing technical support from the Alchemy Team. The Annenberg Foundation provides Community Champions with a stipend for their involvement. Community Champions receive automaticenrollmentintophasetwoofAlchemy,LearningLaboratory,andplayanactiverole inallofitscomponents.

Learningcommunities Learning communities are held during the year and are a core component of phase two, Learning Laboratory. Subject experts on important topics related to Leadership Seminar curriculumfacilitatemeetingswithgroupsofparticipantstodeepentheparticipantslearning andtraining.Bothexecutivedirectorsandboardmembersareencouragedtoattend.

Mentoringroundtables Mentoring roundtables are held during the year and are a core component of phase two, LearningLaboratory.

Peermentoring RelationshipbetweenCommunityChampionandLeadershipSeminarparticipant.Peermentor relationshipsstrengthenandsupporttheparticipantastheybuildtheircapacityandimplement learning.Peermentoringcanhappenorganicallyandbothinformallyorformally.

PeertoPier An all day, annual celebration, convening, and learning event, hosted by the Annenberg Foundation at the Annenberg Community Beach House in Santa Monica, to bring together alumnioftheAlchemyandAnnenbergNonprofitLeadershipSeminartosharesuccesses,enjoy oneanother,andlearnfromexpertsinthefield.

Session UsedtodescribethespecificLeadershipSeminarsetofdates.Sessionsencompassesallthree days.Itisalsousedtodescribethespecificlessonsthatcomposethecurriculum.

Technicalassistance Operational or management help given to a nonprofit organization. This usually refers to a focusedsetofskillbuildingandcounselrelatedtoaspecificdiscipline,expertise,orissuearea. On the other hand, organizational development or capacity building generally refers to comprehensive or multilayered assistance designed to help transform the organization as a whole.

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