Blogs

A Few Words from our CEO

Greetings YWCA Leaders! We are just two short weeks away from our annual Week Without Violence (October 17 – 21). And this year, we want every YWCA to participate, even if your local association does not provide domestic violence or sexual assault services. In addition to a bold new campaign site, we are also offering – for the first time – a way for the general public to join the campaign. Our goal is to have as many people as possible fully engaged in our efforts to end violence of all kinds. So, as you plan your Week Without Violence events, please invite everyone you know to join the campaign so we can significantly increase our impact! I also want to ask everyone in this extremely important election year to join in our voter engagement efforts by using the 2016 Voter Engagement Toolkit that is now available on the Intranet. And finally, please recruit all of your friends and supporters to raise funds for your association by running a digital race with If Girls Ran the World. Thank you in advance for strengthening our network and collective impact by participating in important YWCA USA initiatives!

Four Star Rating

YWCA USA has received a 4-star Charity Navigator evaluation for the third year in a row! This is the highest possible rating. Only 14% of those evaluated have received at least three consecutive 4-star evaluations. This truly demonstrates our trustworthiness to the public!

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Advocacy Day Impact

YWCAs blanketed the country on August 17, meeting with 60 Senate offices and 84 House offices in 40 states! From our survey data so far, we know that least 15 local associations met directly with a Member of Congress, and that we identified 11 new co-sponsors for the FAMILY Act, 7 for the Healthy Families Act, and 20 for the SAFE Act! We also hope that EVERY YWCA will sign on to our letter to Congress, urging support for these important legislative priorities! 

Week Without Violence

Week Without Violence is October 17 – 21, and there’s still time to register! Together with your fellow YWCAs across the country and around the world, and with our partners, friends, and followers, we are working to end violence. Register, spread the word, share a video, and take action today!

Did You Know: Member Services

YWCA USA Member Services provides a variety of resources and services for YWCAs to increase capacity and financial sustainability. Directors of Member Services provide YWCAs with resources and information plus a wide range of value added services.

MEMBER BENEFITS

New to the Resource Library

With this month comes more than 25 new financial, mission, and program vitality resources, including the 2016 Millennial Trends report from Achieve and the Case Foundation.

Contact Martha Breunig for assistance.

GET RESOURCES

Get Out the Vote Toolkit

Voting day is right around the corner – November 8! Help your community get engaged with the 2016 YWCA Get Out the Vote toolkit. Inside you’ll find guidance on talking with candidates and educating voters, sample social media, and a full issue guide.

YWCA USA Partners with WK Kellogg Foundation

YWCA USA was invited to partner with WK Kellogg Foundation on their new initiative, Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation (TRHT). This multi-year, unprecedented effort will promote racial healing and uproot unconscious and conscious beliefs in racial hierarchy. YWCA USA is a member of the Economic Design Team. Contact Casey Harden with questions.

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More News

YWCA 101

Want to educate new staff, board, and volunteers about YWCA? Have them join us on Thursday, November 10, for our webinar launch of “YWCA 101”. This webinar will introduce new supporters to YWCA USA and inspire attendees to be On a Mission! It will be offered throughout the year and available on the intranet. REGISTER

Advocacy and Public Policy Team

We are excited to welcome to new members to the YWCA USA Advocacy and Public Policy Team. Samantha Davis has started as the new Field Engagement Manager and Caitlin Lowry is the Senior Policy Analyst. Please join us in welcoming them!

YWCA USA in the News

Dara appeared on Great Day Washington in August and discussed our bold mission and how viewers can get involved. She also shared an important career lesson she learned in her first job as a physician with Forbes.com.

Membership Compliance Report

Thank you to all local associations who completed and returned their signed Membership Compliance report, which was due October 1. Action steps should be implemented by December 31. The Directors of Member Services enjoyed getting updates from YWCAs across the country and are available to assist in the completion of this process.

Local Association Model Program Submissions

The deadline for submitting model program proposals was September 30. Thank you to all the local associations that completed an application and submitted the required supplementary materials. We will be reviewing the applications and providing an update on model program proposals soon.

Money Monday

Learn more about fundraising and development at the next Money Monday webinar on November 14 at 3PM ET. We will be joined by Swell Fundraising. Register by November 7. LEARN MORE

Geographic Network Meetings

Earlier this year at the Leadership and Capacity Building Institute, local association leaders had the opportunity to gather in geographic networks. Building on the success of those meetings, we are planning geographic network face-to-face meetings for each network. Watch for additional information coming in the near future!

Affinity Groups

Staff, board, and volunteers are invited to join any of our ten affinity groups. Upcoming calls include the Racial Justice & Civil Rights Mission Impact Group on October 20 and December 15 at 2 PM ET, the Health & Wellness Network on November 17 and February 16 at 2PM ET, and the Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Mission Impact Group (DV/SA MIG) on December 1 (interested in leadership opportunities with the DV/SA MIG? Contact Alicia Gill). MORE DETAILS

World YWCA Opportunities

World YWCA has an open call for applications for a Young Women’s Task Force and short-term advocacy internships. These are great opportunities to connect with the YWCA global movement, and to engage with young women to create justice, gender equality, and a world without violence and war. To apply, please email Kelly Shewmaker. Send applications to YWCA USA (with your local association’s support) for the Young Women’s Taskforce by October 15, and by November 15 for the internships.