Agency Review

Last week I started to volunteer for the Tempe Community Council's (TCC) Agency Review. I heard about this opportunity almost a year ago when I was interviewing a manager at TCC for another class. I had asked about the skills necessary to be a successful non-profit manager and he said that proposal and grant writing was huge and that I should take advantage of every chance I have to get experience in that area. He told me to stay on the lookout for the next Agency Review. The Agency Review is process that allows citizens of Tempe to have a say as to which local non-profits should receive public grants. Over the course of the next couple weeks I will review between 4 to 10 proposals from various Tempe non-profit agencies. I believe 35 agencies have submitted 55 proposals so far this year asking for around $1.3 million. I get to read through the proposals, fill out an evaluation and formulate questions to ask the agencies that I'm reviewing. Then, in February I get to sit down with a panel of other volunteers who have reviewed the same agencies and we get to have representatives of the agencies answer our questions. Last year, the city council went along with every one of the recommendations from the Agency Review. It's very cool process and I am excited to be apart of it and to learn more about proposals.