Strengthening Stewardship: People, Messaging and Organization Foundations | |
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Year
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2010 |
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Proponent
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Stewardship Society for BC Society |
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Project type
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Engagement |
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FSWP funding source
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DFO Fraser Basin Initiative |
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Grant amount
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$24,500.00 |
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Total project value
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$61,350.00 |
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ID number
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FSWP10-D14-E |
Location: Fraser River Basin,
Basin Wide
Project Summary
SUMMARY
The Stewardship Centre for BC (SCBC) is working to build capacity within individual stewardship organizations and across the sector as a whole. In 2009 SCBC led a team of consultants and advisors who designed an eight-part framework for building capacity in BC’s environmental stewardship community. This project will develop three parts of that framework by creating tools and resources to strengthen ‘people’ skills, messaging abilities, and the strategic foundation of our stewardship organizations.
OVERVIEW
Capacity building is the systematic strengthening of the capabilities of an organization to perform more effectively. Stewardship groups from across BC recognize the potential benefits of strengthening their organizations through capacity building. Twenty-one stewardship groups were interviewed in 2009. Some, like the Maple Creek Streamkeepers are small community-based groups with annual budgets less than $10,000; others like the Pacific Streamkeepers Federation manage large budgets or the Georgia Strait Alliance and the East Kootenay Conservation Program who are active regionally and provincially. Fourteen groups identified capacity building as essential for their organization; as one interviewee said she “hoped it would provide focus and take the group out of survival mode”. However, many of the groups interviewed did not know where to start or how to access assistance with capacity building. Recognizing that stewardship groups need help to build their capacity, the Stewardship Centre led the development of the Capacity Building Framework for Strengthening Stewardship in BC1.
The Capacity Building Framework provides the stewardship community with a common platform for discussing eight aspects of capacity building. In 2010-2011, this project will focus on three high priority areas of the framework - strengthening ‘people’ resources, getting the message out, and building the foundations of stewardship organizations.
People
Of the twenty-one groups interviewed in 2009, eighteen identified the people working and volunteering for the organization as their greatest resource but also the area of greatest challenge. They recognized the need to improve their ability to recruit, manage and retain people so they could accomplish more with less stress and burnout. The Skeena Watershed Conservation Alliance was ‘heading for severe burnout’ until training in leadership, strategic planning and campaigning helped the staff build a more cohesive organization that went on to win impressive victories in the headwaters of the Skeena. Groups want to engage more people in environmental works that governments are no longer capable of undertaking. This project will provide the stewardship sector with easy-to-find and appropriate strategies for better managing the people in their organizations.
Getting the Message Out
More than half of the groups interviewed identified the need to get their message out so they stand out in the crowd. They recognized that effective marketing and communications are critical to attracting volunteers, changing people’s behaviours, promoting their cause and delivering programs. The Alouette River Management Society relies on volunteers to deliver summer day camps that engage children in watershed enhancement but by 2007 their volunteer base was no longer adequate. In 2008 they developed a communication strategy that successfully recruited students from the high school and they have been able to expand their day camps. This project will provide stewardship organizations of all sizes with the capacity building resources they need to improve their marketing and communications expertise.
Foundations
The essential first area for capacity building in any organization is the foundational principles. In 2001, research by Venture Philanthropy Partners found that “nonprofits that experienced the greatest gains in capacity were those that reassessed their aspirations - their vision of what the organization was attempting to accomplish and their strategy”. Realignment of aspirations, if done properly, provides a tight organizational focus and clear road map for all of the organization’s activities. In the 1990’s the Nature Conservancy of Canada undertook three major capacity building exercises focused on their vision, mission and goals. Ten years later the Nature Conservancy had aligned its mission, goals and strategies. The result was three-fold increases in revenue and staff, membership doubled, and they protect over a million acres of land a year. Many of the groups interviewed in 2009 felt their organizations ‘had already done the work’ to build a foundation for their organization yet very few aligned their activities with their vision. Those organizations who integrated their foundation principles into their work plans had a clear focus, were able to say no to projects that were not part of their mission, and ultimately reduced stress in the organization through mission-based programming. This project will increase awareness of the importance of foundational principles to all sizes and types of organizations in the environmental stewardship sector and develop tools and resources to accomplish the work.
1 Sherlock, Catherine and Webber-Lampa, Kristine. (March 2009). Capacity Building: A Framework for Strengthening Stewardship in British Columbia. The Stewardship Centre for B.C.
The systems for capacity building in BC’s environmental stewardship sector are still in their infancy. To address this gap the Stewardship Centre brought together a team of consultants and advisors who designed a framework for building capacity in the environmental stewardship community. Capacity Building: A Framework for Strengthening Stewardship in British Columbia, written by Catherine Sherlock and Kristine Webber-Lampa, was published in March 2009. The framework outlined in the report included eight parts:
1. Foundation - why stewardship groups need a clear focus and how to align the organization’s vision, mission, strategic plans and actions
2. Organizational Design and Management - how to create an adaptable organizational structure, and systems such as decision-making, planning, accountability, and policies.
3. The People - recruitment, retention, management, and training for volunteers, staff, members and Boards
4. Leadership and Team Building
5. Funding and Financial Management
6. Getting the Message Out: Marketing and Communications - branding, marketing and communications that elicit an emotional connection and emphasize the benefits of participating or donating
7. Relationships and Networks
8. Advocacy: Changing Policy, Practices and Legislation
The framework was evaluated by twenty-one stewardship groups of varying sizes and types from across BC and positively received.
Three areas were identified as the top priorities for capacity building: The People, Marketing and Communications, and Funding and Financial Management.
This project will build on:
* The People,
* Marketing and Communications
* Foundations - the essential area of the framework that is fundamental to all the others
Stewardship Works! a complementary pilot project led by the Stewardship Centre is demonstrating the social and environmental benefits of core funding for stewardship organizations.
OBJECTIVES
Objective #1 Increase the capacity of stewardship organizations to deliver environmental and social benefits in their communities and across BC.
Objective #2 Collect and share new capacity building knowledge within environmental stewardship audiences.
Objective #3 Engage diverse stakeholders in collaboratively growing, maintaining, and delivering resources that build capacity in the environmental stewardship sector.
METHODS
In 2010-2011, the Strengthening Stewardship: People, Messaging and Organization Foundations project will:
1) Survey 30 or more stewardship organizations: A capacity building specialist will be an integral member of the Strengthening Stewardship team. Stewardship organizations that previously participated in the design of the Capacity Building Framework will be invited to provide information, advice and direction about appropriate tools, resources, and approaches for each part of the framework. Communication with the participating organizations will include telephone interviews, conference calls, personal meetings, on-line and mail-in surveys, and workshop invitations. Several ‘feed-back’ loops will be incorporated.
2) Develop new and/or adapt existing approaches: The capacity building specialist will extend the inventory of existing resources undertaken in 2009-2010. Targeting the most significant gaps, new tools, resources and techniques will be developed or adapted from successful approaches used in other not-for-profit sectors.
3) Host Strengthening Stewardship Collaborative Workshop: With direction from the Strengthening Stewardship Advisory Group, a communications specialist will plan and promote a workshop with key government agencies, stewardship organizations, not-for profit capacity builders, and funders. Participants will be invited to collaboratively address the challenges and opportunities for capacity building in stewardship organizations and how the Capacity Building Framework can be effectively developed and implemented. Participants will be invited to test drive the capacity benchmarking tool developed in 2009-2010 to assess their organization’s capacity in each element of the framework.
4) Identify best practices: Using information collected from stewardship organizations, capacity building research, and workshop participants, the capacity building specialist will highlight best practices and common processes that are proven to successfully increase the capacity of stewardship organizations.
5) Create interactive Strengthening Stewardship information hub: The communications specialist will create an on-line information exchange. This hub will be the central clearinghouse for resources, tools and implementation strategies organized around each element of the Capacity Building Framework. It will include a capacity benchmarking tool, developed in 2009-2010, that organizations can use to assess their capacity in each element of the framework, and a baseline data collection and analytic tool to measure changes in capacity across the stewardship sector.
6) Report the project outcomes: The final project report will include the outcomes of communications with stewardship organizations, inventory of capacity building resources, best practices, recommendations for further development of the capacity benchmarking tool, structural description of the on-line information exchange, and recommendations for growing and maintaining the Capacity Building Framework.
BENEFITS
The Strengthening Stewardship: People, Messaging and Organization Foundations project will increase the capacity of people in communities to come together and take action for watershed sustainability. Ten or more stewardship organizations in the Fraser Basin will be directly involved in developing new capacity building resources that will help their organizations provide services that conserve, protect and restore salmonid habitat and watersheds. The capacity building knowledge developed by this project will enable local groups to increase their watershed and habitat conservation activities while reducing stress and burn-out.
Engage First Nations, government agencies and community groups/NGOs
Participant organizations collaborate with or are linked to First Nations in their respective communities.
Complement or implement local and / or regional plans (e.g., recovery plans, watershed plans)
Well established local and regional stewardship groups are committed to being involved in planning processes. This project will assist groups to strategically invest time, energy and funds in planning processes that coincide with their vision.
Value-added aspects
In 2010-2011, the Strengthening Stewardship: People, Messaging and Organization Foundations project will:
a. strengthen the organizational capacity of 30 or more community, regional and provincial stewardship organizations
b. share information between participating organizations and the broader stewardship community across BC
c. transfer knowledge about the necessity and value of capacity building to funding agencies, the broader stewardship sector and decision-makers
d. build new relationships between community groups, regional, provincial and national entities
e. demonstrate best practices for communicating with audiences outside the stewardship community
f. build confidence and resiliency in stewardship organizations by providing easy-to-use strategies for maintaining and growing their organizations
g. empower local communities to respond quickly and effectively to local environmental issues
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