Assistance League of Greater Portland
Transforming Lives · Strengthening Community
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Our Mission: Assistance League volunteers transfoming the lives of children and adults through community programs. Our Vision: Essential needs are met in our community and families flourish. Community Service Programs: • Operation School Bell® - New clothes for K to grade 12 students living in poverty help them stay warm, succeed in school and reduce the financial burden on families. • Assault Survivor Kits® - Victims of rape treated by Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners at hospitals and health centers are offered dignity with fresh outfits to wear home after leaving their clothing for forensic evidence. • Youth Support at Janus Youth’s Cordero program - Activities and encouragement for youth in residential treatment, ages 13 - 19. • Scholarships in Trades - Trade school scholarships for students at Portland Community College help families pursue well paying vocational careers. • PROFITS - providing retail opportunities for young adult transitional students
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Operation School Bell®
Operation School Bell, Assistance League's largest philanthropic program, helps low income and homeless children and teens feel good about themselves while relieving family financial burdens by providing new clothing to the Portland Public School District PTA Clothing Center and issuing clothing vouchers to shop for new clothes to students in the Beaverton and Hillsboro School Districts.
Assault Survivor Kits®
Victims of rape and domestic violence are given dignity with a fresh outfit to wear home after surrendering clothing as forensic evidence after an attack.
Youth Support at Cordero
Twice a month, enrichment activities and encouragement are provided by Assistance League volunteers at Janus Youth's Cordero, a residential treatment program for teenage boys.
Scholarship in Trades
Money for tuition, fees, books, and tools is awarded to help students pursuing a living wage with vocational careers in community college.
PROFITS
Providing retail opportunities for transitional students seeking independence. Young adult students ages 18-21 with Individual Education Plans from a public high school receive workforce training in Assistance League Thrift and Consignment Shop.
Where we work
External reviews
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of children who receive new clothing
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children, Adolescents, Economically disadvantaged people, Immigrants and migrants, Ethnic and racial groups
Related Program
Operation School Bell®
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
In the the 2021/22 school year, 2,973 retail shopping vouchers were given students for new clothes in Beaverton and Hillsboro, and $30,000 of new clothing at wholesale cost was provided in Portland.
Number of academic scholarships awarded
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults, Students
Related Program
Scholarship in Trades
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
2022 data represents 2022-23 year. We gave a total of $20,000 in scholarships to 4 students.
Number of children served
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adolescents, Young men, Adolescent boys, Offenders, Victims of crime and abuse
Related Program
Youth Support at Cordero
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
We support all adolescents in Janus Youth's Cordero program. 2022 data represents 2022-23 year.
Number of hygiene kits distributed
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults, Victims of crime and abuse
Related Program
Assault Survivor Kits®
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
These kits include new clothing; soft joggers, hoodies, t-shirts, underwear and hygiene items for rape and assault victims in 4 sizes S-M-L-XL. 2022 data is for 2022-23 year.
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
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?
Core Goals
1. Continue to select, develop, implement and support programs to meet the needs of the community.
2. Develop sustainable sources of income with processes to ensure careful stewardship of revenues, resources and plans for major expenditures.
3. Develop efforts to attract, retain and increase a diverse, dedicated membership.
4. Continue to strengthen our presence in the community.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Goal 1:
Strategies are the responsibility of the VP Philanthropic Programs and supporting Committee.
Review and evaluate current programs on a regular basis and update implementation as needed.
Monitor community needs and work to involve the population we serve in the development of our programs.
Invite, develop and involve corporate, community and individual partnerships.
Collect feedback from the population we serve and communicate regularly with community liaisons.
Goal 2:
Strategies are the responsibility of the VP Resource Development, VP Building Management, VP Retail Sales, Treasurer, Technology Chair, Finance Chair and supporting Committees.
Implement effective information management systems to improve business intelligence and electronic record storage.
Streamline intradepartmental process of recording and acknowledging donations by implementing a donor management system.
Monitor and assess revenue streams for viability and sustainability, developing new streams as needed.
Promote planned giving through our Legacy Circle.
Evaluate benchmarks in the Business Plan for restoring financial decisions to pre-pandemic levels.
Goal 3:
Strategies are the responsibility of the President, President- Elect, VP Membership and supporting Committees.
Adopt a Diversity/Equity/Inclusion Program with
membership training.
Strengthen the Mentorship Program.
Provide social opportunities for members to meet more members.
Goal 4:
Strategies are the responsibility of the VP Marketing Communications and supporting Committees.
Identify contacts with local publications.
Expand and track social media efforts.
Continue in-house promotion.
Reactivate Speakers Bureau.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Staff - Our member volunteers run the organization, raise funds, and operate our community service programs. Many of the members are actively employed or retired, bringing a variety of skill sets from industry, government, educational institutions, health care and other nonprofit experience.
Funding our Programs - Members operate Assistance League Thrift and Consignment Shops in Beaverton to raise funds. They host an annual major fundraiser, write proposals for grant funding and solicit donations from the public to finance our community service programs.
Space - Our building in Beaverton holds space for operating our retail shops, community service programs, and meeting rooms.
Community Partners - We collaborate with the Beaverton and Hillsboro school districts, the Portland PTA Clothing Center, Janice Youth and Cordero, Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners who serve hospital emergency rooms and facilities, and the Portland Community College Foundation. We also have purchasing agreements with Fred Meyer for Operation School Bell participants to purchase new clothes and shoes using a voucher program. We have relationships with wholesale apparel dealers to facilitate ordering clothing for use by Portland Public School students at the Portland PTA Clothing Center.
Operational Systems - We are a local chapter of the national Assistance League organization. We are supported by the national organization with training and systems for nonprofit management.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Operation School Bell began in 1998 by providing warm jackets to 38 children in Hillsboro. Since then, we have gradually expanded and modified our program to meet the needs of today’s child. Currently, we serve students in all public schools in the Beaverton and Hillsboro School Districts. We started with clothing ordered wholesale, added supervised shopping events for middle/high school students, and in 2020/21, retooled the program in response to input from families and schools. We now offer clothing vouchers that families can use to shop for clothing and/or shoes at a local retail store independently at a time that is convenient for them. We also serve students in Portland Public Schools in partnership with Portland PTA's Clothing Center with new clothes ordered at wholesale cost to supplement the used clothing there.
We have been a constant support of the youth at Cordero since 1979. Assault Survivor Kits are available at local hospitals and facilities and we distribute kits suitable for all genders. We have increased our trade school scholarships program to help adults pursue well paying careers. We plan to continue existing programs, including efforts to provide new clothes for as many children in need as our budget allows.
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 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 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 ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, 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, We don’t have the right technology to collect and aggregate feedback efficiently
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.
Assistance League of Greater Portland
Board of directorsas of 06/16/2023
Mary Johnson
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 ? Not applicable -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes