Partnerships and Collaborative Learning Initiatives

Foundations, corporations and government agencies call on The Maine Association of Nonprofits (MANP) to develop and implement their capacity building initiatives.

MANP brings creative thinking; access to an extensive network of expert presenters and consultants; knowledge of nonprofit management; program and training design, organization development, and community and movement building.

MANP executes projects on time and budget. MANP forms strong relationships with funders and nonprofits that lead to highly effective collaborative learning initiatives for the nonprofit sector.

These programs bring the most up-to-date knowledge and trends to nonprofit leaders. They center on the belief that interaction between peers is a highly effective approach to learning key leadership and management skills, encouraging innovation and collaboration -- and using these networks to develop a ‘solutions-based’ approach to social issues.

Nine-month program for 30 Waldo and Knox County executive directors
Created through a partnership between MANP, six funders and the University of Maine Hutchinson Center, this program was created to help Waldo and Knox county nonprofits develop the organizational resilience to respond to the changing funding landscape. This cohort-based program includes a capacity assessment, leadership development, peer networking, as well as sessions devoted to critical aspects of nonprofit management, including: fundraising, strategic planning, strategic alliances/mergers, financial management, federal grant writing, marketing, and board development.  Funding partners include United Way of Eastern Maine; United Midcoast Charities; Maine Community Foundation, Unity Foundation, Bangor Savings Foundation, and Bank of America.

Program for 80-100 executive directors in Cumberland, York, Hancock, Washington counties
Funded by the Maine Community Foundation’s Hancock and Washington County Funds and the Sam L. Cohen Foundation, this initiative is designed to build the leadership and organizational capacity of nonprofit leaders in these counties through a series of two day programs. Key elements include a Principles and Practices organizational assessment, peer networking, and custom-designed nonprofit management intensives in topic areas identified by participants.

Executive Transitions Initiative
Funded by the Daveis Foundation, this initiative is designed to help Maine nonprofits respond to the increase in executive transitions due to changing demographics by replicating Annie E. Casey Foundation’s proven executive transitions model, and training 15 Maine nonprofit consultants to better assist Maine boards of directors and organizations in managing leadership transitions.

 
Capacity and Lifecycle Assessment for 25 Maine nonprofits
Funded by the Betterment Foundation, this initiative accomplishes two goals.  Using a tool developed by TCC Group, it assesses the technical, management, leadership and adaptive capacity and “lifecycle” of a group of organizations -- to assist leaders in understanding what capacities they need to develop going forward. MANP will also train a group of its consultant partners to help their nonprofit clients’ access and understand this useful tool.

Refugee Learning Institutes
Funded by a three year federal grant, this partnership with the Maine Office of Multicultural Affairs (MOMA) and Tufts University seeks to build the leadership and organizational capacity of 30 refugee lead nonprofit organizations in Lewiston and Portland. A series of three-day learning institutes and “train-the-trainers” programs comprise this weekend, cohort-based program, which is modeled after the Learning Institutes, created by the Aspen Institute to develop community foundations and their leaders.