Lg unit vii project

Columbia Southern University

Rough Draft

Executive Summary/Introduction

The paper will explore a shared service which serves the needs of individuals in the country that is Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The paper will also explore the various partnerships as well as technological resources that are needed to make this service effective and to help it achieve its desired goals, for example, social media use.

Content

The shared service that this paper details on is Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) whose role is to provide and also coordinate response in times of disaster. They help ensure effective response by enhancing preparedness, mitigation and handling response in times of disaster. This is such a critical service since it helps reduce disasters in the country and also mitigate harm as a result of disasters to individuals as well as property. The organization is a non-profit organization since its sole role is to help individuals in the country curb, mitigate and handle disaster situations. The service works together with the local government enhance preparedness, recovery, protection as well as mitigation for disasters in the country (Linden, 2002).

For the agency to be able to communicate its mission statement effectively to individuals various media platforms can be used. Campaigns in print and television media can be used to create awareness as the first avenue. Social media can also play a very fundamental role in conveying the mission message since almost every individual is on the various social media platforms and this message can easily reach them.

The role of the government at any level whether the local level or not is to uphold the welfare of its citizens. One of the main ways in which the government ensures that welfare of the public is upheld is through disaster management. The role and responsibility of the government to manage disasters directly complement what the agency does (Boris & Steuerle, 2006). There is, therefore, need for them to work together to enhance disaster management efforts. A relationship can be fostered by aligning their objectives such that they are all working towards the same goal and this can make it easy for them to work together. Technology can also be of great help in helping strengthen the relationship with the government. Technology systems can be used to enhance coordination of activities and thus reducing the levels of friction, making interactions easy thus building better relationships and e-learning and e training can be used to help train all members to ensure consistency and coordination in the efforts of every individual (Linden, 2002).

The biggest challenge of advocating for grants-in-aid, fee-for-service and eligibility service models is sustainability. This is because fluctuation in the economy and changes in various factors in the economy affect the funds available for each of these models. This can create tension between the organization and the government since the government is subject to economic conditions and the need for funding will not go away at any time for the organization. This challenge can be handled by finding other sustainable ways of generating revenues for the non-profit organization, for example, private donors and fundraisings.

The organization as dictated by the law can be exempted from the payment of taxes since it is non-profit. It should be registered and should the right leadership and the right number of board members as dictated by the law and it can receive grants as well as donations. There is a need to be aware of all these regulations and the specific details in order to align their mission to them since compliance is not optional.

The main issues that are related to collaboration with the government include the lack of trust and also issues of security. The government has the reputation of contributing more negatively than positively to non-governmental organizations. The lack of trust in the government and the reputation it has strained the relationship in the collaboration and affects the effectiveness of the collaboration (Boris & Steuerle, 2006). This issue can be solved by setting clear terms of relationship and collaboration with clear roles and responsibilities.

Reflection

From this project, I have learned a lot about the need for collaboration for the governmental and non-governmental organization for effective execution of projects, something that the country lacks right now. This knowledge can be used in my career to help build better relationships between the two parties that can yield better results. I have learned that there is a need for governmental and non-governmental organizations and that better results can be achieved that way and this is an aspect which I can use to capitalize on projects in my career.

References

Boris, E. & Steuerle, C. (2006). Nonprofits & government : collaboration & conflict. Washington, D.C: Urban Institute Press.

Linden, R. (2002). Working across boundaries : making collaboration work in government and non-profit organizations. San Francisco, Calif: Jossey-Bass.