Blogs

YWConnect Town Hall Recap

On Wednesday, March 26th, we hosted YWConnect: State of the Association and COVID-19 Virtual Town Hall. The town hall was an opportunity for YWCA USA to provide all local associations with information, resources, and updates on how YWCA USA will continue to support associations through the COVID-19 pandemic. YWCA USA is committed to helping organizations maintain operations throughout this crisis. We are here for YOU. Thank you for all the work that you are doing to keep your communities safe and healthy throughout this challenging time.

Below are a few updates that were provided by each department during the town hall. If you missed the town hall, you can watch it in its entirety here. You can also download the presentation, which is available here.

Member Services
As this crisis erupted, Member Services recognized that connectivity and synergy between YWCA USA and local associations would be vital as we moved through our battle with COVID-19. Member Services has worked to personally connect with each of our local associations to assess the health of the network through surveys and data collection, and to identify ways to offer support. The team quickly established the COVID-19 Impact Community on the intranet so association leaders and staff can ask questions, share information, documents, and other resources. Member Services is also working to develop ways for you to connect with each other by topic and geographic location.

Additionally, Member Services is working with Steve Zimmerman from Spectrum Nonprofit Services to help you navigate these challenging financial times beginning with an April 7 webinar on "From Sustainability to Survivability." To register click here.

Finance and Operations
We are in this together

As COVID-19 continues to present many operating challenges for the network, the YWCA USA Finance team has partnered with the YWCA USA Board of Directors to identify the role we can play as we look to provide support to our network.

After review of the FY20 operating budget, the following actions were taken:

1. The reduction of 30% ($1M) of projected income for the last 4 months of the fiscal year
2. The reduction of 44% ($1.3M) of variable expenses for the last 4 months of the fiscal year.
3. Securing a board approved line of credit

With funds directly from our operating budget and access to a line of credit, YWCA USA staff and board were able to create the flexibility to offer local association relief of approximately $4M. These initial efforts will allow YWCA USA to provide two programs to the network:

1. 3-month Support Fee Waiver
2. Initial contribution of $2M to the YWCA COVID-19 Emergency Relief and Community Resilience Fund

The 3-month Support Fee Waiver will go into effect on April 1, 2020 and end on June 30, 2020. The waiver is automatic, and no action is required on your end to receive the benefit. We are pleased to inform you that YWCA USA’s initial $2M contribution to the fund will be used to provide YWCA local associations access to zero-interest, zero fee loans. In the next week, we will communicate the process to access the loans.

This is just a start. As we know more, we will make the necessary adjustments within our means. Accordingly, YWCA USA continues to pursue other measures for financial relief to our network.

Development
Funding Resilience

Fundraising is a priority for the development team to support the COVID-19 Emergency Relief and Community Resilience Fund. The team is working in many ways including: outreach to top institutional funders and prospects for emergency COVID-19 funding & in-kind donations, pivoting LCBI sponsorship asks of $25K+ to support COVID-19 relief efforts, and more. The goal is to help associations continue to provide critical services and help rebuild the communities they serve during this time of crisis.

Social Innovation, Investment, and Impact (SI3)
We are working with you and for you

SI3 is working with our existing donors at the national level in three ways that address both short- and long-term funding needs. At present, nothing has been confirmed. However, updates will be shared as they become available. For those who are partnering with YWCA USA on current grant efforts and have programs that are running, we encourage you to continue with the innovation that you are doing to pivot programs. We would love for you to share your activities with USA as part of cross-network learning. If you have any ideas on things that we can do to improve program delivery or ideas, let us know!

Public Policy and Advocacy (PPA)
Your voice makes all the difference

The PPA team has made tremendous strides to ensure that Congressional responses to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic are responsive to and inclusive of the needs of YWCAs and the nonprofit sector. Continue to share your impact stories via the COVID-19 Impact on YWCA’s Survey and take action through the YWCA Action Center.You can also take a look at this summary from our partners at the National Council of Nonprofits, and YWCA’s more detailed analysis. If you missed today's COVID-19 Legislative Update, you can watch it here.

Marketing and Communications
Your voice for the work we do

Digital Action on National Census Day April 1st

This upcoming Wednesday is National Census Day, a day of action to ensure that everyone is counted in the 2020 Census. YWCA remains committed to supporting the completion of a full, fair, and accurate census and reaching hard-to-count community members.

Make sure your communities get counted by:

1. Signing the Digital Pledge Card affirming your commitment to fill out the 2020 Census, and sharing the card with your community via social media, text, or email.
2. Sharing the YWCA 2020 Census PSA on your website, social media, and other channels (also available in Spanish).
3. Exploring additional ways to engage your community within the new Digital Addendum to the YWCA Census Toolkit.

Let’s Take Collective Action on VAWA

On April 4th, 2019, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act (H.R. 1585), taking critical steps to support survivors of gender-based violence. If passed, this bill would take critical steps to maintain the safety and protections important to all survivors, particularly women of color and other marginalized communities. This bill also makes modest, but vital, improvements to provide the resources critical to supporting all survivors and their needs.

COVID-19 Marketing and Communications Update

On Tuesday, March 31st at 2 p.m. ET, the YWCA USA Communications team will host a COVID-19 update to provide association leadership and staff with marketing and communication tools for handling this crisis. Included on the agenda are digital resources, external facing communications tools, information on the COVID-19 Intranet Community, and more!

Organize Your Butterflies Podcast
Keeping Up With COVID-19: What You Must Know

COVID-19 has rapidly taken mainstage in the United States. As the country navigates the best management of the virus, Alejandra Castillo, CEO of YWCA USA, chats with Dr. Meg Doherty, Director at the Department of Global HIV, Hepatitis and STIs Programmes at the World Health Organization. Dr. Doherty is a specialist on infectious diseases and epidemiology, and has the inside scoop on what you need to know about COVID-19 to keep you, your family, and your community safe. Dr. Doherty emphasizes the importance of social distancing, the integral role that young and healthy people must play to prevent the spread of the virus, and the deep sense of community that COVID-19 has instilled globally.

Tim Delaney, President & CEO of the National Council of Nonprofits, also joins us to discuss the impact COVID-19 has on the nonprofit sector in terms of fundraising, resources, and support. Tim and Alejandra also examine how the government, private corporations, and individuals can help nonprofits during this unusual time.

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

Even with Social Distancing, We Are Stronger Together!

COVID-19 is changing how we serve our communities but not our commitment to the YWCA mission and doing the work of justice every day.

Associations are also finding new and innovative ways of delivering services and programming to the communities we serve. YWCA Evanston-North Shore shared that they are offering virtual equity learning opportunities that include podcasts and short videos in order to continue to reach members of their community.

2020 Leadership & Capacity Building Institute (LCBI) Has Been Cancelled

Due to the ongoing increase of COVID-19 outbreaks in communities across the country, we regret to inform you that the 2020 Leadership and Capacity Building Institute (LCBI), scheduled to take place June 17-20, 2020 in Chicago, IL is cancelled. This year’s LCBI presented an opportunity for us to bring the network together as we worked to strengthen and enhance YWCA capacity building, service delivery and build community through cross-network learning.

While this decision comes at a time of local, national and global uncertainty, we remain committed to finding innovative ways to provide the tools and resources critical to your work as you support your communities. Additionally, by using various online platforms, we will provide ways for the network to stay connected until we can safely host another in-person gathering. 

Association Network Meeting Cancelled

As a reminder, 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 flexibility to adjust as we navigate these trying times. 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 of local associations, local association support of YWCA USA, and support of other local associations. We will get through this together.

YWCA 2020 Census PSA - Now Available

The Census matters especially in the wake of COVID-19 to ensure that your community receives the funding it deserves. Make sure your communities get counted by sharing the PSA. As a trusted voice in some of the most vulnerable communities in the country, 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.

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 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’

Complementary BoardSource Membership

Don’t forget to take advantage of your complementary 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.

CACFP During COVID-19 Webinar: New USDA Flexibilities Offer Program Options

Join FRAC and USDA on March 31st at 2 p.m. ET to learn about new flexibilities designed to support CACFP providers, programs, and sponsors in offering access to nutritious meals for children in the current COVID-19 public health emergency.

Child care centers, providers, after-school programs, sponsoring organizations and shelters can all learn something important from this webinar.

Topics will include USDA’s new waivers allowing CACFP sites to make adjustments to normal operating rules. The waivers offer options to:

• suspend normal meal-times,
• offer “grab and go” take home meals or delivered meals instead of on-site meal service (non-congregate feeding), and
• drop the activity requirement for at-risk after-school programs.

Register today to learn about opportunities the may be available to you!

Financial Success Webinar with Steve Zimmerman,
Tuesday, April 7th, 2 p.m. ET

From Sustainability to Survivability: Managing Uncertainty Amid Crisis
As nonprofit professionals scramble to devise new operating plans designed to serve as many as possible while protecting and caring for employees, the thought of sustainability seems almost quaint. All revenue streams, from foundations to individuals and even fees for service, are under extreme pressure. Indeed, for many executives, thoughts today are not on sustainability but survivability and, as always, it is at these times our constituents need us most. However, there are steps leaders can take to increase likelihood of success amid these challenging times. We’ll discuss these, offering tools and templates along the way that leaders can take back to their organizations and implement immediately.
Session Objectives

• Understand the organization’s cash position and assess damage to revenue streams.
• Use a framework for making strategic decisions that balances impact and financial considerations.
• Explore the art of decision-making in times of crisis to determine how best to communicate with stakeholders.

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 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 grant.

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

In January, 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.

• Vice President, Marketing and Communications - Washington, D.C.

Important dates for your calendar

• March 31: COVID-19 Marketing and Communications Update
• April 7: From Sustainability to Survivability Webinar
• April 23 – 26: Stand Against Racism