September 8, 2020 by JanineMason Uncategorized 0 comments

Five Year Study on Clare Rose Sabbatical Released

We are please to share our recently completed 5-Year Report on the impact of our Clare Rose Sabbatical Program. This is an important milestone for our program, which is now entering its seventh year. To date, we have awarded 25 sabbatical/capacity building grants. Each grant is valued at $50,000.

The report, entitled The Nonprofit Sabbatical as a Catalyst for Capacity Building: A 5-Year Evaluation Summary of the Fieldstone Leadership Network San Diego’s Clare Rose Sabbatical Program, was prepared by the research arm of The Nonprofit Institute at the University of San Diego. It studies the first five cohorts of our sabbatical program.

This report would not have been possible without the participation of our sabbatical recipients, their staff and board members. Each helped us codify the impact of this program on them individually and on the organization as a whole. This work has helped us to improve the program over the years and helped us understand how to tell tell the story of why sabbaticals are important for nonprofit leaders.

Our thanks to The Nonprofit Institute at the University of San Diego for its partnership on this research project. Specifically, to Laura Deitrick and Mary Jo Schumann who started with us over five years ago and then passed on the work to the capable and dedicated hands of Michelle Schneider and Tessa Tinkler. We have been blessed by their wisdom and dedication to researching our work. And of course, thank you to the Durfee Foundation for inspiring us with their sabbatical program and being so generous in sharing their model with us so we could bring it to San Diego.

The report can be found on our website . We have included some highlights for you below, but since we don’t want to spoil your reading experience, we have been brief. But please know, we are excited about the outcomes and the impact this program has had in the first five years of the program.

91% of board and staff surveyed reported the ED was more rested and rejuvenated post-sabbatical.

83% of Interim ls reported they gained skills and knowledge for the future.

82% of nonprofit board members from all 19 organizations indicated that the sabbatical redirected thinking on organizational transition and succession planning.

80% Board and Staff agreed that new leadership capacity was built within the organization as a result of the sabbatical.

Long-term impacts for individuals included:

– Less stress

– Clarity about role

– Greater self-awareness

– Increased creativity and curiosity

– Reflection about retirement

– Increased connection to peers

And long-term benefits to organizations included:

– Culture of well-being

– Succession planning discussed and enacted

– Decreased focus on ED/Increased focus on staff

– Greater shared leadership

– Stronger bond between board and staff

– More autonomous and connected staff

Now, maybe more than ever, sabbaticals play an essential role in building the capacity of nonprofit leaders and organizations while sustaining executive leadership to remain in the sector. Our next application cycle begins in January 2021. This will be cohort 7! If you are interested in applying, please visit our website for more helpful information. It is full of video testimonials, studies, resources and the application.

Applications are due January 31, 2021.