Raising Resilience Tennessee

What is the core mission of your organization? Our mission is to empower parents to break generational cycles & provide safer, more supportive environments where children can flourish.

How do you measure impact and success in your programs? We use evidence-based and research-informed curricula that incorporate outcomes tools. We also utilize session focused and program completion retrospective surveys that demonstrate growth in knowledge and skills.

What are your biggest fundraising or outreach challenges? Prevention as a purpose is simply a harder case to make, especially when it comes with a lot of shame and blame connected with making poor parenting choices or reactive actions that center you in places like DCS, courts, jails, or substance use recovery centers. Most don’t think of the parents we work with as “victims,” and until they see their own ACE scores they often haven’t seen themselves in that light. It’s hard to get them to share their stories unless they’re anonymous. Additionally, with recent funding losses, we’ve cut staffing to most of our remaining staff are wearing multiple hats… this makes follow-up less timely and more challenging.

How do you build long-term relationships with donors and supporters? We have many long-term relationships with donors and community collaborators. We try to stay connected through newsletters, emails, and texts with donors, as well as hoping they’ll attend our annual events. Historically this has been an agency that’s struggled because it was founded by local civic groups that have a collective mission around giving as a group. Many of those individuals give more now than in the past yet those groups are struggling as well in gaining memberships and engagement. The past 10 years we’ve tried to connect on a more personal level through meetings (coffee, lunch, wine, dinner) as well.

What trends are influencing the nonprofit world today? I need more than a paragraph for this one! The pandemic created a disconnect with people participating in person and connecting through events even after its conclusion. There seems to be a more insular approach and individual volunteerism doesn’t have the same participation rates as it has in the past. The 2017 changes in the tax laws reduced the incentive for those in higher earning brackets to give creating the need for many nonprofits to rely more heavily on government support. With the significant reductions in or requirements to receiving government support last year, it’s become a question for many of sustainability. With the ongoing rising costs of daily needs (groceries, gas, housing, utilities) the needs are increasing while services are becoming more constrained. Many of us with longer histories in the nonprofit world came into the work with a passion that meant our investment of time towards the cause came first. The workforce today (rightfully be the way) wants a more balanced work/life experience. Additionally, there are limited resources in any community so every time a new nonprofit is launched the pool of donors become more stretched. Truthfully we’re in a time where more nonprofits should/could be collaborating more or even merging for mission continuity.

Can you share a story that shows your mission in action? We recently heard from a junior in high school telling us “thank you” for helping her family. We’d helped her mom in 2019/2020 through a difficult situation that resulted in her gaining back full custody of her kids. 6yrs later they’re well considering their history and the challenges that come with raising kids in the current economic climate.

What keeps you motivated in this work? What keeps me motivated is a sense of purpose; what I do every day isn’t just for a paycheck, it makes a difference in others’ lives. As a leader in the nonprofit world it’s rare to receive accolades, you’re the one giving them, so it’s important to find all the wins, embrace them, and remind yourself that while you may not always “see” the big wins, they come through in little ways that culminate into bigger opportunities for the future.