Program & Organizational Planning

BTW informing change assists nonprofits and private foundations in planning new projects, programs and initiatives. Services include:

•	Meeting and process facilitation,
•	Gathering and synthesizing data to support planning efforts,
•	Planning and
•	Organizational and project staff support.

Ongoing & Recent Projects
Bay Area Jewish Healing Center
In the spring of 2008 BTW partnered with The Bay Area Jewish Healing Center (BAJHC) in a strategic planning process. The BAJHC is dedicated to providing Jewish spiritual care to those living with illness, to those caring for the ill and to the bereaved through direct service, education and training, and information and referral. BTW worked with Healing Center staff to refine the Healing Center’s strategic framework using a Theory of Change process. BTW also addressed the organization’s financial strategies and identified organizational areas for development by conducting an organizational assessment. As a part of this work, BTW conducted in-depth interviews with Jewish healing organizations throughout the country to help BAJHC understand how their unique and innovative programs fit within the larger field.

Jewish Interfaith Outreach Initiative
In June 2008, the San Francisco Jewish Community Federation (JCF) engaged BTW informing change to lead a planning process that would support more effective interfaith outreach in the San Francisco Bay Area. A core planning group consisting of representatives from the East Bay JCF, the San Francisco JCF and Bay Area Jewish Interfaith Outreach practitioners partnered with BTW to consider community needs for expanded interfaith programming and the potential creation and organizational design of a centralized interfaith outreach resource initiative/organization. To inform this planning, BTW designed and implemented a data collection and analysis process and worked with the core planning group on a Theory of Change process.

The San Francisco Foundation
BTW recently collaborated with The San Francisco Foundation on a transition plan for its environmental health grantmaking. As the Foundation is planning a new initiative, it asked BTW to review existing research and conduct focus groups and interviews to engage funders, grantees and other stakeholders to help the Foundation assess broader trends within the environmental health and justice movement and identify specific areas of need within the field. The information captured in this process will be used to identify funding gaps within the field and design a new structure for their environmental health grantmaking program.

Philanthropy for Active Civic Engagement (PACE)
Through strategic consulting, program development, board development and fund development assistance, BTW guided Philanthropy for Active Civic Engagement (PACE) in launching its program work and developing its constituency among grantmakers and donors committed to civic participation. PACE is a community of grantmakers and donors committed to strengthening democracy by using the power, influence and resources of philanthropy to open pathways to civic participation. BTW planned, implemented and produced conferences, workshops and publications that advanced PACE’s mission. BTW’s work focused on helping PACE build a network that crossed boundaries of various civic engagement strategies, such as national service, voter education and community organizing.

Zip Code Assistance Ministries
A funders collaborative in Houston, led by the Rockwell Fund, Inc., hired BTW to assist them with planning and evaluating a new initiative to build the capacity of Zip Code Assistance Ministries (ZCAMs) in the region. ZCAMs are faith-based nonprofits providing emergency social and human services. This initiative, called the ZCAM Organizational Development Program, was modeled on the Organizational Capacity Grants Initiative (OCGI), a project that BTW evaluated for three Bay Area funders several years ago. Part of BTW’s work with the Houston initiative was to develop and facilitate an annual reflection and learning session for funders, ZCAM executives and key program partners. For one reflection session, BTW prepared a paper on social capital formation among ZCAM leaders and its relevance to building organizational capacity and creating a culture of collaboration and shared learning.

Charles and Helen Schwab Foundation
BTW worked with the Charles and Helen Schwab Foundation to design an organizational effectiveness initiative for substance abuse treatment agencies in San Mateo County. The planning process that BTW facilitated among foundation staff and substance abuse treatment providers produced the Building Effective Substance Abuse Treatment (BEST) Initiative. BTW then served as the Management Support Organization for this two-year initiative, facilitating a Learning Community that included eleven substance abuse treatment providers, the foundation program staff and the Initiative's assessment and evaluation teams.

Tides Center
BTW has served for four years as evaluator of Tides Center’s strategy development project, through which Tides Center is striving to expand its model of fiscal sponsorship and provide high-quality services that meet customers’ needs. BTW first monitored the process by which Tides Center developed and implemented its new business model, ensuring that the process engaged the expertise and abilities of staff, board members, clients and other stakeholders. In recent years, the evaluation has documented what customers value about fiscal sponsorship, how specific program improvements impact Tides Center customers, and how Tides Center’s work impacts fiscal sponsorship regionally and nationally.

Peninsula Jewish Community Center (PJCC)
BTW worked with the PJCC to develop board policies and processes that reflect the needs of the organization during a period of pivotal growth. BTW conducted an assessment survey of the PJCC’s board of directors and identified ways in which the board could become more engaged in the work of the Center. BTW also facilitated the PJCC’s nominating committee in creating and implementing a formal process for board recruitment and retention. Once the new board was constituted, BTW planned and facilitated the Center’s first ever board retreat.

Jewish Service Initiative
In the fall of 2007, three foundations commissioned BTW to assess the landscape of Jewish Service Learning and assess its potential for growth. BTW conducted research, provided strategic consultation and facilitated meetings to assist the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation, the Nathan Cummings Foundation and the Jim Joseph Foundation as they developed their plans to invest in this program area. In the first phase of the project, BTW examined the nature and prevalence of Jewish Service Learning practice, the current demand for programs and the current capacity of practitioners. For this assessment BTW collected data from the broader field of service as well as from Jewish Service Learning practitioners, funders and stakeholders. BTW presented a summary of the research and a related action plan to funders and practitioners in New York City, Washington, D.C. and San Francisco. BTW is currently providing additional research and consultation as the foundations move forward with plans to implement some recommendations that emerged from the research.