Transforming performance, 

capacity, communities,

regional economies. 

workforce investment boards and community-based nonprofits

Creating Communities 

of Hope, Innovation, 

Productivity, and 

Prosperity: 

Lessons Learned 

from Grantees
II Transforming performance, capacity, communities, regional economies

• Connecting Community-Based Nonprofit Organizations to the Workforce System

• Sustaining and Growing the Connection

• Overcoming Barriers and Channeling People Into the Talent Pipeline: Community-Based Nonprofit 

 Delivery Strategies

• Aligning and Leveraging Community-Based Nonprofit Assets

• Leveraging Community-Based Nonprofit/Business Relationships

• Tapping Community-Based Nonprofit Leadership

Contents
Additional Information

Several of the resources included here will help the workforce 

system connect to community-based nonprofits and can be 

customized to a local/regional workforce system. Valuable 

examples, toolkits, guides, and reports are included on the 

accompanying disc. For more information from grantees, 

contact one of the peer contacts located in this resource (See 

Appendix A). For additional copies or information from the 

Department contact:

Janet Sten

U.S. Department of Labor

Employment and Training Administration

Office of Workforce Investment

Division of Workforce System Support

200 Constitution Ave., NW

Washington, DC 20210

Phone (202) 693-3980

Fax (202) 693-3981

www.workforce3one.org

Purpose 

In response to shrinking federal dollars, increasing 

need, and a changing economy, the workforce system 

is becoming more innovative, efficient, and global. One 

strategy for maximizing service delivery is to partner with 

community-based nonprofit organizations whose missions 

align with workforce system goals. By aligning service 

delivery strategies and leveraging these valuable community 

resources, the workforce system can ensure that it’s limited 

resources are used efficiently to maximize benefits to workers 

and businesses.

Between 2004-2006, the U.S. Department of Labor (the 

Department) invested $10 million dollars for workforce 

boards to engage grassroots nonprofit faith-based 

and community organizations (FBCOs) and connect 

disadvantaged job seekers with high growth industries and 

businesses. These Boards have learned many lessons and 

developed many tools that can contribute to how other 

workforce boards and local One-Stop Career Centers 

(OSCC) can work with community-based nonprofit 

organizations.

In an effort to demonstrate how the workforce system can 

maximize relationships with community-based nonprofits, 

this resource provides:

■ A summary of successful strategies from lessons learned, 

■ A variety of relevant resources, and 

■ Access to peers who are successfully forging relationships 

between the workforce system and community-based 

nonprofits and who are willing to answer your questions 

and share their experience. 

THE VALUE TO YOU...

Peer Contacts

For a list of grantee peer 

contacts access Appendix A.

Intended Audience

This resource is intended to be of value to:

■ Workforce Investment Boards (WIBs);

■ One-Stop Career Centers, partners, and providers;

■ Stakeholders in regional economic initiatives; 

■ Nonprofits;

■ Elected officials; and 

■ Other stakeholders in the workforce system.

Transforming performance, capacity, communities, regional economies III
IV Transforming performance, capacity, communities, regional economies
BACKGROUND

This resource is intended to support collaborative relationships between 

WIBs and community-based and regional nonprofit organizations to connect 

disadvantaged job seekers with high growth industries and businesses. 

Information for this resource was gleaned from the experience of WIBs and their 

small community-based nonprofit subrecipients* funded by the U.S. Department 

of Labor, Employment and Training Administration as well as various research 

papers and evaluations funded and/or released by the Department.

The grantees whose experiences are reflected in this resource were funded 

through competitive solicitations. Funding was intended to:

■ Increase access to the workforce investment system among underserved 

populations;

■ Provide new or enhanced services to individuals entering or in the talent 

pipeline; 

■ Build faith-based and community organizations’ (FBCOs) (to be referred to as 

community-based nonprofits) capacity and enable their ongoing participation 

in the workforce investment system;

■ Strengthen sustainable relationships between FBCOs and OSCC to serve 

disenfranchised populations including ex-offenders, youth, people with 

disabilities, victims of violent and domestic crime, with limited English 

proficiency, homeless veterans, etc.;

■ Provide capacity building for community-based nonprofits;

■ Build relationships across the workforce system; and

■ Achieve employment outcomes in high growth, high demand sectors.

A list of reports, evaluations, and research utilized to create this resource are 

found in Appendix D.

 *The solicitations required WIB grantees to work with small community-based nonprofits (FBCOs) with 

no more than six full-time equivalent employees or an annual social services budget of $350,000 or less. 

Copy of Solicitations

A copy of the solicitations can be accessed 

at http://www.doleta.gov/sga/2004grants.

cfm and http://www.doleta. gov/sga/

2005grants.cfm.

Listing of Grantees

For a listing of grantees see Appendix A. 

Transforming performance, capacity, communities, regional economies
VI Transforming performance, capacity, communities, regional economies
TABLE OF CONTENTS

III Background

3 Executive Summary

4 Connecting Community-Based Nonprofit Organizations to the 

Workforce System

15 Aligning and Leveraging Community-Based Nonprofit Assets

18 Overcoming Barriers and Channeling People Into the Talent Pipeline: 

Community-Based Nonprofit Delivery Strategies

21 Leveraging Community-Based Nonprofit/Business Relationships

24 Tapping Community-Based Nonprofit Leadership 

26 Sustaining and Growing the Connection

32 Endnotes

33 Appendices

34 A. Peer Contacts

39 B. Equal Treatment and Religion-Related Resources

41 C. Connecting Community-Based Nonprofits to the Workforce System

44 D. Bibliography

Transforming performance, capacity, communities, regional economies VII
VIII Transforming performance, capacity, communities, regional economies

Private entities in this document are included for informational or illustrative purposes 

and this should not be construed as an endorsement of these entities, their products or 

services by the U.S. Department of Labor.
Here’s a Quick Look at Key Take-Aways Inside

In this section you will discover what WIB 

grantees learned about:

Pg. 4 Connecting 

CommunityBased Nonprofit 

Organizations to 

the Workforce 

System

Pg. 15 Aligning 

and Leveraging 

Community-Based 

Nonprofit Assets

Pg. 22 Overcoming 

Barriers and 

Channeling 

People Into the 

Talent Pipeline: 

Community-Based 

Nonprofit Delivery 

Strategies

Pg. 18 Leveraging 

Community-Based 

Nonprofit/

Business 

Relationships

Pg. 24 Tapping 

CommunityBased Nonprofit 

Leadership

Pg.26 Sustaining 

and Growing the 

Connection

u The investment in 

and the return on 

connecting with 

community-based 

nonprofits

u Strategies for 

connecting 

community-based 

nonprofits to the 

workforce system

u What is different 

about working 

with communitybased nonprofits

u Expediting the 

alignment and 

leveraging of 

assets within a 

short timeframe

u Visible and 

tangible assets 

community-based 

nonprofits can 

bring to the 

workforce system

u Less visible 

and tangible 

characteristics of 

nonprofit assets

u Characteristics of 

community-based 

nonprofits that are 

complementary 

to the workforce 

system

u The 

transformational 

elements of 

nonprofit service 

delivery

u Using communitybased nonprofits 

as a way to 

extend and 

diversify the 

talent pipeline

u The role of the 

workforce system 

in facilitating 

nonprofit-business 

relationships

u The value 

businesses bring 

to communitybased nonprofits

u The value 

community-based 

nonprofits bring to 

businesses

u Integrating 

leadership of 

community-based 

nonprofits into the 

workforce system

u Attracting other 

leadership and 

organizations 

through the 

success of the 

grant

u Various 

dimensions 

of leadership 

opportunities with 

community-based 

nonprofits

u How the success 

of and value 

placed on 

relationships with 

community-based 

nonprofits leads 

to sustainability 

and growth

u What is really 

worth sustaining 

and growing

u Challenges that 

were overcome

Transforming performance, capacity, communities, regional economies 
 Transforming performance, capacity, communities, regional economies

“So we’ve come a long way...but there’s still a 

long way to go. The problem is that you have to get 

people to understand that it’s not as hard as you 

think it is...everybody gets hung up on the details 

of the separation between church and state...that’s 

the problem with us...we always take the two or 

three things that we disagree on and forget the 450 

things that we do agree on...and we let those two 

or three things separate us. This is one of the things 

that I think we’ve done a good job on...just getting 

people to come together...”1

Dan Eckstrom

Retired County Supervisor

Pima County, Arizona
Forging relationships between the publicly funded 

workforce investment system and community-based 

nonprofits is beneficial to transforming performance, 

capacity, communities, and regional economies in a way 

that government cannot do alone. The need to embrace 

businesses, community-based nonprofits, and other 

government agencies to create the collective capacity and 

innovation necessary to transform the workforce system in 

a more global economy is embodied within the spirit of the 

Workforce Investment Act (WIA).

To support these public-private relationships, the 

Department invested $10 million dollars to support WIBs 

in engaging grassroots, community-based nonprofits and 

working with them to connect disadvantaged job seekers 

with high growth industries and businesses. While the WIB 

grants awarded by the Department were an impetus for some 

grantees to partner with community-based nonprofits, some 

grantees had been trying to be more inclusive of nonprofit 

stakeholders and/or were looking to expand relationships 

with community-based nonprofits in more formal, 

comprehensive, and sustainable ways. The projects that were 

most successful were those that found common ground 

between the willingness and commitment of representatives 

of the workforce system and nonprofit community to achieve 

shared workforce system goals through a joint plan of 

operation.

Together, WIB grantees and community-based nonprofits, 

developed strategies for:

■ Connecting community-based nonprofits to the workforce 

system;

■ Aligning and leveraging community-based nonprofit 

assets;

■ Helping the unserved, underserved, and individuals with 

multiple barriers meet their goals and transition into the 

workforce systems’ talent pipeline;

■ Leveraging community-based nonprofit-business 

relationships;

■ Tapping community-based nonprofit leadership; and

■ Sustaining and growing the connection.

The workforce system’s long-term vision will continue to 

be the growth and sustainability of the capacity necessary 

to meet the needs of individuals, businesses, communities, 

and global economies. These grants gave the workforce 

system the opportunity to learn how to strengthen and 

nurture relationships that are, and will be, the framework 

for creating communities of hope, innovation, productivity, 

and prosperity. Together WIB grantees and communitybased nonprofits overcame their differences and focused on 

transforming lives, communities, and economies.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

“Fortunately, the passion for helping 

these target populations has kept all the 

groups motivated to cooperate despite the 

differences and frustrations.”2 

Lindan Johnson

Evaluator

Macro International Inc.

The Employment Ministry at the Giving Tree recruited participants 

for the employment program from their feeding sites for the 

homeless.

Executive Summary 
 Transforming performance, capacity, communities, regional economies

Connecting Community-Based Nonprofit Organizations to the 

Workforce System

Key Take-Aways

In this section you will discover grantee lessons learned about:

■ The investment in and the return on connecting with 

community-based nonprofits;

■ Strategies for connecting community-based nonprofits to 

the workforce system; and

■ What is different about working with community-based 

nonprofits.

Lessons Learned

Workforce investment board grantees learned how to connect 

to community-based nonprofits in a way that is beneficial 

to each organization, the workforce system, and local and 

more global communities. This section focuses on grantee 

experience that provides answers to the following questions 

posed by stakeholders in the workforce system:

■ Why invest in relationships with community-based 

nonprofits?

■ Why are community-based nonprofits effective?

■ Who are community-based nonprofits?

■ What do community-based nonprofits do?

■ With whom do community-based nonprofits work?

■ Where do they work?

■ How do workforce systems connect with community-based 

nonprofits?

■ What role do grantees and community-based nonprofits 

have?

■ What is different about working with community-based 

nonprofits?

“We have been pleased with the 

results, and have found that the 

retention rates for the [prisoner 

re-entry program] was twice as high 

as it was for people we were hiring 

off the street.”3

Plant Manager

“What makes a person get out of bed and go to training...or a job every day? We recognize 

that this is an ineffable thing...that’s beyond federal workforce reinvestment programs. 

There’s a spiritual, a character, and a motivational development aspect to this and teaming 

up with the FBCOs makes sense. This becomes very important for the people who have 

defined themselves by their job. If anything happens to that job – it’s not just a personal 

identity crisis – it can send the entire family into turmoil. This isn’t always apparent and 

might not be addressed if a person just fills out a form to apply for a job. How can you detect 

that even with an advanced computer networking system? This is something that a person 

needs to identify and is an area that the people at the FBCOs perform well.”4

Dorthee Harmon

Employment and Training

 Pima Community Services
Why Invest In Relationships With Community-Based Nonprofits? 

Grantees reported that each organization and the workforce system 

as a whole worked more effectively and were better able to achieve 

their goals together than in isolation. The WIBs and grassroots 

community-based nonprofits found their commonalities outweighed 

their differences. The WIB grantees and community-based nonprofits 

shared:

■ Complementary missions;

■ Workforce investment areas and regions;

■ Same talent pipeline and business customer base;

■ Many of the same challenges;

■ Consensual growth strategies; and 

■ Diverse assets.

The start and the foundation for relationship building and 

sustainability were to focus on common ground. From this common 

ground, the system could integrate diverse assets to achieve more 

effective and global outcomes.

The WIB grantees created relationships across their communities in an effort to contribute to economic competitiveness, 

community development, and self-sufficiency of its residents. By joining together, they have helped:

■ Reduce costly duplication and inefficiencies of services;

■ Increase the capacity of the system by leveraging and diversifying the capacity of individual organizations;

■ Dispel the negative perception sometimes associated with government services;

■ Lower the burden on government assistance by reducing recidivism, unemployment, and drop-out rates, and addressing 

at-risk behaviors to prevent incarceration, poverty, and chemical dependency, for example;

■ Better align assets to gaps and needs in timely ways;

■ Harvest underdeveloped talent pools; and

■ Improve the “livability” of communities.

Grantees discovered the investment in developing relationships with community-based nonprofits brought varying 

dimensions of returns over time including the potential of reducing the tax burden on local businesses, the ability to attract 

additional funding, and to contribute to more economically viable communities where people would want to live and where 

businesses would want to invest. The system’s collective effectiveness is contingent on the individual effectiveness of each 

community-based nonprofit.

“Freed from the profit motive that 

dominates business and from the 

constraints of government, the 

nonprofit sector serves as a forum 

for the creation and dissemination 

of new ideas, an efficient vehicle 

for delivering social services, and a 

guardian of our environment, values, 

and heritage.”5

Independent Sector

Connecting Community-Based Nonprofit Organizations to the Workforce System 
 Transforming performance, capacity, communities, regional economies

Why Are Community-Based Nonprofits Effective?

Grantees reported that community-based nonprofits were effective because 

they took a grassroots approach. Being located within the communities they 

served, they were likely to have a first-hand experience with the issues and 

culture of the people they served, resources available, and local political and 

economic environments. Their close proximity to people in need and a history 

of infusing communities with hope, forging renewal, and transforming lives 

and communities, have established very positive, long-term relationships of 

trust. These long-term relationships are networked closely within and across 

communities, leadership circles, and funding sources.

Nonprofits leverage these relationships, the expertise of leadership within their 

organization and across leadership circles, and the quality of the services and 

products they provide to:

■ Serve some of the hardest to serve in some of the most challenging areas of 

the nation;

■ Integrate a continuum of intensive, individualized, comprehensive services;

■ Bring access to the workforce system for the unserved and underserved; and

■ Deliver services in innovative and timeless ways.

The WIB grantees first had to identify who the community-based nonprofits 

were in their community, with respect to their mission, effectiveness, and 

willingness to align their assets to the workforce system. Their effectiveness 

could then be transitioned and applied to the success of the workforce system.

Who Are Community-Based Nonprofits?

The WIB grantees demonstrate that regional, integrated relationships between 

private and public sectors can become part of the backbone of workforce system 

delivery. For decades community-based nonprofits have embraced the mission 

of transforming lives, communities, and regions beyond their contiguous 

influence. Community-based nonprofits are both contributing businesses 

and conduits of talent development, embracing the collective resources of 

communities to generate and sustain hope, innovation, productivity, and 

prosperity. There are over 25 classifications of community-based nonprofits 

including foundations, charities, social welfare organizations, and professional 

and trade associations.6 Some of the WIB grantees brought a successful history 

of integrating their resources with community-based nonprofits to achieve 

mutual goals for their respective organizations, individuals, and communities.

Nonprofits Working Globally

Accross Boundaries 

Some nonprofits have regional, state, 

national, and international affiliations. 

They understand doing business across 

and transcending various economic, 

cultural, geographic, political, ethnic, 

educational, and social boundaries. 

Within this role they can act as:

• Intermediaries,

• Conduits,

• Service providers,

• Power brokers, 

• Investors, 

• Economic barometers and drivers, 

• Entrepreneurs, 

• Community and global leaders, and

• Community developers.

Regional Peer Contact

s	James Vander Hulst

West Michigan Team

Partners in Workforce Innovation

(616) 454-8738

jvanderhulst@westmichigan.org
What Do Community-Based Nonprofits Do?

Nonprofits are businesses driven by a mission responsive to a need, innovative idea, and/or opportunity. Many 

are started by business leaders and are entrepreneurial in nature, pioneering change, organizing and managing 

talent and resources, and taking on the risk of starting something new in sometimes less than optimum 

conditions. 

These organizations are champions of harnessing community resources in the form of donations, volunteers, 

government grants, foundations, leaders, investors, and other stakeholders and aligning these resources with 

their mission. They are experienced in blending public and private funds to maintain their vision and capacity in 

times of economic stability and uncertainty. Some have developed products and services that are commercialized 

and distributed nationally and internationally.

They are driven by a culture shared by staff and with a vision that leads to unity of purpose, high level of 

commitment, and positive results consistent with their mission. The community-based nonprofits involved with 

the WIB grantees ranged from those with expertise providing very specific services such as outreach, culturallyrelevant training, and mentoring to those with little or no experience providing workforce activities or workforce 

activities connected to OSCCs. At the heart of their culture and mission are the lives of people in need of 

transformation.

Connecting Community-Based Nonprofit Organizations to the Workforce System 
 Transforming performance, capacity, communities, regional economies

With Whom Do Community-Based Nonprofits Work?

Many of the community-based nonprofits working with the WIB grantees tapped unserved 

and underserved labor pools and many in unmined geographic locations, expanding the 

reach of and access to the workforce system and talent pipeline. In general, the populations 

served by grantees had multiple barriers to employment, were disconnected from and/or 

disenchanted with government services, and required long-term assistance often beyond 

that available through many government programs. In addition, many faith-based 

organizations (FBOs) had congregations with heterogeneous talent pipelines consisting of 

unemployed people with professional experience and college degrees in addition to passive 

talent. This grant opportunity made it possible for the workforce system to extend its reach 

to these populations without being physically located in each community.

Where Do They Work?

The community-based nonprofits involved in this funding typically worked in the 

communities of the people they serve, on their block, within their circles of influence, and 

from their culture. Some community-based nonprofits have more far reaching missions 

being part of larger national and international organizations. Regional, statewide, national, 

and international commitments and consumers of their services and products make it 

possible for some community-based nonprofits to operate from more global powerbases. 

Workforce investment areas and community-based nonprofits with more global missions 

have additional reasons to connect.

How Do Workforce Investment Board Grantees Connect With Community-Based Nonprofits?

Two of the most successful WIB grantees spent months prior to applying for the grants 

facilitating community exploratory meetings, identifying organizations that shared 

common goals, assessing collective assets, and envisioning what the structure and 

outcomes of the relationship would look like.7, 8 While some grantees had already embraced 

the nonprofit community prior to applying for funding, others engaged in outreach efforts 

through the Request for Proposal (RFP) and Request for Application (RFA) processes as a 

means of connecting with them and providing grant funds by making them subrecipients. 

The RFP or RFA process was the means of flowing funding from the WIB grantees to 

community-based nonprofits. 

A range of formal and informal means were used to recruit community-based nonprofits 

into the workforce system, from highly structured, far-reaching outreach campaigns to 

informal community networking by word of mouth. Some grantees wanted to embrace 

community-based nonprofits with which the workforce system had never worked. The 

WIB grantees also focused on exploring different opportunities and dimensions of existing 

relationships with community-based nonprofits. The intent of each relationship was to 

better mine the assets of individual organizations and align them to common workforce 

system’s needs, goals, and innovation.

Formal Outreach and

Planning Efforts To 

Connect With Nonprofits 

Peer Contacts

s	Russ Davis

Herkimer/Madison/Oneida 

Counties WIB

(315) 798-5908

rdavis@ocgov.net

s	Linda Leatherman

Pima County Faith-Based 

Coordinator

(520) 243-6780

lleatherman@csd.pima.gov

Resources for Locating 

Nonprofits

s Corporation for Community 

and National and Community 

Service 

www.nationalservice.org

s Guidestar 

www.guidestar.org

s USDOL WIB and Nonprofit 

Grantees in Your Area

www.dol.gov/cfbci/tlc/grantee/

statesearch.aspx

s 211 Information and Referral 

Search

www.211.org
Resources on Asset Mapping

s Asset Mapping for WIBs and 

Nonprofits: Drilling Down and Across 

the Community Workforce System

info@nyswtwrn.com

s Asset Mapping Roadmap: A Guide 

to Assessing Regional Development 

Resources

www.compete.org/images/uploads/File/

PDF%20Files/CoC_Illuminate_2008.pdf

WIB Peer Contact 

s Art Eckstrom 

Pima county Employment and 

Training Program Manager

(520) 243-6777

Most grants were not of sufficient duration to allow for formal asset mapping. In 

the majority of cases, community-based nonprofits proposed the services they 

could provide through the RFP/RFA process. The WIB grantee was responsible for 

choosing subrecipients and connecting the dots between organizations, services, 

and outcomes.

Grantees who facilitated the RFP process had to maintain a tight timeframe to 

accomplish their goals. Several successful WIB grantees created a single point 

of contact between them and community-based nonprofits in an effort to better 

get to know one another over a short period of time. This person might be staff 

from the WIB or the OSCC. They would serve as a conduit between the WIB and 

community-based nonprofits. This person was available to answer questions posed 

by the community-based nonprofits, provide guidance related to recordkeeping 

and reporting, and translate the world of workforce development to communitybased nonprofits. 

Some WIBs contracted with a nonprofit intermediary organization that had 

significant experience and capacity and could serve effectively in an intermediary 

role between the WIB and the group of community-based nonprofits engaged in 

the grant. More information on the role of intermediaries is provided in the last 

section, Sustaining and Growing the Connection.

While there were a variety of strategies for connecting with community-based 

nonprofits, it appears the clear identification of the role of intermediaries, the WIB, 

OSCC, community-based nonprofits, government agencies, businesses, and other 

stakeholders was critical to sustaining and nurturing their connectivity.

Connecting Community-Based Nonprofit Organizations to the Workforce System 
10 Transforming performance, capacity, communities, regional economies

What Role Do Grantees and Community-Based Nonprofits Have?

Workforce investment board grantees worked with community-based nonprofits 

to develop roles that were most conducive to meeting common workforce goals, 

congruent with each other’s respective missions, resources, and needs. Workforce 

investment board grantees created the following roles for themselves:

■ Managed the procurement and monitoring process and flowed funding to 

nonprofit subrecipients that were responsible for achieving the outcomes of the 

grant;

■ Secured intermediaries or points of contact from the nonprofit community, WIB, 

or OSCC to be a point of transfer between the grantee and community-based 

nonprofits;

■ Provided training;

■ Linked community-based nonprofits to the OSCC; and

■ Leveraged the integrity and value of the workforce system to create positive 

relationships with and grow the capacity of community-based nonprofits.

There were three primary roles that emerged for community-based nonprofits:

■ The “recruit and refer” role consisted of community-based nonprofits providing 

outreach to individuals unserved and/or underserved by the workforce system. Basic 

support services were provided. Job-ready candidates were referred to the OSCC for 

job placement;

■ The “specialized job readiness training” role consisted of community-based 

nonprofits customizing services to a specific population and providing job 

placement services or referring jobseekers to the OSCC; and

■ The “comprehensive services” role consisted of community-based nonprofits 

providing a range of comprehensive employment and social services.9

Some WIB grantees created a fourth role for a single nonprofit which acted as 

an intermediary between the nonprofit network and the workforce system and 

WIB grantee. Some of the WIB grantees who experienced challenges or added 

new organizations to the network found it necessary to more fully develop, revise, 

and/or more clearly articulate distinctive roles. The roles between the grantees and 

community-based nonprofit subrecipients needed to ensure that the Equal Treatment 

and Religious-Related regulations were followed.

“The FBCO partners 

have established 

ongoing connections 

with 216 employers for 

future job opportunities 

for their clients.”10

Lindan Johnson

Evaluator

Macro International Inc.

“...the One Stop 

has encouraged 

organizations and 

agencies to collaborate 

rather than to compete 

with one another.”11 

Lindan Johnson

Evaluator

Macro International Inc.
What Is Different About Working With Faith-Based Organizations?

The WIBs and OSCCs used proven strategies to forge, nurture, and sustain 

relationships with businesses, partners, and providers to develop new 

relationships with community-based nonprofits. The workforce system embraced 

FBOs long before the passage of the WIA and has a long-standing, successful 

history of meeting the needs of a shared customer base, particularly with respect 

to services for youth.12

What then is different about working with community-based nonprofits, 

specifically FBOs? The WIB grantees shared there were more commonalities 

than differences between them and nonprofit subrecipients. However, when 

working with FBOs, the workforce investment system may need to:

■ Review and have greater familiarity with the Equal Treatment and ReligionRelated Regulations, which address, among other things, when federal 

money or other forms of financial assistance may support inherently religious 

activities and when it may not;

■ Provide an orientation to all nonprofits on how government works; and

■ Ensure nonprofits are familiar with the WIB’s procurement process.

Equal Treatment Regulations and Religion-Related 

Regulations 

The purposes of the Department’s Equal Treatment and Religion-Related 

Regulations are to:

■ Ensure equal treatment of and religious liberty for organizations and 

individuals, regardless of religious affiliation or lack thereof; 

■ Lift unnecessary restrictions on a participant’s use of “indirect” assistance for 

services that contain religious content or lead to employment in a religious 

vocation; and 

■ Clarify proper Constitutional uses of the Department’s assistance.13

These regulations apply to, among other things, the Department’s discretionary 

and formula funds; all federal, state, and local government agencies that 

administer the Department’s assistance; the beneficiaries of the Department’ssupported services; and any state, local, or private funds that are commingled 

with the Department’s assistance or required as a match.14

All grantees have been encouraged to complete the Equal Treatment online 

training course, Transforming Partnerships: How to Apply the U.S. Department 

of Labor’s Equal Treatment and Religion-Related Regulations to Public-Private 

Partnerships, at http://partnership.dolelearning.org. The training is included 

on the accompanying disc. Additional information and resources on the Equal 

Treatment and Religion-Related regulations including information on the 

Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) are found in Appendix B.

Equal Treatment Resources

s Promoting Equal Treatment: A Guide 

for State & Local Compliance with 

Federal Regulations

www.whitehouse.gov/government/fbci/

equal-treatment.html

s Equal Treatment Regulations,

www.dol.gov/cfbci/legal

guidance.htm

s Equal Treatment Online Training

http://partnership.dolelearning.org/fb_

12.htm

“The WIB expected more 

[proposals] but in follow-up 

interviews with potential 

applicants found a wide 

range of reasons not to 

apply, chiefly concern 

over red tape they might 

encounter from federal 

funding.”15

William Wubbenhorst 

Evaluator

Macro International Inc.

Connecting Community-Based Nonprofit Organizations to the Workforce System 11
12 Transforming performance, capacity, communities, regional economies

Inherently Religious Activities and Federal Support

It is important that all grantees understand the restrictions governing the use of federal support and inherently religious 

activities (e.g., religious worship, prayer, and proselytizing). Faith-based organizations may not use direct federal funds or 

other types of direct federal financial assistance to support inherently religious activities. Organizations receiving direct federal 

support, may still engage in inherently religious activities, but such activities must be offered separate in time or location from 

the federally-supported program or activity. In addition, any participation in inherently religious activities by federal program 

participants and beneficiaries must be purely voluntary. Further, federal program participants beneficiaries must be made 

aware that a decision to participate or not in the inherently religious activity will in no way affect the quality of services they 

receive under the federally-supported program or activity.

In contrast, the FBOs receiving indirect federal funds or other types of indirect federal financial assistance may integrate 

inherently religious activities into their programs or activities receiving this indirect federal support and require that such 

activities be made mandatory for all participants. In order for federal support to be considered indirect, the beneficiaries of 

the federally-supported program or activity must be given genuine and independent choices about where to direct the aid, 

including having at least one secular option. And, the beneficiaries must be able to freely choose where to direct the aid. To 

avoid any conflict regarding the use of the support, faith-based organizations may wish to establish separate nonprofits to 

receive federal support.

To ensure that federal support is used properly, WIBs will need to:

■ Continue to educate faith-based and community organizations about the proper uses of federal support;

■ Monitor grantees to ensure they are in compliance with the federal Equal Treatment and Religion-Related Regulations; and

■ Examine each questionable issue on a case-by-case basis in light of the most recent court precedent.

Grantees used orientation sessions and bidder’s conferences to help community-based nonprofits better understand the 

requirements of organizations who receive federal funding. 

Orienting Community-Based Nonprofits On How Government Works

Some WIB grantees realized that some community-based nonprofit subrecipients did not understand the intent and purpose 

of the WIA and their role as subrecipients in the workforce system. Responding to this need, WIB grantees created a context in 

which community-based nonprofits could better understand how government works and how their organization could work 

most effectively within the WIB’s contractual process. This context building included providing community-based nonprofits 

with:

■ Information on how funding flows from the federal government;

■ The purpose of the WIA;

■ Compliance and other relevant resources such as Office of Management and 

Budget Circulars, Code of Federal Regulations, Executive Orders, Training 

and Employment Guidance Letters, and Training Employment Notices; 

■ Opportunities to learn, understand, and respect each other’s culture, goals, 

and operating structure; and 

■ Opportunities to develop an awareness of and commitment to meeting 

performance measures, where applicable.

Streamlining

One successful procedure was 

to designate One Stop Coach 

Managers to work specifically with 

referrals from nonprofits. Nonprofits 

only made referrals to the Coach 

Managers designated to work with 

them. This made for stronger, more 

trusting relationships for these 

hard-to-serve populations.17
Orienting community-based nonprofits to the WIB procurement and monitoring process was part of the orientation on how 

the federal government works and specifically how community-based nonprofits would have to work as a subrecipient of 

federal dollars. Additional strategies used for helping community-based nonprofits understand how government works are 

found in Appendix C.

The WIB Procurement and Monitoring Process

Successful relationships between WIB grantees and community-based 

nonprofits were often based on WIBs following the same well-proven 

procurement process, generally accepted accounting principles, and 

monitoring processes with FBOs as they do with all other contractors, partners, 

and/or providers. Since the grants were restricted to small community-based 

nonprofits with small budgets and staff, some community-based nonprofits 

did not have the internal infrastructure to handle the procurement and/

or compliance requirements. Therefore, some WIBs have simplified the 

procurement and monitoring process for community-based nonprofits by:

■ Creating a simplified RFP/RFA process;

■ Customizing a RFP for this specific purpose, flexible enough to capture the 

wide range of nonprofit assets, but with specific and stringent criteria;

■ Providing a list of terms that may be unfamiliar to community-based 

nonprofits;

■ Providing a bidder’s conference and grant writing workshops to explain the 

procurement process and RFPs/RFAs;

■ Creating an outreach strategy to widely advertise the availability of RFPs/

RFAs;

■ Offering training specific to issues of accountability such as electronic 

recordkeeping, reporting, and compliance; 

■ Awarding contracts on a fee-for-service to keep paperwork and receipts 

required to a minimum;

■ Streamlining the referral process;

■ Establishing standard operating procedures and placing procedures, 

checklists, client forms, and tools into a technical assistance manual;

■ Establishing Internet connectivity between OSCCs and communitybased nonprofits for purposes of recordkeeping and access to employment 

information for individuals ready to enter into the talent pipeline; and

■ Designating a point of contact in their organization to answer questions of 

prospective and new subrecipients.

Additional resources used for helping community-based nonprofits understand 

the procurement and monitoring process are found in Appendix C.

Connecting Community-Based Nonprofit Organizations to the Workforce System 13

“The folks that we 

anticipated would step 

up as partners in this 

effort had a wide range of 

capabilities and assets, 

so we needed to avoid a 

cookie-cutter approach to 

the RFA. We also wanted to 

keep the process simple so 

we wouldn’t scare people off 

with an overly burdensome 

application process.”16

Russ Davis

Workforce Investment Board of 

Herkimer/Madison/Oneida Counties

Simplified RFP Peer Contact

s Russ Davis

Workforce Investment Board of 

Herkimer/Madison/Oneida Counties

(315) 798-5908

rdavis@ocgov.net
14 Transforming performance, capacity, communities, regional economies

Recap

The WIB Grantees learned the benefits of and strategies necessary to invest in 

relationships with community-based nonprofits. Together WIBs and communitybased nonprofits realized what they had in common could be aligned to achieve 

the goals of the workforce system in more innovative and global ways and their 

differences could be respected and prevented from interfering with their collective 

mission. Some grantees needed to work closely with community-based nonprofits 

to help them better understand how government works and to customize their 

processes to accommodate the needs and learning curve of these new relationships. 

Having connected to community-based nonprofits, grantees then had to learn how 

to best align and leverage their assets within the context of the workforce system.

Connecting Nonprofits to 

the Workforce System Peer 

Contacts

s Trenda Rusher

Washtenaw County Employment 

Training and Community Services, 

Michigan Works!

(734) 544-2955

“The FBCOs were able 

to add services and 

competencies that 

the [OSCCs] did not 

have such as outreach 

mechanisms, training 

services, or language 

proficiency.”18

Michelle Voll

Evaluator

Macro International Inc.
Key Take-Aways

In this section you will discover grantee lessons learned about:

■ Expediting the alignment and leveraging of assets within a short timeframe;

■ Visible and tangible assets community-based nonprofits can bring to the 

workforce system; and

■ Less visible and tangible characteristics of nonprofit assets.

Lessons Learned

Workforce investment board grantees learned how to work with communitybased nonprofits to align and leverage their assets across the system. The grant 

application process was the main tool for helping grantees align and leverage 

community-based nonprofit subrecipeint assets. However, in order to produce 

quality results and sustain relationships, and sometimes realign or mine assets 

more deeply within the limited timeframe, it was necessary to:

■ Communicate the collective need and outcomes;

■ Nurture a commitment to common goals;

■ Create a spirit of willingness to share assets;

■ Respect and preserve the integrity and mission of each organization; and

■ Develop interdependence at a level comfortable and appropriate for all 

organizations.

Just what types of assets were leveraged by community-based nonprofits? The 

most common assets were:

■ Leadership capacity;

■ Services and delivery strategies;

■ Referrals to and from the workforce system (outreach);

■ Facilities; and

■ Fiscal.

What made these assets of value? The value of these community-based nonprofit 

assets included:

■ The function community-based nonprofits had within the workforce system,

■ Characteristics of their services, and 

■ Characteristics of their fiscal assets. 

Aligning and Leveraging Community-Based Nonprofit Assets

Nonprofit FIscal

Capacity

• The annual revenue of nonprofits is 

$670 billion.

• One in 12 Americans works for a 

nonprofit.

• There are 1.5 million nonprofits.

• Fifty-six percent of Americans 

volunteer in nonprofits.

• If a country, the nonprofit sector 

would be the sixth largest economy 

in the world.19

Aligning and Leveraging Community-Based Nonprofit Assets 15
16 Transforming performance, capacity, communities, regional economies

Functions Provided

• Cross-pollinating creative strategies and resources

• Communicating the workforce system message to their constituents and partners

• Networking additional partners

• Bringing multiple perspectives and resources that expand the thinking and reach of the 

system

• Serving as economic barometers

• Aligning talent development to a local or regional economic infrastructure

• Supporting consensual growth strategies

• Diversifying the talent pipeline (including professional and passive talent)

• Complementing community and economic development

• Operating from a customer orientation

• Transferring the knowledge of their organization to the workforce system

Characteristics of Services

• “Timeless” (e.g., variations of 24/7 availability and beyond employment and the life of 

federal funding)

• Interaction with people is relational in nature (e.g., relationships with individuals needing 

help and with representatives from other organizations)

• Transition individuals to work, career advancement, self-sufficiency, and other 

educational, personal, and employment-related goals

• Accessibility (e.g., services available where unserved and underserved individuals live)

• Individualized

• Extended service reach (e.g., services available where workforce system services are not 

provided and often include not just the individual, but his or her family, significant 

others, and sometimes businesses)

• Address gaps in services

• May be the only service provider in the area or for a specific service

• Holistic in nature, meeting all of the needs of the individual

• Transformational
Characteristics of Fiscal Assets

• Diverse funding (e.g., donations, fundraising, and investors)

• Blend private and public funding

• Improve economic impact (e.g., lower need for government services, improve geographic 

 livability, and attract additional investors)

• Maintain and nurture renewable resources (e.g., volunteers and staff capacity)

• Physical space for services funded by the grant

• Access to technology

• Are realigned, reinvested, and/or exchanged to bring greater flexibility and unobligated 

 resources to the system

• Innovative in resource development and transformation

• Identify challenges of aligning and leveraging assets

Some of the less visible and tangible assets were the most valuable in achieving outcomes 

and sustaining and growing the connections. 

Recap

Although WIB grantees did not have sufficient time to map the assets of 

community-based nonprofits, most were able to successfully align and leverage 

nonprofit assets through the RFP/RFA process. The lack of time to develop 

and implement the grant required all organizations to be nimble, committed, 

and remain solely focused on their collective mission. Grantees shared their 

relationships with community-based nonprofits was more about the way 

community-based nonprofits deliver services rather than just the existence of 

another “service”. This was demonstrated by the strategies community-based 

nonprofits use to help people overcome barriers to employment and to channel 

people into the workforce system’s talent pipeline.

Volunteer Currency

Grantees from a recent Department 

grant to grassroots FBCOs leveraged 

the power of 70,710 volunteer hours 

for a value of $413,653.20

Aligning and Leveraging Community-Based Nonprofit Assets 17
18 Transforming performance, capacity, communities, regional economies

“Many of the faith groups 

intended to continue this 

work as a ministry of 

the church. Some will be 

smaller in scope, because 

they will be funded out of 

the church’s budget.”21 

Lindan Johnson

Evaluator

Macro International Inc.

Key Take-Aways

In this section you will discover grantee lessons learned about:

■ Characteristics of community-based nonprofits that are complementary to the 

workforce system;

■ The transformational elements of nonprofit service delivery; and

■ Using community-based nonprofits as a way to extend and diversify the talent 

pipeline.

Lessons Learned

Workforce investment board grantees learned that the value of the service 

provided by most community-based nonprofits rests in their delivery strategy, 

one that can be very successful in helping individuals overcome barriers to 

employment and transition into the talent pipeline. What did WIB grantees 

discover about nonprofit delivery strategies? These community-based nonprofit 

strategies can be organized by the following categories of focus:

■ Culture;

■ Missions and populations served;

■ Location; and

■ Networking.

Culture of Community-Based Nonprofits

The culture of nonprofits deeply informs their services. In the case of 

community-based nonprofit subrecipients with the WIBs, their culture served 

as a framework for success. Within the culture of many community-based 

nonprofits is a mission and a spirit of serving that mobilizes the organization 

to serve an individual until his or her needs are met and not necessarily when 

funding ends. Also, community-based nonprofits may serve individuals 

irrespective of income, and education level, for example. This may translate into:

■ Deeper intensity of services;

■ Services of greater duration;

■ Individualized services;

■ Greater access to a diverse audience of talent;

■ Bundling of services from private and public sources;

■ Extended availability (e.g., on-call, evenings, weekends, and no time limit); and

■ A multidimensional, integrated, continuous approach to the spiritual, 

educational, personal, and employment needs and goals of the individual and 

sometimes his or her family, significant others, and businesses.

Part of an organization’s culture is their mission.

Overcoming Barriers and Channeling People Into the Talent Pipeline: 

Community-Based Nonprofit Delivery Strategies

nonprofit culture

• Common vision 

• Unity of purpose, action

• Passion

• Commitment

• Nimble

• Responsive

• Safe, neutral, and nonthreatening

• Creators and keepers of trust

• Kinship

• Communicate core values, norms, 

and customs

Cultural Currency

Nonprofits brought with them cultural 

currency needed by the OSCC. For 

example, in one area, the Adult and 

Adult Protective Services Program 

had difficulty finding culturally and 

ethnically qualified candidates. Three 

FBCO grantees combined their resources 

to develop a curriculum for Personal 

Care Assistants. They shared ideas, 

exchanged teachers, and standardized 

what is expected in the training.22
Missions of and Populations Served by Community-Based Nonprofits

Because of the specific missions of community-based nonprofits, very often their 

services are targeted and customized to specific populations (e.g., at-risk youth, 

ethnic minorities, those living in poverty, incarcerated, ex-prisoners, and people 

with multiple barriers to employment who are unserved or underserved). In the 

case of some community-based nonprofits the individuals being served consist 

of people from various ethnic, economic, and educational backgrounds, making 

the talent pipeline heterogeneous. Nonprofits have a customized organizational 

delivery structure to meet the needs of a specific population. This may translate 

into:

■ Well established, successful outreach strategies for specific populations and in 

certain communities;

■ Taking services to these populations;

■ Provision of services and delivery strategies consistent with their mission;

■ Culturally-relevant services and delivery strategies; and

■ Transitioning some of the hardest to serve into the talent pipeline.

Very often a nonprofit’s mission influences their location for service delivery.

Location of Community-Based Nonprofits

Because many community-based nonprofits are located 

in the communities of the people they serve, they are 

established, trusted entities. Some individuals may 

already have established relationships with staff. This 

may translate into:

■ Access to underserved or unserved populations, 

passive talent, and untapped labor pools;

■ The opportunity for community-based nonprofits to 

dispel the negative perception sometimes associated 

with government service;

■ Longer service retention periods and higher 

completion rates;

■ Growth and nurturing of mutual respect, trust, and 

integrity with individuals, their family, significant 

others, and sometimes businesses; and

■ The potential for the nonprofit to make referrals 

and follow-through on needed services from other 

organizations, including the workforce system.

No organization can be in all places at all times providing all services. It was necessary for community-based nonprofits to 

work in and across the community and/or regional networks.

CULTURALLY Viable Program

Peer Contacts

s	Linda Marrama 

Retired North Virginia 

Workforce Investment Board

(571) 215-0775

lmarrama@earthlink.net

s	Richard Ramos 

The Latino Coalition 

(661) 326-8845 

rramos@latinocoalition.org

Overcoming Barriers and Channeling People Into the Talent Pipeline: Community-Based Nonprofit Delivery Strategies 19
20 Transforming performance, capacity, communities, regional economies

Networking of Community-Based Nonprofits

Because many community-based nonprofits do not have the means to 

meet the holistic needs of their customers, it is necessary for them to 

network across organizations and the range of public and private sector 

options using innovative strategies. This may translate into:

■ Creative ways to use volunteers;

■ Investing in renewable resources (e.g., investing in health care and 

training of staff, nonstop recruitment of volunteers, and constant 

fundraising);

■ Relational networks;

■ Growth and nurturing of mutual respect, trust, and integrity across 

organizations;

■ Greater receptivity to work with the WIB and the workforce system;

■ Innovation born of desperation; and

■ Connecting the dots in the service constellation of each individual 

thereby making services more integrated.

Strategies for networking the characteristics of the culture, mission, 

populations served, the location, and relationships of community-based 

nonprofits with other organizations have better enabled the workforce 

system to provide services sometimes unavailable in depth, time, and 

space by the system.

Recap

Community-based nonprofits bring services to the workforce 

system that complement and expand its capacity to serve those with 

multiple and significant barriers. The deep and sometimes exhaustive 

investment in the individuals served by the community-based nonprofit 

subrecipients in these grants was necessary to channel them into the 

talent pipeline. Some WIB grantees shared that the system’s inclusion 

of the community-based nonprofits’ work with the hard-to-serve 

was nothing short of transformational. In addition, another strategy 

for overcoming barriers to employment and channeling job-ready 

individuals into the talent pipeline is the relationship some communitybased nonprofits had with businesses. 

“...this network of contractors 

reached into the community 

and brought other groups and 

employers into their network to 

strengthen the support available 

to their clients.”23 

Lindan Johnson

Evaluator

Macro International Inc.,

“We have employers beating 

down the doors – they can’t 

find qualified workers, and 

we have less and less funding 

overall to upgrade the skills 

of workers today. The One 

Stop has a history of trying 

to get organizations to work 

together – we need to include 

the faith-based and community 

organizations so that we can 

tap new populations to form a 

more robust pipeline into our 

workforce system.”24 

Art Eckstrom

Director of Employment and Training

Pima County, Arizona 
Key Take-Aways

In this section you will discover grantee lessons learned about:

■ The role of the workforce system in facilitating nonprofit/business relationships;

■ The value businesses bring to community-based nonprofits; and

■ The value community-based nonprofits bring to businesses.

Lessons Learned

Workforce investment board grantees learned how to leverage nonprofit-business 

relationships. Some community-based nonprofits had interpersonal relationships 

with and access to business representatives serving on their boards and/or as part 

of their congregations or organizations. These informal and sometimes formal 

relationships can have significant value to community-based nonprofits. This 

value can be transferred to the workforce system by community-based nonprofits 

that can act as intermediaries between the workforce system and the business 

community in which they are networked.

For the majority of community-based nonprofits, the foundation of relationships 

between community-based nonprofits and businesses is three-fold:

■ The reputation and infrastructure of the workforce system;

■ Businesses who made an investment in community-based nonprofits; and 

■ Community-based nonprofits who invest in businesses by providing services and 

prepared talent.

Building this foundation required the investment of the workforce system, 

businesses, and community-based nonprofits.

Leveraging Community-Based Nonprofit/Business Relationships

“The FBCOs were the 

primary drivers of business 

partnerships...with the WIB 

offering support. FBCOs took 

the lead because of their role 

in helping retention, which 

is critical for ex-offenders. 

A procedure manual was 

developed for the FBCOs 

for this purpose, including 

guidance on how to engage 

businesses. There was also 

coordination between the One 

Stop and the FBCOs and they 

often went out together to 

visit businesses as well.”25 

William Wubbenhorst

Evaluator

Macro International Inc.

Leveraging Community-Based Nonprofit/Business Relationships 21
22 Transforming performance, capacity, communities, regional economies

The Role of the Workforce System in Connecting Businesses and Community-Based Nonprofits

Some of the small community-based nonprofits involved in the grant had little or no 

experience working formally within the workforce system. It was necessary for the WIB 

grantees to help these community-based nonprofits learn how to build on and leverage 

the positive reputation and infrastructure of the OSCC. Their strategies for building this 

capacity within community-based nonprofits included:

■ Communicating to businesses that community-based nonprofits were part of the 

credible infrastructure of the workforce system;

■ Training and mentoring community-based nonprofits on building business 

relationships;

■ Introducing representatives of community-based nonprofits to businesses;

■ Inviting community-based nonprofits staff to be co-located at the OSCC; and

■ Providing representatives of community-based nonprofits with access to the 

OSCC’s placement staff and job bank.

The WIBs’ investment in leveraging the reputation and infrastructure of the 

workforce system paved the way for businesses to be more willing to work with some 

of the smaller, less experienced community-based nonprofits.

Business Investment in Community-Based Nonprofits

There were primarily three opportunities for business investments in these grant 

initiatives:

■ Offering workshops to community-based nonprofit staff on what companies are 

looking for, hiring processes, and career ladder opportunities; 

■ Opening their place of business for job shadowing, work experience, and/or 

internship opportunities; and/or

■ Contributing employee time to work with representatives of community-based 

nonprofits to conduct follow-up on new employees and inquire about new job 

openings.

“To avoid multiple 

business contacts, we 

developed a system 

that would allow for job 

referrals to pass through 

the FBCO [subrecipient] 

who had developed 

relationships with a 

particular employer”27 

Dorsine Jenkins

The Workforce Investment Board 

of Herkimer/Madison/Oneida 

Counties 

Business Relationships 

Peer Contact

s	Steve Wing

CVS Pharmacy

(330) 487-6957

SMWing@cvs.com

“Employers are also willing to respond creatively to problems such as 

lack of transportation. One of the employer partners for this program 

was [name of electric company] that needed electricians in the field 

including in more remote areas...The company made vans available 

and assigned team leaders to pick up team members at neighborhood 

locations accessible to them.” 26

Michelle Voll

Evaluator

Macro International Inc.
Businesses were willing to make these investments, in part, because they valued the existing 

and potential value of the investments community-based nonprofits were willing to make in 

talent development.

Community-Based Nonprofit Investment in Businesses

The most common services provided to businesses by community-based nonprofits included:

■ Mentoring new employees (e.g., especially for youth and ex-prisoners);

■ Making referrals for employment opportunities (e.g., screening and references);

■ Training talent;

■ Monitoring job shadowing, work experience, and/or internships;

■ Training businesses to help them know how to supervise and support employees who face 

barriers related to poverty; and

■ Case management for new employees and/or employees in transition.

Recap

Together, community-based nonprofits, WIB grantees, OSCC, and businesses created 

sustainable relationships that allowed each organization to achieve the goal of preparing and 

placing valued talent in the hands of businesses. Leadership from the WIB grantees, county 

officials and offices, businesses, and community-based nonprofits was necessary to make 

these connections.

“FBCOs are the first 

point of contact for many 

people who are in need 

of support services. The 

faith community provides 

a holistic approach to 

service delivery and is a 

critical link to workforce 

development.”28 

Representative from a Business

Leveraging Community-Based Nonprofit/Business Relationships 23
24 Transforming performance, capacity, communities, regional economies

Key Take-Aways

In this section you will discover grantee lessons learned about:

■ Integrating leadership of community-based nonprofits into the workforce system;

■ Attracting other leadership and organizations through the success of the grant; and

■ Various dimensions of leadership opportunities with community-based nonprofits.

Lessons Learned

Workforce investment board grantees learned how to tap into and integrate the 

leadership capacity of community-based nonprofits into the workforce system. By 

working more closely with community-based nonprofits in these relationships, 

many WIB grantees had a better opportunity to meet and work with some of the 

business leaders who grew community-based nonprofits from an innovative idea, 

need, and/or opportunity to a viable nonprofit business. 

Perhaps the most significant lessons learned by the WIB grantees regarding 

leadership were:

■ The benefits of tapping and integrating new leadership resources; and 

■ Better aligning existing leadership through additional organizations that 

became part of the system as a result of this funding. 

Representatives from WIB grantees, community-based nonprofits, government 

organizations (e.g., parole, probation, and sheriff ’s office), and businesses had 

the opportunity to share and leverage leadership capacity across their boards, 

businesses, and the workforce system. Additional leaders and organizations were 

drawn to the opportunities born of the success demonstrated by grantees and 

community-based nonprofits.

Several dimensions of leadership opportunities were tapped:

■ Relationships were made between leaders of the WIB grantee, businesses, other organizations, and 

community-based nonprofits;

■ Nonprofit leaders connected representatives of the workforce system with emerging and/or potential 

leaders;

■ Champions of the workforce system were grown through the leadership circles of these organizations;

■ Some WIB grantees had leadership groups such as advisory councils, committees on faith-based initiatives, 

and a Community Interfaith Liaison office that grew out of their commitment to embracing the nonprofit 

community; and

■ Nonprofit leaders and other organizations that became involved mobilized their powerbases and resources 

on behalf of the workforce system with respect to their political, economic, business, social, leadership, and 

kinship networks.

Tapping Community-Based Nonprofit Leadership

County-Level Leadership

The bipartisan Board of Supervisors 

unanimously passed Pima County 

Board Resolution 2003-224, 

establishing a Faith-Based and 

Community Initiatives Program as 

proposed by the Supervisor. With 

this resolution came a staff person 

for Pima County, Arizona whose 

role was to encourage interaction 

and understanding between the 

government and the FBCOs of Pima 

County.29
While some of the smaller community-based nonprofits’ leadership capacity may 

have initially had more to gain than give in the relationship, it was the collective 

success of the relationship between grantees and varying degrees of communitybased nonprofit leadership capacity that attracted other leadership, assets, and 

growth to the workforce system.

Recap

The projects that were most successful in tapping the leadership of communitybased nonprofits were those that could find a common ground across missions. 

Together the leaders of the workforce system, businesses, government agencies, 

and community-based nonprofits are becoming powerful drivers of innovation, 

asset development, and deployment, and inventors of opportunities sustained 

collectively by the workforce system.

LEADERSHIP PEER CONTACTS

s	Dan Eckstrom 

Retired Pima County Supervisor

(520) 247-9250

DWEMGT@aol.com

s	Linda Leatherman 

Pima County Faith-Based Coordinator

(520) 243-6780

lleatherman@csd.pima.gov

s	Trenda Rusher

Washtenaw County Employment 

Training and Community Services, 

Michigan Works! 

(734) 544-2955

“The WIB and its core partners spent several months assessing what 

could be done within existing revenue streams, so that at a minimum, 

agencies serving ex-offenders could increase collaboration and 

cooperation. This process was one of the major keys to the [name of 

program] project’s ultimate success because it helped partners learn 

one another’s ways of doing business and helped agencies that are not 

normally workforce partners, such as probation, parole, and other law 

enforcement agencies, develop a relationship with the project.”30

William Wubbenhorst

Evaluator

Macro International Inc.

Tapping Community-Based Nonprofit Leadership 25
26 Transforming performance, capacity, communities, regional economies

Key Take-Aways

In this section you will discover grantee lessons learned about: 

■ How the success of the value placed on relationships with community-based nonprofits leads to sustainability and growth; 

■ What is really worth sustaining and growing; and 

■ Challenges that were overcome. 

Lessons Learned

Workforce investment board grantees learned how to 

sustain and grow the connection with communitybased nonprofits, government organizations, and 

businesses that were networked through this funding 

opportunity. The WIB grantees attribute sustainability 

and growth to the following factors:

■ Early planning and relationship and capacity building 

across stakeholders;

■ Identification of intermediaries or points of contact 

between the WIB grantee and community-based 

nonprofits;

■ Effective communication from the start and 

throughout growth;

■ Provision of ongoing, cross-training; 

■ Effective, strong networking; and

■ Institutionalization of what works across the system.

Early Sustainability Planning and Relationship and 

Capacity Building Across Stakeholders

The common denominator of the WIBs’ success in sustaining relationships with community-based nonprofits was early 

planning and the way they approached relationship and capacity building. This context setting not only led to sustainability, 

but grew a strong, healthy connection between organizations and their individual and collective capacity. By spending time 

planning prior to applying for the grant and after receiving the award, WIB grantees had an opportunity to engage government 

officials, community-based nonprofits, county government offices, and businesses in some or all of the following activities:

■ Clarification and validation of community issues, assets, and possible solutions from different perspectives;

■ Understanding each organization’s mission and culture and what each organization must receive from the relationship and 

then identifying complementary characteristics;

■ Evaluating community and individual organization readiness and commitment;

■ Consensus and relationship building;

■ Visioning that would lead to a consensual path with realistic timeframes; and

■ Clearly articulated outcomes and expectations, and role development and clarification.

In the early stages of planning, many WIBs either integrated existing intermediary groups and champions of the proposed 

initiative and/or identified new intermediaries to be part of the strategic planning and implementation processes.

Sustaining and Growing the Connection
Identification of Intermediaries or Points of Contact Between the WIB and Nonprofits

An intermediary is a point of transfer, a conduit, a person who stands in the 

gap between one person and another or between organizations. Many grantees 

identified points of contact or intermediaries as part of the process of articulating 

roles and role development and clarification right from the start. Sometimes 

intermediaries were selected from the workforce system, a designated person 

to work with community-based nonprofits. This would be a person with a 

depth of workforce system experience, expansive networks, and credibility 

in the community. Some grantees contracted with a type of “lead” nonprofit 

organization to act as a conduit between the WIB and the community-based 

nonprofits as a group. This arrangement was formed sometimes when the 

WIB needed someone more familiar with the nonprofit culture to nurture 

relationships between the WIB and community-based nonprofits. Creation 

of these positions relieved current OSCC staff from many of the additional 

responsibilities that accompanied new grantees. Their roles included:

■ Communicating with community-based nonprofits on a regular basis and 

across all organizations involved;

■ Serving as a liaison between the WIB and subrecipients to connect them with 

the workforce system’s job matching and tracking systems, include them in job 

fairs, and develop relationships with job developers;

■ Providing monitoring and oversight (including the service delivery process);

■ Helping grow the capacity of community-based nonprofits through mentoring 

and training (e.g., administrative, cross-cultural, and administrative issues; 

procurement process, and grant writing); and

■ Fostering sustainability.

Sometimes there were intermediary groups and champions of the initiatives. Some counties had advisory councils, others had 

committees on faith-based initiatives, and one had a Community Interfaith Liaison office.31 Intermediaries, contact people, 

and groups of champions were another key to the success, sustainability, and growth of these relationships. According to 

one project director, intermediaries “...were instrumental in closing the gap between government requirements and FBCO 

capacity.”32 One of the most effective means of closing this gap was through effective communication.

Intermediary Peer ContactS

s	David Hunn 

The Skills Source Group, Inc.

(703) 752-1606

david.hunn@myskillsource.org

s	Linda Leatherman

Pima County Faith-Based Coordinator

(520) 243-6780

lleatherman@csd.pima.gov

s	Linda Marrama 

Retired North Virginia Workforce 

Investment Board

(571) 215-0775

lmarrama@earthlink.net

 Sustaining and Growing the Connection 27
28 Transforming performance, capacity, communities, regional economies

Effective Communication From the Start and Throughout Growth

Some WIBs started communicating with community-based nonprofits before 

applying for funding. In some cases this required extensive outreach to the nonprofit 

community. By engaging a variety of organizations early in the dialog, organizations 

more readily became stakeholders in and embraced the planning and implementation 

process. The WIBs used a variety of methods to maintain communication:

■ Planning sessions before and once the grant began;

■ Bidder conferences;

■ Orientation sessions on how government works and an introduction to the 

procurement process;

■ Manuals developed specifically on the procurement process, compliance issues, and 

procedures;

■ Regularly scheduled site visits, sometimes weekly;

■ Peer learning sessions;

■ Mini-conferences focusing on sustainability strategies;

■ Cross-agency communication; and

■ Biweekly meetings to discuss tips for approaching business relationships.

The provision of training emphasized and reinforced the need for effective 

communication.

Provision of Ongoing Cross-Training 

Part of the success of sustaining and growing the connection between organizations 

was ongoing training that took place from the inception of relationship-building 

and sometimes on weekly, monthly, and certainly on a regular basis. In addition to 

providing an orientation on how government works, the WIA and an explanation of 

the WIB’s procurement process (reference Connecting Nonprofits to the Workforce 

System), additional topics for training included:

■ Information on community and employment resources;

■ Building infrastructure;

■ Accountability;

■ Capacity building;

■ Continuous improvement; and

■ Building business relationships.

Intermediaries were instrumental in providing a substantial amount of training and 

facilitating networking across the system.

“The outcome numbers 

tell you how many people 

we have served, which 

was staggeringly more 

than we thought. What the 

numbers don’t tell you is 

the greater sophistication 

of these organizations, 

their greater ability to track 

their own outcomes, their 

greater accountability for 

what they’re doing, their 

connection to each other. 

These outcomes may be 

the ones that live on the 

longest.”33

Linda Marrama

Program Director 

North Virginia Workforce 

Investment Board

Networking FBCOs 

Peer Contact

s	Dorsine Jenkins

Workforce Investment Board of 

Herkimer/Madison/Oneida Counties

(315) 793-6037

djenkins@working-solutions.org

“I have found that a good 

partnership amongst 

the FBCOs consists of 

their willingness to be 

open, flexible, respectful 

of each other, and 

nonpossessive of the 

clients....”35

Dorsine Jenkins

Herkimer/Madision/Oneida 

County WIB
Effective, Strong Networking 

An effective, strong network was built and nurtured across all organizations involved. 

In many cases, these organizations included county offices (e.g., parole, probation, 

and sheriff ’s), community-based nonprofits, WIBs, other workforce system providers 

and partners, and elected officials. Strategies for effective networking across 

organizations included:

■ Creating strong relationships built on a common purpose and outcomes that 

transcended differences, challenges, and individual missions;

■ Discussing, embracing, and nurturing sustainability and growth; 

■ Valuing and integrating flexibility into the collective thinking and processes;

■ Identifying and using a common language;

■ Including change agents and workforce system champions from different social 

and political networks; and

■ Developing and nurturing political will.

In addition to the success of the system, organizations were encouraged when an 

individual organization or a group of organizations in the network was successful 

in securing additional funding. This type of success helped institutionalize the 

relationships within and across the workforce system.

Institutionalization of What Works Across the System

Sustained and growing relationships within the workforce system are indications that whatever has brought people together 

has been not only institutionalized within their own organization, but across organizations in the system. It was the experience 

of several of the WIB grantees that what worked, begins to work better, and then it begins to work better across the workforce 

system. Something that is successful and institutionalized is more likely to survive changes in funding streams, staff, and 

political environments. People recognize the value of what is happening and perpetuate its worth through replication, 

leveraging additional funding, and creating innovative ways to expand its current value. A staff person from an OSCC 

articulates the lasting relationships that exist as a result of these connections.

“The goal was not to 

start services, but to 

start conversations and 

build off of existing 

services so that we 

were closing gaps and 

supporting effective 

service providers, 

not re-inventing the 

wheel”34

Russ Davis

Workforce Investment Board 

of Herkimer/Madison/Oneida 

County

 Sustaining and Growing the Connection 29

“One of the things we were initially trying to do with this project was to connect 

the faith-based and community groups with the One-Stop. Now, because of this 

program, they know the One-Stop, they know we are here, and they know the 

process. This project brings us people that, for whatever reason, weren’t coming 

in the door before....Now when the FBCOs have someone in their congregation or 

in their local community who is looking for a job, they steer them to the One-Stop. 

That is true sustainability...the sustainability factor is that the connection has been 

institutionalized.”36

 Charles Casey

 Pima County OSCC
30 Transforming performance, capacity, communities, regional economies

This is not to say there were no challenges involved in relationship building and with implementing the grant. The WIBs 

shared that some of the following challenges had to be overcome.

■ The dynamics of some of the faith-based communities made it challenging to find 

common ground when it came to the perceived “red tape” associated with federal 

funding.

■ Local and federal government rules, regulations, and requirements sometimes had 

to be explained and seemed overwhelming to some.

■ Every organization brought with it a unique culture with sometimes competing 

interests (e.g., some OSCC staff were afraid of community-based nonprofits taking 

credit for job placements).

■ Dealing with eligibility was a challenge for some community-based nonprofits that 

recruited many individuals who did not meet WIA eligibility criteria. 

■ The time limitation of the grant was not sufficient for some individuals to comply 

with necessary paperwork and/or receive training and job placement.

■ It was a challenge for some individuals to satisfy the definition of “continuous 

employment” within the time constraints of the grant.

■ Changing job markets meant some new employees were laid-off, making it 

challenging for the workforce system to forecast future labor markets within the 

time constraints of funding.

■ If roles were not clearly articulated, sometimes there were too many people 

providing direction, a challenge resolved by an effective intermediary.

Organizations working with federal funding may encounter some of these same issues. These grantees demonstrated it was 

possible to work successfully with community-based nonprofits and other organizations to achieve a shared vision despite 

seemingly competing interests, changing economies, and the lack of sufficient time.

Recap

Together the WIB grantees, community-based nonprofits, community organizations, elected officials, and businesses 

sustained and grew their relationships. They did this by embracing the collective capacity and the value they as a workforce 

system and the community found in the services, outcomes, and innovation they created and in the lives and communities 

they helped transform.

The workforce system can continue to create communities of hope, innovation, productivity, and prosperity within and 

across communities by embracing community-based nonprofits.

SUSTAINABILITY PEER CONTACTs

s	Charles Casey 

 Financial Program Manager for the 

Pima County One Stop and Liaison 

to the WIB

(520) 243-6742

charles.casey@pima.gov

s	David Hunn 

The Skills Source Group, Inc.

(703) 752-1606

david.hunn@myskillsource.org
“These [new grants] were truly an unexpected benefit to the 

community. No one realized what an injection of cash could mean to 

some of the smaller FBCOs. Their passion to help was only matched 

by their creativity in maximizing the new money and new networks 

into great new programs for the community.”38

Lindan Johnson

Evaluator

Macro International Inc.

Beyond Sustainability 

One WIB grantee reported that not only did the relationships 

between the WIB, nonprofits, various county offices, and 

elected officials continue, they expanded the collective 

capacity of the workforce system.

• Additional funding for a re-entry taskforce has greatly 

enhanced communication efforts and relationships.

• The taskforce submitted a grant to the U.S. Department of 

Education.

• The county Sheriff engaged the group to create an in-jail 

program to link with the community which later became 

a jail-to-community project for younger adults sent to the 

local county jail. 

• The referral network has more of a solid partnership, 

increasing the WIB’s ability to serve customers, and does 

not require additional funding.

• There are two projects addressing the needs of the 

homeless.

• There is a strong community commitment to work 

as a team to keep the relationships active because the 

relationships have helped all the partners better accomplish 

their missions.37

 Sustaining and Growing the Connection 31
32 Transforming performance, capacity, communities, regional economies

1

 Johnson, 2008, p. 16

2

 Johnson, 2008, p. 2

3

 Wubbenhorst, 2008, p. 8

4

 Johnson, 2008, p. 9

5

 Independent Sector, 2001, p. 11 

6

 Independent Sector, 2001, p. 6

7

 Johnson, 2008 

8 Wubbenhorst, 2008

9

 Burwick, Derr, Max, and Paulsell, 2007, p. xxii

10 Johnson, 2008, p. 10

11 Johnson, 2008, p. 8

12 Bender, 2003, p. 21

13 20 CRF Part 37 

14 29 U.S.C. Sec. 2938 (2000)

15 Wubbenhorst, 2008, p. 4

16 Wubbenhorst, 2008, p. 3

17 Johnson, 2008

18 Voll 2008, p. 7

19 Independent Sector, 2001 p. 6

20 Butler, 2008

21 Johnson, 2008, p. 14

22 Voll, 2008, p. 6

23 Johnson, 2008, p. 7

24 Johnson, 2008, p. 3

25 Wubbenhorst, 2008, p. 7

26 Voll, 2008, p. 5

27 Wubbenhorst, 2008, p. 7

28 Voll, 2008, p. 5

29 Johnson 2008, p. 1

30 Wubbenhorst, 2008, p. 2

31 Johnson, 2008, p. 1

32 Johnson, 2008, p. 10

33 Voll, 2008, p. 8

34 Wubbenhorst, 2008, p. 3

35 Wubbenhorst, 2008, p. 5

36 Johnson, 2008, p. 5

37 Wubbenhorst, 2008, p. 9

38 Johnson, 2008, p. 5

39 Wubbenhorst, 2008, p. 9

40 Voll, 2008, p. 4

Endnotes
APPENDICES

“All in all, [the prisoner re-entry initiative] has given 

us all something to feel good about, and that’s 

important for a town like this that needs hope.”39

Executive Director

Workforce Investment Board 

Appendices 33
34 Transforming performance, capacity, communities, regional economies

A. Peer Contacts

Name and 

Contact 

Information

Asset MappingBusiness RelationshipsConnecting Nonprofits to the WorkforceCulturally Viable ProgramsFormal Outreach and Planning InformationGeneral InformationIntermediariesLeadershipNetworking FBCOsSimplified RFPSustainabilityWorkforce (Regional)WIB

Bender, April 

Partnerships for Quality

P.O. Box 160 

Hannawa Falls, NY 13676

(315) 265-4294

april@nyswtwrn.com

X X

Casey, Charles

Financial Program Manager 

Pima County One Stop 

and Liaison to the WIB

2797 E. Ajo Way

Tucson, AZ 85713

(520) 243-3742

charles.casy@pima.gov

X

Davis, Russ 

WIB of Herkimer/

Madison/ Oneida County

209 Elizabeth St.

Utica, NY 13501

(315) 798-5908

rdavis@ocgov.net

X X

Eckstrom, Art 

Pima County Employment 

and Training Program Manager

2797 E. Ajo Way 

Tucson, AZ 85713

(520) 243-6777

X
A. Peer Contacts (continued)

Appendices 35

Name and 

Contact 

Information

Asset MappingBusiness RelationshipsConnecting Nonprofits to the WorkforceCulturally Viable ProgramsFormal Outreach and Planning InformationGeneral InformationIntermediariesLeadershipNetworking FBCOsSimplified RFPSustainabilityWorkforce (Regional)WIB

Eckstrom, Dan

Retired Pima County Supervisor

2619 S. 8th Ave. 

Tucson, AZ 85713

(520) 247-9250

DWEMGT@aol.com

X

Elkins, Rita 

Performance Excellence 

Partners, Inc.

5970 Cannon Ave.

Cocoa, FL 32927

(321) 806-4223

jelkins6@cfl.rr.com

X

Fowler, Gordon 

Fowler Communications

1722 J St., Suite 17

Sacramento, CA 95814 

(916) 442-1394

Gordon@3foldcomm.com 

X

Hunn, David 

President and CEO 

The SkillSource Group, Inc. 

8300 Boone Blvd. Suite 450 

Vienna, VA 22182 

(703) 752-1606

david.hunn@myskillsource.org

X X
36 Transforming performance, capacity, communities, regional economies

Name and 

Contact 

Information

Asset MappingBusiness RelationshipsConnecting Nonprofits to the WorkforceCulturally Viable ProgramsFormal Outreach and Planning InformationGeneral InformationIntermediariesLeadershipNetworking FBCOsSimplified RFPSustainabilityWorkforce (Regional)WIB

Jenkins, Dorsine

Herkimer/Madison/

Oneida County WIB

209 Elizabeth St. 

Utica, NY 13501

(315) 794-6037

djenkins@working-solutions.org 

X

Letherman, Linda

Pima County WIB, Arizona

Pima County Faith-Based 

Coordinator

2797 East Ajoway 

Tucson, AZ 85713

(520) 243-6780

lleatherman@csd.pima.gov 

X X X

Marrama, Linda 

N. Virginia Workforce 

Investment Board (Retired)

117 Conch Ct. 

Emerald Isle, NC 28594

Cell (571) 215-0775

lmarrama@earthlink.net 

X X

Ramos, Richard 

The Latino Coalition 

5201 California Ave. Suite 440 

Bakersfield, CA 93309 

(661) 326-8845 

rramos@latinocoalition.org

X

A. Peer Contacts (continued)
A. Peer Contacts (continued)

Appendices 37

Name and 

Contact 

Information

Asset MappingBusiness RelationshipsConnecting Nonprofits to the WorkforceCulturally Viable ProgramsFormal Outreach and Planning InformationGeneral InformationIntermediariesLeadershipNetworking FBCOsSimplified RFPSustainabilityWorkforce (Regional)WIB

Rusher, Trenda

Washtenaw County 

Employment Training and 

Community Services, 

Michigan Works! 

310 W. Michigan Ave. 

Suite 400

Ypsilanti, MI 48197 

(734) 544-2955

X X

Vander Hulst, James

103 Colelge Ave. SE

Grand Rapids, MI 49503-5921

(616) 454-8738 

jvanderhulst@westmichiganteam.

org

X

Wing, Steve

CVS Pharmacy

1920 Enterprise Parkway 

Twinsburg, OH 44087 

(330) 487-6957

SMWing@cvs.com

X

Wubbenhorst, William

Macro International Inc.

11785 Beltsville Drive Suite 300

Calverton, MD 20705

(301) 572-0561

William.H.Wubbenhorst@orcmacro.

com

X
38 Transforming performance, capacity, communities, regional economies

Workforce Investment Board Grantees

u Anne Arundel Workforce Development 

 Corporation (MD)

u Area Community Service Employment (MI)

u Brockton Area Workforce Investment (MA)

u Capital Area Michigan Works! (MI)

u Capital Workforce Partners (CT)

u City and County of Denver Mayor’s 

 Office of Workforce Development (CO)

u Coastal Bend Workforce Development Board,

 dba Workforce 1 (TX)

u County of Cumberland (NJ)

u District of Columbia Government, 

 Department of Employment Services (DC)

u Jefferson County Commission (ALB)

u LaFourche, Assumption, Terrebonne WIB, Inc. (LA)

u Mayor’s Office of Employment Development (MD)

u Metro North Regional Employment Board (MA)

u New Hampshire Community Technical College

 System (NH)

u Northern Virginia Workforce Investment Board (VA)

u Ottawa County (MI)

u Pima County Workforce Investment Board (AZ)

u San Diego Workforce Partnerships, Inc. (CA)

u Santa Ana Workforce Investment Board (CA)

u The Workplace, Inc. (Southwestern Connecticut’s 

 Regional Workfoce Investment Board) (CT)

u Workforce Investment Board of Herkimer

 Madison and Oneida Counties (NY)

u WorkNet Pinellas, Inc. (FL)

To locate the Department’s WIB and nonprofit grantees 

in your area, access the Department’s web site at www.dol.

gov/cfbci/tlc/grantee/statesearch.aspx. 
B. Equal Treatment and Religion-Related Resources

Affirmative Action and Nondiscrimination Obligations of Government Contractors, 

Executive Order 11246, as amended; Exemption for Religious Entities [09/30/2003] 41 CFR Part 60-1 

www.dol.gov/esa/regs/fedreg/final/2003024295.htm

Equal Treatment in Department of Labor Programs for Religious Organizations; 

Protection of Religious Liberty of Department of Labor Social Service Providers 

and Beneficiaries 29 CRF Part 2, Subpart D

www.dol.gov/dol/allcfr/title_29/Part_2/Subpart_D.htm

Equal Treatment Online Training

http://partnership.dolelearning.org/fb_12.htm

Equal Treatment Regulations

www.dol.gov/cfbci/legalguidance.htm

Executive Order 11246 EEO and Affirmative Action Guidelines 

for Federal Contractors Regarding Race, Color, Gender, Religion, and National Origin 

www.dol.gov/esa/ofccp/regs/compliance/fs11246.htm

Executive Order 13279 Equal Protection of the Laws for Faith-Based and Community Organizations

www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/12/20021212-6.html

Guidance to Faith-Based and Community Organizations on Partnering with the Federal Government

www.whitehouse.gov/government/fbci/guidance_document.pdf

Job Corps Policy and Requirements Handbook

http://jobcorps.dol.gov/docs/prh.pdf

Memorandum Opinion for the General Counsel, Office of Justice Programs, 

Re: Application of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act to the Award of a 

Grant Pursuant to the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (June 26, 2007)

www.usdoj.gov/olc/opionions./htm

Nondiscrimination and Programmatic Regulations Specific to the WIA 

(29 CFR 37.6(f)) www.dol.gov/cfbci/Part37.htm and (20 CFR 667.266) and (20 CFR 667.275) 

www.dol.gov/CFBCI/regs/FedReg/final/finalregs071204.htm

Promoting Equal Treatment: A Guide for State & Local Compliance with Federal Regulations

www.whitehouse.gov/government/fbci/equal-treatment.html

Q & A on Guidance and Monitoring of Faith-Based Organizations That Receive Government Funds 

www.religionandsocialpolicy.org/interviews/interview.cfm?id=179

Appendices 39
40 Transforming performance, capacity, communities, regional economies

B. Equal Treatment and Religion-Related Resources (continued)

Religious Freedom Restoration Act (42 U.S.C. § 2000bb (2000)

http://caselaw.lp.findlaw. com/scripts/ts_search.pl?title=42&sec=2000bb and 

www4.law.cornell. edu/uscode/42/usc_sec_42_00002000--bb000-.html

Training and Employment Guidance Letter 1-05

http://wdr.doleta.gov/directives/corr_doc.cfm?DOCN=2088

Training and Employment Guidance Letter 17-01 

http://wdr.doleta.gov/directives/corr_doc.cfm?DOCN=1376

Training and Employment Guidance Letter 29-07

www.dol.gov/cfbci/20080501TEGL.pdf

Workforce Investment Act--Equal Treatment in Department of Labor 

Programs for Faith-Based Community Organizations; Protection of Religious Liberty, 

and Limitation on Employment of Participants; Final Rules [7/12/2004] 

20 CFR Parts 667 and 670 and 29 CFR Parts 2 and 37 

www.dol.gov/cfbci/regs/fedreg/final/finalregs071204.htm
C. Connecting Community-Based Nonprofits to the Workforce System

These checklists include resources a WIB and/or OSCC can provide community-based nonprofits in 

an effort to create positive relationships and connect them to the workforce system.

√ Information on how funding flows from the federal government and their procurement or RFP/RFA process

√ The purpose and laymen’s explanation of the WIA and other funding sources used to fund community-based 

 nonprofits and individuals served through the system

√ Overview of the relevant sections of the local and/or state WIA plan

√ Relevant Office of Management and Budget Circulars, Code of Federal Regulations, Executive Orders, 

 Training and Employment Guidance Letters, and Training Employment Notices

√ Opportunities to learn, understand, and respect each other’s culture, goals, and operating structure

√ Developing an awareness of and commitment to meeting performance measures, where applicable

√ Creating a simplified RFP/RFA

√ Providing a list of terms that may be unfamiliar to FBOs

√ Providing a bidder’s conference to explain the procurement process and RFP/RFA

√ Creating an outreach strategy to advertise the availability of the RFP/RFA, specific to community-based nonprofits

√ Offering training specific to issues of accountability such as electronic record keeping, reporting, and compliance

√ Designating someone in their organization specifically to answer questions of prospective grantees and work 

 with new grantees

Appendices 41
42 Transforming performance, capacity, communities, regional economies

Relevant Information on WIA

These checklists include resources a WIB and/or OSCC can provide community-based nonprofits in 

an effort to create positive relationships and connect them to the workforce system.

√ 21st Century Workforce Initiative

√ Accountability

√ Assessment

√ Board development and operation

√ Community participation of the workforce system

√ Community-driven youth programs

√ Continuous improvement

√ Counseling

√ Customer characteristics

√ Customer choice

√ Customer satisfaction

√ Delivery system

√ Eligibility

√ Flexibility of block grants

√ Job club

√ Job Corps Centers

√ Life skills

√ Memorandums of understanding

√ Outreach, including recruitment

√ Planning

√ Private sector led

√ Rehabilitation Act

√ Screening, selection, and assignment of enrollees

√ Strategies for sharing practices for innovation, sustainability, and entrepreneurship

√ Support services

√ Training services

√ Youth services

“All procedures, 

checklists, client 

forms, and tools were 

contained in a detailed 

technical assistance 

manual...developed 

for the grantees.”40

Michelle Voll

Evaluator 

Macro international Inc.

For a copy of WIA state plans and annual 

reports, nonprofits can access www.doleta.

gov/USWORKFORCE/WIA/planstatus.cfm.
Relevant Resources on Regional Workforce Investment

These checklists include resources a WIB and/or OSCC can provide community-based nonprofits in 

an effort to create positive relationships and connect them to the workforce system.

√ Asset Mapping Roadmap 

 www.compete.org/images/uploads/File/PDF Files/CoC_Illuminate_2008.pdf

√ Clusters of Innovation: Regional Foundations of U.S. Competitiveness 

 www.usistf.org/download/documents/Clusters-of-Innovation/Clusters-of-Innovation.pdf

√ Innovate America Report

 www.compete.org/images/uploads/File/PDFFiles/NII_Innovate_America.pdf

√ Measuring Regional Innovation 

 www.compete.org/images/uploads/File/PDFFiles/Regional_Innovation_Guidebook.pdf

√ Regional Innovation, National Prosperity Report 

 www.iedconline.org/EDAmerica/Summer2006/Regional_Innovation.pdf

√ The Role of Regional Clusters in Unlocking Rural Competitiveness 

 www.c2er.org/memberarea/pdf/RuralCompetitivenessCluster.pdf

Appendices 43

Resources for Connecting Nonprofits 

to the Workforce System

The FBCOs can act as satellites or access points of the OSCC. 

For more information on how to connect nonprofits to the 

workforce system as access points contact:

The following two resources are available 

on the accompanying disc.

Elkins, Rita

(321) 806-4223 

jelkins6@cfl.rr.com

Fowler, Gordon

Fowler Communications

(916) 442-1394

Gordon@3foldcomm.com
44 Transforming performance, capacity, communities, regional economies

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