Oregon Child Care Alliance & Child Care Improvement Project
Free Business Coaching for Oregon Child Care Educators
Now accepting applications. Limited space available.
Get professional support to increase revenue, solve challenging business problems, and streamline your workload of your child care business.
Free training and resources to help you grow your family child care business.
Operating a child care business is hard work, but you don’t have to do it alone. Learn how to fill open spots, collect payments faster, streamline time-consuming business tasks, and increase your bottom line with free business coaching. This includes access to child care management software and a dynamic community of business owners just like you.
Child care is an essential service and child care programs need more support to survive and thrive. We created this program in partnership with child care resource referrals and child care educators around the state. Our mission is to provide services that not only meet needs but honor voices of those working in early child care and education.
See the FAQ section to learn more about program qualifications.
If accepted into the program, you’ll receive one year of free support from mentors to help you do the following:
Automate Business Tasks
Get access to free* childcare management software that:
- Eliminates paperwork
- Helps you collect tuition and fees on-time and online
- Shares your up-to-date availability with families looking for care
- Provides easier parent communications and offers digital check-in and check-out
- And more!
We’ll support you with onboarding and any training necessary.
*By joining the Oregon Child Care Alliance, you will be making a commitment to receive training on and use financial management software, powered by Wonderschool or Brightwheel, for two years.
Increase Revenue
Receive free coaching and training to help you with:
- Recordkeeping
- Tax management
- Bad debt reduction
- And more!
Grow Your Business
Receive strategic support that helps you:
- Refine your business goals
- Build a strong financial plan
- Create a marketing plan to increase your online presence
- Prepare for upcoming tax seasons
- And more!
OUR PARTNERS
GET STARTED
APPLY
Fill out the simple application form to help us learn about you and your program.
INTERVIEW
We’ll have a 20-30 minute call to discuss your business goals.
START
If accepted, you’ll get set up with your free tools, coach, and cohort.
WHAT WE ASK OF YOU
Shared Expectations – What we’ll ask you to do to increase
your chances of success in the program:
Commit to using new software that will reduce your to-dos and provide your coaches with business data to help you reach your goals.
Have continuous, open dialogue with your new coach. The more open you are, the more the coach can support.
Engage and connect online with your professional cohort. This is a group that you can lean on for the good and the bad.
After two years, join the Alliance as a paid member to continue accessing the software for a small fee.
FAQs
You have questions, we have answers!
What does this program do?
The Oregon Child Care Alliance provides no cost business support and training, tax help and free online tools to manage your business. Child care programs are paired with a business coach who will help you increase your earnings, reduce administrative workload, and relieve the stress that running a business can bring. Child care educators become part of a group with other likeminded child care professionals. Together, we help you to learn to use business software tools, set business goals, reduce any debt you may have, and find ways to increase staff salaries so early childhood educators can thrive.
Is this really free?
Yes, membership to the Oregon Child Care Alliance is free at this time. Our goal is to help child care providers see increases to their revenue and grow their business in a sustainable way. We aim to always keep Alliance membership affordable and attainable to all child care providers. We will notify far in advance if any fee structure will be built into OCCA membership in the future.
What are the qualifications?
Eligibility criteria include:
-
- Licensed Certified Family, Registered Family, Small Certified Center (45 children or less) or Recorded Program business owners. (You must be the owner of the business to join the OCCA)
- Willing to commit to attend business training and coaching sessions with an assigned business coach (2-3 hour per month commitment)
Priority access to this program for providers:
-
- Who serve infants and toddlers
- Who live in rural Oregon communities (any place that is located outside of a dense urban area)
- Who provide linguistically-specific child care
What is the program software?
Once you become an Alliance member and begin working with your business coach, you will be invited to 2 years free business software to manage your business operations. The two software packages are Wonderschool and Brightwheel. You can find out more about Wonderschool here and Brightwheel here.
The Wonderschool tools include:
-
- A free website for your business where parents can search for your program online
- Easily schedule parent tours and track waitlisted families
- Parent app with sign in/out features
- Store and Upload Student files
- Invoicing and online tuition billing
- Bookkeeping software, and more!
Is the program software easy to learn?
We’re providing simple, fast, and free software to help you manage your program from a phone, computer, or tablet. The software was designed for, and is used by, hundreds of family child care programs across the country. We will also provide support every step of the way, from onboarding to implementation.
Will the program help me to get organized?
Yes! We understand how challenging it can be to stay on top of all of the administrative demands of your business. If your files are unorganized, you’ll benefit greatly with the help of automation and a business coach! No judgment – just help in tidying up your operations and reducing your administrative burdens. When you join the Alliance, you will make a commitment to work on your business with guidance from your coach 2-3 hours per month. That amount will lessen as you put these time saving systems in place, get more organized, and will eventually result in saving you A LOT of time.
Will the program software add to my workload?
By investing small amounts of your time now, you will save much, much more time in the long run, and make better decisions for your business. Once you are trained to use the free business software tools, you can save up to 6 hours of administrative time each week!
Meeting with your coach once a month to analyze your data and improve your business and quality practices will improve your program and your bottom line. Together you’ll set goals for your business, get help with setting pricing, refine your parent contracts and policy documents, and get free accounting help so tax time can be stress free.
What if English isn’t my first language?
We have program staff and coaches who speak a variety of languages: Spanish, Swahili, Somali, Ukranian, Russion to name a few. The business software is also available in a variety of languages.
Who created this program and why?
The Oregon Child Care Alliance was founded in 2020 by Neighborhood House in partnership with the Early Learning Division and Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR&R). Neighborhood House has delivered anti-poverty services in Oregon for 120 years as an established 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Learn more about Neighborhood House here.
Child care is an essential service and child care programs need more support to survive and thrive. Our mission is to provide services that not only meet needs but honor voices of those working in early care and education.
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