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City Service: Highlights and Accomplishments

Imagine a program where you can learn new skills, network with other development professionals and nonprofit directors, be mentored by senior level professionals, meet new people, and give back to the community all at the same time. The City Service Consulting Program, developed by Women in Development, provides volunteers with all of these opportunities and much more while working on pro bono consulting projects for small nonprofits in the Greater Boston area.

The City Service Consulting Program enables many WID members to challenge themselves in new directions through exposure to aspects of fundraising and development that they do not experience in their day-to-day roles. For others, it offers a means to give back to the community while getting to know smaller nonprofits in the Greater Boston area. The program also provides the opportunity for people who work in large development shops to work with small shops and for people who have specialized in certain areas to try the role of a consultant.

Each year, City Service committee members invite volunteers to take on the roles of Project Managers and Consultants. Serving as the senior member of the consulting team, the Project Manager works with one or two Consultants depending on the scope of the project. To ensure that each volunteer has a valuable experience, all volunteers are interviewed to determine the best project match. In turn, the nonprofit institutions submit an application of need to the City Service Consulting Program that is reviewed by the committee to determine the feasibility of the project and optimal volunteer matches.

Last year, City Service provided consulting services to 10 nonprofits in the Greater Boston including arts organizations, social service organizations, and foundations. The Ella J. Baker House and South Africa Project projects were representative of two types of consultancies that members of Women in Development can take on when they participate in the City Service Consulting Program.

Ella J. Baker House

The Ella J. Baker House helps high-risk youth to avoid violence, achieve literacy, and access jobs by offering counseling and programs that keep kids off the streets. WID's City Service project for this organization involved a team structure led by Project Manager Terri Hootstein with two volunteer Consultants, Megan Donovan and CJ Tolman, and two principals from the Ella J. Baker House. After several meetings, the City Service Team and Ella J. Baker House principals defined the scope of the consultancy and the contract deliverables. Based on the information obtained in the initial meetings a partial development assessment and a strategy for achieving the nonprofit's goals were developed. Factored into the scope of the consultancy were the five-month timeline and the necessary groundwork before the achievement of the goals expressed by the Ella J. Baker House principals could be realized.

Substantial resources and practical tools related to preparing a preliminary case statement, training in pre-solicitation and solicitation practices, recommendations for increased community visibility and donations, and board development were all provided as part of the project. Both Megan and CJ agreed that they were able to leverage each other's skills and knowledge to meet the needs of the organization. The volunteers were in regular contact with the nonprofit and with each other during the five-month period. After providing strategic guidance to the team at Ella J. Baker House, Megan and CJ prepared a comprehensive report of the information that had been provided over the course of the five months as well as recommendations for future planning.

In her role as Project Manager, Terri Hootstein received regular status reports and made sure that things were on schedule and moving forward. Megan and CJ managed the day-to-day aspects of the project, met with the members of the Ella J. Baker House to answer questions and make assessments, and made sure that the project components were falling into place. Both Megan and CJ agreed that the team structure worked well and that they were able to leverage each other's skills and knowledge to meet the needs of the Ella J. Baker House and to add to their own base of knowledge. Both agree that they learned from each other and from the nonprofit while also feeling a great sense of accomplishment, by giving back to the community and helping each other grow and develop skills. Moving forward, each will play an active role on the City Service committee and encourage members of Women in Development to become Project Managers and Consultants.

South Africa Partners

On May 21, 2002, the work of Gina Federico, City Service Project Manager, and Catherine Brush, Consultant, was brought to life at the Seaport Hotel when 300 guests joined South Africa Partners for the first annual Desmond Tutu Award Celebration that raised approximately $30,000. The event was an opportunity for South Africa Partners to inaugurate its Desmond Tutu Award while also raising awareness for the organization and its mission: to generate long-term mutually beneficial partnerships between the United States and South Africa in the areas of health, education and economic development. Combining elements of fun, fame and education, the evening highlighted the work of Archbishop Desmond Tutu and other individuals who have worked for peace, social justice and reconciliation.

After meeting with members of the South Africa Project, Gina and Catherine outlined best practices for developing and launching a significant fundraising event within a defined timeframe for South Africa Partners, and then worked with them to make sure that milestones were met and timelines were adhered to. Both members of the City Service team agreed that it was great to use their skills in a new way and to give back to the community.

In addition to the impact that their project had on raising awareness of South Africa Partners, both Gina and Catherine agreed that the structure of the City Service program added to the overall success of the project. By having a defined project with specific parameters and deliverables, they were able meet their own milestones and project goals in a defined time period. They felt that this structure added to the professionalism of the volunteer experience and would recommend the program to all members of Women in Development. They both echoed a high level of excitement and enthusiasm for the program and will take on active committee and project management roles in the upcoming 2002-2003 year.

As evidenced by these two projects, the City Service Consulting Program provides a broad range of opportunities for Women in Development members to challenge themselves, give back to the community, and promote the principles of philanthropy that we practice on a day-to-day basis.

For more information on how to get involved in the City Service Consulting Program, please contact the Women in Development Office at 617-489-6777, or City Service Committee Chair Terri Hootstein at 617-457-8700 or cityservice@widgb.org.