NCOACaresource Healthy Aging Briefing Session

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NCOA/Caresource Healthy Aging Briefing Session

• Promising Practices in
• Civic Engagement
• December 14, 2006/130-215 PM EST
• Presented by Sabrina L. Reilly, M.A.,
• RespectAbility _at_ NCOA

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Why this Webinar? Our Goals are to

• Learn from 34 non-profit organizations about the
  leading practices for recruiting, training,
  managing and retaining adults 55 in unpaid roles
  which result in increased capacity for the
  organization, as well as positive impact in the
  community, on the service recipients and the
  older adult volunteers.
• Embrace a new set of principles for effectively
  engaging and supporting adults 55 in service.
• Hear more about RespectAbility, an innovative
  initiative of NCOA, and what it is planning to do
  over the next three years to increase the
  capacity of non-profits to tap the resource
  potential of an aging America.

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Agenda

• I. Translating Promising Practices Reports into
  practical, actionable standards and models. (20
  minutes)
• II. Where the Promising Practices work has led
  us. (15 minutes)
• III. Questions (10 minutes)

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Introducing the Reports

• Look for these reports to be posted on our
  Website (www.respectability.org)!
• Profiles of the Most Promising Initiatives
  Engaging Adults 55 highlights the finalist
  programs and outstanding promising practices
  underlying success.
• Promising Practices in Civic Engagement among
  Adults 55 highlights the methods and approaches
  that the 34 semi-finalist organizations used to
  achieve successful outcomes.

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Framework of the Reports

• Promising practices were based on evidence of
  success in one or more of the following key
  outcomes
• Increased participation-greater involvement
  through successful recruitment methods of adults
  55
• Meaningful new roles-enhanced quality and greater
  opportunities within roles for adults 55
• Improved Quality of Life for Adults in
  Service-achieved better health, greater social
  connection, and a sense of purpose for adults
  55
• Enhanced Organizational Capacity-increased
  capacity of an organization to meet its goals
  through engaging adults 55 and
• Enhanced Community Impact-demonstrated a greater
  impact as a result of the service contributions
  of adults 55.

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Emerging Principles

• Eleven areas for reframing our thinking and
  approaches!
• Aligning Participant and Organizational Interests
  
• Valuing the Assets of Aging
• Building Intentional Relationships
• Creating Empowered Participation
• Learning as a Pathway to Engagement
• Developing Capacity by Actualizing Leadership
• Embracing Cultural Competency
• Putting Meaning into Partnership
• Communicating the Processes and Outcomes of
  Change
• Producing Evidence and Accountability
• Reestablishing the Foundation of Community

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Crossing the Divide

• Promising Practices are flourishing and new Civic
  Engagement Principles are emerging.
• The pool of Promising Practices needs to be
  enlarged, digested, and analyzed.
• Evidence-based best practices need identification
  and codification.
• The capacity of nonprofits to tap the asset of
  age needs strengthening!
• Prior research revealed a state of unpreparedness
  and lack of preparing.
• The challenge of motivating, enabling, and
  supporting action is needed based on our
  organizational research findings.

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Key Learning from Our Work to date!

• Our work over the last three years showed that
• Nonprofit leaders dont see a compelling case to
  invest the resources needed to attract and
  utilize adults 55 to help them achieve their
  missions.
• Organizations dont know how to take full
  advantage of the work styles and experiences of
  older adults, nor how to accommodate their
  expectations for more meaningful volunteer
  experiences and
• Nonprofit leaders lack a systematic way to
  compare, contrast and measure cost-effective
  strategies for increasing the engagement of those
  55.
• While there are many valuable volunteer roles,
  our future work is focused on designing and
  supporting leadership-level roles (pro bono
  roles) for adults 55 that strengthen nonprofit
  organizations, further their core mission, and
  increase their operations and organizational
  capacity.

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What we are planning is to

• Conduct a 12 site research and demonstration
  study to identify the most effective Models of
  Significant Service for increasing the
  utilization and management of adults 55 in pro
  bono service roles. Effective models will
  produce a return on investment such as increased
  funding and more clients served.
• Develop, test and diffuse a standardized
  measurement system to evaluate outcomes of adult
  55 pro bono service (calibrate the value of
  adult 55 contributions and measurable changes in
  organizational capacity resulting from their
  engagement).
• Establish a Web-based Continuous Learning and
  Improvement Community (CLIC) to foster an
  atmosphere of learning, encourage information
  sharing, mentoring and continuous learning among
  NCOA, the sites, funders and others.

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What are our expectations? To help nonprofit
leaders increase their commitment to and
investment in developing adults 55 as an asset.

• COMPELLING DATA
• Quantified value of adults 55 in pro bono
  service roles
• Quantified value of coordinating pro bono service
• Tangible knowledge of the most promising and
  effective approaches for coordinating pro bono
  service
• Tangible knowledge of the most effective pro bono
  roles for adults 55
• Understanding the value of benchmarking for
  organizational self-improvement and comparative
  data for funding decision-making

• A BUSINESS CASE for GREATER INVESTMENT IN ADULTS
  55
• Strengthen organizational and management capacity
• Increase in the breadth and depth of services
  provided
• Enhance positive attitudes among non-profit
  leaders about adults 55 as a resource
• Develop more meaningful and impactful roles for
  adults 55
• Engage more adults 55 in meaningful service work

Leads to
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Timeline and Next Steps

• December 2006-Invitation to Apply for One of
  Twelve Demonstration Grants for Models of
  Significant Service
• Early 2007-Selection of Models of Significant
  Service Grantees Recruitment for Measurement
  System Pioneers Begins
• Spring 2007-Launch Models of Significant Service
  Demonstrations
• Summer 2007-Launch Standardized Measurement
  System
• Next Steps
• If you would like to provide additional feedback
  or have an interest in being involved in
  RespectAbility Phase II, please send an email to
  Sabrina.reilly_at_ncoa.org.

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QUESTIONS?
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Dont Forget Your Free Copy of Aging in Stride
NCOA and Caresource are pleased to offer
first-time registrants for this Healthy Aging
Briefing Series a complimentary copy of the book,
Aging in Stride, which includes the new
supplement Just In Case Emergency Readiness for
Older Adults and Caregivers. To receive your
copy, please visit www.AgingInStride.org/NCOAoffer
. Or just email service_at_caresource.com with your
name, title, organization, mailing address, phone
number, and date of the Briefing you participated
in. One free copy per registrant, please.