Monday, April 18, 2005: Volume #2, Issue #70
The VERB Weekly Email Digest
Edited by Sophy Pich, VERB Project Associate

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In This Week's Issue

1. Announcements
• TechSoup
• National Council of Nonprofit Associations
2. Promising Practices
• The Spiral of Sustainable Excellence
3. News
• Temple's Serenity Shattered Leadership Battle Divides Cambodian ...
• Culture Shock, Poverty Plague Hmong in Michigan
• Author Tells of Cross-Cultural Research
• International Students' Cultures on Display at Spring Festival
• School Zone: 3 from Area on High School Task Force
• National Business and Community Leaders to Be Honored at
• UW Grant for Minority Students Is at Issue
• Art Center Can Expand Public Outreach
• Cambodian Parade
• Hmong Teenagers Given a Taste of the Great American Pastime
• Butte Dean to Discuss Learning Challenges Facing Hmong Speakers
• Nation Briefs
• Laos: the 'Kingdom of a Million Elephants'
• Former Refugee's Memoir Seeks Voice for South Vietnamese
• Time of Transition for Cambodian Dance
• Pagodas Light Up for New Year
• a Sense of Duty: My Father, My American Journey
• Hmong Culture Will Take Center Stage
• Lao New Year Festival Meant to Unite Groups
• a Tale of Two Lives: Cambodian Genocide Tore Two Sisters Apart
• When Cultures Clash
• the Veteran
4. Funding Opportunities
• The Community Foundation Silicon Valley
• Gardener's Supply
• NetAid
• The CDC Foundation (CA, DC, MD)
5. Resources
• NPower's Technology Guide for Nonprofit Leaders

I. Announcements

What are the issues and challenges involved in using online learning? What does it mean to collaborate and learn online? How can you and your organization use online learning and collaboration to achieve your organizational mission?

Those are the kinds of questions TechSoup's week-long online event will aims to answer. Join in the discussion on collaborative approaches for online learning communities, conferences, and classes and workshops.

Topics include:

• An overview of ideas and practices integral to online learning and collaboration
• Best-practice examples of learning community meetings and conferences
• Demo of a live online meeting space
• The steps it takes to go from in-person to online learning

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In an effort to strengthen nonprofits and communities, the National Council of Nonprofit Associations (NCNA) is establishing new nonprofit associations in fifteen states.

These state associations will be formed to advocate for and strengthen nonprofits. The project is funded by a $200,000 grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation of Battle Creek, Michigan.

"The value of state associations cannot be overstated given the tremendous pressures and challenges facing nonprofits in local communities across the country," said Audrey R. Alvarado, Ph.D., executive director of NCNA. "A strong and effective champion at the state level is key to assuring that nonprofits have the resources they need, and mobilize to affect change."

State associations provide local nonprofits with access to resources for advocacy, professional development, cost savings programs, information, research, and leadership. State associations also offer statewide membership and serve all types of nonprofits.

The project will advance associations in fifteen states: Arizona, Arkansas, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

Through case studies, expert knowledge, site visits, and convenings, NCNA will focus its technical assistance on developing these groups into sustainable organizations. The project will also include the creation of a comprehensive strategy to outline best practices in developing a state association.

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II. Promising Practices

From NPQ e-Newsletter

The Spiral of Sustainable Excellence

by Paul C. Light

Editors' Note: This article is adapted from a new book by Paul Light entitled Sustaining Nonprofit Performance: The Case for Capacity Building and the Evidence to Support It, published in 2004 by the Brookings Institution Press.

Imagine a nonprofit's life as a journey up and down a development spiral. All organizations would start with a simple idea for some new program or service and then move up the spiral toward greater and greater impact, progressing through five landings, or stops, along the climb: (1) the organic phase of life, in which they struggle to create a presence in their environment; (2) the enterprising phase, in which they seek to expand their size and scope; (3) the intentional phase, in which they become focused more tightly on what they do best; (4) the robust phase, in which they strengthen their organizational infrastructure to hedge against the unexpected; and (5) the reflective phase, in which they address longer-term issues of succession and legacy.

Viewed as a spiral, nonprofit development would be anything but a fixed march ever upward. Many nonprofit would linger at one stage or another, perhaps for long periods, without any guarantee that they would advance. Some organizations would make it up the first flight and remain at the enterprising stage, for example, while others would stay at the reflective landing for what might seem like an eternity. Others might quickly move to the enterprising stage, only to get knocked back by a financial meltdown or executive turnover. Some would make the difficult climb from the enterprising stage to intentionality by focusing their attention on the programs they care about most, while jettisoning and spinning off others. Still others would enhance their capacity to withstand crises and shocks, handle risks, recruit and retain the most talented employees for the long term, and shape the future through their advocacy. And relatively few would reach the reflective stage, by expanding their mission to include broad questions of long-term legacy. Unlike the standard S-shaped life-curve we often use to describe the inevitable confrontation with organizational mortality, the spiral enables a more deeply textured description of how organizations actually live.

Read On: http://www.nonprofitquarterly.org/section/639.html

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III. News

Temple's Serenity Shattered Leadership Battle Divides Cambodian ...
San Francisco Chronicle
April 12, 2005

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Culture Shock, Poverty Plague Hmong in Michigan
DetNews.com
April 12, 2005

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Author Tells of Cross-Cultural Research
The Duke Chronicle
April 12, 2005

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International Students' Cultures on Display at Spring Festival
University of South Alabama News
April 12, 2005

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School Zone: 3 from Area on High School Task Force
Green Bay Press Gazette
April 13, 2005

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National Business and Community Leaders to Be Honored at ...
Yahoo News
April 13, 2005

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UW Grant for Minority Students Is at Issue
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
April 14, 2005

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Art Center Can Expand Public Outreach
San Gabriel Valley Tribune
April 14, 2005

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Cambodian Parade
http://www.gazettes.com/cambodian04112005.html
April 14, 2005

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Hmong Teenagers Given a Taste of the Great American Pastime
Minneapolis Star Tribune
April 14, 2005

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Butte Dean to Discuss Learning Challenges Facing Hmong Speakers
Enterprise-Record
April 15, 2005

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Nation Briefs
Asian Week
April 15, 2005

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Laos: the 'Kingdom of a Million Elephants'
Pahrump Valley Times
April 15, 2005

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Former Refugee's Memoir Seeks Voice for South Vietnamese
San Jose Mercury News
April 15, 2005

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Time of Transition for Cambodian Dance
International Herald Tribune
April 15, 2005

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Pagodas Light Up for New Year
Rocky Mountain News
April 16, 2005

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A Sense of Duty: My Father, My American Journey
New California Media
April 16, 2005

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Hmong Culture Will Take Center Stage
The Eureka Reporter
April 17, 2005

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Lao New Year Festival Meant to Unite Groups
Contra Costa Times
April 17, 2005

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A Tale of Two Lives: Cambodian Genocide Tore Two Sisters Apart
Santa Cruz Sentinel
April 17, 2005

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When Cultures Clash
Newsweek
April 17, 2005

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The Veteran
Long Beach Press-Telegram
April 17, 2005

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IV. Grants

1. (National)
   The Community Foundation Silicon Valley

   Advancing the Arts, an initiative of the Community Foundation Silicon Valley, is designed to strengthen Silicon Valley arts organizations and build connections to one another and within the community.

   The primary focus of the initiative is to advance the work of individual organizations and the sector by providing general support grants and technical support to small and mid-sized arts organizations with budgets between $50,000 and $2 million.

   The program consists of three components:

   Grants—For the next three years General Support grants of between $5,000 and $15,000 will be made available to small and mid-sized arts organizations for a one-year grant period. Grants will be awarded in June 2005, January 2006, and January 2007. To achieve the initiative's goals, the foundation will select fifteen to twenty participants that represent diverse geographies, budget sizes, and disciplines for each cohort.

   Technical Assistance—Grantees also have an additional opportunity to apply for a technical assistance grant of up to $1,500.

   Networking—Participants will meet at least twice during the year to attend workshops and network with one another.

   To be eligible, applicants must be California organizations with 501(c)(3) status and a primary focus on the performance, production, or presentation of arts and cultural programs. Applicants must be located in Santa Clara County or southern San Mateo County and must provide arts activities in Santa Clara County and/or Southern San Mateo County.

   Deadline: May 9, 2005

2. (National)
   Gardener's Supply

   The Garden Crusader Awards were created by Gardener's Supply in 2001 to honor individuals who are improving the world through gardening. These enthusiastic men and women are planting trees and flowers, growing food, creating new green spaces, and teaching their friends and neighbors about the rewards of gardening.

   In 2004, Garden Crusader Award recipients received a total of $12,000 in cash and prizes to support their projects.

   The Garden Crusader Award Categories are Education; Feeding the Hungry; Beautification; Urban Renewal; and Restoration.

   Deadline: June 1, 2005

3. (National)
   NetAid

   NetAid, a nonprofit organization that educates, inspires, and empowers young people to fight global poverty, is accepting applications for the NetAid Global Action Awards, which are designed to honor U.S. high school students who have taken outstanding actions to fight global poverty.

   Honorees receive $5,000 for their higher education or a charitable cause of their choice, and are recognized at an awards celebration in New York City. In 2004, the program honored four young honorees whose work included building a school for girls in Afghanistan, providing vital medical equipment for rural communities in Uganda, and improving the lives of street children in Vietnam and child laborers in Latin America.

   High school students living in the U.S. who have organized and led a project that has directly impacted people living in poor countries or raised awareness in their own communities about global poverty are eligible to apply.

   Deadline: May 15, 2005

4. (California, District of Columbia, Maryland)
   The CDC Foundation

   The CDC Foundation, at the request of the attorneys general of New York and Maryland, has accepted tobacco settlement funds to implement a new grant program, A Program to Prevent Smoking Among Urban Youth.

   The program will provide funds for youth smoking reduction and prevention services with a focus on urban communities, particularly in those states and the District of Columbia where the 2004 KOOL MIXX DJ Competitions were held (California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Washington, D.C.).

   Funds will be awarded through a competitive grant process. Applicants must be tax-exempt organizations under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code or faith-based organizations qualifying as "churches" under 501(c)(3). Funds will only be provided to organizations that have ongoing programs that can be enhanced or expanded. New programs will not be considered.

   The amount of the awards will range from $75,000 to $200,000 and the duration of the grants will range from 12 months to 24 months.

   Deadline: May 6, 2005 (Letters of Intent)

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V. Resources

One in a series of four publications, "NPower's Technology Guide for Nonprofit Leaders: A Mission Support Tool for Education Services" explores the potential and possibilities of using technology as a service delivery tool for nonprofits engaged in educational programming. The guide was designed to reflect NPower's overall mission of ensuring that all nonprofits—regardless of size, scope, or geography—can use technology to expand the reach and impact of their work.

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If you wish to contribute to the VERB Weekly e-Digest, please send all materials to sophy@searac.org