VIP

Section I: Organization Information

Agency Mission: VIP promotes equal justice for the poor by providing civil legal services not otherwise unavailable, collaborating with other legal services organizations, and promoting a culture of volunteerism by educating and exposing attorneys and law students to issues of poverty.

Name/Title of Contact: Sara Woods, Executive Director

Address: 42 S. 15th Street, 4th Floor

Phone Number: 215-523-9560

Website: http://www.phillyvip.org/

Email: swoods@phillyvip.org

Total number of agency staff members: 13

Agency Budget: $888,000

Section II: Community Need

Please state in measurable and quantifiable terms the specific community need that the Philly Fellow will address, including the number of people in the community directly affected by the problem.

VIP's goal is to promote equal access to justice for the poor. VIP achieves this goal by securing pro bono legal services for more than 1,500 low-income Philadelphians, annually, who cannot afford attorneys and whose cases cannot or will not be handled by other public interest organizations. VIP’s clients are among the most marginalized in the City of Philadelphia—in a city where more than 25% of its residents fit the federal definition of “poor.” Due to the dismal economic climate and cuts in city services, this year (2009) VIP’s requests for assistance are up by 60%. In order to serve the ever-increasing number of clients requesting assistance, VIP needs to recruit and retain more volunteers, as well as raise additional operating dollars to support the operations of VIP.

Describe how your agency addresses this need, and how the new capacity created by this fellow will help alleviate the problem.

Volunteer Recruitment through Strategic Communications: With the addition of a Philly Fellow in 2009, VIP began the process of implementing a strategic communications strategy, with the ultimate goal of recruiting and retaining more volunteers. With the basics of the plan in place, the 2010/2011 Philly Fellow will implement the next tier of strategies including creating volunteer recognition levels, developing media partnerships, and creating a VIP presentation to be used by VIP ‘ambassadors.’ The Fellow will also create VIP's Annual Report and implement an established calendar of outreach to volunteers. Finally, the fellow will write and distribute VIP’s quarterly e-newsletter as well as update VIP’s website.

Campaign Development: The Philly Fellow will assist with the management of VIP’s corporate development. In addition, the Philly Fellow will work with VIP’s Board of Directors to plan the 30th Anniversary Event and launch the Endowment Campaign.

Describe the level of community involvement in the fellow’s project.

Philadelphia VIP’s mission is to assist those most in need in our community. As such, the Philly Fellow will be actively engaged in the community for both projects through meetings, working groups, presentations and outreach. In particular, the Philly Fellow will work with VIP’s partners including individual volunteers, law firms, corporations, the Judiciary, and other public interest agencies.

Section III: Job Description

Please outline in list form the fellow's duties and responsibilities.

Campaign Development:
a. The Philly Fellow will have primary responsibility for managing a corporate campaign (new to VIP in 2009).
b. The Philly Fellow will work with the VIP Board of Directors to plan the 30th Anniversary Event and launch the Endowment Campaign.
c. Support the organization’s United Way campaign efforts.

Strategic Communications:
a. The Philly Fellow will write and distribute a quarterly newsletter for VIP’s volunteers to support their pro bono efforts and provide helpful resources and information (created in 2009).
b. The Philly Fellow will develop a tiered volunteer recognition program for long-time volunteers, to encourage retention of experienced volunteers.
c. The Philly Fellow will assist with VIP’s Annual Report.
d. The Philly Fellow will have primary responsibility for updating VIP’s website.
e. The Philly Fellow will implement a strategic communications calendar of outreach to volunteers, funders and clients to ensure a stable, informed group of long-time volunteers and donors.

Please outline in list form the skills/qualifications a fellow should have to succeed in the position.

a. The Philly Fellow should have a strong commitment to ensuring access to justice for all.
b. The successful candidate should also enjoy working in a fast-paced environment with a small, close-knit staff.
c. Strong communication skills are important (public speaking, networking and writing), with particular emphasis on writing skills.
d. Ability to use Microsoft Office products, including Word and Access, experience with Publisher a plus. Familiarity with Adobe Professional and Photoshop is helpful.
e. Prior experience with Constant Contact is desired but not a requirement.
f. Comfortable with technology and website software. Prior experience with website updating a plus.

Please describe your agency's plan to orient and train the fellow.

When the Philly Fellow arrives, s/he will participate in an intensive 3-day training program to acquaint the volunteer with all staff, familiarize the volunteer with office systems and administrative policies, and educate the volunteer about the legal issues facing our clients. The Executive Director and Executive Assistant will then train the Fellow on current development and communications strategies used at VIP, as well as the systems used to update the website (Drupal) and send the e-newsletter (Constant Contact). Following the orientation week, the Fellow will have the opportunity to attend staff in-services, monthly trainings for volunteers, and other agency-sponsored events. In addition, VIP will work with the Philly Fellow to identify professional development opportunities throughout the year in particular areas of interest to the Fellow.

Section IV: Project Plan

Please describe the proposed project goal(s) you expect the fellow to achieve. These should relate to your community need and reflect the long-term impact of the fellow’s project.

The Philly Fellow will continue to build and strengthen VIP’s capacity to assist low-income Philadelphians with their legal issues through two primary projects; campaign development and strategic communications. The goals within those two projects are as follows:
a. Campaign Development: The goal of the corporate campaign is to raise $20,000 from 8 corporations. In addition, the Philly Fellow will assist with launch of a 30th Anniversary Endowment Campaign and help with planning the 30th Anniversary signature fundraising event. Finally, the Philly Fellow will assist with VIP’s United Way campaign with a goal of raising $15,000.
b. Strategic Communications: The goal of the strategic communications project is to ensure a stable, informed group of long-time volunteers and donors, as well as assist in recruiting new volunteers and donors.

Section V: The Nitty Gritty

Will fellow be working at the same address listed above?

Yes

Please describe the fellow's work environment

Fellow will have a shared office.
Fellow will have their own desk.
Fellow will have their own computer.

Please list the name and title of the fellow's immediate supervisor.

Sara Woods, Executive Director

Please approximate the percentage of time fellow will work:

Independently: 50%
As a team member in a group setting: 40%
As a team leader in a group setting: 10%

Travel:

Will the fellow be expected to travel as part of the position?

Yes

If so, how often and where?

Local travel only---within the city limits. The Philly Fellow will likely travel to meetings once per week.

Will the fellow need the following to carry out the position?

A driver’s license: No
Their own car: No

Section VI: Supervision/Resources

Please briefly describe plans for supervision of fellow:

The Philly Fellow will meet with his/her direct supervisor, Executive Director Sara Woods, on a weekly basis for status updates and goal setting. In addition, the Philly Fellow will participate in regular development meetings with the Executive Director and Terri Jett, Executive Assistant, who assists with grant preparation and fundraising.

VIP has an open door policy and we encourage collaboration and communication between staff members. Staff meetings are held monthly and the Philly Fellow will participate in these meetings.

What methods, information, or data will you use to evaluate the fellow’s success in their position and your agency’s success in meeting your community need?

Currently, VIP tracks case statistics including:
• Total number of cases presented by each referring agency, broken down by case category
• Total number of cases accepted by VIP, broken down by category
• Total number of cases closed, broken down by category and closing reason
• Total number of clients receiving legal assistance – including both case referral and other VIP activities
• Total number of volunteers in the pool of volunteers - monthly totals; number and size of firms involved as well as the number of volunteers from each firm; number of individual attorneys
• Total number of attorney CLE trainings and other training/referral activities for attorneys, including number of cases successfully referred
• Volunteer demographics – monthly totals for number of repeat volunteers; number of volunteers opting out; number of volunteers to contact later; number of new volunteers
• Client/community group education and outreach event statistics- number of events; number of attendees; number of cases generated and disposition; number of volunteers participating
• Client statistics- demographics; language; referring organization; case status    Using case management software introduced in 2008, case characteristics outlined above are entered to secure numerical data of the level of service provided (process measures).

To specifically evaluate the success of the Philly Fellow, VIP will incorporate current measurement techniques for the following areas:

Strategic Communications: The baseline results measurement will be tracking increases in the number of volunteer attorneys recruited and retained during the Fellow year. In addition, VIP will track the number of clients served throughout the project. VIP will utilize tracking methodologies for the specific technological communications strategies implemented, including “hits” to website and responses to newsletter and Annual Report (using Constant Contact).

Campaign Development: The baseline results measurement will be corporate dollars raised, as well as contacts established. For the 30th Anniversary projects, the results measurement will be in increased numbers of donors as well as new dollars raised.

Encore: Application wasn’t long enough for you? Please include any additional information you feel would be useful in evaluating your application.

As a result of the Philly Fellow’s work, VIP will increase access to justice for more than 1800 low income Philadelphians per year, ensuring family stability, maintaining income, and preventing homelessness for low-income individuals and promoting community economic development for the entire Philadelphia community.