Literacy Council of Sarasota
The Lilly Family School of Philanthropy and The Patterson Foundation are partnering on “The Future of the Philanthropic Sector,” a special topics course for the school’s students during the spring 2020 semester. The course has connected students to The Patterson Foundation’s innovative approach to philanthropy and nonprofits in the Sarasota area engaged in the Foundation’s initiatives through interactive online experiences.
By McKayla Cox
As the COVID-19 pandemic sweeps across the world, it is making changes to the way we all work, live, and even operate nonprofits. The #TPFStudyAway week was of no exception, since we were unable to travel to Sarasota and completed a virtual experience instead. However, the decision to move to a virtual study away experience turned out to be extremely beneficial while I worked with the Literacy Council of Sarasota.
The Literacy Council of Sarasota (LCS) improves literacy for adults in Sarasota County through personalized, needs-based tutoring. Additionally, the Literacy Council of Sarasota uniquely offers literacy educational services through small-group instruction for businesses, human service agencies, and school districts as a way to generate additional revenue to sustain their mission in the community. The sole method of delivery for this earned-income venture is through face-to-face instruction via small group classes. This had been widely successful for the Literacy Council of Sarasota, so I set out to expand and grow their fee-for-service offerings. Of course, I didn’t do this alone. I was lucky to work with Tom and Susan from the Literacy Council of Sarasota and Mike from No Margin, No Mission on this project.
In our brainstorming sessions Tom, Susan, Mike, and I discussed many options. None of them seemed to be the perfect fit. That is, until we discussed the idea of implementing an array of services that incorporate distance education strategies. Was there a need for this? Absolutely! Here’s why:
· People’s busy schedules require flexible service offerings.
· There is demand for educational services that allow adult language learners to access them 24/7/365.
· Shame and stigma is an issue for many low literate individuals and providing anonymity is critical.
· Need to increase access to low literate native English speakers.
· In today’s new COVID-19 world, meeting face-to-face is challenging.
Since the Literacy Council was not currently incorporating any of these strategies in their services, we knew that we would need to complete some work during the implementation phase to make this happen. Implementation activities would include things like subscribing to an online learning platform, training and recruiting volunteers, developing marketing and communications strategies to market the expanded service offerings, and acquiring the needed growth capital. With our implementation strategies set, we then worked on a timeline. We should expect to see a pilot of the program by Q3 2020!
As LCS moves forward with their new earned income opportunity, we anticipated there would be some ripple effects as well. We expect that learners will be able to take more classes on their own schedule and will capitalize on their digital literacy skills by completing virtual classes. LCS will also be able to attract younger volunteers to build capacity and the organization will also be able to expand its offerings in computer, health, and financial literacy. Most importantly, the Literacy Council of Sarasota will expand its reach, and therefore, its mission impact.
Although it was disappointing not to be in Sarasota with The Patterson Foundation and the Literacy Council of Sarasota, the virtual experiences became the cornerstone of my work with LCS. As we continue to work and live in today’s COVID-19 world, all of us will make changes to our lives. The time is right for nonprofits to pursue distance education and virtual resources as key components of service delivery. These service delivery models will make a difference in boosting revenue and mission impact!