Cause Effective Fellows Program Impact : Preparing the Next Generation : Cause Effective

CAUSE EFFECTIVE FELLOWS PROGRAM IMPACT

The program’s goals, as initially stated, were to help development professionals of color:

become more connected to each other, their roles, and the field;
enhance their ability to navigate equity issues with greater ease; and,
ultimately, increase the number of development professionals of color succeeding in their development careers.

In addition, we stated that beyond simply supporting individuals, the program was targeted toward institutional and sectoral influence, by raising awareness and creating organizational change and development within nonprofit environments to be able to recruit, support, retain and advance development professionals of color into the nonprofit leadership pipeline.

Data collected two months post-program demonstrates that the program overwhelmingly achieved both the first and second objectives; the third, and the field-wide objective, are long-term goals that can best be measured in the years to come.

Data was collected through surveys as participants started the program, responded at a program mid-point (4-5 months in), and were surveyed two months post-program. 100% of participants completed the surveys. The questions probed participants’ self-perceived ability to:

mobilize and engage the board, the organization, and ambassadors, as solicitors
navigate or leverage power dynamics inherent in fundraising
feel confident in navigating around/through or addressing micro and other aggressions
articulate the prevalence of internal supports for them as a POC fundraiser at their organization
develop a sense of leadership and agency around workload balance and wellness
learn, hone and apply advanced fundraising skills in their work
interact as a fundraising professional within their organization
build peer, community, and network supports
increase confidence in their work as a fundraising professional
evolve their professional and/or personal relationship with their Executive Director

Participants were also asked if the program met their expectations (93% said yes) and if they would recommend this program to their colleagues/friends (100% said yes).