Over sixty community leaders, nonprofit directors, political leaders, and a panel of underprivileged individuals participated in the First Annual Social Change and Nonprofit Capacity Building Retreat hosted by The Advancement Foundation. The goal for the retreat was to develop an action plan that engages citizens, businesses, nonprofits, educators and political leaders to work together to break the cycle of poverty.
The retreat provided a forum for dialogue and helped participants gain a better perspective on the causes of poverty. “I really liked that we had a lot of nonprofits get together to meet and discuss these relevant issues,” commented a retreat participant. “It was an effective and energizing experience.”
Part of the process involved retreat participants engaging in a poverty-wealth simulation. “I liked feeling rich for the day,” stated Anne Meador, a poverty advisory member who shared her path to poverty and was assigned a role of wealth during the simulation. Another participant who was assigned the role of a wealthy person, “felt uncomfortable being fed first,” and served sweets on a silver platter when surrounded by other participants who had been assigned to poverty. “It was really interesting to see how people reacted to being assigned to poverty,” this participant remarked.
The morning session broke into three discussion groups whose goal was to come up with action steps to: build the confidence and support systems for those living in poverty, increase exposure to opportunities for those in poverty, and improve community perceptions and culture toward those living in poverty.
The afternoon sessions addressed capacity building for nonprofits with two sessions: Diversifying Income Streams and Major Gift Prospect Identification and Management. “I really enjoyed the clear and concise information presented in these sessions. The supporting materials will keep me connected to what we accomplished and focused on keeping the momentum going,” said nonprofit director Donna Proctor.
The Resource Fair which was available to participants all day featured TAF’s Charity Cottage dolls from the Foundation’s LEAP program, marketing materials from a few of the Foundation’s business incubator projects like Sugar Chef’s Delight and Stanley’s Easy Auto Care. Additional earned income opportunities were featured including fundraising information from Send-Out Cards, Kroger Cares program and information on technical support information from Tech Soup, and nonprofit training materials produced by The Advancement Foundation.
“The Foundation is focused on rallying all community resources to create dynamic and specific opportunities for all citizen’s to engage in making productive contributions to our community regardless of their circumstances. We have called on all businesses, churches and civic organizations to offer mentoring, volunteer time and financial support toward this effort,” said Annette Patterson, president and founder of the Foundation.
For more info about this event or The Advancement Foundation, please contact Annette Patters on at 540-815-6106 or [email protected].
