Boys & Girls Clubs of America
Boys & Girls Clubs of America
"We share the same sense of stewardship regarding philanthropic resources: to leverage best practices for the benefit of all interested parties.”
In 2005, the Communal Fund at Argosy was a process whereby one Trustee served to chair the Fund, inviting the other Trustees to offer insights and feedback on a project of the Chair's choosing. The objective was to have all Trustees working together, using agreed-on criteria to jointly approve an effective partnership.
Project Insight's widespread impact
$1.25 million was awarded to the Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) for Project Insight, a program to streamline the national organization's technological infrastructure, allowing it to deliver programs more effectively today while establishing a platform for future growth. The award was unusually large, in part because a decision was deferred from the 2004 process.
“Technology infrastructure is a key element to the success of growing charities, but is seldom viewed that way by funders,” says Chris Abele, president and CEO of Argosy Foundation. “Argosy's investment will help equip BGCA with the resources to reach a more efficient and effective level of operation, positively impacting the 3,700 local Clubs across America, serving more than 4.4 million youth – an impressive economy of scale.”
Phase I, funded by a $250,000 grant from the Argosy Foundation, included a review of current systems and the development of a strategy for making those systems more effective. An additional $1 million grant from Argosy will initiate Phase II and allow Clubs to benefit from the restructuring, including combined databases for easy reporting and access to essential information.
“BGCA has realized unprecedented growth over the past decade, with each new Club increasing the demand for delivery of support services locally,” says Bill Regehr, senior vice president, information technology, BGCA. “However, the technological infrastructure of the national organization was unable to keep up. Project Insight is a three-phase program to provide insight into best practices of others and will help us operate more efficiently as a business.”
Sharing knowledge with others
In keeping with a shared goal of disseminating useful knowledge, BGCA officials will share its efforts and information technology principles with other youth-serving agencies, building a stronger community of IT experts with similar missions. “We are committed to contributing in every way possible to the field of positive youth development,” says BGCA President Roxanne Spillett. “Together with the Argosy Foundation, we share the same sense of stewardship regarding philanthropic resources: to leverage best practices for the benefit of all interested parties.”
Project Insight met many key criteria for Argosy, such as investing in agencies or projects with innovative or improved practices that lead to increased efficiency and effectiveness; that incorporate solid measurements; and, of course, that demonstrate the ability to replicate practices and disseminate findings.