Workshop for Grantmakers
Boston – June 8th, 12n to 2:30pm

GMA’s Director of Financial Services Pamela Labonte Maksy teams up with Alfonso Perillo CPA, Partner and leader of the nonprofit team at Edelstein & Co., to lead this popular hands-on workshop that brings nonprofits’ Form 990 documents to life.

Intended for grantmakers, their consultants, and philanthropic advisors, the workshop is hosted by Associated Grant Makers. Learn more at http://www.agmconnect.org/events/financial-statements-20

NPO Conversation on Tuesday, May 16 at GMA

Several times a year we invite leaders of nonprofit organizations to join us for a lunch discussion about issues, ideas, and concerns in the nonprofit and philanthropic community. The meetings are a time for us to move beyond the usual conversation between foundations and nonprofit organizations.

Each session focuses on a particular topic, and reservations are required. Guests will learn a little more about GMA and a lot about their peers’ perspectives on important issues.

Topic for Conversation:  Measuring outcomes to support young children and their families

Many grantees of GMA client foundations serve families with young children. As grantmaking staff, we have noticed that measuring outcomes is a shared challenge.   Moving beyond the tradition of participant surveys, nonprofit leaders are asking deeper questions and seeking to assess longer term impact for both caregivers and children.

What are you measuring to show your impact (e.g. increases in shared reading time, increased caregiver knowledge of early childhood development)?  Over the years, what have you learned works or does not work?  In what ways have you used your outcomes data to change your practice/what you do?

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Research into the physical effects of traumatic experiences on the brain is revealing possible new pathways to change and reshaping measures of program effectiveness. With increased knowledge of the stress-induced barriers to mental well-being, education, health and human services organizations are incorporating trauma-informed approaches into their programs.

Research around trauma has historically focused on war veterans. In 1995 the CDC began the Adverse Childhood Experiences Study (ACES) which demonstrated the lasting effects of childhood trauma into later life. The ACES research has been instrumental to understanding the long term effects of trauma and has provided compelling justification for early intervention. The CDC’s ongoing analysis has led to more inclusive definitions of trauma and has pointed to strong connections between childhood experiences and adult health status and behaviors.

Recent research into brain development is helping explain this connection in concrete terms – our brains change. In one article the Children’s Bureau explains the effects of maltreatment on brain development, and an article on BrainBlogger.com describes how Post-traumatic stress disorder changes the brain.

Bridging a sense of isolation

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