Sustainability Plan
Organizational Sustainability Plan for Colorado Cross-Disability Coalition (CCDC) 2010
For twenty years, CCDC has been the lead organization in Colorado promoting civil rights for persons with disabilities. We are proud of our many accomplishments and are now in a renewal period, creating organizational changes necessary to evolve into a high impact, successful, sustainable non-profit organization.
As a result we have developed a plan. CCDC is completely invested in this plan and must redefine our business model to assure we can meet the current and future needs of our constituency. As you read this plan you will understand why the following changes need to be made effective immediately.
1) CCDC will begin to strictly adhere to all policies and procedures. We will feature a section on our website for public policies and a section on CIL for policies relevant to staff and certified advocates.
2) CCDC will take on tasks, projects and responsibilities that we can afford—all projects must have a funding source—whether by a contract, grant or donations.
3) The CCDC board of directors will improve their governance and accountability.
4) The duties and accountability of the CCDC Executive Director, will focus on capacity building and sustainability
Current and Ongoing Challenges
CCDC has faced a number of challenges through the years as an organization.
Non-profit governance: The CCDC Board of Director’s has always been comprised primarily of individuals with significant disabilities and very low income. This has been wonderful in terms of policy issues and CCDC positions representing the disability community, however, the board has never been able to raise funds. New board member recruitment will focus on capacity building and sustainability.
Program Growth: CCDC has taken on programs over the years without adequate funding to maintain the programs. CCDC has relied on an incredible volunteer program. All of our advocates are volunteers, all lobbyists are volunteers, volunteers do all of our policy work and for the past 13 years we have had a volunteer Executive Director. This has led the community (funders, members, etc.) to the erroneous conclusion that we do not need paid staff. Particularly as we look to implementation of programs like Medicaid buy in and Health Care Reform, there will be fewer people with disabilities interested or even able to work full time at positions that require professional skill for no pay.
Community Need: CCDC has always responded to community need before considering the cost and affordability of our response. Our focus has been on efficacy only as measured by meeting our programmatic goals. CCDC represents a population that is poor, in fact, the most economically oppressed population in the country in terms of employment and wages. Therefore our clients alone cannot pay for the advocacy and representation that they need. We have not charged the state for the significant services we provide in terms of expertise, care coordination, and the prevention of larger, costlier problems. We did not even begin charging for membership until the end of 2007. While we are proud of this work, we realize that we cannot continue to provide this incredible level of high quality advocacy for free.
Organizational Infrastructure: While CCDC has had continual programmatic successes and significant growth, all justified based on community need, we have identified the need to make major changes in some of our management practices. We have developed a plan for ongoing sustainability in terms of governance and finances. We have reached an organizational level where increased expectations and requirements must now be imposed on the governing board and staff. Similarly, management must take on different roles and assure that the organization is financially healthy so that the mission driven work can continue as long as necessary. Because of the life and death nature of many of our calls and the many unmet needs of our community, management has allowed growth to occur that was not funded, with inadequate infrastructure, creating a culture of too much management by exception and crisis and not enough management by policy and objective. While the nature of advocacy must allow us to be reactionary, there is no requirement that the organization that administers advocacy services cannot create a proactive infrastructure.
Renewal Period: During our period of reorganization, CCDC will continue to be the leading civil rights organization for people with disabilities in Colorado. We will continue all contract work. Our legal program(s) will continue with ongoing cases and when necessary bring new cases. We will continue to fulfill and likely exceed the terms of any grants and will be actively applying for additional grants and contracts consistent with our mission. We will be seeking donors, cultivating sponsors and increasing our fundraising strategies. We will not be able to provide the previous level of service to everyone who asks and will not be able to provide service to people who are not members. We will not be able to honor NEW requests for free consultation or training. We will only be able to support local groups that are actively working towards our mission, that adhere to our operational policies and that are regularly producing results and engaging a reasonable number of people for that community.
Technology: We could improve and increase our efficiency with better/more technology. We have the following immediate needs:
- Laser Printers
- At least four new/modern/refurbished computers (2 laptops/net books)
- Several flash drives
- A variety of office supplies for our technology including surge protectors, computer cleaning devices, carrying cases, etc.
- Warrantee and repair for volunteers
Other needs that will need to be met in the next 24 months include but are not limited to:
- Increased bandwidth
- Server
- New/Modern Refurbished Replacement computers and backup computers
- Capability for video conferencing and for creating DVD’s
- Database training and expansion
- Ongoing interactive web site development
- Mirrored hard drives for essential computers
- Capacity for shared work space, on line meetings, better file management for off site users, web based training programs,
- New phone system
