ADP Civic Engagement Award Nominations & National Meeting Announced

Posted on February 7, 2014 by Roshan Bliss

Our friends with the American Democracy Project have been busy recently, and we wanted to make sure to update our NCDD members on a few important things they have coming up – namely, two civic engagement award nomination processes and the 2014 ADP national meeting.

First, we want to let our higher education-based members know that the ADP has opened its nomination period for both of its annual civic engagement awards, both with an April 11th deadline for nominations. The two awards are described below:

The William M. Plater Award for Leadership In Civic Engagement is given in recognition of exemplary leadership in advancing the civic learning of undergraduates through programs and activities that encourage greater knowledge, skills, experiences and reflection about the role of citizens in a democracy. The Award is given each year to an AASCU chief academic officer (e.g., Provosts or Vice Presidents for Academic Affairs) in recognition of his or her leadership in advancing the civic mission of the campus… the award acknowledges the critical leadership role that chief academic officers play in helping make an institution intentional about its public mission to prepare undergraduates as informed, engaged citizens.

You can find more details on the William M. Plater Award and download the nomination form here.

The second award is similar, but aimed at up and coming of higher ed civic leaders:

The John Saltmarsh Award for Emerging Leaders in Civic Engagement is given in recognition of exemplary early-career leaders who are advancing the wider civic engagement movement through higher education to build a broader public culture of democracy. The award is given annually to an exemplary early-career leader at an AASCU institution (e.g., tenure track faculty member, staff or adjunct in first five years of career)… It recognizes John’s long-standing passion for nurturing and preparing the next generation of civic leaders to sustain and advance the civic engagement movement.

Details on the John Saltmarsh Award and the nomination form can be found here.

The winners of both of these awards will be announced at 2014 American Democracy Project and The Democracy Commitment National Meeting, which will take place from June 5th – 7th this year in Louisville, Kentucky.

The 2014 meeting theme is “Forging Civic Pathways for Students Between Our Institutions” and addresses the many ways in which we foster and might build more coherent civic learning and engagement experiences for students on our own campuses and those transferring between our two-year and four-year institutions.

The gathering will be a great place to connect with other engagement- and civics-focused leaders and scholars in higher education, so we encourage you to save the date. You can find more information on the gathering and registration here. There is also a call for presentation proposals for the conference, which will be open until February 16th, and we encourage you to submit your proposal by clicking here.

Good luck to all the award nominees, and we hope to see you at the conference!

Job Opening at the Institute for Local Government

Posted on February 5, 2014 by Roshan Bliss

We thought it was important to make sure that NCDD members heard that the Institute for Local Government in California is seeking a new director. We know that many of our NCDD members would be a great fit for the position.

The Director position is described below:

This executive leadership position implements policy direction set forth by the Institute Board of Directors. This dynamic role plans, directs, manages and oversees all Institute functions, which include program management, funding and grant development, accounting, training seminar development and delivery, and supervision of staff. Responsibilities include; coordinating activities and resources between the Institute, League, CSAC, local government agencies and other private, public and non-profit organizations. Functioning independently and within a team setting, the Institute Director provides highly responsible and complex policy, fundraising, programming and administrative support.

Qualifications & Experience

At least eight years of broad-based senior management experience, including:

Served as a senior manager in a non-profit, grant funded organization;

A demonstrated track record of building an organization at the national, regional, or local level;

A lead role in generating revenue (both earned and contributed income) for an organization;

Measurable results in hiring, mentoring, developing, and leading staff;

Engaging and supporting a nonprofit governing board;

Familiarity with sophisticated public policy and legal research, analysis, communication and dissemination is required.

The ideal candidate has a passion for and commitment to the Institute’s mission to advance the effectiveness of local agencies for the benefit of the communities they serve.

An advanced degree or certificate from an accredited college or university with major course work in public policy, public or nonprofit administration and/or public engagement from an accredited college or university is desirable. Field experience with various forms of public education and engagement, especially involving groups representative of California’s diverse demographics, is an important attribute.

For more about the position and the Institute on Local Government, click here. You can also find the detailed job description by clicking here.

The position will be open until it is filled, but an opportunity like this won’t last long, so make sure to apply soon by sending your application materials to careers@cacities.org with “ILG Director” in the subject line.

Best of luck to all of the applicants!

Apply for the “Best Practices in Citizen Participation” Distinction

Posted on January 31, 2014 by Roshan Bliss

We want to make sure that NCDD members and member organizations hear about an exciting award you might be eligible for – the 8th “Best Practices in Citizen Participation” Distinction. The initiative for the award comes from The International Observatory on Participatory Democracy (OIDP or IOPD for short – their interchangeable, multi-lingual acronym), an important international body that NCDD belongs to as a member.

The awarding of the “Best Practices in Citizen Participation” distinction

…is meant to provide incentive for those who wish to initiate innovative experiences at the local level and disseminate those practices that facilitate the participation and involvement of citizens in elaborating and implementing public policies.

This award is meant to recognize those innovative experiences and ideas coordinated by local governments in the field of participative democracy that can to be replicated elsewhere.

It is understood that participative processes should, by necessity, lead to higher levels of equality, a stronger sense of citizenship, a greater sense of legitimacy and confidence in public powers, and greater effectiveness in public management practice.

You can find the full eligibility criteria by clicking here, but competition is open to

…all local governments, municipal entities and extra-municipal entities that are OIDP members and have promoted an experience or idea involving citizen participation. All such experiences must have taken place within a maximum of four years preceding the convocation, and they must be in effect by the time the candidacy presentation is mailed.

The application period goes from February 3rd to March 7th, so don’t wait to get started. The award winners will be announced at the 2014 OIDP Conference this June 3rd – 5th in Canoas, Brazil. We hope that some of you NCDDers will submit your projects and initiatives for consideration!

If you haven’t heard about the OIDP yet, we highly encourage you to check out their English website at www.OIDP.net/en. You can also find them on Facebook. The OIDP describes itself this way:

The International Observatory on Participatory Democracy (IOPD) is a space open to all cities in the world and all associations, organizations and research centers interested in learning about, exchanging impressions and applying experiences of participatory democracy on a local scale with the aim of deepening the roots of democracy in municipal government.

The network was created in 2001 within the framework of the European Commission’s URB-AL programme for decentralized cooperation. It was officially constituted in November 2001 during the 1st Annual Conference of the IOPD in Barcelona, where its internal operating regulations were approved. Since 2006 the IOPD has coordinated with United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG), at present the IOPD is contributing to provide local government’s innovative knowledge in the specific area of citizens’ participation.

In November 2011 the IOPD decided to recover and place emphasis on its original goal of becoming a space for the production of knowledge and the exchange of useful experiences for the towns and cities that make up the network. Therefore the IOPD assumed the challenge of serving as a reflection in matters of participatory democracy at a worldwide level, in order to innovate and to recommend specific policies to public administrations, preferably local, throughout the world and to make the exchange of experiences its main working base.

We think it would be great to see more NCDD members become part of the OIDP – not to mention that you have to be a member to enter the competition – so we encourage you to check out their How to Join page and consider applying. We know that our members are undertaking some of the most innovative and successful public participation projects around, and that we can give any of the other entrants a good run for their money.

Please do let us know if you decide to apply, and best of luck to all of those in the competition!

Two Grant Opportunities

Posted on January 24, 2014 by Roshan Bliss

We recently heard from our friends at Everyday Democracy about two foundations that make engagement-related grants, and we wanted to make sure to share about them. Funding is almost always a challenge, and we know every bit counts, so we encourage you to check out what the Norman Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities have to offer.

The opportunity from the Norman Foundation is oriented toward social change efforts and has an environmental slant:

Guidelines

Thomas Jefferson observed that “the ground of liberty is won by inches.” The Norman Foundation seeks to help win some of those precious inches. We support efforts that strengthen the ability of communities to determine their own economic, environmental and social well-being, and that help people control those forces that affect their lives. These efforts may:

promote economic justice and development through community organizing, coalition building and policy reform efforts;

work to prevent the disposal of toxics in communities, and to link environmental issues with economic and social justice;

link community-based economic and environmental justice organizing to national and international reform efforts.

We will consider the following in evaluating grant proposals:

Does the project arise from the hopes and efforts of those whose survival, well-being and liberation are directly at stake?

Does it further ethnic, gender and other forms of equity?

Is it rooted in organized, practical undertakings?

Is it likely to achieve systemic change?

In pursuing systemic change, we would hope that:

the proposed action may serve as a model;

the spread of the model may create institutions that can survive on their own;

their establishment and success may generate beneficial adaptations by other political, social and economic institutions and structures.

The Foundation provides grants for general support, projects, and collaborative efforts. We also welcome innovative proposals designed to build the capacity of social change organizations working in our areas of interest. Priority is given to organizations with annual budgets of under $1 million.

To find out more about how to apply for a grant from the Norman Foundation, visit their How to Apply page.

Next, the opportunity from the National Endowment for the Humanities is oriented toward supporting museums, community institutions like libraries, and historic places:

Brief Summary

Museums, Libraries, and Cultural Organizations grants provide support for museums, libraries, historic places, and other organizations that produce public programs in the humanities.

Grants support the following formats:

exhibitions at museums, libraries, and other venues;

interpretations of historic places, sites, or regions;

book/film discussion programs; living history presentations; other face-to-face programs at libraries, community centers, and other public venues; and

interpretive websites and other digital formats.

Implementation grants support final scholarly research and consultation, design development, production, and installation of a project for presentation to the public.

For more information on applying for NEH grant, you can contact the staff of NEH’s Division of Public Programs at publicpgms@neh.gov, or visit their grants website for more information.

Good luck, and here’s hoping these opportunities can help us advance our work!

IAF Launches 2014 Facilitation Impact Awards

Posted on January 15, 2014 by Roshan Bliss

We know that there many talented and accomplished facilitators in the NCDD network, so we wanted to make sure to share that the International Association of Facilitators has launched its 2014 Facilitation Impact Awards. These awards are intended to honor “excellence in facilitation and its positive, measurable impact on businesses, governments and not-for-profit organisations around the world”, and we know that many of our facilitators’ work has exactly that kind of impact, so we want to encourage you to apply for consideration for the award.

The Facilitation Impact Awards program is open to facilitators living in North, South, and Latin America and are not a typical competition:

Non-competitive Awards

In keeping with the spirit of the International Association of Facilitators, the Facilitation Impact Awards is a non-competitive, inclusive awards program. All submissions meeting a given threshold of points will receive an award.

There is no application fee for applications submitted by IAF members. The fee for non-IAF members is $200/application and includes a single, one-year membership in the IAF. For each successful application, an organisation and its facilitator (or facilitation team) will be recognized. There are three award levels and the potential for multiple award recipients across a number of categories.

We think that these awards represent a great opportunity, and we encourage you to learn more about them at www.iaf-fia.org. You can find the submission form here, the rules for the program are here, and you can find the award criteria here.

The deadline to submit your application is February 17, 2014, so make sure to get started soon! Award recipients will be notified by March 10th, and the awards ceremony will take place at the IAF North American Conference in Orlando, Florida this April 9, 2014. To find out more about the conference, visit www.iafna-conference.org.

Good luck to all the applicants, and keep up the great work!

Job Opening at the Democracy Fund

Posted on January 10, 2014 by Roshan Bliss

We saw a job posting at the D.C.-based Democracy Fund that sounds perfect for many of our NCDD members, so we wanted to make sure to share it with all of you. You can read the posting below or find the original announcement by clicking here.

The Democracy Fund is seeking to hire a Network and Communications Associate to advance our mission of creating a stronger, healthier political system in the United States.

POSITION SUMMARY: The Network and Communications Associate will be responsible for coordinating communications about the Democracy Fund to external audiences, as well as developing relationships with and fostering collaboration among the Democracy Fund’s network of grantees, peer funders, advisors, and other leaders in the field. The Associate will be an integral part of the small Democracy Fund team – developing and implementing the initiative’s overall strategy. The Associate will report to the Director of the Democracy Fund. Specific responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

Work with the Democracy Fund team to develop and implement the initiative’s branding and communications strategy
Work with the Democracy Fund team to produce articles, case studies, and reports about what the Democracy Fund is learning and the impact that it is having
Work with grantees to highlight and promote their accomplishments through social media and other available communications channels.
Write and edit regular blog posts and other web content. Manage the Democracy Fund’s social media presence.
Work with Democracy Fund grantees to encourage communication and collaboration by convening of quarterly meetings, organizing conference calls on topics of special interest, moderating a Google Group, managing a mini-grant program aimed at encouraging collaboration among grantees, and other activities as needed.
Work with the Democracy Fund team to cultivate communication and collaboration among peer funders in the democracy reform field, including convening events and conference calls on issues of strategic importance and other related activities as needed.
Organize an annual strategy retreat of Democracy Fund grantees, peer funders, and advisors, as well as semi-annual strategy sessions with advisors.
Serve as the liaison between the Democracy Fund and its public relations consultants, as well as the communications staff of other Omidyar Group organizations and initiatives.
Manage the Democracy Fund’s internship program, recruiting interns and coordinating their activities to support general activities for the organization.

EDUCATION, EXPERIENCE, AND SKILL REQUIREMENTS:

Deep passion for strengthening American democracy
Excellent written and oral communication skills required
At least 3-5 years of experience in communications, coalition building, organizing, policy analysis, advocacy, or public affairs
Strong strategic mind set and proven ability to translate strategy into action
Success in developing and maintaining institutional, political, and personal relationships
Extensive experience with social media
Ability to travel periodically for project work
Demonstrated experience handling multiple assignments simultaneously
Flexibility and initiative to work both independently and as part of a team
Familiarity with the field of democracy and political reform, as well as the organizations and leaders involved in the field, is preferred
BA required

BACKGROUND

The Democracy Fund aspires to the highest ideals of American democracy – government of, by, and for the people. We invest in organizations working to ensure that our political system is responsive to the priorities of the American public and has the capacity to meet the greatest challenges facing our country. At the heart of our vision for the future are three core commitments to a strong, healthy political system.

First, the American people must have the ability to make informed choices as they engage in the civic life of their nation.
Second, the American people must have confidence that their voices are the primary influence shaping the outcomes of policy and political debates.
Third, the American people need to know that their government has the ability to solve important problems and govern effectively.

The Democracy Fund was created in 2011 by eBay Founder Pierre Omidyar. It is a project of Omidyar Network, a philanthropic investment firm dedicated to creating opportunity for people to improve their lives by helping to scale innovative organizations to catalyze economic and social change. The Democracy Fund is based in Washington, DC. More information about the Democracy Fund may be found at www.democracyfund.org.

COMPENSATION

Salary commensurate with qualifications and experience. Excellent benefits package.

APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS

Please email a cover letter and resume to info@democracyfund.org.

The Democracy Fund is an equal opportunity employer and welcomes a diverse pool of candidates in this search.

Community Leadership Fellowship Program Applications Due Friday

Posted on January 8, 2014 by Roshan Bliss

We posted earlier about an exciting fellowship program from the W.F. Kellogg Foundation aimed at developing community leaders into social change agents, and we wanted to share a reminder that the deadline to apply is this Friday. We would love to see a number of NCDD members become fellows, so make sure to turn in your applications soon! You can read more about the program below in the Philanthropy Digest News article we found via our friends at NIFI, or see the original post here.

The W.K. Kellogg Foundation is accepting applications for the WKKF Community Leadership Fellowship Program. Through the program, the foundation hopes to create a cadre of community and civic leaders who are able to serve as vigorous advocates for vulnerable children and their families and bring diverse communities together.

Over a three-year period, fellows will engage in shared learning experiences designed to help transform them into effective agents of social change. Each fellowship year has a unique theme and intended purpose. The theme of the first year is Building the Beloved Community for Transformative Change, with a focus on the role of the individual in the community. The second year’s theme will be Forging Intentional Networks for Community Impact, with a focus on knowledge and tools for leadership and change. And the theme of the third year will be Energizing the Nation: Moving Forward for Children.

Fellows will receive an annual stipend of $20,000 to cover travel and accommodation expenses related to quarterly cohort meetings, leadership network projects, and as partial salary support.

Ideal candidates are emerging or established leaders who grasp the importance of working and engaging with others to explore solutions and solve conflicts; empathize and connect to others through voice, action or presence; and respond to new opportunities and relationships in the service of social change.

For complete program guidelines and application instructions, including an FAQ and program brochure, visit the WKKF Web site.

Link to Complete RFP

CommunityMatters Conference Call on Funding, Jan. 9

Posted on January 7, 2014 by Roshan Bliss

We are excited to invite NCDD members to join our partners at CommunityMatters for the latest installment of their conference call series called Making It Happen. The next call will focus on a topic that most of us think about frequently: funding.

The call, titled Funding Community Design and Development Projects, will feature guest speakers Cynthia M. Adams, CEO of GrantStation, Erin Barnes, Executive Director and Co-Founder of ioby, and Jen Hughes, Design Specialist at the National Endowment for the Arts. The CM team describes it this way:

You’ve got the great ideas and a plan for moving forward, but let’s face it: Your community lacks the cash it needs to make it real. This call will focus on key sources of funding (including federal funding, grants, and crowdsourcing) and resources to help make design and development projects in small towns, rural areas, and neighborhoods happen. We’ll also cover strategies for creating successful funding pitches and positioning your project for funding applications.

This call is scheduled for this Thursday, Jan. 9th from 3 – 4:15pm Eastern Time, so make sure to register ASAP. We also recommend that you check out the accompanying blog post, which you can read below or find the original post by clicking here.

We look forward to seeing you all on the call!

Show Me the Money

If you live in a small town you are used to doing a lot with a little. You figure out how to fix most things with a little elbow grease and duct tape. You bring neighbors together to help each other get through tough times. You’ve even taken on some lighter, quicker, cheaper actions to build community and make visible improvements around town. Sometimes though, you need to raise cold, hard cash to make larger community design and development projects happen.

Where do you start looking for the money? Here’s just the tip of the iceberg:

Government Programs: Several federal agencies have grant programs aimed at helping you take action to improve your community. Some programs, like USDA’s Rural Business Enterprise Grants, are targeted at growing the economy by supporting emerging local businesses. Others target physical improvements like cleaning up brownfield sites or fixing up local roads to make them more pedestrian friendly. And, the Challenge America Fast Track program looks at how to incorporate design and the arts in community work.

The grants.gov online portal is a searchable database of all federal grants. It’s also helpful to talk with your federal and state agency representatives to find out what opportunities may apply to your community effort. Often state agencies have targeted funds to achieve state priorities around community design and development, too.

Private and Community Foundations: You may also find private foundations with missions that are a fit with what you are trying to achieve in your town. National funding search engines, like the Foundation Center, can be helpful in finding a match. Usually, you’ll have the best luck by starting with your local community foundation, which are a portal into state, local or regional level funders. Some provide free access to national grant search engines and other fund matching services as well.

Local Funding: Beyond tapping into foundations, there are ways to find money close to home. Often local institutions, like banks, have an annual giving program they use to support local efforts. Or, if they aren’t giving money away they may have competitive financing options. Many state and national businesses, from grocery chains to utility companies, have local giving programs that can provide modest support for community efforts. Often it just takes a call to these companies – or a visit to their websites – to find out what they fund and how to apply.

Emerging Opportunities: More recently we’ve seen a rise in various crowd funding platforms, like Kickstarter and Kiva, where people can contribute directly to efforts they want to support. Also, local investor groups are taking root in places like Maine and Washington where a smaller group of investors can match up with local businesses and initiatives. We’re also seeing new funding for local artists through community supported arts initiatives like CSArt Colorado. Ever heard of the show Shark Tank? Well, there are even community funding events, like Possoupbilility in Lousville, KY, where people get to make their pitch to interested supporters at community dinner. Possoupbility calls this a “meal-based micro-grant producing community activity”.

Of course, it’s not enough to just find the opportunities. You’ve got to know how to make a great pitch. Many local libraries and community foundations offer resources including educational classes on grant writing. And don’t forget the old adage, “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know.” Make sure to think about any relationships you may have with local foundation board members, government program officers or local institution staff. Conversations with key people can be a gateway into a funding opportunity or lead you to resources you may not have known about before.

Whether you’re an old grant writing pro or completely new to the funding game, our January call is for you. Funding Community Design and Development Projects will feature three fabulous and knowledgeable speakers.

Cynthia Adams, Executive Director of GrantStation, will provide an overview of the funding landscape and strategies and tips for creating successful funding applications. Cindy brings more than 38 years of experience in fundraising and a wealth of knowledge about funding opportunities through foundations and federal sources. (As a heads up Cindy will also be offering a full webinar on Funding Rural America on Thursday, January 30th.)

We’ll also hear from Jen Hughes, Design Specialist at the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). Jen brings years of experience working with federal programs like the NEA’s Our Town and now the Citizens’ Institute for Rural Design. Jen will highlight a variety of federal funding opportunities and tips for successfully leveraging and applying for federal funds.

We’ll round out the call with Erin Barnes, Co-Founder and Executive Director of ioby (in our back yards). Ioby is an innovative non-profit offering a crowd funding platform. Erin will explain crowd funding and provide some tips for successfully building grassroots campaigns.

Join us January 9 for an informative and lively call where our speakers will quite literally show you where the money is.

New Kellogg Community Leadership Fellowship

Posted on December 19, 2013 by Roshan Bliss

We are excited to share the new Community Leadership Network fellowship from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation with the many community leaders we have in our NCDD network. The first class of fellowships will be drawn from Michigan, New Mexico, Mississippi, and New Orleans, so we strongly encourage NCDD members from these states to consider applying for this great opportunity.

You can find much more information in Kellogg’s press release about the new program, but here is a snippet describing the elements of the Community Leadership Network initiative:

The new initiative seeks to develop the leadership skills of individuals who will be community-based social change agents working to help vulnerable children and their families achieve optimal health and well-being, access to good food, academic achievement and financial security.

The new fellowship program is a critical component of the foundation’s longstanding commitment to community and civic engagement, which is grounded in the belief that people have the inherent capacity to solve their own problems and that social transformation is within the reach of all communities. A total of 100 fellows will be equitably selected from the foundation’s U.S. priority places – Michigan, Mississippi, New Mexico and New Orleans – and will do their work there. Another 20 fellows will be selected from outside these priority places and will function as a national cohort whose work will focus on racial healing and equity, which sets it apart from most other leadership initiatives. The foundation will seek out emerging as well as established leaders for selection to the program.

If you are interested learning more about this opportunity, then head on over to www.wkkf.org/leadership for more details, and check out the online application here. The deadline to apply to be a part of the Community Leadership Network is January 10th, 2014, so don’t wait too long to get started.

Best of luck to the applicants, and we look forward to seeing the great work that comes out of this initiative!

Civic Data Challenge Winners Announced

Posted on December 18, 2013 by Roshan Bliss

Earlier this year, the National Conference on Citizenship announced the 2013 Civic Data Challenge, a competition for civic groups to turn raw civic data into tools that their communities could use to increase civic participation. And earlier this month, the winners were announced!

We hope you’ll take a moment to join us in recognizing and congratulating the winning groups. The winning teams included:

The Outline Team. Their Balanced State Budget Simulator tool allows citizens to assess public policy with the same understanding of the impacts as an economist. We hope that with an increased awareness of the policymaking process, we’ll see an increase in voting rates. The team is currently working with the commonwealth of Massachusetts to test this tool.

The Manifesto Project Team asks the question: How does Arizona retain its young leaders? Through a series of events, they collect civic health data from young Arizonans and leverage their findings to place these youth in positions of leadership to influence change.

The Texas Connector Team seeks to correct the pervasive absence of accurate data regarding nonprofit service providers and social and demographic community data. Their website application increases access to community data, enabling stakeholders to more accurately assess community needs and respond.

Civic Data Denver partnered with Earth Force to create an interactive visual that empowers youth to take civic action to address social and physical health issues in their community. Civic Data Denver’s website will be used by students and educators where Earth Force programming takes place.

The DC Community Resource Directory Project helps residents find health and social services referral information. It establishes ‘community resource data’ as a commons — cooperatively produced and managed by local stakeholders, and open to an ecosystem of applications and users. They are working with a core set of community anchor institutions, including Bread for the City, Martha’s Table, and Lutheran Social Services, to continue to develop their product and recruit partners.

We encourage you to read more about the competition and the winning projects on the Civic Data Challenge blog. You can also find more information at www.civicdatatchallenge.org.

Congratulations to all the winning teams! We can’t wait to see what your communities do with your work, and we’re looking forward to next year’s challenge!

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