AMPT Crisis Management Consulting

Valerie F. Leonard
Published: December 13, 2020

Nonprofit Utopia has just completed a 6-week engagement, participating in a pool of highly experienced consultants to nonprofits to provide coaching services through AMPT’s Crisis Management Consulting Services. In this capacity, the company provided a total of 21.5 consulting hours to 6 organizations, helping them to address some of their most pressing capacity building issues within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The topics covered included issues surrounding fundraising, strategic planning, marketing and branding, board development, applying for tax-exempt status, succession planning, proposal writing, program design and evaluation and readiness to seek funding from the state of Illinois. Nonprofit Utopia shared a number of tools and resources; helped them assess their individual situations and prioritize their capacity building needs. The organizations Nonprofit Utopia worked with include Earth’s Remedies, Taproots, Inc., Fathers Who Care, Program Impact 100, Chicago Artistic Alliance and BA NIA.

“We were absolutely thrilled to be a part of this initiative”, said Valerie F. Leonard, Founder of Nonprofit Utopia, LLC. “The energy and resilience these organizations displayed during the coaching process let me know that our communities will weather the COVID-19 pandemic, and hopefully come out stronger on the other side.”

AMPT: Advancing Nonprofits was created to provide targeted and effective capacity building support to small nonprofits on Chicago’s West and South sides, prioritizing those led by and serving Black and Latinx communities. Their goal is to connect nonprofits with the quality support and services they need in order to fulfill their critical missions toward a more just and equitable city.

In Spring 2020, AMPT offered services to 30 nonprofits on Chicago’s West and South sides, providing coaching sessions with highly experienced nonprofit consultants, resources and connections to cover the most pressing and relevant topics facing nonprofits during the pandemic. AMPT continued this support between late October and early December to 45 additional organizations. Upon completion of up to 6 one-hour coaching session(s), organizations were given the opportunity to apply for a capacity building grant of up to $10,000 to help address capacity building challenges exacerbated by COVID-19.

Nonprofit Utopia is the ideal community for emerging nonprofit leaders who want to make an impact. Our mission is to train the next generation of ethical leaders. We do this through consulting, coaching, courses and community.

Photo: Mercedes Pickett, Founder of Earth’s Remedies, Executive Director and Systems Architect for Earth’s Remedies on Chicago’s West Side, shares an update of her organization’s capacity building efforts during a recent coaching call.

Keywords: AMPT, Capacity Building, Nonprofit Management, Nonprofit Utopia, Organizational Development, Valerie F. Leonard