Blogs

COVID-19: What YWCA Associations Need to Know
In an effort to ensure that YWCA associations are receiving timely information and resources to make the necessary decision regarding their programs, staff, and the communities they serve, we are sharing with you important information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other public health outlets. Our goal is to assist you in the planning, preparedness, and response to COVID-19 by compiling a list of available resources and websites.

YWCAs are encouraged to take the necessary steps to prepare for any potential COVID-19 outbreak in your communities. Please take a moment to review these resources.

World Health Organization

• Free Learning Resource: an interactive, web-based, knowledge-transfer platform offering online courses to improve the response to health emergencies
• Advice for the Public regarding COVID-19
• Recommendations for Mass Gatherings: Key planning considerations for organizers of mass gatherings in the context of the COVID-19 outbreak

Centers for Disease Control

• Interim Guidance for Businesses and Employers to Plan and Respond to COVID-19: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will update this interim guidance as needed and as additional information becomes available.
• Pregnant Women and Children
• Interim Guidance for Homeless Shelters
• Cleaning and Disinfection Recommendations
• Information for Travel
• Crisis and Emergency Risk Communication
• Facts About COVID-19
• Preventing COVID-19 Spread in Communities – including in childcare centers and shelters from the CDC

Nonprofit Resources

• News and Info about Coronavirus and Risk Management – From Risk Alternatives
• Nonprofits and Coronavirus, COVID-19 – From the National Council of Nonprofits
• The Nonprofit Community Confronts the Coronavirus – From the National Council of Nonprofits
• Lessening The Risk of Coronavirus At Nonprofits – From The Nonprofit Times

Fundraising and Philanthropy Resources

• As Coronavirus Threat Continues, Experts Tell Nonprofits to Shore Up Reserves – From the Chronicle of Philanthropy
• Coronavirus and Your 2020 Fundraising Goals: What Nonprofits Need to Know – From Forbes

NLIHC Webinar on Coronavirus

The National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) Disaster Housing Recovery Coalition (DHRC) is holding a national webinar on Coronavirus and Housing/Homelessness on Monday, March 16th, at 2:30 p.m. to share local, state and federal updates and to ensure that the unique and urgent needs of the lowest-income people impacted by Coronavirus get the assistance they need.

The DHRC is comprised of more than 850 local, state, and national organizations working to ensure a complete and equitable housing recovery for people with the lowest incomes, who are often hardest hit by disasters and have the fewest resources to recover.

YWCA 2020 Census PSA - Now Available

#YWomenCount is YWCA’s national campaign to support the 2020 Census. Everyone counts.

As a trusted voice in some of the most vulnerable communities in the country and through this campaign, YWCA is working to ensure those communities are informed and counted fairly and accurately in 2020.

Everyone counts, and together, we can ensure that everyone is counted in this year’s census. YWCAs will openly support the completion of a full, fair, and accurate census, and work with other community leaders to reach hard-to-count community members. Promoting an accurate census gets to the very heart of YWCA’s mission of eliminating racism, empowering women, and promoting peace, justice, freedom, and dignity for all.

2020 Leadership & Capacity Building Institute – Early Bird Registration is Now Open!

Early Bird registration for the 2020 Leadership & Capacity Building Institute (LCBI) is now open! Register now and take advantage of the early bird rate of $150, until Friday, March 20, 2020. The standard registration rate after March 20 is $200.

You can register now by going to www.ywca.org/lcbi2020 and clicking on the “Register Now” button. Once you are on that page, please set your “Registration Type” to “Attendee”. Additionally, you can now book your hotel stay at the Hyatt Regency.

31 Days of Women's Impact and Women's History Month 

On March 1st, we launched our 31 Days of Women’s Impact initiative, highlighting the achievements of women past and present in a wide range of industries and how we’re continuing the work of empowering girls and women of today and tomorrow.

This week, we shared our list of inspirational and change-making women in civil rights, media, and business. Also, check out our #31DaysofWomensImpact playlist for some serious women's empowerment and hits to power you through the day.

Shout out to Audrey Starr, Director, Marketing and Communications at YWCA Dayton for sharing her association's efforts for Women’s History Month, which includes a 21-Day Racial Equity and Social Justice Challenge and partnering with a local woman-owned brewery. Visit YWCA Dayton's website to see what they have planned for the rest of the month.

Soccer for Success Program Opportunity – We’re Looking for 10 Local Associations!

Soccer for Success, a program of the U.S. Soccer Foundation, is looking to partner with up to 10 local associations to host their evidence-based program for children under 8th grade for three days a week for 10-12 weeks this Fall. 

Capacity building dollars, technical assistance, and equipment purchase is available to local Associations who choose to take on this program. You do not need to have a soccer field or outdoor play space to implement this program; many sites have implemented this program in an all-purpose room or other indoor space.

Monthly Public Policy Webinar: March 25th

Join us on March 25th at 3 p.m. EDT for the March Public Policy and Advocacy webinar. We will kick off our 2020 GOTV work, explore the census work of local associations, and discuss recent updates from Capitol Hill.

Fundraising Fundamentals Webinar: Perfecting Prospect Research

Please join us for the third Fundraising Fundamentals webinar, Perfecting Prospect Research, presented by Katie Brennan, Director, Development, YWCA USA and Kathryn Greenberg of KG Consulting on Thursday, March 26th at 2:30 p.m. EDT.  

Join the YWCA “Your Voice. Your Vote. Your Future.” GOTV Initiative

YWCA’s 2020 civic engagement activities continue full throttle with the launch of our Get Out The Vote (GOTV) Initiative! We know that change starts at the local level—and we know how crucial it is to support women, in particular women and girls of color, this election season and beyond.

Association Network Meetings Cancelled

As we continue to monitor the evolving news regarding Coronavirus (COVID-19), we want to make sure that we assess and consider all health warnings and alerts as they impact our future activities and planning. Therefore, YWCA USA has made the decision to cancel the upcoming Association Network Meetings in Charlotte. We believe this is a prudent and necessary step to ensure that everyone can take precautions to keep your organizations safe and secure.  

To facilitate the cancellation process, we highly encourage you to take the following steps to avoid or mitigate any financial costs:

1. YWCA USA will automatically refund registration fees.
2. Participants are responsible for cancelling rooms with the hotel. You must contact the hotel and make the cancellation. If you do not cancel, you will be responsible for your room charges.
3. Participants are responsible for cancelling other travel arrangements. If you have booked a flight, you will need to contact the airline to cancel. Request they waive the cancellation fees (many airlines have expanded their policies to waive fees during this time). If they will not waive the fee, you can submit for a refund for up to $200 to YWCA USA to cover the cost.

Thank you for your understanding. As you know, this is uncharted territory for each of us, so we thank you for your understanding and flexibility to adjust as we navigate these trying times. Clearly this is not the scenario we had envisioned and yet we all need to support each other to the best of our abilities. This is also a time when we put our reciprocity agreement to the test: YWCA USA support Local Associations, Local Association support of YWCA USA, and Local Associations support of other Local Associations. We will get through this together.

Register for Stand Against Racism

Have you registered for Stand Against Racism? We are seeking 100% participation in this year's campaign. Your initiative can be any size and take place anywhere from a local school or community center to a coffee shop.

To date, 28 associations have registered 47 events for this year's Stand Against Racism and we have 10 national partners.

Do you have a Stand Against Racism event planned? Register your event by clicking here. Upon registering a profile, you’ll gain access to a toolkit of downloadable materials, including templates, promotional materials, and other resources to support your event and advocacy.

YW Connect 

As part of our ongoing effort to strengthen communication and collaboration across the YWCA network, please join us for our next quarterly YWConnect on Wednesday, April 29th, 2020, beginning at 2 p.m. ET, live from our headquarters in Washington, D.C. 

Organize Your Butterflies Podcast

Episode 31
Tech Tools That Make Business Easy

In this age of technology, there are tools to improve every aspect of business operations. Jenelle S. Coy, Founder and Managing Partner of SPERO, and Alejandra Y. Castillo, CEO of YWCA USA, discuss the pathway to entrepreneurship, the value of taking risks, and how to grow from mistakes. Women entrepreneurs will learn how these resources and experiences can lead to a smooth running business in the areas of human resources, strategic planning, client management, budgeting and many more!

Organize Your Butterflies is available wherever you subscribe to podcasts, including:
APPLE PODCASTS | GOOGLE PLAY | STITCHER | SPOTIFY | TUNEIN | RSS

AARP Grant Opportunity

Attention all YWCA local associations, AARP is looking for local organizations to apply for their community challenge grant for 2020.

DOJ Grant to Address Child Trauma

The Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs (OJP), Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention has released a new FY 2020 funding solicitation for Strategies to Support Children Exposed to Violence for $1 million over three years with an option to recompete. OJP will give priority consideration in three priority areas:

• Addressing the challenges of rural communities
• Benefiting individuals who reside in high-poverty areas or persistent-poverty counties
• Offering enhancements to public safety in Qualified Opportunity Zones

Applications are due April 27, 2020. Sign up for the advocacy and public policy intranet community or join the action center listserv to continue to learn more about this and other funding opportunities.

Ureeka: A Free Resource for Your Local Entrepreneurs!

We are pleased to have partnered with Ureeka to offer FREE resources, mentorship and training to entrepreneurs across the YWCA Network. Encourage your local entrepreneurs to join Ureeka, a Community that enables unprecedented access for underrepresented entrepreneurs. At Ureeka, members get access to...

• Real People: Connect with peers, coaches and mentors with expertise and experience in hurdles you face daily. Real people that you can directly interact with and talk to, all within the Ureeka Platform.
• Robust Tools: Access curriculum and best practices; the how to’s; and simple step-by-step formulas to help improve execution and drive growth.
• Curated Services: Not sure who to hire for a specific business task? Don’t sweat it, our Marketplace provides access to vetted specialists across all categories.

Join for FREE today using code ‘YWCAUreeka’

Complimentary BoardSource Membership

Don't forget to take advantage of your complimentary BoardSource membership! Local associations are eligible for a free membership to BoardSource, experts in the field of board governance. This benefit offers multiple resources for best practices in governance.

New Postings to the YWCA Online Resource Library

February’s YWCA Resource Library postings include updated editions of several operations policies, facility management guides, program handbooks, technology plans, and general nonprofit resource websites.

The "View New Postings" link on the Library's homepage provides descriptions and live links. Please contact Martha Breunig, Director of Resources & Metrics, if you need any assistance accessing these resources.

Subscribe to YWCA: We Do the Work, A Monthly Update

Last month, YWCA USA released the first issue of YWCA: We Do the Work, A Monthly Update. Through this electronic newsletter, we hope to elevate and increase awareness of the YWCA brand, increase clarity about YWCA’s work to drive real change, and increase support of our mission to eliminate racism and empower women.

YWCA Employment Opportunities

Check out these featured employment opportunities and all of the YWCA job openings around the country listed in our jobs center.

• Director of Financial Capacity Building - Remote
• Director of Member Services - Remote

Important dates for your calendar

• March: Women's History Month; YWCA's 31 Days of Women's Impact
• March 16: NLIHC Webinar on Coronavirus
• March 17: Network-wide Strategic Business Plan Call
• March 25: Monthly Public Policy Webinar
• March 26: Fundraising Fundamentals Webinar: Perfecting Prospect Research
• April 23 – 26: Stand Against Racism
• April 29: YW Connect Virtual Town Hall Meeting at 3 p.m. EDT
• June 17 – 20: YWCA LCBI in Chicago