Friends of Tennessee's Babies with Special Needs
Because Babies Can't Wait
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Restore some programs that were interrupted during the Pandemic.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Family support services
Family & community education, adaptive equipment & toys, professional staff support, Early Interventionist awards, bereavement support, scholarships, loaner hearing aids, respite care, learning activities, lending library, training
Where we work
Affiliations & memberships
American Association of Home-Based Early Intervention 1994
SKI*HI Institute (University of Utah) 1973
External reviews
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of organizational partners
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
People with disabilities
Related Program
Family support services
Type of Metric
Input - describing resources we use
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
In 2022 we collaborated with 75 partners
Number of volunteers
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
People with disabilities
Related Program
Family support services
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
In 2022, 200 volunteers helped us with family events.
Number of members from priority population attending training
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
We held the first Family Encouragement Conference.
Number of individuals attending community events or trainings
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Family support services
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
In 2022, 4000 family members attended our family events.
Number of attendees present at rallies/events
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Families
Related Program
Family support services
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
In 2022, 4000 family members attended our Family Events.
Number of groups/individuals benefiting from tools/resources/education materials provided
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
People with disabilities
Related Program
Family support services
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Families received 1072 resources as a result of their request for Family Assistance in the categories of ( oral motor, Care Packages, adaptive equipment, diapers, and childcare, etc))
Goals & Strategy
Reports and documents
Download strategic planLearn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
1. Provide free events so that the families of young children with special needs can share fun times with their children and network with other families.\r\n2. Provide a Loaner Hearing Aid Bank so that families may determine the most appropriate hearing aid for their child before making this expensive investment.\r\n3. Provide individual and group respite care to young children with special needs so that their families may receive a much needed break from 24/7 care needed for these children.\r\n4. Provide a resource lending library so that families and the professionals who serve them may have access to information about young children with special needs.\r\n5. Provide emergency assistance to families when there is no other source of support.\r\n6. Provide adaptive equipment (e.g. special spoons, braces) when there is no other source of support\r\n7. Provide bereavement support to families who have experienced the death of a child.\r\n8. Provide training to families of young children with special needs and the professionals who serve them.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
1. Assess work hours needed to meet all goals\r\n2. Determine potential members (consider community members)\r\n3. Review request guidebook\r\n4..Assess current needs\r\n5. Identify new Advisory Council members\r\n6. See if we can expand the TJX grant\r\n7. Submit the Wright Foundation grant\r\n8. Raise more money at Jazz Baby\r\n9. Increase Kohls participation\r\n10.Have a Maryville PR event (ribbon cutting, Open Houses)\r\n11.Church networks\r\n12.Participate in Marketing Webinars\r\n13.Review Nancy Schwartz resource materials\r\n14.Grow a Maryville event\r\n15.Add PR resource to Advisory Council (Tammy Hartman)\r\n16.Consider interns\r\n17.Build a volunteer database\r\n18.Incorporate strategies from “To Lead Is To Serve”\r\n19.Survey volunteer focus group\r\n20.Meet with Board to develop Vision Statement\r\n21.Meet with Board Committee to develop S.W.A.T analysis\r\n22. Address Financial Plan\r\n23. Complete self- reflection tool
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
History of working with families\r\nCommun passion for the families we serve\r\nComm to the community about what we do\r\nWe're approachable\r\nWe're timely\r\nWe're friendly\r\nWe're collaborative\r\nOpen to ideas\r\nDon't focus on competition\r\nWe have a committed Board\r\nWe draw from large geography\r\nFamilies are our resource\r\nStrong relationship with community based
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Our long term goals to increase the capacity of our organization include:\r\n1. Obtain a permanent office space. (We bought an older home in 2013 and were able to pay off the loan as a cd matured this year).\r\n2. Increase our hours of operation (In 2013 we were able to double our Office Manager's hours so that the office is now open two days per week).\r\n3. Adequately staff our office to increase capacity to meet goals. (Since 2012 we added a part time Director of Programs position. We recently added a part time Financial Manager position).\r\n4. Improve our technology so that we can better network with other staff, colleagues, volunteers, donors and other community partners.\r\n(We recently submitted a grant to reach our goal of networking our operation. We will know the status of our proposal by June 1, 2014).\r\n5. Help to insure the future of our organization by seeking donors willing to establish trusts in our behalf. (We have two donors who have indicated a desire to establish trusts.\r\n6. Create an Advisory Council of Community Partners. (In 2012 we established an Advisory Council that has grown to 22 members). \r\n7. Create a Marketing plan (A new Advisory Council member is recently retired from a PR firm and has volunteered to help us in this area.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback, Staff find it hard to prioritize feedback collection and review due to lack of time
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Friends of Tennessee's Babies with Special Needs
Board of directorsas of 04/16/2023
Terina Bryant
Microsoft
Term: 2017 - 2018
Mrs Taylor Livingston
Don Thompson
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? No -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Transgender Identity
Sexual orientation
Disability
We do not display disability information for organizations with fewer than 15 staff.
Equity strategies
Last updated: 04/16/2023GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We analyze disaggregated data and root causes of race disparities that impact the organization's programs, portfolios, and the populations served.
- We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We use a vetting process to identify vendors and partners that share our commitment to race equity.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.