Coaching Relationship
Professional coaches are increasingly being used by organizations with astonishing success. Recently it was reported that 80% of the Fortune 500 companies provide coaching services to various levels of their management teams. These companies report increased profits, increased productivity and increased executive satisfaction when professional coaches are used.
Bernstein Group & Associates Coaching Relationship produces both the business results your staff will need now, and the professional transformation that drives future success. Aligning the development needs of the individual with the objectives of the organization, Bernstein Group will provide a confidential and supportive feedback-rich environment where your staff leaders can gain valuable insights and develop positive new attributes.
We at the Bernstein Group have skills in providing outstanding counsel and strategic planning that have helped our clients prosper. Bernstein Group will provide your staff with comprehensive and outstanding coaching services and will serve as their primary counsel.
The Bernstein Group's leadership and management process helps emphasize the unique potential of the individual and provides a structure and method for their development. Our approach promotes personal discovery and new methods for solving problems. To facilitate this understanding, a significant part of our work is to offer feedback, action planning, active learning and follow-up into their ongoing work life. It is about moving individuals into behaviors that sustain their careers and enhance their professional growth.
As we work with your staff members, the following items are a few examples of what can be accomplished in this coaching relationship:
• Provide various approaches (including social media) to help your staff enhance their internal (staff) and external (customers) communications
• Managing the transition into new leadership roles
• Managing change and uncertainty
• Building and supervising diverse staff
• Help them increase their effectiveness in achieving annual fundraising goals
Bernstein Group consultants have the practical experience to build well-rounded staff members. We understand that your staff member must successfully balance internal and external duties, paying as much attention to fundraising or community relations as to budget planning and staff management.
Gerard Ucelli
Special Events Coordinator
Jewish Community Center
of Staten Island
Evett Shulman
Director of Individual Giving
Jewish Community Center
of Staten Island
Meghan Wood
Director of Development
Greenbelt Conservancy
of Staten Island
Corporate Sponsorships
For corporate event sponsorships, Bernstein Group will zero in on what it is about sponsoring your events that will truly resonate with the prospective sponsor by commencing with some market research. Conducting market research on a regular basis is important for every business to keep up with the changing market trends and to make sure that the business maintains its competitive edge. Conducting market research is imperative to understanding your target market as well as for increasing your sponsorship sales.
Sponsorships come in all shapes and sizes, as companies look to achieve vastly different objectives from their sponsorship activity. There are five corporate goals for sponsorships:
1.) Drive revenue
2.) Provide an opportunity to entertain customers in a unique environment
3.) Give sales a platform for developing relationships
4.) Create benefits for employees and drive the brand.
5.) Our job will be to thoroughly research and professionally secure the companies that will be potential corporate and business sponsors and to develop an effective ROE (Return on Engagement) for each company with respect to the year-round special events that our clients identify.
Building and Sustaining a Strong Organizational Culture
“Culture Trumps Strategy”, this famous saying is not that strategy is not critical, butit is to emphasize that without a positive and strong corporate/organizational culture as the foundation your organization will never achieve its true potential. Building a strong sustainable culture is the number one thing that will pay off in achieving your goals of revenue growth, increased impact, employee satisfaction and retention, and achieving your mission. Consulting in this area includes:
• Board and/or Staff Leadership presentations on the impact of culture
• Identifying your organizations foundational values, the behaviors that drive them
• Systematizing the process, so it becomes an organic part of your culture
• Staff training and implementation
PLANNING STUDIES
A campaign planning study is a tool a nonprofit uses to determine whether it should go ahead with a capital or endowment fundraising campaign. It is essential for an organization to assess the likelihood of success for a campaign before entering into it. A nonprofit that does not do so puts the campaign, the project for which the money is to be raised, and even the organization itself at risk.
Bernstein Group’s detailed and strategic study process will assess the:
• Community’s perception of the importance of the need for which money is to be raised.
• Feelings, both positive and negative, about the organization and its mission.
• Size of the potential donor base and their ability and willingness to give.
• Availability of strong campaign leadership and effective volunteers.
• Internal resources available for the campaign and the preparedness of the organization to undertake it.
• External factors that could influence the outcome of the campaign.
A Planning study conducted by Bernstein Group & Associates can reveal a great deal. Properly planned and executed it is in reality a survey of the philanthropic “landscape” and an organization’s place within. By asking affluent and influential persons the right questions, an organization can get information that has direct and positive bearing on its mission, governance, staffing, and the quality and delivery of its services.
Bernstein Group is a strong believer in using Planning studies to explore an organization’s place in the community and the perceptions that community holds of everything from the organization’s fiscal responsibility to the value of its existence.
Perhaps the principal value of having Bernstein Group perform a campaign Planning study is the opportunity to obtain candid answers to strategic questions. We are not part of the organization’s “family,” and that means the responses from study subjects are more candid and complete.
Risk Management
Risk is inherent in almost all aspects of life. Sport facility managers must regularly attempt to minimize risk at their facilities. Risk cannot be totally eliminated from the environment, but with careful planning it can be managed. “Risk management is a systematic and analytical process to consider the likelihood that a threat will endanger an asset, individual, or function and to identify actions to reduce the risk and mitigate the consequences of an attack” (Decker, 2001, p. 1).
Bernstein Group & Associates will identify risks through various means. We conduct surveys of participants, conduct inspections of the facility, and interview present employees.
Bernstein Group & Associates knows how important it is to use proper athletic facility risk management strategies to protect people and property from harm. Such strategies can save you money, protect both you and your organization from liability, and ultimately is the right thing to do.
Bernstein Group can provide customized risk management services for your athletic facility. Consulting is conducted on-site. Contact us for more information at (757) 667-0293.
Employment Services
Job Application Development
Most organizations skip a very significant step in the hiring process. Generally, initial interviews begin right after resumes are submitted. In some cases the submission of an application is required, but it's generally a boiler plate, non job specific document. As a result, employers squander an opportunity to challenge and evaluate candidates without spending hours interviewing. In addition, the job application can become a legal document that will protect you against unnecessary questions regarding your employment practices. The best job applications are ones that are uniquely tailored for a specific position.
Comprehensive Job Descriptions
In tandem with a job application, a comprehensive job description helps pinpoint exactly what you as a employer seeks. Most job descriptions are too vague, and don’t spell out specific expectations, required results, and measurable outcomes. When written well, this document helps pare down the number of unqualified applicants, reduces potential conflict with aggressive candidates, and serves as a powerful legal document with anyone who pursues any type of litigation.
Creation of a Standardized Interview Process
Interviewing many candidates can not only be confusing, but is often unscientific. Honing in on the right questions is critical, but additionally creating specific tasks that will help you judge a candidate’s skill level is often the difference between a good and bad hire. We work with you on each of these
elements, and also will design an evaluative tool that makes judging easier.
Screening
For organizations who have time constraints, we will provide every step needed in a comprehensive search through the presentation ion of final candidates. A screening can include all of the services listed above, or any of its pieces. We will continue with this process through hiring regardless of the amount of time it takes.
Success Stories
Here are recent Bernstein Group placements of talented individuals at some very special nonprofit agencies.
BOARD TRAINING: SELF-ASSESSMENT FOR THE BOARD
A tool for improving the governance practices of nonprofit organizations Would your board benefit from board training? Are some of the board members unsure of their role? Do some board members seem disengaged? This self- assessment helps you evaluate your need for board development.
The Board of Directors sets the tone and direction of an organization. Effective board leadership and governance helps ensure that a nonprofit can operate to its fullest capacity. Creating an effective board is a continual process that includes recruitment, engagement and development. A strong, vibrant board of directors is a clear indicator of a healthy organization. Yet even the best organizations need a periodic check-up to ensure that they cannot just survive but will really thrive in today’s environment. To check your board’s vital signs, or to put in place practices and strategies for a healthy and energized board, the best place to start is with a board self-assessment.
Best practices dictate that those boards that are best equipped for success are self-aware and are committed to continually improving their performance. One of the most important things that a board can do to strengthen its own performance and that of its chief executive is to take the time to reflect on what’s being done well and the potential challenges the organization may be facing. This survey tool will gather feedback from individual board members and measure the collective performance of the board.
1. It all starts with a Board Self-Assessment, which enables your board to reflect on its strengths and where it is more challenged. A confidential and comprehensive self-assessment tool asks your board to rate its own performance in several key areas, including:
• Support of the organization’s mission
• Effectiveness in building, implementing, and monitoring strategy
• Oversight of the organization’s programs and finances and fundraising ability
• Management, oversight, and support of the executive
• Board structure and composition
• Board meeting effectiveness
2. Bernstein Group will create an introductory letter to be distributed to the nonprofit Board under the President and CEO’s signature along with Self-
Evaluation Questionnaire explaining the detailed process.
3. Bernstein Group will then compile/gather information from completed self-evaluation tool and synthesize results with board and share its findings and present the results at an upcoming board meeting. Using data from the board self-assessment, Bernstein Group will facilitate a conversation with the board about the results of your self-assessment and recommend next steps for board development.
4. Building off of the assessment, Bernstein Group offers a number of deeper supports to help a board better understand and reflect on its performance, as well as to set a course for strengthened performance through focused board development.
5. Bernstein Group’s Board Self-Assessment can be utilized in two ways:
a) As a stand alone resource, OR b) As part of an on going board training program
Interim CEO, COO, Business Development
Bernstein Group Associates will bring our extensive experience as senior level leaders in the for-profit and nonprofit sector to fill Interim senior leadership roles that are the right fit. We will provide stability in leadership, maintaining operational oversight, project- based leadership assignments as well as creation or implementation of growth, turn-around or new venture strategies.
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CAMPAIGN COUNSEL
Bernstein Group & Associates understands that developing the campaign plan is only the beginning. Successful campaigns depend on executing the plan, monitoring progress and making the right adjustments along the way in order to maintain momentum and keep the campaign on course. We also understand the importance of executing the campaign in a manner that does not jeopardize, undermine or disrupt ongoing annual fundraising programs.
As your campaign counsel we see ourselves as your partner on the campaign team, advising on strategy for the overall campaign, as well as strategies for individual prospects. Bernstein Group is proactive while guiding you through the campaign process.
We understand that no two organizations are exactly alike. There are unique strengths, challenges and histories that influence the campaign. We believe that our job, as counsel, is to develop and execute a campaign strategy that takes all of these factors into account in order to capitalize on the strengths and mitigate the challenges.
Bernstein Group & Associates believes that campaign success is defined by what happens after the campaign is over: fundraising programs are stronger, annual giving has reached a higher level, staff is better trained, and most importantly leadership understands that fundraising is an ongoing, organization-wide investment.
Business Development
Whether you are running a for-profit or a nonprofit developing new “customers”, strategic partners and revenue streams is critical. Consulting services include:
• General training in the business development strategies
• Identifying areas of need/opportunity
• Finding the right strategic partners to achieve your objectives
• Interim work in business development for your organization