Operation School Bell®
How Measured: Measured by the counting the number of children that are provided uniforms at the Assistance League of Charlotte facility, and counting the number of uniforms provided directly to schools and number of personal hygiene kits provided directly to schools through Operation School Bell outreach initiatives

Operation Check Hunger
How Measured: Measured by the total number of weekend backpacks provided during the year, the number of in-school snacks provided during the year, and the number of families served during the year through food pantries

Mecklenburg County Teen Court
How Measured: Each defendant is tracked one year after program completion to determine if any new charges have been files

Scholarships
How Measured: Measured by the number of individuals receiving a scholarship regardless of the amount of dollars provided

Number of Assistance League of Charlotte members
How Measured: Measured by the number of individuals who join during each fiscal year, June 1 through May 31

Volunteer hours
How Measured: Total number of hours members, non-members and community volunteers provided during the fiscal year

Briefly describe the organization’s goals

Assistance League of Charlotte is a nonprofit member-volunteer organization dedicated to improving the lives of children and families through community-based philanthropic programs – we feed, we clothe, we mentor, we educate. Its vision is to provide every child an opportunity to succeed. Assistance League of Charlotte serves at-risk children in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg community through the work of five philanthropic programs: (1) Operation School Bell®; (2) Operation Check Hunger; (3) Mecklenburg County Teen Court; (4) Scholarship; and (5) Outreach.

These five programs contribute to lasting change by:

  • Keeping at-risk children focused while in school by providing proper nutrition;
  • Improving attendance and self-confidence by providing proper clothing;
  • Giving first-time juvenile offenders a second chance and keeping them out of the criminal justice system;
  • Providing educational scholarships based on community service as well as need; and
  • Partnering with other non-profit organizations increasing the overall community benefit.

Briefly describe organizational strategies

 Assistance League has four strategies for providing every child an opportunity to succeed:

  1. To ensure that all philanthropic programs demonstrate relevance and measurable outcomes against objectives.
  2. To ensure active membership sufficient to support Assistance League goals.
  3. To ensure adequate funding to support philanthropic programs, chapter administration and debt reduction.
  4. To maintain excellence in management, administration, communication and stewardship of chapter assets.

Monitoring and improving Assistance League’s philanthropic programs to ensure the changing needs of the community are being served is the organization’s number one strategy. In order to serve the maximum number of children and families, Assistance League maintains and administers a thrift shop that provides low cost merchandise to the community and generates nearly $600,000 annually in revenue and continues to grow.

Organizational capabilities for doing this

Assistance League has over 178 active member volunteers and 361 non member community volunteers, who share a passion for serving children and providing more than 70,000 hours during the 2019-2020 fiscal year. All members receive continuous training on operational and program processes.

A volunteer Board of Directors, elected from and by chapter members, oversees the work of the member volunteers, which is to execute programming and manage the organization’s primary revenue generator – its Thrift Shop. With the exception of a full-time administrator for the chapter’s Mecklenburg County Teen Court program and a part-time Chapter Administrator, member volunteers serve as de facto staff, fulfilling regular shifts of work and coordinating a multi-faceted portfolio of programming. National Assistance League provides annual leadership training on best practices for the chapter president and treasurer.

The philanthropic programs continuously assess the value provided to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg community by analyzing the results of each program at the end of the fiscal year. In addition, each program maintains documented processes that are repeatable and improved whenever process failures occur.

Financial requirements are met through the net proceeds from the Thrift Shop that is managed and staffed entirely by volunteers, from solicitation of private and corporate donations and grants, and from other fundraising events.

Describe Organizational progress indicators

Output and outcome accomplishments for the five programs are measured by the number of children and families served and through the surveys that are returned by the teachers and administrators of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools to ensure Assistance League continues to meet the changing needs of the community.

Briefly describe organizational progress

In order to increase the number of children and families served, Assistance League of Charlotte made the decision to purchase a facility capable of housing the philanthropic programs and Thrift Shop as well as providing the warehousing necessary for operations.

We will continue to grow our five philanthropic programs as funding allows, thus making an even greater impact in our community.