Partners in Action: Volunteer Consultants

Partner Volunteers Rack up More than Mere Hours

Over the last two years SVP Partners have dedicated more than 5,300 volunteer hours to help strengthen our Investees and to leverage our grant dollars.  But so what?  How do those hours translate into impact?  From financial planning, to executive coaching, to technology upgrades – three of our Partners and the Investees they work with share their stories.

Making Sense of the Numbers

In light of the recession, executive director Tanya Kim knew that she needed to move fast to ensure financial sustainability for Powerful Voices.  Her organization needed to develop financial monitoring tools and a method for forecasting and planning in uncertain economic times.

Powerful Voices Executive Director, Tanya Kim and SVP Partner, Susan Loosmore 

To accomplish these tasks on an expedited timeline, Tanya needed help.  She turned to SVP and was matched up with Partner Susan Loosmore.

Susan explains that she built a tool for Powerful Voices that helps Tanya “track progress against their budget and…to forecast their financial position through the remainder of the year.”  This allows them to identify potential shortfalls and adjust accordingly to maintain ongoing operations.

“We are building our financial knowledge while stabilizing and preparing PV for this tumultuous economic landscape.” 

This tool is just a piece of the whole, however. “In the short-term we are reviewing our financial policies and practice, identifying cost savings, forecasting revenue and expenses and monitoring cash flow,” explains Tanya.  Over the long term they plan to establish a reserve to help accomplish their financial goals. 

“Susan’s financial expertise in the corporate sector is invaluable,” says Tanya.  “We are building our financial knowledge while stabilizing and preparing PV for this tumultuous economic landscape.”

For Susan, this partnership has provided an opportunity to learn about Powerful Voices and “all of the wonderful programs they provide the community.   It is rewarding for me to able to provide my skill set to an organization that could truly benefit from my time.  It is really a win / win situation.”

Executive Coaching, a Two-Way Street

Stepping into the shoes of a founding executive director is rarely easy, but Sari Pascoe was up for the challenge.   In 2008, Sari was hired as Communities in Schools of Renton’s second executive director in fourteen years. 

As to be expected, this transition in leadership brought about changes across the organization, and to ensure that she approached her work thoughtfully and strategically Sari “sought someone who could provide vision and insight into the complex and diverse experiences I was having.”

SVP Partner, Neal Myrick and CIS of Renton Executive Director, Sari Pascoe

In winter of 2008 SVP Partner Neal Myrick volunteered to coach Sari.  They meet for an hour every week to share ideas on how to move the organization forward.  They talk about whatever happened that week, discuss any challenges or issues that came up, and brainstorm on how to work through them.

“Almost every time that we meet there is an ah-ha moment.”

“I am bumping up against trees, while he can see the forest,” says Sari who values the vision and perspective that Neal brings to their coaching sessions. “Almost every time that we meet there is an ah-ha moment.” 

Sari is able to take ideas from their conversations and apply them directly to her work, but this is not the only benefit.  “It’s amazing what a consistent presence can do in the midst of change. Neal is punctual, committed, always has a smile and has helped create a relationship of trust and comfort.”

“It’s hard to tell whose ideas were whose.  It’s really a collaborative effort.” 

Although the term “coach” might imply a one-way relationship, Neal asserts that this is not the case.  “I get as much out of it as she does.  Sari is a fantastic executive director and a strong systems thinker.“ At the end of a brainstorm “it’s hard to tell whose ideas were whose.  It’s really a collaborative effort.” 

The sharing in their sessions goes both ways.  Sari “asks me questions and helps me think through things,” explains Neal.  “When I was having an issue with my team, she had some great ideas.  She became my coach.”

Making Technology Upgrades Relevant and Affordable

SVP Partner Kevin Phaup’s initial project with the Friends of the Children in King County involved compiling and analyzing several years of program evaluation results. However, Kevin recalls that “after the first meeting, it became clear that [FOTC] had more pressing technical needs.”  Kevin conducted a basic technology inventory and “made recommendations for improvement based on prior experience I’ve gained working with other SVP clients.”

Former FOTC Executive Director, Kim McKoy and SVP Partner Kevin Phaup

“The most glaring challenge was a server that had reached its end of life, with no good upgrade path,” explains Kevin.  He also noticed that with their current email system FOTC was incurring unnecessary consulting and overhead costs.  With a little research Kevin identified a few simple solutions. “For less money than they were paying to keep their old server at death’s door, they will now have a new reliable server with several times more memory and disk space headroom for future growth, and enjoy the benefits of externally hosted email.”

“My main goal is to provide [FOTC] with the simplest and most maintainable environment to achieve their goals, while reducing the cost to do so.” 

Once these changes have been completed, Kevin plans to help FOTC explore some other technology options.  For example, he hopes to find a more affordable donor database system than the one they are using. “In general, I’ve found most small non-profits are at the whim and mercy of the consultants happenstance leads them to,” explains Kevin. “Often the recommendations are not appropriately sized to the organization, or there is no attention to the ongoing cost of the solution. Consultants have a built-in conflict of interest, in that they benefit from more elaborate solutions that generate ongoing billable hours.”

“As volunteers, SVP can offer a perspective without this bias, and that concentrates on the needs of the organization,” says Kevin. “My main goal is to provide [FOTC] with the simplest and most maintainable environment to achieve their goals, while reducing the cost to do so.”

“[Kevin] has been the biggest help on a project that I may have ever had in my years of working with consultants, and others. " 

Kim McKoy, the former executive director of FOTC, sings Kevin’s praises.  “He has been the biggest help on a project that I may have ever had in my years of working with consultants, and others.  This guy is amazing.  What a find!”

In turn Kevin expresses that “FOTC has great staff who are open to change and new ideas. It is a lot of fun to bring newer technologies to an organization and help them reap the rewards.  I enjoy the face time, meeting new people who share an interest in making our community a better place.”

Kevin also appreciates the “opportunity to evaluate new technologies. It is fun for a tech person to have such open ended problems, and to evaluate several technologies to determine a good fit.  I work closely with several other SVP volunteers, bouncing ideas and suggestions off of each other. The tech world is always changing, and I find volunteering at SVP keeps my skills current.”

Want to Get Involved?

We currently have nine volunteer opportunities available.  Here are just a few examples:

Database Consultant

Help the Center for Human Services serve their clients more effectively!  CHS is in process of implementing a new client services database called "Efforts to Outcomes." CHS needs the old data (housed in an access-based database) to be transferred into the new data base, but the fields are not perfect matches.

 
Curriculum Editor

Help grow the Metrocenter YMCA's Alive and Free program!  Metrocenter is looking for someone to adapt existing curriculum materials to create teacher-friendly lesson plans.  This will support the dissemination of the Alive and Free violence prevention program for middle and high school students.

Marketing Consultant - Audiences & Message Framework

Help Communities in Schools of Renton communicate more effectively!  CIS Renton is looking for a volunteer to help identify target audiences/key constituents and develop a message framework to reach those audiences. The ultimate goal will be to use this framework to redesign its website and produce videos for its website and for broader distribution.

See the full list of volunteer opportunities…

Does one of these seem like a good fit?  If so, please contact Mike Quinn at mikeq@svpseattle.org.  And even if these don't quite match your interests and skills, contact Mike anyway.  If you tell him what your interested in, Mike can keep an eye open for good opportunities.