Our Work in Action

For two years, Change Often provided interim executive services, program management, and capacity building to enhance NC CRED’s operational presence and impact. Our team focused on fortifying NC CRED’s governance structure, conducting research and analysis to support strategic decision-making, and ensuring operational efficiency aligned with the organization’s mission. We also led grant writing efforts to secure funding for critical initiatives. Notably, we organized and hosted the Harms Symposium and Judicial Symposium, both of which contributed to key discussions on criminal justice reform.

For More:

• Read the Judicial Symposium report

Change Often collaborated with YWCA High Point to guide the organization through a comprehensive strategic planning process, ensuring alignment with its mission, values, and long-term goals. Through facilitated planning sessions with board members, staff, and key stakeholders, we helped YWCA High Point articulate a clear vision for the future, identify operational priorities, and outline measurable objectives for the next three years.

"The C.O. team is very knowledgeable in nonprofit management and strategic planning. It has been great to work with them on our strategic plan project. Their team members worked well together, were very organized, and managed the timeline (even over the holidays) to ensure that we created a strong strategic plan for our organization. They really listened to our entire team and engaged everyone."

- Heidi Majors, CEO of YWCA High Point

CLICK HERE to see the Impact Report for this strategic planning project

The strategic planning process uncovered the need to bolster the organization’s fundraising efforts, which led to the development of a Culture of Philanthropy Board & Staff Development series. This series provided YWCA board members and staff with practical tools to enhance their fundraising skills, foster stronger relationships with donors, and support long-term sustainability. The initiative has been instrumental in equipping participants to confidently articulate the organization's mission and effectively engage potential donors.

For more detailed outcomes, please review the full report:

• Culture of Philanthropy Board & Staff Development series

Project Resilience was an 8-week resiliency and youth violence prevention program, designed to help at-risk youth, survivors of violence, and their mentors build skills in resiliency and advocacy. Through a collaborative effort between Change Often, the University of North Carolina Greensboro (UNCG), D-UP Inc., and Resilience High Point, the program focused on empowering youth in grades 6-12 to become community change agents.

Change Often led the Community Resiliency Model (CRM) training, providing students and mentors with practical tools to understand trauma, build resilience, and advocate for themselves and their communities. Beyond training, we facilitated team meetings with all partners, managed stakeholder engagement, and developed strategic communications for project events, such as the Photovoice Showcase.

Key Project Outcomes:

• 80% of participants increased their use of the six CRM wellness skills by 230%.
• 60% of participants created a Self-Care Plan for the first time, empowering them with practical tools to manage stress and build resilience.

Participant Comments:

• “I can use what I learned about CRM in school.”
• “Through this program, I learned that my community needs me just as much as I need it.”

Dr. Erica Payton-Foh, Project Lead and UNCG Faculty Research Fellow, praised the program, noting:

“Change Often’s services and delivery are impeccable. I would gladly recommend them to others.”

Check out the full Project Resilience report by clicking here!

Mt. Zion Baptist Church is a pivotal force in the High Point community. Dr. Rev. Frank Thomas had a vision for the High Point community beyond the already amazing work being done with the Community Writing Center. Through genuine relationships and a diligent and homegrown network, Change Often was able to commit to helping Dr. Rev. Frank Thomas bring his vision to fruition.

Since Mega Mission Ministries (M3) was envisioned, Change Often provided expert-level collaboration equipping Dr. Thomas’s vision with the necessary action to execute. Change Often facilitated M3’s first Board Retreat, creating the space for the development of the organization’s mission, vision, values, goals, programs and services, organizational structure, and governing documents. With the support and counsel of Change Often, M3 was able to hire, orient, and manage our first staff member, the Program Director, within the first two months of incorporation.

• "Every educator needs this training!”
• “This training is very necessary! Having people who have worked in education to lead it made it 10 times more relatable.”
• “Very effective in generating conversations that can lead to change.”

Being that many challenges are symptoms of economic hardship, we recognized that something would need to be done to address income-based inequalities in our society, giving way to the HPCIC’s inaugural 2020-21 initiative: a $1 million campaign to develop and establish the High Point Equity Project.

Launched in Summer 2021, the High Point Equity Project is a sustainable course of action to support the growth and development of minority-owned and economically-challenged businesses in the City of High Point through the provision of non-traditional business financing, technical assistance, entrepreneurial mentorship, and business coaching.

A number of new partnerships help to generate this project’s momentum, starting with High Point University’s $500,000 challenge gift and the High Point Community Foundation’s agreement to act as the fiduciary agent. These commitments prompted a steering committee of local leaders, facilitated by High Point’s social innovation consulting firm Change Often, to identify the National Institute of Minority Economic Development (The Institute) as the best partner for collaborative programming.

The collaboration between Business High Point - Chamber of Commerce, The Institute, and Change Often in executing the High Point Equity Project is working to create the right environment for developing a robust small business scene.

The Arts Council of Greater Greensboro (AG), a community-supported nonprofit organization and the largest public and private alliance dedicated to sustaining Guilford County’s local arts economy, is the recipient of ARPA funding from both Guilford County and NC Arts Council to focus on Organizational Support and Capacity Building for Guilford County arts and cultural organizations, with primary objectives of:

• Strengthening organizations’ operational models (diversified revenue streams, staff capacity, board development, and other identified priorities).
• Encouraging peer-to-peer learning models and collaboration across organizations.
• Ensuring organizations remain open and viable with community access to an array of arts and cultural programming.
• Helping local arts and cultural organizations build liquidity (minimum of six months of cash on hand).

To help organizations with fulfilling these objectives, the team at Change Often - Social Innovation Firm has been enlisted to develop a suite of workshops and supportive coaching opportunities that will boost capacity for each organization based on the identified areas of highest need, and lead a learning cohort that is centered around key themes supporting long-term sustainability.

The NC Commission on Volunteerism and Community Service (VolunteerNC) promotes and facilitates service and volunteering to improve lives, strengthen communities, and foster civic engagement in North Carolina.

Volunteer NC's AmeriCorps partner programs had a need for innovative recruitment approaches. The partner programs identified the following areas: (1) getting promotional materials in front of more people, (2) identifying recruitment opportunities (job fairs, career days, etc.), and (3) creating inclusive marketing materials and plans to recruit a more diverse pool of candidates. Change Often - Social Innovation Firm delivered 3 workshops to meet this need.

Feedback from participants was overwhelmingly positive:

• “I really appreciated insights from presenters . They were able to identify ideas from group brainstorming discussions and help refine them into specific themes and action items.”

• “The workshop helped me think about how to expand existing strategy with more depth and intention"
  
  
• “The "pods" were helpful because we had the opportunity to share what is working for our programs and what we may need more insight on to improve. I enjoyed learning from other programs strategies.”