CRE Principles for Client Work
CRE believes in:
- partnering with our clients,
- building organizational capacity, and
- working for community-wide impact.
Principles to Employ Across Practice Areas
- A belief that enhancing capacity is achievable
- The understanding that implementation is key
CRE believes that enhancing capacity is achievable; we also understand that implementation is key.
Partnering with Community Organizations
Most of CRE’s work is in poor and disenfranchised communities. As we work with nonprofit leaders from these communities, we are mindful of two aspects of the partnership.
- First, we bring our management skills to the table in order to make their lives and the lives of their colleagues more manageable by making their organizations more effective.
- Second, we encourage them to think about the root cause of the problems they are facing, and work with them to find the resources within their own networks to address permanent change – social change.
It is our experience that stronger organizations empower communities, and we work with each client to help them actualize that empowerment agenda.
The Goal – Strong, Effective Nonprofits
CRE enables clients to build what we consider the “three legged stool” for high-performing organizations:
- solid, visionary leadership,
- strong and efficient organizational systems and structures, and
- effective programming that links strategy, planning and outcomes.
CRE strives to provide affordable services. Learn about our third party payer system.
Partnering involves building trust by:
- Assisting groups to diagnose their own problems, develop solutions and monitor results;
- Developing a shared understanding of work to accomplish together;
- Acknowledging clients are not the subject of the change;
- Recognizing CRE does not have all the answers;
- Respecting client’s time;
- Acknowledging each group’s programmatic expertise; and
- Assuring client confidentiality -- work is not shared with others including funders without the client’s permission
Building organizational capacity includes:
- Meeting clients where they are at and tailoring work to meet their needs
- Organizing work around a concrete and meaningful task
- Creating environments enabling clients to do work on their own
- Sharing CRE’s skills, information and resources
- Providing support during implementation of work
- Maximizing coaching opportunities
- When necessary, challenging clients’ assumptions, diagnoses and solutions
Striving for community-wide impact by:
- Recognizing the client as a proxy for the community and our work is ultimately in service of the community
- Helping groups work better and smarter to accomplish their mission
- Balancing accountability to our clients and to their communities where we hope to make social change
A belief that enhancing capacity is achievable
- Organizations have value and talent
- People can change
- Organizations can improve
- Finances can be understood
- Problems can be addressed
The understanding that implementation is key
- Planning for implementation
- Supporting and coaching during implementation
- Developing benchmarks and success indicators to gauge implementation progress
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