“We help with that!” is more than a slogan when it comes to consultant offerings through OneSource Center. With a 100+ consultant team, experts can guide nonprofits in a wide array of business improvements. While many executives think consulting automatically means strategic planning, board development or even financial recommendations – sometimes consulting means logistics planning, work process solutions, revisions to job descriptions based on organizational changes, capital campaign planning or even executive search. Sometimes an in-road to helping a nonprofit succeed is as simple as a board member saying, “Why don’t you call Vickie Ciotti to investigate OneSource Center’s capabilities in that area!”
In late 2019, Dress for Success Cincinnati was anxious to have more clothing readily available for their Suiting Center operations and supporting re-sale boutique, Portaluca. Dress for Success, residing on 4th Street in Cincinnati, is a multi-tier support system empowering women to achieve economic independence by providing a network of support, professional attire and development tools to help them thrive in work and in life. Women receive an interview ensemble and a week’s worth of suitable work attire once they have utilized support services to set them up for employment success.
While the region is highly supportive of this nonprofit through donations of gently used clothing and financial donations, sufficient clothing items were not being prepared in-time to meet the demand. OneSource Center consultant Jody Yetzer was new to the Dress for Success Cincinnati board of directors, and suggested a call to OneSource Center, and the “perfect ensemble” was created to develop a move-forward plan.
OneSource Center’s Rob Johnston, with extensive experience in optimizing work processes through his leadership in the Beauty Care division at Proctor & Gamble, worked with Dress for Success in developing a streamlined process for sorting and preparing clothing for the outlets. He and the Dress for Success team collaborated, analyzing the types of clothing that came in; how it was sorted and the logic on how items were divided between the two distribution outlets. The process was formalized into a work process flowchart which helped make visible the steps needed. The flowchart is an effective tool to implement consistent procedures and can be used as a teaching tool to train new volunteers to convert donations into plentiful inventory for the outlets.
“Often what happens in organizations is that once work practices and department responsibilities are established, they are simply repeated over time without questioning if they are still the best approach. Leaders of nonprofit operations don’t have time to analyze if the procedures are the most effective way to meet the organization’s current needs”, said Rob Johnston. “Having an outside set of eyes to review, clarify and explicitly document the actions and decisions allowed the operation of converting donations into inventory to be streamlined, thereby providing a consistent supply of clothing to better support the mission of Dress for Success.”
Another important component to the project was to help clarify the purpose and role of the department preparing clothing items, emphasizing its role as an inventory distribution center for the Suiting Center and Portulaca outlets. When a new manager was hired for this part of the business, the new title was “Inventory Coordinator.” With this new “inventory management” mindset, Rob and the Dress for Success team reviewed the types and number of clothes that were needed by each outlet every week. This analysis helped estimate the number of clothing donations to solicit and process by the inventory department each week.
Know of an organization that could benefit from improved operational efficiency? A project to clarify flowchart work procedures and decision logic can be a relatively simple and fast way to make big strides forward. It’s as simple as a call to OneSource Center!
For more information on Dress for Success Cincinnati and its positive impact on the lives of women and their families visit their website.
The fun continues with the region’s “Unplug and Play” FREE Toy giveaway with event dates in June and July 2021. Thanks to Channel 9‘s Ally Kraemer for highlighting Saturday, June 5’s event hosted by BDK Fund (Brighter Days for Kids.) 
Center for Nonprofit Excellence, a nonprofit resource center serving other nonprofits, is seeking an experienced Warehouse Manager to take on an exciting challenge of managing our warehouse and redistribution center in Cincinnati, OH. Different than traditional warehouse work, this position involves a combination of warehouse operations and meaningful work to connect corporate surplus to support nonprofit needs. We receive donated office furniture and new retail products that are made available to nonprofits serving our community. 