As to-do lists for nonprofit staff grow ever longer, nonprofit staff struggle to prioritize their needs, find themselves taking on too many projects, and wearing all the hats, leaving little time for strategic planning, let alone professional development. Their own career has to take a backseat to the overwhelming day-to-day needs. Enter Catchafire’s Nonprofit Advisors, ready to provide unlimited education, training, and capacity building expertise to boost nonprofit capacity and learning.
Our Nonprofit Advisors and industry experts have over 10 years of experience each, and are committed to creating a culture of learning and growth for nonprofit staff and leadership. We support the nonprofit community by curating Catchafire best practices, volunteer projects, technical training, and nonprofit education to build up their capacity. Our goal is to ensure long-term sustainability of the organization, promote professional skills development, and build funder-grantee relationships through responsive programming including:
One on one coaching: Nonprofit Advisors at Catchafire provide customized support by chat or phone. Provided information is not only about how to navigate the platform, but our advisors serve as a sounding board to provide holistic support, strategic guidance, and feedback on complex questions about organizational design, boards, leadership challenges, in-depth project planning, vetting volunteers, listing projects, and more. They aim to set nonprofits up for success on Catchafire, and give them all the tools and information they need for ongoing programmatic and operational support.
Group forums and 360 support: When nonprofits register on Catchafire, the program kicks off with a welcome orientation, education, and curated resources to equip every organization with the tools they need to get started on their most pressing needs.
Monthly trainings: We provide timely topical online events led by nonprofit experts and guest speakers. Sessions include education and obtainable how-to’s around critical skills like:
Leadership Development: Our nonprofit Executive Director support group has exclusive access to biweekly discussions to connect with other senior leaders and Catchafire advisors. Attendees build a forum and network of peers to share key learnings, growth plans, and organizational strengths and challenges. Peer to peer learning leads to collaboration, partnerships, and resource sharing.
Our team of experts are passionate about the nonprofits we partner with, and are committed to their personal and professional growth. Every phone call, event, and discussion with nonprofit leaders is invaluable for the support they receive, the network they build, and skills they develop in turn. It amplifies the strengths of our partners, equipping them with the education and capacity they need to focus on their missions and communities.
“Tapping into Catchafire’s pool of skills-based professional volunteers has been a tremendous opportunity for Ubuntu. An added value is working with their nonprofit advisors. Their warmth, expertise, and advice on how best to get the most from the platform has been outstanding and a priority.”
-Mary W., Co-Founder of Ubuntu Community Catalyst
Mary joined Catchafire in March 2021, beginning her engagement by attending several topical trainings and receiving support from our Customer Success team. The next month, she scheduled her first nonprofit advisor call to talk through her organizational goals and the projects needing capacity support. Since then, Mary has had regular calls with our nonprofit advisor team to let us know how great things are going and to plan for her next Catchafire project. Mary has posted 15 of Ubuntu Community Catalyst's 28 projects and calls with support from our nonprofit advisors. The organization has saved almost $120,000 to date!
If you’re a grantmaker and would like to learn more about equipping nonprofits in your community with responsive, high-quality operational support, let’s connect. Email us here.