Connection
OPPORTUNITIES | |
We're happy to share these items of interest from around our local network. Please e-mail us any opportunities you would like to be featured in future editions! (The Nonprofit Connection usually goes out during the first ten days of the month.)
Training
OPPORTUNITIES
+ "The End of 'Slacktivism:' Motivating Donors to Take Real Action Online," FREE Guidestar webinar, TODAY (June 7th), 1 pm. Slacktivism is a modern trend where people feel actively involved in a good cause by doing the bare minimum available to them online. The webinar will discuss the psychology of slacktivism and how your organization can prevent it from taking root in your constituents. They'll show how modern fundraising and advocacy tools can be used in creative ways to execute giving events that motivate donors into real action. To register, go to Guidestar's website.
+ "How to Double Your Sponsorship Revenue," webinar, June 8th, $99 for unlimited participation, 2 pm. Offered by Nonprofit Direct, this teleseminar will explore the basics of prospect research, and most importantly, explain how prospect research can impact an organization. It will provide attendees with information they need to have a basic, working knowledge of prospect research. They'll also work through basic research techniques and explore resources for every shop's budget. Registration and further details are online.
+ "The Fundamentals of Prospect Research: Fundraising's Dirty Little Secret," teleseminar, June 14th, Noon, $15 for up to five people.. Many traditional sponsors currently have less to share, so it is important that nonprofit leaders understand how to build and strengthen relationships with business sponsors. The old ways don't work these days! Key issues that will be addressed include how marketing will make better connections with sponsors and underwriters, understanding the different Pots of Money you can usually access, identifying your organization's opportunities and build a list of logical connections, finding new sponsors, how to get to the decision maker, and using sponsorship levels and benefits more effectively. For more information and to register, go to Stevenson's Inc.'s website.
+ "Finding Major Donor Prospects," FREE webinar presented by Third Space Studio, June 23rd, 2 pm- 3pm. Wondering how to find new prospects for your major donor work? Join Heather Yandow, a consultant with an extensive background working with environmental organizations, for an interactive webinar focused on new strategies for expanding your prospect list. They will explore online tools and offline tactics for finding new potential donors. Space is limited; RSVP by e-mailing Heather. You can learn more about Third Space Studio on their website. + "The Power of Nonprofits," NC Center for Nonprofits Statewide Conference, Sept. 22-23rd, Grandover Resort & Conference Center in Greensboro, prices start at $129. This conference, which we here at HandsOn always consider to be one of the best training values in the state, features two days packed with new ideas, timely information, and great networking. Choose the full conference or just one day to stretch your training dollars. We hope, with the conference within commuting distance, that many of you will be able to attend this year. We are also happy to be able to provide some limited scholarships to Supporting Partners this year; click here for more information. View the brochure and register online by July 1 for the best deal! Funding
OPPORTUNITIES
+ Proclaim Your Excellence and Nominate Yourself for a CLASSY Award! We all know volunteers or charitable organizations going above and beyond in their community. Submit their achievement for a CLASSY Award, which is the largest philanthropic awards competition in the country, recognizing the most outstanding philanthropic achievements by charities, businesses and individuals nationwide. The competition culminates at the CLASSY Awards Ceremony on Saturday, Sept. 17th, hosted by StayClassy, a leader in social fundraising software for nonprofits. For more details, please visit their website. Nominations are due by June 17th!
+Third Annual BE BIG Contest Now Open! Scholastic Media, HandsOn Network and American Family Insurance have launched a Call for Nominations for the Clifford the Big Red Dog® BE BIG in Your Community Contest. Last year, sixteen year old Jennifer won the Grand Prize of $25,000 from the BE BIG Fund to create a hospital classroom for young cancer patients at her local hospital. This year's winners will receive grants totaling $75,000 to help make their BIG ideas a reality. You can learn more online at HandsOn Network's website. Nominations are being accepted now through June 17th!
+ Tom's of Maine to Award $150,00 to Nonprofits Across the Country! Their 50 States for Good is a national initiative to support the goodness behind grassroots community projects. Six organizations will share in their $150,000 sponsorship fund, including one organization that will be given $50,000! Their panel of judges will select 20 organizations doing great things in their communities to be voted on by the public. For more information, go to their website or Facebook page. Nominations are due June 21st!
+ Nominate a Woman of Worth Today to Win Up to $25,000! L'Oréal Paris Women of Worth is committed to recognizing powerful women who have actively taken on a volunteer responsibility to make a change in our world for the better. Ten honorees will receive $10,000 for their causes - with one of them receiving an additional $25,000 as the 2011 Woman of Worth National Honoree. Nominees must be 18 or over and have an exemplary record of non-compensated volunteer service with a measurable impact within the community. Nominations can be made online; you can also join the Women of Worth community on Facebook. Deadline for nominations is June 30th!
+ Mary Kay Foundation Offers Funding for Domestic Violence Shelters! The Mary Kay Foundation is committed to ending the epidemic of domestic violence by providing grants to women's shelters throughout the United States. Each year, the Foundation's Shelter Grant Program awards grants of $20,000 to at least one domestic violence shelter in every state; remaining funds are distributed based on state population. Applying organizations must offer immediate overnight housing to women and children affected by domestic violence. The grants provided by the Foundation may be used for the operating budget of the shelter, with the exception of staff travel. Visit the Foundation's website to review the funding guidelines and download the application forms. The application deadline is June 30th!
+ Build-A-Bear Workshop Bear Hugs Foundation Now Accepting 2011 Applications!
The Build-A-Bear Workshop Bear Hugs Foundation supports nonprofit organizations that enhance the quality of life for children, families, and pets. The Foundation's grant categories include children's health and wellness, domestic pets, and literacy and education. Individual project grants as well as organization program grants are provided. Priority is given to nonprofit organizations located near Build-A-Bear Workshop stores. Visit the Foundation's website to review the funding guidelines for each of the grant categories.
Applications are accepted on a rolling basis from now through October, 2011!
Employment
OPPORTUNITIES
+ HandsOn NWNC Seeks AmeriCorps VISTA Member to Continue Neighboring Collaborative! In November, Michelle Bennett, who has been our AmeriCorps VISTA Member for the past two years, will be moving on to bigger and better opportunities. We are currently seeking her replacement. This is a full-time, one-year VISTA position, beginning in August and running through August 2012. The member will be responsible for continuing and strengthening our Neighboring Collaborative at Forest Park Elementary and the surrounding Waughtown neighborhood. Volunteer management experience, a knowledge of the local neighborhood and Spanish-speaking skills are a plus. More information about AmeriCorps VISTA, the application process and the full position description can be found on the AmeriCorps site. Candidates will be considered through June 17th.
+ The Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust Seeks A Senior Program Officer in Health Care Division! The Trust is embarking upon an ambitious agenda of strategic community-based results-driven work that they believe will make a major difference in the health of financially disadvantaged North Carolinians. Senior Program Officer candidates will possess a minimum of 15 years of previous grantmaking experience and/or non-profit executive experience in the Trust's priority areas. The position requires a strong desire to immerse oneself in work throughout the State of North Carolina with financially disadvantaged communities. An overriding personal commitment to equity and equality is essential. For more information, please read the full position description. Letters of interest and resumes are due to Shirley H. Womack, Executive Assistant by 5 pm on June 10! All applicants previously submitting for the Program Officer position will also be considered for this opening, if qualifications are met. Please do not resubmit materials for both openings. + A Brighter Path Foundation Offers Free Sensitivity to Blindness Training to Local Nonprofits! A Brighter Path, which is the supporting foundation for Winston-Salem Industries for the Blind and one of HandsOn NWNC's Supporting Partners, offers these sessions on the 4th Tuesday of every month, from 9:30 am to 1:30 pm. These small sessions (limited to 8 people) are a great opportunity for your staff and board members to learn more about the challenges that sight-impaired individuals overcome every day. In this hands-on session, participants are blindfolded and learn to maneuver with a cane - and many more activities that sighted individuals take for granted every day! For more information or to register an individual or group, please contact Chris Flynt or call him at 336-245-5620. Sessions do fill up quickly!
+ Paul J. Ciener Botanical Garden Seeks to Share Their Harvest! This new garden in Kernersville, a HandsOn NWNC Supporting Partner, is experiencing a bumper crop of spring and summer vegetables to share with other nonprofits who can put them to good use in their programming. While many local nonprofits have already benefited from the harvest, the garden is eager to reach out to new partners as the veggies continue to ripen in the coming months. Contact Catherine Gross Hendren for more information or call her at 336-564-7119. Organizations do not need to be based in Forsyth County.
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HandsOn
JOIN / GIVE NOW
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HandsOn NWNC invites nonprofits to financially support our mission to build the capacity of local nonprofits and increase volunteerism. In exchange for a minimum $50 donation, our Supporting Partners receive a variety of discounts on our program offerings and other special opportunities, that can lead to savings as great as $800 per year! Vendors and consultants who work with nonprofits are also encouraged to become Supporting Partners. Join HandsOn and Become a Supporter
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June 2011- Vol 4, Issue 6
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| Greetings! |
Can someone tell me how it became June so quickly? March, April and May, always three of our busiest months at HandsOn, just seemed to fly by this year. 2011 is almost half-over! While part of it may be that we got shortchanged when it came to spring weather (does it need to feel like early August already?) I believe it's also because we've all been so busy finishing up spring programming before the kids get out of school and families pack up to enjoy a respite in cooler climes. For some of you, summer can be your busiest time of year; for us, it's a chance to have a few weeks to catch our breath and plan for the fall. With renewed funding in place, we're excited to bring back our Women's Emerging Leaders program (look for applications starting July 1st,) start up our Best Practice Breakfasts, offer scholarships to the Nonprofit Essentials series, and look forward to the return of the High Five Award. This month, we're pleased to again offer some limited scholarships to the NC Center for Nonprofit's Statewide Conference for our Supporting Partners, which this year will be held in Greensboro. These short weeks of summer provide us and our great board members some planning time to make sure that we're offering the best programming we can to you in our network.
Another new program that you'll be hearing more about in the coming months is the development of a board bank for use by both community leaders and local nonprofits. Last week, we were excited to hear the recommendations of our Leadership Winston-Salem Action Learning Team, a group of talented volunteers that have spent the past eight months researching models from across the country, and speaking with community members right here at home about the need and design for such a resource. We're in the process of digesting their recommendations, but I can assure you that both our board and our staff are excited about bringing their ideas to fruition.
If you have an idea for something that you'd like to see us offer in 2011-2012, now is the time to speak up! Our calendar fills faster than ever before, and we want to make sure that we're truly meeting the needs of local nonprofits and volunteers. I invite you to send me an e-mail or give me a call with any topics you'd like us to cover, great speakers we should be inviting, volunteer initiatives we should know about, or any other programming thoughts you might have.
Stay cool,  Executive Director |
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9/11 Day of Service and Remembrance:
Requests for Projects
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The week leading up to Sunday, Sept. 11th
Location: Your organization?
Submission Deadline: Friday, June 10th!
As the tenth anniversary of the September 11th attacks approaches, our community is coming together to participate in our second-annual September 11th Day of Service and Remembrance. The service day was established to celebrate the unity that was present in the days following the attacks, as well as to honor the victims and heroes of September 11th.
Community service projects will take place on the Thursday, Friday and Saturday leading up to a community memorial service on Sunday, September 11th. Will your organization join us? Our collaborative, 9/11 planning committee requests proposals from nonprofit and community organizations who could involve volunteers in service projects that week. We will need your participation and partnership to make these projects successful! HandsOn NWNC will recruit and register volunteers for each project as well as recruit, register and train volunteer leaders who will assist you in managing community volunteers on the day of service. If this sounds a little different than how we've managed this type of project in the past, it's because it is--it's our first foray into the "managed projects" model of the HandsOn Network. Project host sites are only responsible for planning the projects and providing a "day of" project coordinator. While projects won't happen until September, we need to hear from you no later than Friday, June 10th to ensure volunteers and volunteer leaders are recruited and properly trained! Please read our partnership agreement and project application for more information or contact Michelle Bennett at 336-724-2866 with any questions. We look forward to working with you!
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Scholarships Available for NC Center for Nonprofit's Statewide Conference in Greensboro!
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Thursday & Friday, September 22-23rd, 2011
Location: Grandover Resort and Conference Center, Greensboro
Deadline for scholarship applications:
5 pm, Thursday, June 30th
We are once again excited to be able to award scholarship funds to a limited number of Supporting Partner organizations interested in attending the 2011 NC Center for Nonprofits Statewide Conference. We wanted to take advantage of the opportunity presented by having the conference located within commuting distance to encourage more of you to participate in this excellent learning opportunity.
The scholarship is designed to assist new, emerging, and/or small nonprofits in Forsyth, Davidson, Davie, Stokes, Surry and Yadkin Counties that would not otherwise be able to attend the conference or have not attended in the past. The scholarship funds are limited, so the selection process will be competitive. More details are provided in the scholarship application.
If you're not a Supporting Partner (you can check the list on our website,) you can still take advantage of this opportunity by becoming one before the application deadline of Thursday, June 30th.
Apply Today!
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POSTPONED:
Nonprofit Essentials: Grantwriting
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To Be Announced
Location: WFU campus; Worrell Professional Center, room 1124 (Board Room.) Parking is available adjacent to the building, just off the University Drive entrance. (see map)
Due to a scheduling conflict with our presenter, we are postponing this last class in our Nonprofit Essentials series for the year. We will announce the new date on our website, as well as notify all those who have registered. If you're interested in this class, we still encourage you to register your interest. Any registrations fees will be refunded if the new date conflicts with your schedule.
This extremely practical course is designed for those seeking to further develop their grant proposal writing skills. Participants will learn how to research potential funding sources and strategies on approaching funders. They'll also discover best practices for developing successful proposals and letters of inquiry.
Offered for the first time last summer, this session quickly sold out! You'll want to make sure you register early!
Cost: $35 per person for Supporting Partners/ $45 all others. $300 for all nine classes! (This is the last class of the series; you may begin at any point. The series will begin again in September and the fall schedule will be released in August. Learn more about our Nonprofit Essentials series here.) The cost includes take-home materials and a networking lunch with your peers.
(Not sure if you're a Supporting Partner? You can view the list on our website.)
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NEWS YOU CAN USE
Nonprofit to See Large Cuts in State Budget Passed Last Week
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Late last week, the NC House of Representatives gave tentative approval to a House-Senate compromise on the 2011-2013 state budget. Despite our local advocacy and education efforts, the budget includes steep cuts for nonprofits across our network, from traditional health and human service organizations, to environmental groups and arts organizations. The cuts include:
- 20% reduction in Smart Start funds and the elimination of More At Four as it currently stands
- A $5 million cut to health and human service providers
- 15-20% cuts for community economic development
- Elimination of the Health and Wellness Trust Fund
- 87.5% cut for the Clean Water Management Trust Fund
- 5% cut in N.C. Arts Council grants.
Although Governor Perdue is unhappy with the budget, it passed the Senate with enough votes to overturn a veto. It's also expected to pass the House with enough votes to overcome a veto. One piece of good news is that legislators did remove a proposed salary cap for most state-funded nonprofits, based on feedback it received from nonprofits across the state. There's still a salary cap for Smart Start and some economic development nonprofits. Unlike previous versions, the budget passed this week doesn't eliminate the Tobacco Trust Fund and restores much of the funding for the Golden LEAF Foundation. For more details, please refer to this piece developed by the NC Center for Nonprofits, who provided us with this information.
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NEWS YOU CAN USE
Points of Light Institute Launches New Volunteer Recognition App for iPhone!
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The Points of Light Institute, (the parent organization for our HandsOn Network) last month launched the new iRecognize Volunteers app for iPhone which provides a unique way to recognize and celebrate your volunteers that are making incredibly change every day in our community. The free app allows you to share inspiring stories, photos and YouTube videos that showcase how your volunteers have used their time, talent, voice and money to make a difference. By downloading the app, you can easily write a tribute or volunteers themselves can pledge service on behalf of family members, co-workers, neighbors or friends to highlight their contribution. Participants will become a part of the virtual community of change-makers on Points of Light Institute's Tribute Wall.
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NEWS YOU CAN USE
IRS Seeks Public Comment on Some Sections of the New 990 Form
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All nonprofits have been getting to know the new 990 forms, as more and more nonprofits become required to file them. Hearing feedback from nonprofits, the IRS continues to seek input as it revises the form each year. It is currently seeking public comment on several different sections. In particular, the IRS is asking for input on activity codes, compensation reporting, and classification of revenue from government grants and contracts. Activity codes are particularly significant for North Carolina nonprofits, since state law uses National Taxonomy of Exempt Entities (NTEE) codes to determine which nonprofits are eligible for sales tax refunds. You can submit comments through August 1st. (Thanks again to our statewide partner, NC Center for Nonprofits, for this head's up!)
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