Session Descriptions
Planning for Maximizing Impact: Giving Life to Your Vision
As part of the nonprofit community, you likely understand the eagerness to implement programs that can bring about positive change in your community. During this session, Dr. Michelle Foster, a former engineer turned philanthropist, will share her journey of transforming Appalachian families through a community-based, faith-motivated initiative. She will unveil the secrets behind her success, guiding you on the path to program planning, evaluation, and sustainability. You will learn strategies to maximize your impact and receive practical tools and resources to be more efficient and effective.
The Hub’s DEIAB Journey: Aligning Your Values for Impact
The West Virginia Community Development Hub has been on a multi-year journey to activate its organizational values around diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility, and belonging. Kalyn Obiozor-Dorey and Katie Loudin, both leading the DEIAB work at The Hub, will discuss The Hub’s journey and provide tools for implementing DEIAB within your nonprofit organization.
The West Virginia Community Development Hub supports West Virginians with the tools and training they need to lead and spark positive change in their hometowns and across our state. The Hub’s purpose is to coach volunteer community leadership teams to help them build sustained development in rural communities; and grow the overall community economic development system in West Virginia through collaborative partnerships that use innovative approaches to address systemic challenges for rural development. If you’d like to read more about The Hub’s DEIAB Journey, visit wvhub.org/deijourney
Meeting Nonprofit Employee Needs in a Post-Covid World
In Spring 2023, two business professors at WV colleges conducted a statewide survey of businesses and nonprofits regarding the impact of Covid-19 on their organization. The researchers were especially interested in learning what changes organizations were making to accommodate post-Covid expectations of and requests by their employees.
In this workshop, we will share the survey results from the nonprofit sector which comprised 28% of the respondents. Focus will be on the challenges these nonprofits are facing as a result of Covid, post-Covid expectations of employees, and the changes nonprofits have made to address these issues. We will also compare the responses from the nonprofits with those of for-profit business responses, highlighting what each arena might learn from the other as they attempt to address post-Covid challenges in the workplace.
Discussion questions include:
- How does the experience of your own nonprofit compare with the results from the nonprofit organizations in this study?
- What changes has your organization already made to address some of your staff expectations or requests, post-Covid?
- What post-Covid employee challenges continue to persist for your nonprofit?
- Have you identified any strategies from other nonprofits that you might apply at your nonprofit?
“But I’m Not a Numbers Person!” Simplifying Financial Governance for the Nonprofit Board
Financial health is one of the key ways to ensure that your mission stays impactful year after year, and helps grow your organization’s ability to do the work it does best. Whether you are a seasoned board member or just getting started, this workshop will help you understand how financial management should inform the board’s decision making, strategy, and communication.
Nonprofit board members have multiple financial roles in the organization, but it is often difficult to weed through what is important in monthly, quarterly, or annual board meetings. In this workshop, we will go through duties of board members as it relates to finance and then look through some sample financial statements and documents. This panel-based discussion will provide practical advice for how to be an engaged board member, and how to engage board members, who can follow along with nonprofit finances. Additionally, we will touch on 990s, state filing requirements, and audits.
During the session, you will get a chance to work through some scenarios with your peers and bring back comments and questions to the larger group. While we do not expect you to share private information, we suggest that you bring your most recent financial statements and the organization’s 990 so you can follow along using materials that are most relevant to you. You will get a chance to connect with other board members during sessions and keep the learning going by making connections to others.
We expect this to be an interactive workshop, so please bring questions and thoughts about what your organization does well and what types of reports might help your board prepare for the financial future.
The Disappearing Nonprofit Workforce: 3 Essential Strategies Smart CEOs Must Initiate in the Next 90 Days to Fill Their Most Critical Talent Gap
Already experiencing a steep increase in demand for their services, coupled with critical staff shortages, non-profit leaders are largely unaware of the fast-approaching tsunami that could throw their organization into a tailspin.
In this common-wisdom busting session, Lynn Ruby will share eye-opening insights, including:
- The surprising data about the pandemic aftermath, the uncertain economy, and the critical talent shortage.
- 3 warning signs indicating your organization is on the path to a decline in fulfilling your mission due to the disappearing workforce.
- 3 “Must Do” strategies to implement now to avoid the decline and how to get your board “on board” with these strategies.
- Real-world examples of organizations who are putting these strategies into action, the biggest lessons learned, regrets, and pay-it-forward advice.
This session is custom-crafted for executive directors, board members, directors of development, and other nonprofit leaders who have a mandate and a heart for growing their organization and fulfilling its mission.
Ethical Leadership
This session will focus on how to be an ethical leader, how you define your values and align it to your work culture. During the session you will learn about a tool that everyone can use for ethical decision making with a heavy focus on communication.
Once Upon a Time in Nonprofits: The Magical Power of Storytelling to Build Brand Awareness and Facilitate Fundraising
In today’s dynamic landscape of non-profit organizations, it’s crucial for leaders to have the skills necessary to raise public awareness about key issues, facilitate donor fundraising, and generate revenue for pursuing strategic goals. One of the most effective tools at your disposal is storytelling.
Join us for an engaging workshop that delves into the art of storytelling and its transformative power for non-profit development. By mastering the techniques of storytelling, you can unlock your organization’s ability to captivate your audience and inspire them to take action.
Throughout this interactive session, we will explore practical storytelling strategies tailored specifically to the challenges faced by non-profit development leaders. By understanding the intricacies of crafting compelling narratives, you will learn how to connect with your audience on a deeper, more emotional level, fostering engagement and driving meaningful change.
No magic wands required, just an open mind and a desire to uncover the extraordinary power of storytelling. Join us on this enlightening journey as we delve into the art of storytelling, enabling your non-profit organization to make a lasting impact and achieve its strategic goals.
In this interactive, hands-on workshop, attendees will:
- Discover the enchanted science behind storytelling: We’ll explore why storytelling is such an enchanting tool for non-profit brands and how it can help them cast a spell on their audience, increase public awareness of the brand, and help the organization stand out and reach its strategic goals.
- Learn to weave a spellbinding narrative: We’ll delve into the secrets of creating a spellbinding story using 5 key elements of telling great stories that will keep their audience under their magical spell, eagerly waiting for what’s next and wanting a deeper connection with the organization.
- Master the spells of practical applications of storytelling: Using storytelling prompts and the 5 key storytelling ingredients, we’ll unlock the hidden secrets of how to use storytelling to enhance communications, build brand loyalty, motivate team members, and cast spells of inspiration to drive action towards fundraising and strategic goals.
- Practice the craft of magical storytelling: Attendees will have a chance to share their stories out loud to practice delivering an impactful and powerful message and to get feedback on their stories from their peers and the workshop facilitator.
Attendees will walk away with stories that can be incorporated into communications and content for their non-profit organizations to make a deeper connection with the audience and a bigger and more memorable impact for the brand. They’ll also leave the workshop with new skills to help them craft even more magical stories for their nonprofit brands in the future.
Grantseeking From a Funders Perspective – What Makes a Proposal Fundable?
Funders are not just looking for well written grant proposals, they want to see that the organization applying for the grant is well-run and financially strong, and they want to know that the proposed project and budget have been well planned and thoroughly researched. This workshop, Grantseeking from a Funder’s Perspective – What Makes a Proposal Fundable, takes a step back from proposal writing by first talking about the organization and the project.
Funders want to know that the organization is managed well by its board and that it’s financial position is strong. Participants in this workshop will learn about the specific practices that a funder is looking for related to the board and finances and also practices that raise red flags for a funder.
A strong grant proposal starts with a strong project, so this workshop also will address how an organization can develop a successful project and what questions a funder might have related to project development. An interactive exercise related to developing a needs statement will give participants a chance to actively engage. Effective proposal writing builds on the efforts to develop a strong organization and a strong project.
Participants will learn about the various elements of grant proposals, with a particular focus on developing a strong grant budget. An interactive exercise focused on budget preparation will enable the participants to learn about the elements of a well-presented grant budget.
Finally, the funding landscape is currently changing with some foundations now focusing efforts on addressing the power balance between funders and grant partners through trust-based philanthropy practices. This involves reducing the burden on the grant applicant by simplifying grant application and reporting processes, providing more flexible funding, and providing support “beyond the check.” Participants will learn the basics of Trust Based Philanthropy and how it may affect their efforts to seek grants. Trust Based Philanthropy involves a change in approach from both sides of the grant seeking process!
The Yellow Cake Principle: Your Recipe for Influence and Success
Would you like to have your cake and eat it too? The Yellow Cake Principle will show you how. Served up with a blend of actionable ideas and a generous dash of humor, the Yellow Cake Principle provides the ingredients you need to connect, influence, and persuade.
Need to build leadership skills, motivate groups, or strengthen ties with employees, colleagues, and supervisors? Whisk your worries away. After this program, those interactions will be a piece of cake. The laughter is just the icing.
Warning: The Yellow Cake Principle has zero calories but will improve results.
Igniting Change: Crafting Volunteer Programs for Maximum Impact
Since the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted our world as we knew it, and subsequently has caused many to feel like they are starting their volunteer programs over from scratch, it has felt like an ever-moving target to work with volunteers. Building on emerging research and trends in the Volunteerism field, this training will be an updated version of the presentation we brought to last year’s conference.
In line with this year’s conference theme of “Power of Impact”, this presentation will focus on tips and tricks to deepen the impact of volunteer programs – both on the communities being served by volunteers and for the value of volunteerism to those volunteering. We will begin by surveying the landscape of volunteerism trends and best practices, and then engage in a group activity to start practicing using these tips and tricks. Participants will have the opportunity to learn from their peers as part of surveying the landscape, but they will also have the opportunity to learn from their peers in the practice activity. Additionally, while there will be a formal presentation, we encourage interaction, question and discussion throughout the time allotted.
As a result of attending this training, attendees will come away with strategies to improve the impact of their volunteer program, from beginner to established, and steps to start implementing these strategies as soon as tomorrow.
