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4 minute read
When you partner with Catchafire, you enter an ecosystem of impact: we bring together skilled volunteer professionals, local nonprofits with limited resources, and foundations seeking to create social good for their community and constituents. Together, we help nonprofits carry out their mission, support program growth, and improve the overall well-being of their communities.
Working with Catchafire pushes grantmaking innovation forward; eliminate the silos and red tape with a modern approach to elevating and supporting the changemakers in your community. By partnering with Catchafire, you provide nonprofits with the resources and operational support that they need to thrive. You also give nonprofits the freedom of choice - to choose what projects they can invest in.
As part of their membership, nonprofits receive access to:
- A volunteer for every need: We connect nonprofits with thousands of highly-skilled volunteer professionals ready to provide project support. Volunteers on Catchafire provide support through one hour consultation calls and longer-term projects related to critical department needs such as graphic design, IT, finance, marketing and communications, HR, fundraising, public relations, and more. Many volunteers build long-term relationships with the nonprofit as repeat volunteers, advisors, donors, or Board members.
- Coaching and professional development: Nonprofits have access to one-on-one coaching, monthly trainings, and a nonprofit Executive Director support group to build a community around professional learning and growth. Last month, we also launched a leadership group focused specifically on creating a space and community for BIPOC nonprofit leaders to lead, grow, and find support with one another.
- Expert insight from professional nonprofit advisors: With over 10 years of experience each, our nonprofit advisors are on-demand for advice, feedback, and decision-making support.
We're excited to announce the expansion of our program with a new offering: Community Managers that will be instrumental for nonprofit engagement and success within the Catchafire program. The community manager is a newly developed role to help Catchafire and its foundation partners extend their impact in local communities.
What is a Catchafire community manager?
The community manager is a full-time Catchafire employee located in your city or region that is dedicated to supporting your grantees with platform success through the completion of their projects. We take on the work of recruiting, onboarding, training, and weekly management of these individuals.
A Catchafire community manager provides on the ground support and is designed to supercharge your Catchafire program and boost engagement from your grantees. As the primary point person for your Catchafire program, they're effective relationship builders, community organizers, and project managers tasked with accelerating your community impact.
What does a community manager do?
What does the daily workload of a community manager look like? What are the requirements and responsibilities in a day in the life of a community manager? Most importantly, community managers will accelerate community impact through local relationships and engagement in a timely manner.
You’ll be able to look to community managers to provide the following services to you and your grantees:
In-house nonprofit expert: They will join our team of nonprofit experts, well versed in the nonprofit space themselves and prepared to demonstrate themselves as the face and voice of Catchafire to our nonprofit users.
Nonprofit coaching and onboarding: Managers will provide education and onboarding assistance to our nonprofit users through 1:1 coaching and speaking engagements, allowing for a seamless transition to registering, project planning, and getting started on Catchafire. They will consult with individual nonprofit organizations 1:1 as an advisor, sharing expertise and making recommendations on which volunteer projects will fulfill grantee needs.
Experienced relationship builder and community organizer: Managers will represent and advocate for Catchafire in your city, state, or region at a community organizing level by planning, hosting, and attending local events, with the goal of building relationships with local organizations and leaders. Managers will build key partnerships with local nonprofit connectors, introducing new organizations to foundations that could benefit from Catchafire.
Provide updates on engagement and impact: We'll hear regularly from community managers on impact. They’ll collect and share community impact stories that highlight nonprofit success through our partnership.
Community managers are instrumental in creating a safe and empathetic environment for their community to exist. They are often the first point of contact for any communications with the community. They should be knowledgeable in topics relating to their communities, including the needs and goals of that community. Community managers should be able to respond to any questions or concerns their community has. Successful performance can be measured and evaluated by the level of engagement your grantees have in the Catchafire program.
What are the benefits of a community manager?
What powers community impact and long-term success? We believe it comes down to developing an approach rooted in local, contextual expertise. The community manager will provide a wide array of benefits to foundation leaders, maximizing your investment.
Reduce your administrative work: Reduce your foundation staff's administrative burden by having a dedicated community manager to serve as your connection point for Catchafire and your grantees. This allows grantees to funnel all of their questions and inquiries to the community manager, so that you can focus on other grantmaking strategies and projects in the community.
A dedicated point person for grantee engagement: We've seen that when foundation staff work as dedicated champions of our partnership, Catchafire is better socialized among grantees, and sign up and engagement rates increase. We expect this impact to go even farther with a dedicated Catchafire community manager. The community manager can provide regular communications and engagement opportunities by hosting ongoing discussions with your grantees. They can amplify the stories of superusers from your grantees, which will make nonprofits more receptive to the experiences of their peers and incentivize engagement.
Eliminate technological barriers: Community managers will be critical in navigating challenges around implementation and spreading awareness to grantees about the suite of resources provided by Catchafire and how they can benefit from the program on a daily basis. One of their key responsibilities is to ensure that grantees are aware of all of the resources on Catchafire, and guide them on how they can best utilize the capacity support, educational programming, and professional development available at their fingertips. This will eliminate barriers around technology or administrative support to use Catchafire's resources. Your grantees will quickly become Catchafire experts!
From the community, for the community: Relationship building is key to community engagement. Community managers will be locally hired, providing you with experienced community members that are best positioned to advocate for their city, rally support, and boost grantee engagement. They will be critical in connecting you with your community and providing on the ground support. As a community ambassador, they can help identify and build sustainable relationships with local nonprofits, individuals, and coalitions, expanding the reach and impact of your grantmaking agenda. As a local community organizer, the manager can build a culture of trust, introducing themselves to individuals and nonprofits in a positive way. As they build long-term interpersonal relationships, they can listen to organizations and ensure that the community's most pressing needs are being met. This will provide crucial insights and information to your foundation, influencing your grantmaking strategy for the future.
This approach works - just ask Australia Jewish Funders. The foundation has a staff member dedicated to amplifying and building engagement for their Catchafire program. In less than seven months, Australia Jewish Funders and its 100 grantees have reached $2 million in pro bono impact!
Ready to bring Catchafire to your community or upgrade your existing program? Let's connect: email us to learn more about equipping nonprofits with responsive, high-quality operational support and bringing a community manager to your community.
To learn more about our community impact, see our metrics or visit our blog.
