CAP Consulting Client Application

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Application Year

Application deadline - June 11, 2021 @ 11:59 pm

Harvard Business School Association of Boston
Community Action Partners (CAP)
PROJECT APPLICATION 2021-22

CAP OVERVIEW

Community Action Partners (CAP) is a volunteer organization of Harvard Business School (HBS) and Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) alumni helping Boston-area nonprofits and social enterprises apply management skills to their business challenges. Founded in 1993, CAP operates under the aegis of the HBS Association of Boston. More than 100 alumni volunteers serve 14-18 nonprofits each year. Since inception, more than 1,000 CAP volunteers have served over 300 nonprofit clients in areas such as: strategic planning, market research and marketing strategy, financial planning and analysis, board development and governance, and organizational development.

CAP has made some key changes to the 2021-22 Consulting cycle , so please review these instructions carefully. Any questions should be addressed to CAP Executive Director, Kathy Le at kathyle@cap-hbsab.org.

For the 2021-22 Consulting cycle, CAP offers two types of project engagements:

1) CLASSIC projects with 6-8 volunteers working over approximately 6 months
2) FOCUSED projects with 4-5 volunteers working over 3-4 months

Clients can expect that all volunteers will spend about 2-4 hours per week on project work. Nonprofit applicants must indicate the type of engagement/application in the appropriate field below. During the vetting process project types may change as CAP works with an applicant to jointly determine the best approach to meet client needs.

APPLICANT CRITERIA

CLASSIC project applicants must meet the following criteria:

Charitable nonprofit organization with IRS 501(c)(3) status; or other social enterprise organization with a clearly defined social benefit
Headquartered in Greater Boston
A mission which provides the Greater Boston/New England community with a social benefit
A minimum of five paid full-time staff, as well as a board of directors
Stable leadership in the organization (ED tenure exceeds one year)
Administrative capacity and commitment to oversee and support the consulting work
Not currently in a crisis situation which would require more urgent assistance

FOCUSED project applicants must meet the following criteria:

Charitable nonprofit organization with IRS 501(c)(3) status; or other social enterprise organization with a clearly defined social benefit
Headquartered in Greater Boston
A mission which provides the Greater Boston/New England community with a social benefit
A minimum of three paid full-time staff, as well as an active board of directors
Stable leadership in the organization (ED tenure exceeds one year)
Administrative capacity and commitment to oversee and support the consulting work
Sufficient financial stability - clients may be considered for financial analysis/scenario planning projects if currently facing financial difficulties due to the pandemic but should not be in danger of financial collapse.

PROJECT CRITERIA - CLASSIC and FOCUSED projects

All potential projects must meet the following criteria:

Deal with business or management-related issues in the organization, such as strategic planning, organizational development, finance, or marketing
Not focused on development/fundraising strategy or implementation
Have goals which are well-defined and achievable by a volunteer team staffed according to project overview above.
Have the sponsorship of the organization's leadership, including both staff and the board

Examples of CLASSIC project focus:

Development of strategic plans
Development of business plans
Development of marketing/communications strategy and plans
Development of replication or scaling plans
Outcomes measurement
Human resources
Board development

Examples of FOCUSED project focus:

Market opportunity assessment
Operational review of a key functional area
Impact measurement studies (KPIs/dashboards)
Strategic or business planning retreat design & facilitation
Mission or vision work
Financial scenario analysis and planning
Growth plan for a specific program or product
Succession planning

TIMELINE

June 11, 2021: Client application due date (at 11:59 pm)
June and July 2021: Phone interviews and Zoom meetings with staff and board leadership
August - September 2021: Volunteers select from semi-finalist projects
October 1, 2021: Volunteers and clients matched, project selection finalized
October 2021: Teams begin project work
June 2021: Teams complete work

Applicants will be notified of their status by email or phone at each stage of the process. Your application will not be considered until you SUBMIT your application using the Submit Button below.

Please save your work after each section. You will be emailed a link which will allow you to continue editing this application until you hit the submit button. The application is considered final once it is submitted.

Organization Contact Information

Please indicate type of application

Type of Classic Project

Type of Focused Project

If other, please indicate type of project

Organization Name

Organization Street Address

Organization City

Organization State

Organization Postal Code

Organization Web Address

Application Contact First Name

Application Contact Last Name

Application Contact Title

Application Contact Cell Phone

Application Contact Work Phone

Application Contact Email

Application Contact is the ED / CEO?

YesNo

ED/CEO/President First Name

ED/CEO/President Last Name

ED/CEO/President Cell Phone

ED/CEO/President Work Phone

ED/CEO/President Email

ED/CEO/President Time in Role

Board Liaison First Name

Board Liaison Last Name

Board Liaison Email

Board Liaison Time on Board

Organization Demographics

Annual Budget

Number of Full-Time Equivalent Staff

Nonprofit Sector

Check if past CAP Client?

How did you hear about us?

Referring Contact Name

Project Details

Briefly state the mission of your organization.

Describe the primary programs and services of your organization.

Please describe the impact of COVID19 on your organization.

Please describe your project. What kind of assistance are you looking for from Community Action Partners? What questions or ideas would you like the team to address? Note: As part of all CAP projects, the team will first work with the organization to be sure the scope of the project will have the greatest possible impact and will most effectively use the CAP resources assigned. CAP reserves the right to re-evaluate project selection if circumstances change substantially from the time of application.

What outcomes are you hoping for?

What kind of support and involvement would the project have from the ED/CEO/President and Board of Directors?

What, if any, is the role of Harvard Business School or Kennedy School alumni or other MBAs on your staff or board? NOTE: This is not a criterion for project selection.

If you have previously used or are using outside business or development consultants, please describe your experiences.

Financial Fitness and Forecast

To better understand your organization’s current financial position and whether you might benefit from CAP’s assistance with near-term financial planning and management, please respond to the following questions and provide any available supporting data/documents:

a) Have you recently developed forecasts and/or business plans to help manage your organization through the current public health and economic crisis?

b) How has the crisis impacted your organization’s financial performance? If possible, indicate recent monthly revenue and operating profits/losses.

c) Do you feel as though your organization has adequate funding or liquidity to weather the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and resulting economic challenges over the next 12-18 months?

Supplemental Files (highly encouraged)

Board of Directors

Organization Chart

Strategic Plan

Annual Report

Financial Statements

Other