2023-2024�Host Site Application�Technical Assistance Webinar #1

Today’s Agenda

• Welcome and Introduction
• Capacity Building and Focus Areas Measures
• Beginning to Craft your Proposal:
• Project Details
• Position Description
• Outreach, Recruitment, and Selection
• Member Support
• Next Steps

Guidelines for Today’s Session

Who’s in the room?

Please introduce yourself in the chat:

• Name (pronouns)
• Organization name

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Go to menti.com and use code 44557297

• How familiar are you with CC?
• Community need that you hope CC members can help address?

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Massachusetts Service Alliance

• The Massachusetts Service Alliance (MSA), established in 1991, is a private, nonprofit organization. We expand volunteerism and service in Massachusetts by providing individuals and organizations with funding, training, and support, which enables them to strengthen communities and make our Commonwealth a better place to live.
• As the state commission on volunteerism and service, we generate collaboration and public-private partnerships at the local, state and federal level to grow volunteerism and service initiatives in MA.  
• Our strong partnerships with local, state, and federal agencies allow us to mobilize funding to advance service and volunteerism through the AmeriCorps, Commonwealth Corps, and Volunteer Generation Initiatives programs. 
• Learn more at Mass-Service.org

Commonwealth Corps Service Internship

Commonwealth Corps members are placed at non-profit agencies and municipalities across MA to…

• Provide direct service to communities/clients,
• Build organizational capacity,
• Recruit, organize and mobilize additional volunteers.

A state-funded program, administered by MSA, the mission of the Commonwealth Corps service internship program is to engage Massachusetts residents of all ages, backgrounds, and identities in direct service to strengthen communities, address critical needs, and increase volunteerism.

Commonwealth Corps Focus Areas

• Economic Opportunity/Workforce Development
• Education (Early or K-12)
• Health & Nutrition
• Veterans’ Support
• Youth Development/Youth Violence Prevention

Our Commitment to �Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion

The mission of Commonwealth Corps, of strengthening communities, addressing critical needs, and increasing volunteerism, at its core has a commitment to justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion.

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This means working together with our community, service members, and host site partners towards addressing and dismantling systems of oppression that disproportionately impact marginalized communities we serve in our state.

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We carry out this commitment through:

• Training and support for members and host site partners
• Intentionally inclusive recruitment and support of diverse service members
• Internal work at MSA, including examining and shifting structures and policies

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You're invited to read our Commitment to Equity, which also includes our priorities for the 2022-2023 Service Term.

Commonwealth Corps �Service Internship Structure

• Member applications open in April, with onboarding and orientation over the summer
• In service ~10 months: End of August – End of June
• Full-time members serve ~40 hrs/week (1500 total)
• Half-time members serve ~20 hrs/week (750 total)
• Serve as a team of members: 2-4 Full-time or 2-6 Half-time
• Majority of time spent with host site (in-person/remote)
• Ongoing professional development from host site and MSA
• Member benefits include stipend, completion award, health insurance (for full-time only), and more.
• One-term limit for members

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Capacity Building and Focus Areas

Capacity Building and �Focus Area Measures

• All host sites must address the capacity-building measures
• Plus, ONE or TWO focus area(s):
• Economic Opportunity/Workforce Development
• Education (Early or General/K-12)
• Health & Nutrition
• Veterans’ Support
• Youth Development/Youth Violence Prevention
• Important to still create sense of team between members if focus areas are different.

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Capacity Building

Goal: To expand the scale, reach, efficiency, or effectiveness of programs and organizations. Activities may also leverage resources for programs and/or organizations. These activities should achieve lasting positive outcomes for the beneficiary populations served by the organization.

Projects should:

• support or enhance the program delivery model;
• respond to the organization’s goal of increasing, expanding or enhancing services in order to address the most pressing needs identified in the community; and
• enable the organization to provide a sustained level of more or better direct services after the member’s term of service has ended.

Capacity Building Examples

Think about how members can have an impact within their year of service and build capacity and foster impact in years to come.

Some Examples:

• Creating or improving systems for new virtual programming;
• Creating presentations and outreach materials for current and future use; 
• Documenting a new program’s policies/procedures/content;
• Developing a process for identifying and meaningfully connecting with new clients or partners;
• Developing a curriculum for a course/series that can be used in future years;
• Developing a process for identifying occasional volunteers and helping transition them into and train them for larger volunteer roles/commitments;
• Transitioning a program piloted during the Commonwealth Corps year into a sustainable program with other partners/sources of support; etc.

Capacity Building �Performance Measures

Required Performance Measures:

• Number of community volunteers recruited and/or managed by projects/members.
• Number of hours of service contributed by community volunteers recruited and/or managed by projects/members.
• Dollar value of cash and/or in-kind support leveraged by members, including member-managed volunteers. (DO NOT include value of CC members.)
• Number of unique individuals who have been directly impacted by/benefitted from your members’ service/projects.
• Number of member projects aimed at increasing sustainability /documentation of program, with at least 1 example of specific activities.

Additional Performance Measures (select at least ONE):

• # new beneficiaries that received service as a result of project/member activities.
• # additional activities completed and/or program outputs produced by program as a result of project/member activities (apart from sustainability/documentation projects listed above).
• # existing beneficiaries reporting improved program services as a result of project/member activities.

Economic Opportunity/�Workforce Development

Goal: To improve economic well-being and security of underresourced individuals, with emphases including the chronically and long term unemployed. Projects will facilitate access to services and resources that contribute to improved employability.

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Economic Opp. Example

Cape Cod Times Needy Fund

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• Hosting 2 half-time Commonwealth Corps Members who serve as program and development engagement coordinators on the Cape and Islands.
• Through their service, members will grow fundraising, marketing, and volunteerism by helping our organization to grow a new Fundraising Taskforce as well as improve client service in health and wellness resource education to residents, providing new processes and procedures upon completion.
• In addition, they will leverage the help of up to 6 volunteers that will be engaged in fundraising, marketing, and development efforts.

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Education�(Early Childhood or K-12)

Goal: To improve school readiness and success for children and youth. Projects will facilitate access to and participation in quality educational programs for children and youth.

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Two Different Sub Focus-Areas: Early childhood education or General education (K-12)

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Health and Nutrition

Goal: To improve the physical and mental health of communities and individuals, with emphasis including substance abuse prevention and treatment. Projects will improve access to and utilization of primary and preventive health care, which could include a focus on those impacted by trauma and the promotion of healthy relationships.

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Can also include access to healthy food!

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Youth Development/�Youth Violence Prevention

Goal: To increase access to positive youth development opportunities and decrease youth involvement in risk behaviors including violent behaviors, gang membership, and substance abuse. Projects will support positive engagement and development services for teens and young adults, which might include promotion of healthy relationships.

For young people up to 24 years old.

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Youth Dev. Example

Kids in Tech

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• Hosting two half-time Commonwealth Corps members who serve as Tech Club Instructor and Volunteer Coordinators in Lowell.
• Through their service, members will develop and teach curricula; administer surveys to track performance; and recruit and train volunteers to serve the demonstrated need for afterschool instruction in the Lowell area among students from low-income families.
• In addition, they will leverage at least 13 new volunteers that will be engaged in teaching specific technology subjects and skills to students based on student interests.

Veterans’ Support

Goal: To support or improve the physical, mental, and social wellbeing of veterans and military families.  Projects will positively impact the quality of life of veterans and improve military family strength by increasing the number of veterans served and the number of veterans engaged in service. MSA is particularly interested in seeing projects that engage veterans to serve other veterans.

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Capacity Building or Focus Area Questions

Beginning to Craft �Your Proposal

Project Details

More details found in Narrative Section 3:

• Core of your proposal - Why CC members?
• Choosing how many and what type (full-time or half-time) of members:
• Full-time and more than minimum slots needs to be warranted
• Help reviewers imagine what members service will be like:
• Specific activities members will perform - better to be more specific now to convey clarity, rather than offering too much flexibility for member project exploration
• Connection across members projects/roles/focus areas
• Typical week is key, including where they will be serving
• Timeline with goals over the 10 months (August – June)

Position Description

Be sure to use this year’s updated position description template!

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• Gives a clear picture of the members day to day responsibilities (but not too overwhelming)
• Expectations and requirements should be reasonable for a program that is focused on member development
• Essential vs. marginal responsibilities
• Inclusive language – e.g., using they/them pronouns, removing nonprofit jargon, using “access to reliable transportation” rather than driver's license requirement, not requiring educational degrees.
• Required schedule – are there specific times of day or days per week? Or is there is flexibility? In-person/remote expectations?
• Create multiple position descriptions if proposing very different roles.

Outreach, Recruitment, and Selection

More details found in Narrative Section 3:

• Important to assess your internal capacity to manage recruitment and selection of your members, with support from MSA
• Thinking outside of your traditional recruitment/selection strategies
• Recruiting candidates who connect to or reflect the lived experiences of the communities you are serving
• Equitable and inclusive recruitment/selection:
• Welcoming to diverse candidates, including racial/ethnic, language, age, disability, and education level diversity.
• Application and interview process set up to provide accommodations, such as accessible in-person venues or closed captioning online.
• Are there skills necessary for the role that you can help members develop once they start with you?
• MSA is available to help support you in developing inclusive recruitment and selection strategies.

Member Support:�Training and Benefits

More details found in Narrative Section 4:

• This is a professional development opportunity: members should be provided with significant training, support, and guidance as part of their experience with their host site and MSA.
• Training: Consider what orientation and training is needed specifically for this service member role (more than one week of orientation)
• Benefits: Additional host site benefits are not required but encouraged:

Examples: MBTA pass, housing or childcare support, flexible reimbursement options for other living expenses, meal-plan/food access, additional training stipend, free certification program/training, etc.

Member Support: �Supervision & Org. Environment

More details found in Narrative Section 4:

• Ensuring supervisors have the capacity and are excited to support members:
• Consider a Main Contact role plus Member Supervisor(s) role
• Supervisors should be involved in crafting the proposal
• Adequate workspace, supplies, and resources:
• Members need at minimum a computer and phone from their host site, even if serving remotely
• If in-person, need a designated desk to complete their tasks
• How your organization creates an inclusive and welcoming environment, including a brief statement on your commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion (or link to website).

Questions?

Next Steps in Becoming a Host Site

Initial Application Form Details

• Goals of this new process:
• To help MSA’s management of the application process, including selection of community reviewers
• To provide a helpful step for organizations in clarifying plans and preparing for the full application
• Due by January 13th, but can completed sooner to provide more time for feedback/questions.
• Required in order to submit a full application.
• You’re more than welcome to repurpose answers when completing the full application, but also ok if things change.
• Not part of your overall score/evaluation, instead consider it a planning tool and a way to better prepare for your potential partnership with MSA.

https://www.tfaforms.com/5022120

Please reach out!

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For general questions: CCQuestions@mass-service.org

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Marlene Rojas, CC Program Associate

mrojas@mass-service.org

351-218-9897

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Beth McGuinness, MSA Deputy Director

bmcguinness@mass-service.org

351-218-9894