National Retreat 2011
Annual National Retreat 2011
This year, Girls Action is shaking things up at the Annual Retreat! Given limited financial resources, we will be reducing the size and scope of the retreat and will be holding project-specific working sessions instead of the usual networking retreat which covers a wide variety of topics. Though we will not be able to invite as many members as usual, we are dedicated to applying the feedback and key learnings of past years to develop concrete ways of moving forward.
Registration period is now over. Check back next spring for the 2012 edition of the National Retreat.
Working Session Descriptions
EVALUATION Working Session:
It can be a challenge to make the case for girls-only programs. We all know our girls’ groups make an incredible difference in girls’ lives, but how do we express that to others who don’t get it yet?
Girls Action wants to work with other girls’ programs to create evaluation tools that will get answers about the changes girls experience in each of our programs. The emphasis is on quantitative impact and outcome evaluation. We want to be able to say, “87% of girls increase their confidence through this program.” We even imagine a common evaluation platform one day that will pool information from many programs so we can show the impact on a national scale.
Objectives:
- Identify the key impact areas & outcomes we would like to measure
- Set criteria for measurement tools (what is important so that they are effective & useable)
- Discuss elements of a common evaluation platform (what are the possibilities; what would members like to see, what would make this most useful for them)
COOPERATIVE FUNDRAISING Working Session:
At the Zoom in on Girls gathering in BC in May 2011, network members and Girls Action staff talked about creative ways to solve the funding problem so many girls’ groups face.
What if Girls Action Foundation created a national fundraising campaign – with network members using these tools to raise funds in their communities? Girls groups often don’t have the infrastructure to come up with a fundraising campaign on their own, but they know their communities and can hit the streets. Let’s explore this idea and hear from fundraising experts about what might work!
Objectives:
- Develop the idea and set it in motion – get some more concrete ideas for a fundraising campaign
- Find out what would make the fundraising initiative useful and workable for network members
Registration period is now over. Check back next spring for the 2012 edition of the National Retreat.
I am not a Network Member… can I take part?
Only members can participate in the Retreat – but you can register for the National Retreat and become a member at the same time! As a member, you will receive invitations to all of our events, you will be connected to over 300 organizations across the country that work with girls and young women, and you can count on our support in your future projects.
The National Retreat takes place every year in the Fall.
Click here to view pictures of the retreat
You have questions?
Do you have questions about the National Retreat?
Call us at: 1.888.948.1112 or contact info@girlsactionfoundation.ca
