Mary Ann Payne is an experienced wordsmith  who refines ideas on paper to help non-profit organizations tell their story to funding sources, clients, and the larger community.  

Because putting words on paper is only one step of the process of program planning and implementation, Mary Ann assists agencies with board and staff development, community assessments, program design and collaborative efforts.

Foundation and Government Grants

• Want to respond to a government RFP?
• Interested in foundation grants?
• Overworked and understaffed?
• Facing a tight deadline?
• Just don't know where to begin?

Reduce your stress. Let an experienced grant writer help with the details of preparing a successful funding proposal. 

Relying on over thirty years experience in all aspects of nonprofit work from direct service to agency administration, I now focus on writing grant proposals to help others expand their program and administrative capacity. My specific expertise lies in early childhood education and development and family support but I enjoy learning about new fields of human service.

 

Board and Staff Development

As you know, an expert is someone who travels at least twenty miles and arrives with a briefcase.

•  If you need an expert to help your Board or staff hear what you've been saying all year, call me. 
• If you want someone to make an important point or drive home a familiar message, send me an email.
• If you see morale disintegrating before your eyes, look me up.

Together we can create and implement a plan to move to the next level for your organization or agency.

In addition, I am available to serve as a mentor or coach for young professionals who would benefit from individualized support in fund and program development and implementation.

 

Community Needs Assessment

You probably know your community like the back of your hand. You know how neighborhoods are changing, what service gaps exist, and which hot spots are about to explode. 

Your probably also have ideas about program activities to welcome new populations, fill the gaps and de-escalate the tensions.

But do you know ...

• How to prove the need? 

• How  to gather specific information to breathe life into   generic statistics? 

• Or where to find research to validate your program dreams?

I can listen to what you already know, collect data from formal and informal sources, probe beneath the surface of official documents, and query current participants, community leaders, and/or potential donors. Best of all, I will organize and present the information in a manner that is useful for strategic planning, program design, proposal submission, public relations, funding appeals - and a host of other purposes. Tell me what you want to know about your community and together we can figure out where and how to find it.

 

Program Design

Making your agency programs stand out from the crowd requires more than a catchy slogan or a distinctive logo. What aspects of your services are unique?  Do you have programs that have grown stale with the passage of time? How do you tweak a successful program so that it remains fundable? 

If you want to move beyond the status quo  in order to offer relevant programs that speak to key needs in your community, I can help:

• facilitate brainstorming session or focus groups to generate ideas,
• listen to staff and clients to learn what is needed and feasible,
• introduce successful ideas from other agencies and disciplines, and
• work with program administrators and board members to focus on mission and stay within budget.

Together, we can create program elements that are relevant, cost effective, and fun!

Collaboration

Managing a collaborative effort is an appropriate definition of multi-tasking. Finding partners, defining roles and responsibilities, monitoring program activities that cross traditional professional boundaries, and coordinating ongoing communication is often a job and a half. 

If you'd like to hear an outsider's perceptions of program strengths and weaknesses, discuss options for new partners or systems, resolve issues effectively,  or just vent current frustrations, I'm available. 

Email me at maryann@paynecns.com or phone (909) 391-3524.

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Copyright © 2004 Payne Consultants
Last modified: April 04, 2004