Chicago Cares’ Post

Chattanooga-Area friends, I'll be speaking at the Association of Fundraising Professionals Southeastern Chapter April Meeting - come by and say Hi! April Topic: Trust Me! I'm a Fundraiser: Cultivating Trust in a Distrustful World. To move our missions forward, trust is essential. Yet, trust isn’t often at the center of discussions on strategic direction, storytelling, and fundraising.  What does it take - from ourselves, our organizations, and our boards - to build trust with donors and stakeholders?  Together, we’ll discuss some practical tools, some big ideas, and creative ways to earn confidence from your community. Registration link in the comments. 😎

Small and local nonprofits in particular have a hard time recruiting new, experienced board members. We hear time and again that in small communities, the same six people serve on lots of boards - and they're tired. The first step is recruiting outside your usual pool of suspects. Some ideas: 🏡 Look around your neighborhood - are there new community members who might want the chance to meet their neighbors? 🧑🎓 Recent high school or college graduates - young people just starting their careers are looking for networking connections! But what do you then? Being a board member comes with a lot of responsibility - you want to make sure your new board members are ready and able to step up to the plate. If your nonprofit board has found itself with new faces this year, MNA's Board Governance course is designed to help them navigate board responsibilities. Wednesdays, March 6 - April 3 Sign up here: https://lnkd.in/gqZYNsPZ

Hey nonprofit friends, for the 2nd annual NP conference in Lambeau on 4/3/24, which of these potential conference themes resonate? What other themes would you like to see? https://lnkd.in/gbBezGYg Please respond & share: 1. Opportunities to grow through major trends: NFL Draft hosting, generational wealth transfer 2. Transforming policies and practices to support your people (staff, ED, board, clients) including succession planning 3. Nonprofit organizations and community impact (telling your story, data, branding, accountability, outcomes, advocacy) 4. Growing and innovating resource development (all about aspects of fundraising, including campaigns, wealth transfer) Please vote for your choice in a comment! Share with other NP colleagues!

📣 Nonprofit professionals: your input is needed! 👇 Help our friends at OneStar with this brief survey. The purpose of this survey is to gain deeper insights into your experiences, challenges, and strategic priorities as a nonprofit professional in Texas.

Have you wanted to learn more about how your organization can launch strategic planning? This workshop is a chance to dive in to learn the tools of the trade. Our workshops are participatory, so come dressed comfy and ready to learn!

We are looking forward to next week's Strategic Planning workshop with Nikki Ronan! There is still time to register and learn more about this valuable opportunity to unlock your organization's growth potential! #StrategicPlanning #ArtsOrganization #Workshop

Have you heard the news? We've adopted a new Chapter name! 🥳 In recognition and celebration of all of those we serve, we are proud to now be known as the Kansas Heartland Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals! As we complete this transition, please be sure to add afpkansasheartland@gmail.com to your Safe Senders (and check your spam folder to be sure you haven't missed any recent communications!). You can learn more about this change and what's going on at our Chapter in the latest edition of "Elevate": https://lnkd.in/gW_5mHau

This is a MUST for anyone/everyone in the nonprofit corporate partnership world. Case studies that help prospective corporate partners envision the benefits of working with your nonprofit might be the BEST tool in your toolbox. Nobody explains how to gather and USE case studies better than Joe Waters. Don't miss his webinar on the topic. It will be time very well spent. #corporatepartnerships #nonprofits #nonprofitfundraising

Board members who are focused and committed to the goals of your nonprofit can make big things happen — increased services, new facilities and improved community relationships. But without clear and thoughtful guidance, boards struggle to be effective and productive. A regular board survey can highlight areas where you need improvement, and spark ideas about what is needed to move your organization forward. Here are a few statements to incorporate into your regular board survey to make sure that you are on track: - Our board regularly considers how community changes could impact the organization. - Our board has prepared for the organization's current and long-term financial stability. - Our board nominates only those directors who meet carefully considered qualifications. - The board conducts a thorough evaluation of its own performance at least once a year. To talk more about how your survey results can make a meaningful impact, send a message to jeff@missionfwd.org or call 608-669-4447.

Here is a fun activity! Two years ago, I produced some materials for nonprofit boards to educate board members, volunteers and staffers on key governance, fundraising and strategic planning duties. And truly, they’re free and available on my website for downloads. They can be used in entirety or as individual sheets for board education “lessons.” But my next question is - what else does your organization need when it comes to well-curated, edited and available FREE educational resources. Because … I’m feeling productive and creative so I plan to deliver several more resources for nonprofits this summer. Some include understanding program evaluation, better human-centered program design and collective impact through collaboration. I will also put together my advocacy and education guides complete with how to build your own platform. So what else do you all need? What can I get for you? Information and education must be free and democratized. Regardless if you are a past, current, future or “probably never” client, nonprofits and the people we serve deserve free access to information.