ALLEGHENY VALLEY SCHOOL

NHS Human Services

Mission Statement The mission of Allegheny Valley School is to provide quality programs and facilities to help

the individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities entrusted to our care to live with purpose and dignity, and to provide opportunities and choices for our clients to grow and function at their full potential as independently as possible.

Allegheny Valley School (AVS) is a private, non-profit organization established in 1960 to care for children with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Founded by Patricia Hillman Miller, with help from friends Bob Prince and Doug Hannah, AVS provided care for 10 children with intellectual disabilities who were left without a home when The Pittsburgh Home for Babies orphanage closed.

Since 1960, Allegheny Valley School has grown into a multi-faceted organization with programs and facilities serving more than 900 children, adults and senior citizens. Most of the residents are diagnosed with severe or profound intellectual disabilities; most also have multiple physical disabilities, medical complications and some have behavioral management needs.

Allegheny Valley School is known for its outstanding community residential environments and therapeutic programs for children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. We currently operate more than 125 programs and facilities in the following 9 Pennsylvania counties: Allegheny, Beaver, Bucks, Butler, Dauphin, Lebanon, Mercer, Montgomery and Philadelphia. AVS employs more than 2,300 people.

On May 30, 2008, Allegheny Valley School was acquired by NHS Human Services. Allegheny Valley School remains committed to providing quality programs and facilities to help those with intellectual and developmental disabilities to reach their fullest potential.

Challenges of AVS

Allegheny Valley School faces many internal and external challenges. As a non profit organization it can become a struggle to raise money to pay for the care of the students. In doing so, it can not only be extremely difficult and expensive, but it can potentially not bring in a profit if it isn’t planned correctly.

The Rights of Employees One of the first areas of every

business that need to be assessed immediately is the happiness of the employees. If the employees are happy then everyone will be happy. If they have an incentive to increase their level of performance and capabilities while at work then the patients/residence will most likely express the same feeling of happiness. This is something I’m sure most of us know from experience. As an employee if we aren’t satisfied with the treatment from our employers or something along the lines of the benefits we receive then nobody is going to be happy.

How to make a profit Secondly, giving insight on marketing

fundraising events to provide quality programs and more facilities to children and adults can also affect the organization overall. This is an area that can offer tremendous value to Allegheny Valley School. Being able to provide leadership skills on how to raise money to afford new programs, materials, and facilities for the special needs adults and children need to be taken into consideration. Developing a plan to acquire other schools and businesses to make donations and save Campbell soup labels which can be turned in for money towards new supplies and equipment will improve the quality of the school and lives of the disabled.

Achieving your Goals There are many ways to raise enough

money to achieve an organizations goals. To create a better learning environment for the disabled I am helping to assist in planning events that I feel will bring in a huge profit. Having the information available to create exquisite marketing and fundraising events could potentially provide quality programs and additional facilities for both the adolescent and adult groups which can also affect the overall significance of the organization. Building relationships with other businesses and schools throughout the area can offer tremendous value to Allegheny Valley School as well. The more AVS gets to know the surrounding neighborhoods, schools, and businesses the more often they will receive donations.

Collecting Campbell’s Soup labels for new equipment.

Donations from surrounding businesses to break new grounds.

Fundraisers for the children including farm animals, face painting, games etc.

Community car washes on when the weather is nice.

Classic car show with an admission fee

Leadership in an Organization What challenges

are we likely to face in developing leadership in organizations? What steps should organizations take to improve the effectiveness of their leadership development initiatives?

Organizational LeadershipLeadership responsibilities should be distributed

throughout the organization

e Exemplar. The role model that others imitate; exemplifies the assessment criteria and sets the standards for becoming a member of a network; important in setting the tone and culture of the organization.

The Gatekeeper. Understands the criteria for being included, retained, elevated, and excluded from a network; decides who is in and who is out; denies admittance to, and weeds out, those who fail to meet the standards of the network.

The Visionary. Determines what is limiting about the present and shows what is possible for the future; imagines new possibilities and plays a critical role in moving the networked organization in new directions.

The Enforcer. Uses coercion and pressure (perhaps physical, but more likely peer or psychological) to compel adherence to rules and network standards.

The Truth-Teller. Keeps the network honest; identifies half-truths, cheaters, liars, and spinners in the networked organization; exemplifies independence, transparency, accuracy, and candor in the face of tremendous pressure.

The Fixer. Knows how to get things done; pragmatic and results oriented; creative in solving problems, and often bends rules and works through informal networks.

The Connector. Participates in multiple social networks; has numerous friends, contacts, and connections; critical to identifying and accessing new resources and helping get a message out.

The Facilitator. Creates sub-networks or communities that provide network value and benefit an entire group; plays the role of a "community coordinator" in communities of practice; vital to coordinating and enabling other actors and decision-makers.

Services Provided Campus Living Community Group

Homes Adult Training Family Living Supported Living Community Living Sensory Programs

Plan of Action Implementing action

plans

It is helpful for quality action plans to be linked to other organizational plans, so that action can be prioritized and budgets agreed.

Identify each stage of the tasks

delegate responsibility to an indentified person or people

have a realistic timetable

keep a written record of action.

Strategic planning steers an organization on the path to success. It is the framework that determines where an organization is going over the next year or more, how it’s going to get there, and how it will know if it got there or not.

More specifically, a strategic plan identifies the mission, vision and/or values of an organization, the goals to work toward the mission, the strategies to achieve the goals, and how to plan for action. Strategic planning increases effectiveness, efficiency, productivity, and accountability within a non profit organization.

Strategic planning pushes your team to focus on the future and the commitment that it will take to make the organization a success. It shows that the organization is committed to a plan of action that will sustain and develop the organization to better serve the community.

Suggested PoliciesThroughout the last few weeks

I have been communicating back and forth with quite a few of the employees and volunteers from Allegheny Valley School. We collectively decided our main focus was trying to figure out how to bring the most essential values to the organization in the timeliest manner and least costly way. I started by asking questions about different aspects of the organization such as what they felt they need the most and who would benefit from these ideas. I wanted to make sure that if I helped raise funds for the school they would be put to good use.

Adopting procedures that ensure financial accountability, eliminate misunderstandings, and that protect the organization’s assets and viability was the first step. Being able to provide leadership skills on how to raise money to afford new programs, materials, and facilities for the special needs adults and children need to be taken into deep consideration.

Recommendations for Allegheny Valley School

By creating a case statement which is a written document that tells prospective donors how their donations will be used and how the donation will positively impact the community or cause will increase the amount of donations.

Research companies that give charitable donations or that might benefit from donating to your organization.

Offer online contests. For example, a nonprofit designed to teach literacy might host an online short story contest. Individuals could pay a contest fee, submit a story and potentially win a prize. To reduce costs to the nonprofit, donations from local companies could be requested for prizes for the contest.

Nonprofit organizations support a wide variety of causes that rely, almost entirely, on donations. Many companies and individuals assist nonprofit organizations by providing financial and other types of contributions. However, most people who work for and raise money for nonprofits understand that action must be taken to ensure regular donations.

Use mailers, such as direct-mail and e-mail requests, to solicit donations from individuals and companies.

Host events to raise money--luncheons, formal dinners, golf tournaments and carnivals.

Also requesting grants from the government or from other businesses will increase donations.

Conclusion Allegheny Valley School gave me an

opportunity to share my thoughts on what I felt would be the right tools to improve the areas of the organization that needed the most improvements. The managers of not only took my ideas into consideration but they were passed along to a regional director to be looked at further. Being that my grandfather did the microfilming for Allegheny Valley School they realized I had enough knowledge from many prior years of reading documents on the residence and students to be able to make a decision on the different ways to help the non profit organization make a profit to change some of the way things are being done and be able to afford new buildings and equipment.

I sent a formal letter to Allegheny Valley School thanking them for letting me share my ideas and giving me the opportunity to meet with some of the departments of the school to set up different fundraisers and plan other events that will continuously encourage surrounding businesses and other schools in Western Pennsylvania to make donations. ( I didn’t just do this as an experiment for a school project I turned it into something I could actually do to help the disabled. I helped raise enough money to take the children at AVS to the zoo. ) After sending my letter I didn’t think I was going to receive a response but, I did. I received a phone call from the manager of the activities department thanking me for all of my help and kind consideration. She asked me if I would be able to volunteer with AVS more often and I agreed. This was a wonderful opportunity and I hope that I could someday turn it into something better.

Work Cited Leadership in non profit organizations-Excerpted with permission

from "Developing Leaders & Leadership in Organizations," by David A. Cole, LILA Insights, July 2005. http://www.uknow.gse.harvard.edu/leadership/leadership003b.html - On July 1, 2012

Non-profit organizations- How to learn and improve from your quality assessment. by CharitiesEvaluationServices — last modified Jul 19, 2010 05:33 PM http://knowhownonprofit.org/organisation/quality/quality/learning - On July 2, 2012

How to get donations for a non-profit organization- Jakob Nielsen's Alertbox, February 16, 2011 http://www.useit.com/alertbox/nonprofit-donations.html

On July 6, 2012