HIRI PCBR Database - Intermediary Profile Report

PHILANTHROPIC CAPACITY-BUILDING RESOURCES
DATABASE - INTERMEDIARY ORGANIZATIONS

Report Title:	Intermediary Profile Report
Report Date:

Organization:	Center for Community Change	Program ID Number: I-17
Date Profile Created:	May 3, 2006	Date Profile Last Updated: December 15, 2008

Program Summary:
Founded in 1968, the Center for Community Change grew out of the collaborative efforts and funding support of such partners as the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Fund, the Ford Foundation, and leaders of the United Auto Workers. It helps establish and develop community organizations across the country, bring attention to major national issues related to poverty, and insure that government programs are responsive to community needs. Policy and organizing expertise is available on a range of issue areas, including: community reinvestment, affordable and public housing, transportation, income support and job creation, economic development and housing production, hunger and malnutrition, immigrant rights and legislation, and community monitoring efforts to hold government agencies accountable to residents. Currently a wide variety of foundations and individuals provide funding for the Center’s work.

The Center has a history of community organizing in low-income communities, encompassing urban and rural areas, and African American, Latino, Native American, Asian American, and immigrant populations. In addition, the Center has catalyzed grassroots coalitions that were instrumental in the creation of the federal Food Stamps Program, the enactment of the Community Reinvestment Act, the growth of Community Development Corporations, and the large-scale preservation of affordable housing. National organizations incubated by the Center include The Coalition on Human Needs, The Workforce Alliance, The Environmental Support Center, The Rural Coalition, The National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy, and The National Campaign for Jobs and Income Support.

In its policy work, the Center analyzes and translates policies keeping in mind low-income and minority constituencies, and works to strengthen the capacity of grassroots groups to impact policies at the local, metropolitan, state and national level. The groups that receive assistance focus on subjects that affect a broad swath of very low- to moderate-income people.

A number of special projects are operated by the Center. For example, the Mott Emerging Organizations Program supports emerging community organizing groups in low-income areas. Applicants must be less than 5 years old, have a budget under $100,000 and fewer than five staff, be engaged in or developing a program of grassroots community organizing, be located in a low-income community and have members, volunteers and board members from that community; be from the states of Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Tennessee, Florida, Wyoming, Idaho, Utah, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Washington state, and the District of Columbia; and preferably work on more than one issue. Assistance consists of a $3,000 – $10,000 grant, training and technical assistance, and participation in an annual Mott grantees networking conference. Groups may receive support from this program for up to three years.

The Center’s Education Team supports grassroots organizing for public school reform, assisting with organizing campaigns, networking among community organizations, investigation of state and federal policy developments, and more. The Center’s on-line Action Guide for Education Organizing helps experienced community organizers who are new to the arena of school reform think through the context in which the work takes place, gather information on policy and funding, and review examples of campaigns, issues, strategies and tactics. Additionally, Partnerships for Change brings community organizations and local teachers’ unions together to learn from each other and to support joint work in order to improve public education, particularly for low-income students and children of color.

The Fair Immigration Reform Movement (FIRM) is led by low-income immigrant and non-immigrant grassroots community organizations working for immigration reform and immigrant rights. FIRM broadens the framework of immigration and immigrant rights to include an anti-poverty agenda. The coalition consists of organizing networks, statewide immigrant rights coalitions, and faith-based and low-income groups.

The Center’s Housing Trust Fund Project (HTFP) is the nation’s only comprehensive clearinghouse for information on and assistance with housing trust funds throughout the country. It provides technical assistance for organizations and agencies working to create or implement these funds. Since the Project’s inception, housing trust funds have become one of the leading vehicles for addressing critical housing needs in the U.S. These funds have demonstrated their ability to provide flexible funding for the preservation and development of affordable housing, and can thrive throughout economic hardships and tough political climates. Community-based nonprofits working individually or in coalitions to create a housing trust fund receive information, on-site technical assistance, and ongoing advice and help from the Center.

Contact Name:	Lupe M. Lopez
Title:	Director of Field Services
Phone:	(202) 360-7603
Fax:	(419) 735-7699
E-mail Address:	llopez@communitychange.org
URL:	www.communitychange.org

Address:

6000 IL Route 173
Richmond, IL 60071

Date Program Began:	1968	Total Funds Awarded for Most Recent Fiscal Year:	$400,000
Date Program Scheduled to End:	N/A	Total Capacity-Building Operating Expenses for Most Recent Fiscal Year:	$200,000

How Program is Operated:

Run internally by the intermediary

Number Staff/Consultants:

40/10

Background Materials Available:

Yes

Geographic Areas Served:

National:

Yes

International:

Selected States:	N/A
Geographic Details:	N/A

Types of Capacity-Building Assistance Offered to Nonprofits:

1. Grants:	2. Direct Service:	3. Direct Financial Support:
Categorical General Part of Larger Grant	Assessment of Service Needs Coaching/Training for Individual Nonprofits Convening Information and Referral	N/A

Grants Offered to Capacity-Building Service
Providers and Intermediaries:

*Support for Services to Nonprofits:*	N/A
*General Support:*	N/A

Grants Offered to Support Overall Capacity-Building Infrastructure:

Local, State/Regional, National

Areas of Nonprofit Operations Supported:	How Funding/Service Decisions Are Made:
Administration + Finance Communication (Internal/External) Evaluation Fund Development Governance (Board/Executive) Human Resources Planning Staff Development/Training	Application by Potential Recipient – Organization Selection

Collaborating Organizations: N/A

Capacity-Building Work Evaluated:	Yes	Evaluation Results Available:	Yes
Frequency of Evaluation:	As Needed	Type of Evaluation:	Multiple Methods

Summary of Evaluation Lessons Learned:
The following lessons learned were among those reported by this program:

When the capacity building is linked to a comprehensive strategy, the results are broader and the organizations move forward. An assessment of the capacity needs of the organization is critical to developing a technical assistance plan that is effective and moves the organization forward. What an organization's staff or board thinks is needed is not necessarily what is critical.
Capacity building must be tailored to the specific needs and the current organizational development status of each group. The provider of technical assistance should be sensitive to the cultural needs cultural needs of the organization. The relationship is more successful if it is more than transactional, and the key products or deliverables from both parties are negotiated after the assessment stage is completed, including a specific evaluation timeline where a decision to continue/not continue the plan can be addressed to minimize conflict and frustration.
When providing resources to organizations, it is important to be clear about the criteria for receiving services. Consistent time-sensitive support with measurable objectives and a clear exit strategy are essential. This avoids misunderstandings and clarifies expectations for both parties.
Single issue organizations are limited in their ability to have a long-term impact on policy changes and social changes; they don't have much power to impact legislation. It is valuable for groups to become multi-issue, focusing on what they can win at any given time. As they win they get more power and then can work on other issues.
Focusing on values rather than issues is a better way to go - e.g., if the issue is health care, the value is that all should be healthy. This gives an organization the ability to shift issues as needed, e.g. to housing which is hot now, and leads to more stability and better health care.
Helping organizations move up a notch in their scope (local, state, regional, national) can help strengthen them and the impact of their work.

In addition, evaluation results indicated the following as some of the significant impacts from this program:

The most important impact of the Center's capacity-building grantmaking and technical assistance is connecting organizations to other groups within their state, region or at the national level. This has allowed the organizations to learn from one another, and to enhance their power by working together for the common good.
A Massachusetts organization shifted how it does its work around issues and values. It moved from a local to a national arena, and developed consistent messages throughout all of its work.
An organization in Missouri working on health care issues was the only group working in rural areas, and there were major gaps in services. It is now engaged at the state level, has added immigration as a related concern, and is at tables where it had no involvement previously.
A California organization expanded to state-wide in order to have a greater impact on state legislation. It diversified its coordinating committee, strengthened its ability to fundraise, increased alliances with other groups in California, and increased its ability to impact state legislation.