"SCORE Helps LVFV- Literacy Volunteers Fox Valley- Position Itself for Growth"    written by Peg Coker, (St. Charles), Executive Director of LITERACY VOLUNTEERS FOX VALLEY  "LVFV - - is all about growth--growth in our adult students, growth in our effectiveness and growth in the number of people we serve. As the economic climate improves, we want to place our organization on a path that will allow us to have greater community impact. To help start us on this path, LVFV sought out the experience of SCORE. SCORE is a nonprofit association dedicated to helping small businesses get off the ground, grow, and achieve their goals through education and mentorship. Supported by the U.S. Small Business Administration and their network of 12,000+ volunteers, they deliver services at no charge or at very low cost. They provide (1) volunteer mentors who share their expertise across 62 industries, (2) free, confidential, business counseling in person or via e-mail, (3) free online business tools, templates, and tips, and (4) free business workshops and webinars. They have a local chapter in the Fox Valley. SCORE Mentors/representatives Krish Raju, St. Charles, and Greg Glassford, Aurora, worked countless volunteer hours to evaluate LVFV’s current position and identify growth opportunities. They increased their understanding of our organization, reviewed historical data, and interviewed LVFV staff. Their efforts produced some interesting facts:  Every adult student requires 15 hours of LVFV staff time per year on average. The average length of time an adult student is enrolled in the program is 2 years. Each volunteer tutor teaches 1.4 students every year on average.These findings allowed us to make some projections. If we continue to serve 300 adult students per year with the same level of services, we need 87 weekly staff hours and 215 active tutors. If we want to increase our impact and serve 400 students, we need 115 weekly staff hours and 285 active tutors. Krish and Greg presented our board with recommendations that will help us achieve our goals. The recommendations will help us monitor data, balance staff efforts, increase our understanding of the community need, and help us achieve broader engagement among businesses and resource providers. They will be implemented as part of the board’s strategic planning meetings." Written & taken from the current Quarterly Newsletter, Literacy Matters, by Peg Coker, Executive Director.For further information on LVFV contact:  630 584-2811  One South Sixth Ave.,  St. Charles, IL ** also on Facebook! or by email:  info@LVFV.org  To learn more about  SCORE, the volunteer arm of the Small Business Administration - aiding small business to grow & prosper, visit: http://www.scorefoxvalley.org