by Matt Forti and Kirk Kramer
Seven years ago, Bank of America launched Neighborhood Builders®, a program that provides grants and, more importantly, leadership training to managers of "high-potential" non-profit organizations in the communities where the bank does business. The rationale was straight-forward: thriving neighborhood groups create more vibrant places to live and work, which translates into a better environment for lending and investing. Like the five "good" companies showcased in HBR's November magazine, Bank of America chose to align its social investments with its brand and to leverage its core assets and capabilities for greater impact.
The result has been a clear success. Neighborhood Builders now spans 45 communities, and is the nation's largest philanthropic leadership program. Bank of America recently hired The Bridgespan Group to conduct an unbiased assessment of the impact the program has had on leaders, organizations, and communities. And, as a result, we are now able to identify three key reasons why it has been so effective.
It is both local and national.
Bank of America convenes a local committee of bank leaders in each of its 45 Neighborhood Builders markets then uses a short application and lots of on-the-ground research to select two awardees per community per year. Sitting on these selection panels, branch managers learn vital information about community needs and assets — which is good for business. At the same time, the grants they bestow and leadership training they provide foster good works and good will in the neighborhoods they serve, which attracts more customers.
At the same time, the program also leverages Bank of America's national reach — inviting a director and up-and-coming manager from each selected organization to participate in a broader, two-week group leadership training. For the 90 participants, this opportunity to meet and interact with peers turns out to be one of the program's greatest benefits. As Stephanie Berkowitz of the Center for Teen Empowerment in Boston told us: "The best aspect of the workshops was having the dedicated time and a group of 'non-competing' organization representatives from all over the country with [whom] to think deeply about nonprofit management issues." The lessons learned are brought back not only to the attendees' own organization but also to other local non-profits in which they're involved (22 on average), which multiplies the Neighborhood Builders impact.
It involves both cash and capacity-building.
Cash and capabilities are a powerful one-two punch: 85 percent of the Neighborhood Builders beneficiaries that we surveyed said the program improved their leadership ability. As one ED told us, "We were the quintessential mom-and-pop grassroots organization, and now we are on a different playing field. There was this whole world out there of nonprofit management practices." And 88 percent said it improved their organization's reach. While $200,000 in cash over two years may not seem like a lot, for 95 percent of the Neighborhood Builders, it represented one of their three largest unrestricted awards during that period (including those in the nation's largest cities — New York, Los Angeles and Chicago). The funding allowed some organizations to build internal capacity, and others to kick-start a high-priority program. Leaders valued the fact that the choice was theirs. Chrystal Kornegay at Urban Edge Housing in Boston said that the flexibility and size of the award allowed the organization to respond "nimbly and swiftly" to the housing market crisis through the creation of foreclosure counseling services. The Bank of America endorsement has also become a "seal of approval", helping the organizations to win $400,000 in additional investment, on average, from other funders.
It focuses on both long-term investment and continuous improvement.
Bank of America has been able to improve the Neighborhood Builders program over time by gathering feedback along the way, and using that information to implement key changes (such as providing more training to emerging leaders and less to executive directors). These modifications have improved participant satisfaction with the training, and more leaders have reported gains from the program over time. In addition, having trained nearly 1,200 non-profit managers nationally (an average of 24 per community), the program now has the opportunity to offer follow-up support to a large cadre of people and organizations at a comparatively small additional cost, through such strategies as peer networks.
Participants reported that the program helped their organization achieve its goals (88 percent), increased or enhanced program impact (92 percent), increased financial sustainability (80 percent), and drove innovation (80 percent). Additionally, despite recent tough times since 2008 for many nonprofits, all but one of the organizations remain in operation.
Not many organizations have Bank of America's size or geographic reach. But every company has assets and capabilities — technology, expertise or relationships — that can be channeled into effective models for achieving social impact — even in challenging arenas like community leadership development. Neighborhood Builders' results demonstrate the power of making a big philanthropic commitment in line with brand; of focusing efforts and resources, and staying involved for the long haul — which is both good philanthropy and good business.
Nenhum comentário:
Postar um comentário