In a TCFV survey conducted in 2009, 98% of legal advocates in family violence programs reported that they have experienced survivors coming to their doors with limited English proficiency. 71% of these legal advocates said that victims with LEP had negative outcomes in their legal cases due to the fact that they were LEP.

Coordination of community stakeholders in developing a language access plan is paramount to better serving LEP survivors. A panel discussion highlighting this coordination featured key participants who are instrumental in developing such a plan in Travis County, including the Honorable Lora Livingston, the Honorable Mike Denton, Abby Frank, attorney at the Texas Civil Rights Project and Linda Phan, Executive Director of Saheli.

Dyanne is an outstanding leader who has demonstrated unwavering commitment to the mission and success of our organization since she first arrived over 13 years ago. She is a skilled communicator and brings 20+ years of nonprofit leadership and achievements to the CEO role. She is skilled at board, employee, donor and government relations, financial management and executive administration.

Dyanne has dedicated over 20 years of her life to touching and changing lives of individuals through non-profit advocacy and she is a perfect fit as the next leader of our organization. Because of her vast organizational knowledge and work in the domestic violence field there will be a seamless leadership transition.

Sheryl Cates will continue to serve the organization as CEO Emeritus through August 31, 2010. We are immensely grateful to Sheryl for her tremendous leadership, dedication and tireless efforts to create options and positive changes for domestic violence victims and survivors.

Gloria, Dyanne and the entire board remain fully committed to continuing the many important projects and initiatives currently underway and to fully supporting the work of our partners and allies in the domestic violence community.

Each April since 1981, the Office of Justice Programs has helped lead communities throughout the country in observing National Crime Victims’ Rights Week (NCVRW) by promoting victims’ rights and honoring crime victims and those who advocate on their behalf.

This year’s theme is Crime Victims’ Rights: Fairness. Dignity. Respect. Communities throughout the nation are rallying in support of NCVRW. One such event took place in Austin, TX and honored victims with a candle lighting ceremony. Taking place at the Town Lake Radisson Hotel from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on April 22, the opening ceremony also featured keynote speaker Carolyn Mosley-Fields. Mrs. Carolyn Mosley-Fields knows abuse and violence first hand; she has lost a son to domestic violence and a daughter because of teen dating violence. She is a strong advocate for Victims of Crime and has founded the Ortralla Lewone Mosley Foundation to empower teens to choose healthy relationships. Click here to read the full release.

Prevention specialists at TCFV and SafeHaven are training coaches from the Arlington and Birdville Independent School Districts so that they can teach young athletes about healthy and respectful relationships. Jason Witten is a powerful role model for both young athletes and coaches and also understands the role coaches have in instilling good values in young people. He has also witnessed family violence firsthand as a child and started the SCORE Foundation to work with families in crisis. Please click here to read more about this powerful partnership.

When most of us hear the words “business model” our thoughts instinctively turn to the various revenue streams in our organization. We think of government contracts which fund specific programs or traditional fundraising strategies such as special events. Revenue strategies only address half the equation. Nonprofit businesses have more responsibility than merely being financially viable; they also need to have an impact–achieving their mission in making our communities safer and better places to live. Therefore, nonprofit business models must incorporate both mission impact and financial viability.

The Matrix Map is a tool that visually demonstrates these two components of an organization’s business model. By plotting both programmatic and fundraising activities in the matrix according to their mission impact and profitability, we can see how they work together to create a sustainable business model or, more likely these days, a challenged model.

Analyzing the four quadrants of the Matrix Map also allows us an opportunity to discuss how we can strengthen our business model. Each quadrant has a different name: Stars, Hearts, Money Trees and Stop Signs, and the strategic considerations are different for each.  

STARS: The Stars of the organization are those activities that are not only accomplishing the organization’s mission but also contributing to the financial viability of the organization. All too often these activities are not focused on during organizational planning because they are “doing fine.” However, they are more than “fine,” they are the primary tools for a sustainable organization. These activities should be invested in to make sure they retain their position and growth if possible.

HEARTS: Sometimes great programs don’t have a dedicated revenue stream and while they may be high on impact they are losing money. We call these activities Hearts. While Hearts are great, too many may jeopardize the financial viability of your organization. The strategic imperative for Hearts is to try to contain their costs.

MONEY TREES: Those activities that generate money but have less impact are known as Money Trees and often include annual dinners or development department activities. These activities are crucial in subsidizing the Hearts of the organization and should be valued equally. However, every activity has potential for impact and just because an activity is a Money Tree doesn’t mean we shouldn’t maximize its impact. The strategic imperative is to increase the impact and maximize profitability.

STOP SIGNS: Lastly, some activities might start with the best of intentions but eventually end up not having impact and losing money. Nonprofit organizations need to divest these activities or close them down. This doesn’t mean they are not worthwhile activities, just that other people might be better suited for them and other activities you perform have greater impact in accomplishing your mission.

Collectively, the activities plotted on the Matrix Map represent the organization’s business model–how it utilizes resources to accomplish its mission while being financially viable.

A sustainable business model is not a destination to reach, but rather an ongoing orientation in making decisions to balance your Matrix Map given the context within which the organization functions. The strategic imperatives provide guidance for nonprofit executive directors and the Board of Directors to consider when setting direction. By understanding how your activities work together to create impact and financial viability, nonprofit executives and boards can make the right decisions to be sustainable.

Steve Zimmerman is the Principal of Spectrum Nonprofit Services and co-author of a book on Nonprofit Sustainability due out by Jossey-Bass in the Fall of 2010. He can be reached at stevez@spectrumnonprofit.com

This past year, a record number of programs participated in the 2009 Census which adds greatly to the validity of the results. TCFV worked hard to bring awareness to the Census and to make sure programs knew how to correctly respond. Survey results found that over 5,000 victims of domestic violence were served in one day including nearly 2,000 hotline calls to programs. Services provided included emergency shelters, transitional housing, individual counseling, legal advocacy and children’s support. TCFV would like to thank programs for taking time to complete the Census. The results for the surveys for 2006 to present can be accessed on www.nnedv.org.

The new educational series will be comprised of two parts. Part one will focus on foundational information that includes beginner-intermediate level topics. Part two will focus on intermediate-advanced level topics. The educational series is comprised of a combination of classroom and self-paced online modules. Each part will guarantee 20 hours of CJAD-approved hours. By attending both parts, attendees will obtain the 40 hours total.

BIPP Educational Series, Part Two
July 27 and 28, 2010
Austin Marriott South
4415 South IH-35
Austin, Texas 78744

The following topics are included in the classroom facilitated sessions in the BIPP Educational Series Part Two:

• Adult Learning Techniques
• Intersections: BIPP and Substance Abuse
• Philosophy of Motivating Positive Change in Batterers
• Incorporating Prevention in your BIPP
• Group Facilitation: Overcoming Resistance
• Violence as Oppression
• Group Facilitation: Collusion for Tenured Professionals
• Building Collaboration with Systems

The BIPP Educational Series, Part Two is an intermediate training for professionals who have provided BIPP services for three or more years. It builds on fundamental information and best practices for group facilitation.

The BIPP Educational Series, Part Two is facilitated by a team of TCFV staff members working to improve BIPP services statewide and a contract faculty of tenured professionals who work with family violence offenders.

The Texas Council on Family Violence will provide up to 20 hours of training through a mixture of mediums including: self-directed online presentations and classroom training.

Training hours are approved by TDCJ-CJAD to meet the requirements towards BIPP Accreditation training requirements.

CONFERENCE DETAILS

Register Online

Click here to register by email or fax

• Deadline is July 15, 2010
• Conference Fees:
• Members: $225/person
• Non Members: $250/person
• Onsite conference registration available, if not at capacity.

Hotels and Meals

Hotel Reservations:
Room Rates
Single: $85
Phone:  1-512-441-7900
Fax:  1-512-441-7899
Toll-Free: 1-888-236-2427

• Refreshments provided; lunch is on your own
• Attendees reserve a room directly with Marriott reservations at the number(s) below.
• The deadline for room reservations is Wednesday, July 5, 2010.
• When calling, please indicate you are with the “Texas Council on Family Violence BIPP Ed Series”

For more information, please contact:

Cassie Taylor, Family Violence Services Coordinator
1 (800) 525-1978
ctaylor@tcfv.org

By making this fee mandatory, SB 82 significantly increases this funding source for centers and thus increases access to family violence services for victims, while at the same time holding abusers accountable for violent behavior. TCFV has developed a toolkit in order to assist programs with the collection of this fee. Click here for more information.

Tdcaa.com