Strengthening Board Engagement:
Chicago Communities in Schools
Chicago Communities in Schools and Campbell & Company partnered to engage and involve one of the organization’s most valuable resources – its board of directors.
The mission of Chicago Communities In Schools (CCIS) is to reposition existing community resources and build sustainable relationships between schools and community agencies that will benefit children for years to come. But CCIS’s own volunteer resources were not working for the organization.
In 2004, CCIS began a strategic planning process and quickly recognized the need for a financial plan to support its new strategy. Campbell & Company conducted a development audit, which identified the need to engage more of CCIS’s board in fundraising. Like many organizations, CCIS had a small number of directors doing the heavy fundraising lifting.
With Campbell & Company’s help, CCIS began to engage its board by regularly reviewing board fundraising responsibilities, developing a peer-to-peer accountability system and instituting a weekly conference call for board members and staff. The board is now invigorated by the strategic plan and motivated to meet the financial challenge. Thanks to the board’s unprecedented commitment to fundraising today, students will benefit for years to come.
Adapted from “Going Above and Beyond” by Jane Mentzinger, Board Member ®, October/November 2005, a publication of BoardSource.
