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Sessions

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Conference Sessions

 

	Thursday, July 10, 2008

 

8:00am - 11:00am

Amplifying Impact through Public Interest Lobbying

Presenters: Susan Kilbourne, Center for Lobbying in the Public Interest; Erin Skene-Pratt, Michigan Nonprofit Association

Nonprofits that want to achieve lasting impact must engage in public policy advocacy. In this interactive session, capacity builders of all experience levels will build their comfort and skills with public interest lobbying, a leadership capacity necessary for advancing nonprofit missions. Using CLPI's new "smart and ethical practices for public interest lobbying," participants will strengthen their toolkit with a range of advocacy options that fit nonprofits at various levels of capacity.

Extreme Makeover: Nonprofit Edition Rescues Revisited: Lessons from the Phoenix Project

Presenters: Maria Gutierrez, CamBia Associates; Jan Glick, Jan Glick & Associates

Rescues Revisited builds upon the Alliance's lively 2007 session on Extreme Makeovers. The Phoenix Project, an investigation into rescues, turnarounds and the art of transforming troubled organizations has captured the experiences & lessons learned from hundreds of turnaround cases as shared by Alliance members and other leaders in the field of nonprofit management and transformation. This advanced practitioner session will summarize the research and analysis aimed at, sharing best practice intervention strategies from across the sector, and provide insight into the unique process differences, skill sets and tools needed when working with troubled organizations in life threatening circumstances.

Generations: The Challenge of a Lifetime for Your Nonprofit

Presenter: Peter Brinckerhoff, Corporate Alternatives, Inc.

Are you knowledgeable about generational trends and the impact on nonprofits? With Baby Boomers leaving nonprofit leadership positions, and the next generations coming into a full spectrum of roles, what are you doing right now to support organizational change in programs, outreach, even mission? Based on the book of the same name, Peter Brinckerhoff guides participants in identifying trends and responses. As a result, you will explore approaches to turn generational challenges into opportunities. Leave this session better prepared to assist nonprofits as they meet the changing needs of staff, volunteers, donors, and the community.

Organizational Capacity Assessment – The First Step in Building Capacity

Presenter: Christine Ameen, Ameen Consulting & Associates

A nonprofit's board, executive director and staff – all play a key role in building and maintaining sustainability. Learn how to use an organizational capacity assessment process which uses a multiple perspective approach and how it leads to effective capacity building. Participants will complete an assessment for their agency and use their own results to learn how to identify capacity building needs and create strategies to address those needs.

Seven Key Organizational Turning Points: Recognizing and Managing Them

Presenter: Susan Gross, Management Assistance Group

As nonprofit organizations mature and grow, – as their staffs, programs, and budgets expand, as their operations and dynamics become more complex – the leadership structure, management, governance, operating style and norms that worked during development no longer work. If the organization is to remain strong, effective, and sustainable, it will have to make wide-sweeping changes and adjustments. Explore the characteristic problems that arise when an organization has reached any of seven key turning points, the main adjustments that need to be made, the counter tensions that typically emerge and how to address them.

Videos, YouTube and Blogs, Oh My!

Sponsored by: BoardEffect

Presenter: Naomi L. Takeuchi, 1000 Cranes Business Consulting

The Internet has brought a wealth of new tools available to nonprofits at minimal cost. This session will show you how to use the videos, YouTube and Blogs to enhance your website and gain visibility for your nonprofit.

"We're in the Money" – New Approaches to Nonprofit Income Strategy

Presenter: Richard Brewster, National Center on Nonprofit Enterprise

This session will explain how a nonprofit can root its income strategy in its mission and programs while making decisions about its investments and income sources that will produce the highest returns. The session will engage participants in applying the concepts introduced in the first half to a case study followed by some basic tools used to determine a nonprofit's income strategy.

Working with Consultants

Presenter: William J. Schroer, WJSchroer Co.

The goal of the workshop is to demystify the process of successfully working with consultants. Further, to provide participants with a guide for the effective identification of organizational areas/issues which call for outside consulting support; the objective selection of consultants and the effective direction and management of the consultant and his/her support services. Finally, discussion and tips will be provided on determining which consultant is most appropriate for different situations and how to insure you and your consultant(s) are on the same page philosophically with a similar criteria for success.

Change: Capacity Building Lessons for Greater Impact

Presenters: Sonia Plata, New Detroit, Inc.; Elizabeth Agius, Wayne State University School of Social Work

With federal funding from the Compassion Capital Fund, New Detroit recently completed a three-year capacity building initiative. This best practices session will illustrate the changes generated and how to implement capacity building to impact small community and faith-based organizations. Through interactive discussions, participants will have the opportunity to share their insights on how change is created and sustained based on their own experiences.

Collaboration: Getting Everyone at the Same Table

Presenters: Marta Fetterman, Indiana Youth Institute; Dennis Banas, Praxis Strategies and Solutions

Using a case study of a community agency that was in danger of being closed due to severe financial mismanagement coupled with the assistance of a nonprofit consultant, the organization was able to build a partnership, secure funding and support of local government, a private foundation, as well as funding from private industry. Join us at the table and learn how you can use collaboration to save an organization.

3:00pm - 4:30pm

Can Nonprofits Get More Bang for the Buck?

Presenters: Alex Neuhoff, Bridgespan

How can you cut overall costs, while maintaining services and quality? This is an issue for many small nonprofits. Bridgespan has organized a research project to explore how three nonprofits were able to do just that. Using several years of cost and outcomes data and conducted detailed analyses to determine how the cost per outcome had changed over time, the research team discovered that nonprofits can indeed get more bang for the buck. Come and review the findings and, in particular, the role of "managing" in "managing costs" and see how you can get more bang!

Craigslist for Nonprofits: Coming Soon

Presenter: Darian Rodriguez, Craigslist Foundation

Building on Craigslist Foundation's experience producing Nonprofit Boot Camps around the country, and the extraordinary visibility and value of craigslist.org nationwide and globally, emerging leaders and nonprofit organizations have asked for a vital, web-based entry point where the fragmented sector can be harnessed in a comprehensive map. With the curatorial and development oversight of some of the sector's greatest minds, the atlas will include pathways and essential markers useful to emerging leaders and anyone wanting to become engaged quickly and efficiently in the sector.

E-Governance: Technology Trends Affecting Nonprofit Boards of Directors

Sponsored by: BoardEffect

Presenters: Dottie Schindlinger and Leanne Bergey, BoardEffect; Mike Kipp, Governbest

From emails to online portals, nonprofits are beginning to use online technologies to improve communications with the board of directors, while streamlining information management, promoting engagement, and increasing knowledge. Join us to learn more about "E-Governance" and the profound impact online technologies are having on the board's ability to govern well. This session will help you and your board to use technology strategically to achieve your mission and goals.

Evaluating MSO Program Effectiveness to Maximize Learning, Strengthen Programs and Improve Business

Presenters: Peter York and Jared Raynor, TCC Group

Management Support Organizations are often asked by their funders, constituents and themselves, "are we making a difference/having an impact? If so, how? If not, why not?" MSOs face unique challenges evaluating their capacity building work. This session, led by TCC Group, will present tried-and-tested evaluation strategies, designs, methods, tools and examples for MSOs to use to evaluate their capacity building to maximize learning, strengthen programs and improve business.

Fiscal Sponsorship

Sponsored by: BoardEffect

Presenters: Gerald Solomon, Samueli Foundation; Jane Levikow, Tides Center

The National Network of Fiscal Sponsors, a group of 100+ fiscal sponsors from throughout the nation, will provide a panel discussion/presentation on the various methods of fiscal sponsorship, and how fiscal sponsorship improves accountability, builds capacity and sustainability which positively impacts the sector.

From Mercenary to Missionary: Achieving Sustainability with For-Profit Converts

Presenter: Scott B. Leff, Bayer Center for Nonprofit Management at Robert Morris University

With the concern over widespread retirements across the nonprofit sector and a potentially insufficient supply of new leaders, the Bayer Center has launched a new initiative to research if and how retiring for-profit managers can ease the upcoming NPO leadership crisis. We will explore the attitudes in the room, and present learnings, case studies, and strategies for evaluating those attitudes and evaluating the opportunities of this alternative approach.

Kellogg Action Lab: One Model of Foundation Commitment to Grantee Capacity

Presenters: Ron McKinley, Fieldstone Alliance

The Kellogg Action Lab (KAL) is an approach by one funder to strengthen the overall effectiveness and sustainability of its grantees by connecting them with access to comprehensive capacity resources and services. Learn more about KAL model, early signs of impact and the development of new tools to improve the access and/or delivery of capacity building resources throughout the sector.

Resident - Driven Neighborhood Quality of Life Planning

Presenters: Ruth Purcell-Jones, Leadership Ventures; Josh Bowling, Indianapolis Neighborhood Resource Center; Sara VanSlamBrook, Local Initiatives Support Corporation; Kristen E. Parmelee, Resident

Join this panel discussion to learn more about an interactive neighborhood quality of life planning process in Indianapolis, Indiana. Learn about the city partnerships making this a success as well as the different approaches being implemented in the six demonstration neighborhoods. If you are interested in implementing true resident-driven planning based on results necessary to sustain and transform neighborhoods into the future – this is the workshop for you.

 

4:45pm - 6:00pm

A Native American Guide to Nonprofit Strategic Planning

Sponsored by: BoardEffect

Presenter: Joel Zimmerman, CDR Fundraising Group

Leading a school for Native American children through a 12-month strategic planning process is no small task. From these experiences learn how all nonprofit organizations can adopt the planning framework used at the school, based on the Native American medicine wheel and use as a tool for their own planning. This session will also explain a "strategic planning – strategic doing" approach.

Building Leaderful Organizations: Succession Planning for Nonprofits

Presenter: Tim Wolfred, CompassPoint Nonprofit Services

The development of leadership skills throughout an organization is a key strategy for succession planning and strengthening capacity. This session will present emergency succession planning tools (an important "risk management" practice), offer executive directors guidance for thinking about when and how to leave an organization, and provide guidance for boards in being proactive in assuring the sustainability of the organizations for which they are responsible.

Community-Engagement Governance: A New Framework for Community Impact

Presenter: Judy Freirwirth, Nonprofit Solutions Associates

There is a widespread sense that current governance models are inadequate to effectively respond to the challenges faced by many nonprofits and communities. This advanced, highly interactive workshop will involve participants in considering an innovative new approach, "Community Engagement Governance". It is an approach in which governance responsibility is shared across the organizational system among the key sectors of an organization—that is, its constituents, staff, board, and other community stakeholders. It is based upon principles of mutual accountability, participatory democracy, self-determination, genuine partnership and on community-level decision-making.

Enhancing Systemic Capacity for the Elimination of Disparities

Presenter: Jannina Aristy, Fieldstone Alliance

The infusion of cultural competence values and principles using Fieldstone Alliance's organizational assessment model is very promising for helping organizations to better prepare themselves to service diverse stakeholders, address issues of disparities, social equity, and potentially develop multicultural reform efforts. Participants with have a framework for understanding the role of systems in the nonprofit sector to effect sustainable change that benefit ethnically and racially diverse communities.

Field of Dreams – Survival and Growth in the Nonprofit Sector

Sponsored by: BoardEffect

Presenter: Nancy Hall, Maryland Association of Nonprofit Organizations

In the movie, Field of Dreams, the protagonist, Ray Kinsella, hears a voice that says, "If you build it, he will come." In response, Kinsella creates a baseball diamond and Shoeless Joe Jackson appears. Is this true for nonprofits? Each year, hundreds of caring, well-meaning citizens hear a similar call, "If you build a nonprofit, money will come." Many nonprofits are created and the reality is many do not attract the level of funding needed to survive and thrive. This session will detail the findings and implications of the report and provide guidance on how you can replicate the report.

O for Opportunity: Exploring New Revenue Opportunities for MSOs

Presenters: Ray McLeod, Center for Nonprofit Management, Dallas; Heather Peerler, Community Wealth Ventures, Inc.

MSOs are no strangers to earned income. However, many have not fully realized their potential for revenue generation via social enterprise. This session will help organization leaders identify and decide whether or not to move forward with new earned income opportunities. The hands-on session offers exercises and activities that will be valuable to experienced entrepreneurs and newcomers alike.

Ready to Lead? Next Generation Leaders Speak Out!

Presenter: Marla Cornelius, CompassPoint Nonprofit Services

Do you aspire to lead a nonprofit? What skills and support do you need to do so? What barriers prevent the next generation from becoming leaders? Are some challenges more significant for people of color? And how can capacity builders and funders develop and support the next generation of leaders? Using findings from a recent national survey of 5,000 young nonprofit professionals, learn the answers to these important questions and how you can help the sector strengthen and sustain leadership in nonprofit organizations.

Rural Leadership Laboratory: Building Nonprofit Capacity for Stronger Regions

Sponsored by: BoardEffect

Presenters: Michelle Jones and Doug Jackson, Office of Community Capacity Building, VA Department of Housing and Community Development

Strong regional economies depend on flexible leadership able to bridge communities, organizations and less formal groups. Yet the nonprofit organizations that might best give structure to these alliances often lack the local resources, peer network, and training opportunities to support their unique role. Building on the challenges and lessons learned from regional investments, this facilitated session will engage participants in building a best-practice resource for nonprofit leadership capacity in rural regions.

The DrillDown: Bridging the Information Gap and Capacity Building

Sponsored by: BoardEffect

Presenters: John Talmage, Social Compact; Natalie Abatemarco, Citi

Underserved urban neighborhoods are often negatively stereotyped and defined by deficiencies rather than strengths. The reason for this is manifold. First, deficiency-based depictions are necessitated by funding and policy regulations that require a neighborhood to demonstrate need for federal subsidies and social service programs. While these depictions attest to social need, they do little to highlight neighborhood strengths and economic opportunity. Second, excessive media coverage of undesirable characteristics such as crime, poverty, and blight perpetuate negative perceptions of these inner-city neighborhoods. Finally, lack of dependable business-oriented data on underserved communities expands the information gap on market trends, disabling potential investors from making informed decisions. Combined, these factors contribute to a cycle of missed opportunities in underserved urban markets.

Web Project Management: Planning Your Next Project

Sponsored by: BoardEffect

Presenter: Jordan Dossett, Antharia

Redesigning or developing a website is no walk in the park. Many nonprofits today are faced taking on the Web with little to no experience. Learn the ups and downs in Web project management, planning, budgeting. Create time lines and discover how your organization can benefit from implementing them.

 

	Friday, July 11, 2008

10:30am - 12:00pm

Building MSO Sustainability: The Evaluation and Marketing Connection

Presenters: Dianne J. Russell, Institute for Conservation Leadership; Judith Alnes, MAP for Nonprofits

Management Support Organizations' (MSO) impact and sustainability hinges on having a solid "product" that strengthens the effectiveness of those served. Explore the intersection of evaluation practices and marketing practices within MSOs. Based on two examples and roundtable discussions with session participants, we will create a roadmap of current practices that link evaluation and marketing in service to MSO effectiveness and sustainability.

Cracking the Code: Transitioning from Ministry to Effective Organization

Presenter: Cheryl M. Francis, Chicago Area Project

Discover an approach used by Chicago Area Project in the implementation of a Compassion Capital Grant focused on Communities Empowering Youth. A practical approach to employing traditional and cutting edge interventions this session is designed around the cornerstones of program, organizational, and leadership development in a community-building community.

Ethical Standards for the Capacity-Building Field

Presenter: Gerald Solomon, Samueli Foundation

Ethical standards for the capacity-building field, released by the Alliance in 2007, pose a challenge and opportunity for nonprofit support. In this session, we revisit key considerations in standards development and anticipated benefits, distinguish Alliance standards from other influences on conduct, report insights from intentionally applying standards, and engage participants in a lively peer exchange.

Funding Small Nonprofit Organizations: Lessons Learned in Accountability, Sustainability & Impact

Presenters: Tisa McGhee, Cassuandra Wimes, Theresa Blanchette Johnson and Cravel Holmes, The Children's Trust

This interactive group presentation will highlight the key lessons learned when a major nonprofit funder sought to meet the application and capacity building needs of small organizations. The goals of capacity-building opportunity included the strengthening of fiscal, administrative, reporting and operational functioning, resulting in the organization being able to compete in standard application processes, as well as for other local, state and national public/private grant funds.

Movement Building: Exploring the Capacity Builder's Role with Social Movement Organizations

Presenters: Robin Katcher and Inca Mohammad, Management Assistance Group; Russell Roybal and Lisa Weiner-Mahfuz, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force; Patricia St.Onge, Seven Generations Consulting and Coaching

Organizational capacity building alone does not build social movement organizations. Working within social justice movements adds complexity to our capacity building work because movements (and the issues they address) are always in flux. Strengthening a movement organization requires an understanding of the local and national political context and the historical trajectory of the social movement in which the organization is situated. Therefore, for those of us engaging in capacity building work with social movement organizations we must not only be mindful of the lifecycles of organizations but also of the movement lifecycle and its impact on organizational dynamics and strategic options. This participatory session will provide some introductory concepts, explore examples from practitioners working with social movement organizations focusing on diverse communities (including lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender people and communities of color), and facilitate discussion among participants.

Supporting the Nonprofit Strategic Planning Process through Pro Bono

Presenters: Alethea Hannemann and Matt O'Grady, Taproot Foundation

Taproot Foundation has been helping hundreds of nonprofits every year connect to pro bono consulting services that give them the support they need to thrive. Recognizing the benefits strategic planning can bring to nonprofits and the barriers that nonprofits face in executing their strategic planning processes, Taproot Foundation, with support from Deloitte, embarked on a six-month research study that revealed the tremendous possibilities of pro bono consulting to address the nonprofit strategic planning resource deficits.

Taking Theory to the Ground: Capacity Building for Social Change in Communities of Color

Presenters: Kelley D. Gulley, Omowale Satterwhite and Maria Salinas, National Community Devleopment Institute; Tonya Allen, The Skillman Foundation; Faye McNair-Knox, One East Palo Alto Neighborhood Improvement Initative

Based on more than 25 years of experience providing capacity-building services to more than 1,000 organizations, the National Community Development Institute will present its building capacity for social change in communities of color framework and methodology. In this interactive session, both grantmakers and practitioners will share their experiences with this framework while engaging participants in a dialogue about capacity-building resource investment to create enduring impact in communities of color.

Using World Café and Graphical Facilitation to Hear Your Audience

Sponsored by: BoardEffect

Presenters: Joel Zimmerman and Kristin Sinclair, CDR Fundraising Group

World Café is a newly emerging technique for engaging input from large groups of people. Graphical facilitation increases understanding and memory for meetings by supplementing traditional left-brained (verbal) information with right-brained (graphical) information. The presenters will explain these techniques by sharing their experiences of using them to assist nonprofit organizations with strategic planning, visioning, and leadership evaluations.

 

2:30pm - 4:00pm

Civic Participation Made Easy – and Effective in 2008

Presenters: Bridgette Rongitsch, Minnesota Council of Nonprofits; Erin Skene-Pratt, Michigan Nonprofit Association

For nonprofits and the country, 2008 is yet another historic election. But have nonprofits been heard? With an open seat and more at stake than ever for the sector, nonprofits and consultants will want to learn easy and effective ways to incorporate encourage their many constituencies to vote - and build capacity for themselves, their community and the nonprofit sector.

Leadership Development in Communities of Color

Presenter: Mai Moua, Leadership Paradigms, Inc.

This session looks at the challenges and strengths facing nonprofits as they seek to be more inclusive to different forms of leadership, particularly from immigrant communities. Discussions will include sample case studies and models of leadership in diverse communities including what works, what doesn't, and what is needed to help facilitate leadership development growth. Leave with an understanding and recognizing different cross cultural leadership styles and their importance when working with diverse communities.

Organizational Success in Capacity Building: Moving to the Next Level

Presenters: Elizabeth George and Jane Donahue, Deaconess Foundation

What does it take for a nonprofit to progress to the "next level"? Through its multi-year, multi-million dollar capacity building initiative, Deaconess Foundation has learned it takes willing leaders, excellent consultants, adequate funds and time—among other things. Share learnings and engage with participants in exploring strategies for successful capacity building; and introduce an unconventional way foundations and nonprofits can partner. Participants will leave with new ideas to helping nonprofits better achieve their mission and move to the next level.

Peer Learning Clusters: High Impact, Low Cost Capacity Building

Presenters: Catherine Marshall, Center for Community Benefit Organizations; Patricia St.Onge, Seven Generations Consulting and Coaching

Peer learning clusters and professional networks are becoming more popular as methods to support nonprofit learning and resource exchange. A peer learning cluster can also be a low cost way of delivering training and technical assistance to nonprofits that cannot afford the full services of a capacity building consultant. This workshop will explore various models of peer based learning programs and share some of the surprising discoveries that could contribute to new thinking about capacity building program design.

What It Takes for the Founder to Stay

Presenters: Mark Leach and Inca Mohamed, Management Assistance Group

Conventional wisdom and succession planning suggest that when a founding or long-term CEO steps down, they must leave the organization altogether lest they undermine their successor and hold the organization back from needed changes. Examine original case-research and successful examples where the departing CEO stayed around and made significant and positive contributions—revealing the personal and organizational factors behind these successful transitions.