January 27, 2020 Niki Dettman

San Bernardino, CA – On January 9th the Making Hope Happen Foundation held its first meeting of the decade celebrating the positive results of an expert assessment of its resource development systems and processes.

With the Foundation approaching its 5-year mark, the Board of Directors sought to review progress for the organization to date and applied to the Inland Empire Community Foundation (IECF) for help to secure resources needed to bring in an expert set of eyes.  Thanks to IECF’s willingness to support capacity building efforts of local nonprofits, the Making Hope Happen Foundation was able to hire Michelle Whiting & Associates (MWA) to conduct a development assessment.

In November 2019, MWA reviewed Foundation’s processes and procedures related to resource development and made recommendations about how the organization could improve.  Their assessment included a detailed look at the Foundation’s leadership, policies, recognition systems, donor communication processes, reporting methods, and more. In addition to reviewing volumes of documentation, Michelle Whiting, and her associate Laura Hardy, conducted more than a dozen in-depth interviews with Board Members, Donors and Staff of the Foundation.

“This was one of the easiest assessments I’ve had to do because the Making Hope Happen Foundation is doing such an amazing job!” said Michelle Whiting.

MWA presented their findings and recommendations to a joint session of the Making Hope Happen Foundation’s Board of Directors and Advisory Board. Their feedback provided insight to help organization’s leadership continue to develop and advance the Foundation.

“Our excellent volunteer and staff leadership created the environment prime for growth,” said Dr. Samuel Gibbs, President of the Making Hope Happen Foundation. “We are excited about what’s in store for 2020”.

This year, the Making Hope Happen Foundation will continue its work to help the youth of San Bernardino learn better, dream bigger and achieve more through its programming and partnerships. Its work includes teaching parents how to prepare their infants and toddlers for future success in school, investing in innovative educational programs occurring in local schools, helping local high school graduates succeed in college, and convening stakeholders to uplift the City of San Bernardino.  Donors and their contributions make this work possible.  The development assessment offered important advice for how to engage more people and partners in these efforts.

The Making Hope Happen Foundation supports the educational mission of the San Bernardino City Unified School District which has embraced the power of hope as a primary driver of personal motivation and community change. Making Hope Happen Foundation engages people, builds partnerships, provides leadership, and delivers resources where they are needed to achieve a thriving and innovative community in which every student is a life-long learner and can be successful in meeting their hopes and aspirations. For more information, please visit www.MakingHope.org.