About Guiding Good
A systems approach to building resilient communities
Guiding Good partners with nonprofit organizations in the Connecticut River Valley region to enhance what it takes to go from good to great.
Why we exist
As of August 2019 there were 6,547 charitable nonprofits registered in New Hampshire and 6,409 in Vermont — all with diverse missions, but with a single focus: to help make all our lives better.
Guiding Good is here to enrich those organizations. That might mean increasing revenue through fundraising and grant writing. It might mean staff and volunteer development. It might mean leveraging data for more efficient services, or identifying the gaps between organizations, donors and the public.
Our goal is to develop sustainable solutions that build a stronger, more resilient community.
What we noticed
A community is made up of many organizations trying to solve individual problems — addiction, family counseling, domestic violence, food insecurity, shelter. Having worked with a number of them, a few patterns stand out:
- There are gaps and overlaps between the missions and reach of service organizations.
- There is a perception of scarcity, and sometimes outright competition for staff, donations and volunteers.
- As a community member, it is not always obvious how to make the biggest impact as a donor or a volunteer.
- Pooling resources across organizations, when done well, increases efficiency, closes gaps and lets service staff focus on the problem they are actually there to solve.
COVID changed a great deal about how we work, communicate and learn. It was also isolating, and not everyone adapted the same way. Isolation, growing distrust and a sense of scarcity have deepened division.
By assessing a community as a whole — mapping resources, needs, overlaps and stress points — we identify the places where we can bridge, tweak, assist and remove barriers. Then we establish metrics to find where processes work and where they do not.
Where we focus
Staff development. Grant writing, reporting metrics, leadership skills, onboarding, process documentation and policy documentation.
Volunteers. A way to attract, train, vet and communicate with retirees, young adults, new arrivals and corporations wanting to offer volunteer benefits to their employees. Volunteers benefit physically, socially and mentally, and report greater satisfaction with the employers who support them. New community members become part of the community faster. Youth and young adults learn leadership and develop deeper empathy.
Communication. A hub that lets individuals, event staff, city staff, potential donors, participants and volunteers know about important events, deadlines, available resources and emerging needs.
How we think
Four convictions behind the work
Systems, not symptoms
A community is made of organizations each solving one problem. Mapping the gaps, overlaps and stress points between them finds opportunities no single org can see alone.
Evidence over anecdote
Establish metrics that show where processes work and where they do not. Stories move people; data tells you which story is true.
Relationships first
Volunteers become donors. Donors become volunteers. Both become board members and advocates. Treat every one of them as a relationship, not a transaction.
Trust is a two-way street
Silence breeds suspicion. Organizations that tell their community the hard truth usually find the community ready to help.
Where we are going
The longer-term vision
Beyond individual engagements, Guiding Good is working toward a set of shared resources the whole region can draw on.
- A one-day nonprofit leadership course for continuing education credit, suitable for every level of staff and leadership
- Ongoing continuing education and individual organizational retreats
- Board member education for stronger oversight and more effective boards
- A volunteer and services hub for nonprofit and public use — profiles of what each community needs and what an ideal volunteer looks like
- Vetting and basic certification for community volunteers, matched to organizations by skill, passion and availability
- A networking environment where nonprofits, the public and corporate partners can promote events, programs, sponsorships and recruiting
- A system map of the nonprofits serving each community — identifying resources, the client cycle, and the groups who can close a gap or reduce an overlap
Services
What an engagement looks like
- Marketing & Communications Say what you do, clearly enough that a stranger can repeat it.
- Grants & Grant Writing Find the right funders. Write the proposal they asked for.
- Events & Community Programs Events that do a job, not just fill an evening.
- Leadership & Staff Training Training, teaching, mentoring, coaching — matched to the person.
- Fundraising & Development Relationships first. The gifts follow.
How it works
The first conversation is on us.
We meet with your organization, walk you through our process, evaluate what you need and write a project proposal — including reasonable revisions to the scope right up until launch. No charge, no obligation.