results for nonprofits
Supporting Nonprofits
Extensive experience is what sets Sharp Resolutions apart from other conflict resolution providers. While each situation is unique, we have worked with nonprofit organizations large and small to help manage, resolve or avoid disputes. Below is a sampling of nonprofit organizations who found solutions working with professionals from Sharp Resolutions.
These case study summaries are provided as informational only. Actual results depend on many factors. Contact us for more information. To protect confidentiality, names in some summaries have been changed or removed.
- Facilitated Dialogues Between Neighbors and Homeless Shelter Ease Tension Neighbors in a Southern California community were up in arms over the opening of a St. Joseph Homeless Shelter. They were very concerned that the existence of the shelter would diminish their home values and that homeless people would be sleeping, throwing trash and urinating in their yards. Employees of the shelter were very worried about violence against the homeless. After several facilitated dialogues, tension was eased through airing of everyone’s concerns and agreements were reached regarding timing of food distribution, the entrance and exit points of the shelter and a newsletter to update the neighborhood on the programs provided to the homeless.
- Nonprofit Develops Their Strategic Marketing Plan with Facilitator’s Assistance With a sizable government contract running out, a large Southern California nonprofit organization enlisted Sharp Resolution facilitators to conduct strategic planning for new marketing opportunities. Over two days, the facilitation team helped key leaders in the nonprofit and selected subcontractors in a step-by-step process to: identity their primary strengths; brainstorm multiple business options their individual and collective talent could offer their markets; select the preferred options; organize the company staff and independent contractors to develop the selections; and begin the chosen specific marketing plan process.
- Neighbors’ Anxieties Over Nearby AIDS Hospice Allayed with Facilitated Meetings Residents were alarmed and very worried about the conversion of a home in their neighborhood to serve as a hospice for AIDS patients. They were very concerned about the risk to their children of exposure to the HIV virus and gay men, parking congestion and the very look of the house as a reflection of their neighborhood. Through a series of facilitated meetings, the health and exposure anxieties were allayed, the parking concerns were resolved and the upkeep of the hospice assured. These meetings also created a much greater sense of understanding and empathy between the neighbors, hospice staff and AIDS patients.
- Consensus Building Gets Leaders of Autism Now to Lobbying Plan A group of about 100 leaders of Autism Now, the national source resource and informational center for autism spectrum disorders and other developmental disabilities, engaged a facilitator to conduct a consensus building process to create a plan for lobbying in California for research and service funds. Through a series of small and large group facilitated sessions, the group – with very diverse interests, needs and goals – coalesced around a lobbying plan for the coming year.
- Law School Enlists Facilitator to Resolve Conflicts Within Education Program Contract
A California law school that administered due process proceedings on behalf of the state of California for over 20 years found itself in the middle of disagreements among disputants about its hearing process. After trying to resolve the issues directly with less than fully effective results, the school engaged a facilitator to conduct several meetings with the highly contentious stakeholders. After working through the strongly felt perspectives, the facilitator helped the disputants create a plan to modify the hearings to address the concerns, needs and interests of all. - National Park Turns to Mediation to Help Smooth Transition of New Operations As often happens in large organizations – be they business, government or nonprofits – the hiring or transfer of high level managers can lead to conflict with current managerial staff. Such was the case in a national park when a second in command transferred in and almost immediately clashed with the head of human resources there. After trying to address the conflict directly for several months without success, the director of the park turned to mediation. After two days of patient listening and helping the conflicting parties identify their primary needs and interests, the Sharp Resolution mediator facilitated the creation of a mutually satisfactory agreement covering future interactions and conduct, timelines and performance evaluation mechanisms.
- Community Development Organization Resolves Internal Conflict at Director Level A San Diego community development organization brought in Sharp Resolutions conflict resolution specialists to assist them with a very challenging and common problem in group settings: internal decision-making difficulties involving department directors and the executive director due to some personal friction and disparate viewpoints on how best to accomplish the corporation’s goals. To assist them in dealing with this problem, Sharp Resolutions created and implemented a process specifically designed to fit their unique needs that included three phases: first, by working out personal issues in a series of mediations between the conflicting individuals; second, by facilitating a consensus building process that helped the directors reconfirm their organization’s mission, identify their primary objectives and brainstorm specific solutions acceptable to all; and, third, by training the directors in conflict resolution and consensus building skills to help them to prevent and resolve future issues.
- High School Uses Mediation to Resolve Sensitive Staffing Issue A prominent, nationally-recognized private high school engaged Sharp Resolutions to assist them with very thorny and delicate conflicts that arose as the result of hiring a new teacher the year before to head up one of their departments (in one of the subjects taught there). During this first year, numerous conflicts arose on a personal and professional level between teachers of this department and the new head. After initial consultations with the principal, the department head and the affected teachers, Sharp Resolutions designed a two-step process to deal specifically with their needs: first, by conducting private, one-on-one mediations with each of the teachers and the department director; and, second, by conducting a full department consensus building process. After addressing and mediating the personal conflicts, the full group, in a series of meetings facilitated by Sharp Resolutions experts, reached consensus on their shared educational mission and goals, created specific approaches to meet their objectives and developed mechanisms for dealing with future conflicts within the department.
- Homeowner and Community Associations Use Mediation to Resolve Disputes When CCR violations and other disputes with individual homeowners cannot be resolved through directs means, Homeowner and Community Associations turn to Sharp Resolution mediators. Usually in a half day or less, the Association and homeowner can work through the issues to create a solution that works for the both sides while maintaining the necessary oversight required for boards, property managers or management staff.
- Community Association Boards of Directors Engage Facilitators for Strategic Planning and Consensus Building Despite their best efforts, occasionally Homeowner/Community Associations and other community groups simply cannot reach consensus. Whether the Association's Board of Directors is grappling with a current controversy or trying to strategically plan for the future, the process can bog down. Sharp Resolutions facilitators are experts at helping boards and other groups work through a variety of sticking points – disparate viewpoints, strong personalities, unending dialogues – to reach consensus efficiently and effectively.
