NonProfits First

Nonprofits First’s Rising Leaders program is a nine month program that helps middle managers build leadership skills through a variety of workshop and hands-on experiences. One of the key components of the Rising Leaders program is a Service Learning project where teams of five or six participants address an agency issue/problem and help identify, and develop, possible solutions. The results achieved by the Class of 2011 were overwhelmingly successful as judged by our service learning partnering agencies.

This is a wonderful opportunity for your agency to address a need or complete a project for which you may not have the resources.

Examples of service learning projects

• Develop an information literacy curriculum
• Research and develop components of a volunteer program
• Research and prepare an organization or division marketing plan
• Develop a division’s policies and procedures manual
• Develop and conduct a program evaluation and prepare report of findings
• Research and prepare an organization or division’s disaster preparedness plan/recovery
• Assist an organization implement and promote a community garden
• Research and develop an organization employee fitness program
• Research and prepare a board member handbook 

Important points:

• Projects will begin in September and conclude in April. Results will be presented at the Rising Leaders graduation ceremony.
• Each team will devote 50-60 hours to their project.
• Team members are professionals.  They will use their Service Learning experience to acquire and practice new skills while applying their new competencies to the project.
• A Service Learning Coordinator will work with each team to provide guidance and serve as a liaison to each service learning host agency  
• All project requests will be reviewed for the Service Learning selection pool by Nonprofits First staff.
  

Benefits for your agency:

•  Services are provided free of charge.
• Team members are trained in project management techniques.
• Team members approach projects with enthusiasm, energy and creativity.
•  Projects will be supervised, clearly defined deliverables will be provided.

There are more requests for projects than teams available. As a result, not all projects are selected. Be sure to clearly define your needs and project expectations. Should your project be selected, it will be important to assign a consistent project leader from your staff to work with the team throughout the duration of the project.