CT Community Nonprofit Alliance’s Post

Nonprofit education institutions are beacons of opportunity, embodying a commitment to enriching lives through accessible and high-quality learning experiences. With a steadfast focus on mission rather than profit margins, these organizations serve as pillars of social equity and community empowerment. By leveraging diverse funding sources and prioritizing the needs of learners, nonprofit education fosters an environment where education is not merely a commodity, but a fundamental right accessible to all. Through accountability, transparency, and a dedication to maximizing social impact, nonprofit education institutions pave the way for a brighter future, where knowledge transcends barriers and empowers individuals to reach their fullest potential.

It’s no secret that volunteer work can boost college admissions or scholarship applications. 📝 But studies show that volunteering is linked to increased overall happiness, healthiness, and higher self-esteem. 🤩 Learn more about the importance of giving back here: https://bit.ly/3S8v4yY

⭐ Appreciation Post ⭐ Imagine you're a parent of a student who followed a dream of becoming a dentist, working hard at school to get good grades, go over and above volunteering long hours at Humane Society of Tampa Bay, logging all the hours into Profferfish, so he could deemed eligible by Florida Bright Futures only to find out that his trancripts and scores were lost in the system, thus him having to pay for school out of pocket? After weeks of going back and forth and up and down, we finally got the news we wanted to hear. 🔊 🐠 Heather DePalma the CEO of Profferfish 🐠 went above and beyond to help my son and family out. She instructed me on the appropriate steps I needed to take in order for Emerson to be eligible for Bright Futures. You're an amazing person, and I can't wait to see the insane success you're going to achieve. All Florida county schools need Profferfish!! If you're a parent in Florida and either have a child going to be a Senior, and currently are filling out paperwork, losing volunteer hours, and frustrated with the current system, call your schools! Students not using Profferfish right now, have to manually fill out paperwork, then take it to their nonprofit to sign, then their counselor and then the parent. Imagine alllll the lost hours of volunteering that are hidden in the bottom of a backpack, under a car seat, or eaten by a dog (or shark if you're talking 🦈 ) What is Profferfish you ask? 🤔 Profferfish is a digital platform designed as a comprehensive solution for managing student community service activities. 👨🎓 For Students and Parents: It offers a paperless, secure cloud-based platform where students can discover local nonprofits, electronically sign documents, and have 24/7 access to service opportunities, scholarship information, and more. 🎒 For Counselors and Schools: The platform provides a measurable way to track and manage student data, ensuring equitable access for every student. It is simple to implement and customizable for state scholarship programs like Florida Bright Futures. 🐈 For Nonprofits and Communities: Profferfish facilitates promotion of volunteer needs and events, helps develop future leaders, and provides a streamlined way to reach and communicate with communities. The platform changes the traditional reactive approach to student community service into a proactive journey, aiming to save time and resources for all involved parties. It also ensures the security of students' personal information, only sharing it with appropriate counselors and school administrators. Profferfish's integration with Clever allows for single sign-on and account provisioning, further simplifying the user experience. It takes a village! 🏘 🏘 #florida #education #saas #highschoolstudents

Just how much of a difference did the United Way Suncoast Summer Care program make? Our latest blog post reviews the impact with a data overview of it's success. https://lnkd.in/e_EgfDkV #UnitedWay #UnitedWaySuncoast #UWS #SummerCare #SummerCareProgram #nonprofit #nonprofitblog #nonprofitdata

Learn how the LSUS Institute for Nonprofit Administration & Research's online MS in Nonprofit Administration program empowers graduates like Jeffery Brasher to pursue fulfilling careers dedicated to social good: https://bit.ly/3JSgF4Q

“Education is positively related to higher income, better health status, better wellbeing, increased likelihood to do work that fits with their natural talents and interests, voting participation, volunteerism and charitable giving,” according to new study from Gallop and Lumina Foundation https://lnkd.in/gyYZ88ik “…additional years of education beyond high school make for a healthier, more civic-minded individual who is more likely to interact with neighbors and family members, and to do work that aligns with their natural talents and interests.” https://lnkd.in/gJqR6GA2

Read out latest article: Gratitude for Nina Rees, Our Lead CharterFolk Who Overcame Immense Challenge to Elevate Us All Weekend greetings CharterFolk. It is difficult from my remote location to craft a full post, but I did not want to let the occasion pass without offering proper recognition of Nina Rees for her amazing service at the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools.  As most of you know by now, Nina announced last week that she will be departing the Alliance at the end of the year. We all owe Nina an immense debt of gratitude for the contribution she made to a critical organization at a critical moment in time. I joined the Board of the Alliance during my third year at CCSA not realizing that the organization was about to go through a leadership transition. As luck would have it, the board asked me to serve on the CEO search committee, and over a period of months working closely with Deborah McGriff, Mashea Ashton and Chris Nelson, we came to the conclusion that Nina was clearly the strongest candidate for the job, and we were delighted that the Board accepted our recommendation. And so Nina’s service to the National Alliance began. Looking back on it now, I recognize that having played a role in the successful recruiting of Nina Rees to become the CEO of the National Alliance was among the most important contributions I have made to the movement during all my years in charterland. Few remember it now, but there was a period when many doubted whether the Alliance would even continue to exist as an organization, such had been the Alliance’s struggles in the years before Nina started her service as CEO. But under Nina’s leadership the Alliance experienced a period of profound renaissance. The organization focused on federal advocacy and communications. The staff got stronger. The Board got stronger. The organization’s standing in DC grew significantly. Confidence was restored among key leaders in the movement. New philanthropy was secured.  A C4 and a national PAC were established. And the policy wins mounted, including many years of increased Charter School Program funding, which has nearly doubled under Nina’s leadership. All this occurred during a period of immense leadership challenge. The 2016 election threatened to rip the movement apart along red-blue lines. By 2018, Democrats at a national level were trending away from support for charter schools. And then the pandemic hit. Through it all, Nina’s steady hand helped the movement navigate obstacle after obstacle, actually building organizational and movement momentum amid a broader landscape where so much of rest of the public education was seen to be struggling and sadly off track. Perhaps Nina’s finest hour was the spring of 2022 when she led the Alliance’s successful response to the Biden Administration’s effort to advance changes in regulations to the federal Charter School Program that would have had negative impact on

Another great opportunity for young architects and planners who want to support the diversification of the sector.

I had so much fun with the July series highlighting nonprofits supporting women and moms, I will continue. I have quite the list of orgs compiled. Hope you enjoy and please, share any you find helpful! As our two kids back head back to school in a few weeks, my work on their Parent Teacher Association (PTA) ramps up. This had me thinking about the purpose of the PTA, origins, and why volunteering at our kids’ high school is important. This week I am highlighting all PTAs. The concept of a PTA was founded in the late 1890s by two women here in DC. Alice Barney was an educator and social worker. Phoebe Hearst (mother of William Randolph Hearst) provided the initial financial support. The inaugural meeting of the National Congress of Women, precursor to the National Parent Teacher Association, anticipated 50 people would show on that day in February 1897. They had 2,000.  The original group had 3 goals: - share information and latest research on child rearing - ensure all children had address to good education in schools - and support schools with resources and teachers. Interestingly, the most active members in the early days were families and widows with grown children. One can argue they had more time to volunteer. There was also a belief that if everyone has opportunities and successes, all of society will benefit. As shared in an insightful article on the history of the PTA (link in the comments), “Education and schooling were everyone’s responsibility, from the businessperson to the farmer to the factory worker to the retiree.” What a wonderful reminder! The early PTAs believed they could accomplish much through cooperation - with the schools, the communities, and the families. Your local PTA might have shifted the focus of the original group but most of us can probably agree on similar goals for the youth in our communities: 👩🎓 - to be physically safe 👨🎓 - to be challenged academically 🤗 - to be engaged and emotionally supported. If you are looking to engage with your community or local schools, the PTA is a great way to start. 🏫 They tend to know volunteering needs such as supporting back to school nights or proctoring exams. They often have running lists of activities, sponsorships, and resources a classroom, club, or specific teacher is seeking help with to enrich their students' experiences. And at the very least, they will have a good idea of who to speak with and where to start. DC high school where our freshman and senior start in 3 weeks (but who's counting?!).

The evidence is clear: family engagement programs work. In a recent article for The Chronicle of Philanthropy, Ambika Kapur, Carnegie Corporation of New York, and Stephanie Sharp, Overdeck Family Foundation, make the case for grantmakers to prioritize this work, noting that "without family involvement, many recent philanthropic investments, especially those focus on closing pandemic-induced learning gaps, will fail to meet their potential." #FamilyEngagement #Grantmaking https://lnkd.in/eueKnDCH