This workshop introduces participants to scenario planning as a helpful tool for:

• Understanding the broad, complex ecosystem in which each nonprofit organization operates
• Imagining plausible future worlds in which they will be challenged to find success
• Developing and implementing effective long-term strategies in a very uncertain and rapidly changing world

The workshop covers basic steps and questions that typically guide scenario planning processes and opens eyes and minds to the power of scenarios to heighten the impact of strategic planning exercises and to sharpen the ability to tell a compelling organizational story.

Thoughtful consideration of the pressures, forces and events (collectively, the “drivers”) facing an organization enables identification of the critical uncertainties and their implications that will likely shape an organization’s future. Through an engaging and participatory process, this workshop will enable participants to begin practicing the art of scenario planning.

This workshop is designed to provide both an overview and a taste of scenario planning. Participants will come away with a conceptual understanding of the purposes and benefits of scenario planning in an uncertain world, a basic recipe for conducting a scenario planning process, and a little bit of practice in "Imagineering" the future.

Audience

The ideal audience is a mix of board members, organization leaders, and staff from any size organization, including small-, mid- and large-size organizations whose missions and strategies are subject to periodic reappraisal due to ever-changing external factors. Audience members should have an interest in organizational governance and strategic thinking.

The best people to sell your nonprofit’s impact and value are often the people who benefit from your services. Learn why and how to feature their stories in your fundraising and get some practical tips for your next appeal or campaign.

This workshop will show participants how the New Hampshire Community Loan Fund collects its borrowers’ stories and turns them into donations, grants, and investments. It will include real-life examples of successful appeals, the elements of compelling stories, and how those stories can be used across multiple communication channels.

Audience

Fundraising and communications/marketing professionals whose nonprofits serve individuals, families, businesses or organizations.

As competition for engaged donors increase, nonprofit leaders must look beyond the tactics of donor relationship building and become adept and creative at establishing a community culture in their donor base and nourishing organic growth. This workshop provides the best practices to shift their approach. Participants gain insight into the five elements for sustainable engagement that are essential to founding and growing a reliable community of donors- People; Shared Purpose; Shared Experience; Shared Resources; and Trust. We will discuss, explore, and then develop our own understanding of the five essential elements in community development, as well as identify and problem solve on a case for improvement.

Participants will:

• Be able to identify and articulate the ‘why’ behind the five elements of a sustainable donor community
• Learn how to identify and develop meaningful and measurable aspects of their community that match the five elements.
• Be guided through the proper application or optimal effectiveness of each element through group case study and problem-solving
• Learn how organizational departments can better work together to align department goals and enhance the community experience while growing engagement for the organization.
• Learn how to create an action plan to ensure that the goals for the donor community elements stay alive and vibrant.

Audience

Development staff, Executive Directors, and board members with some experience in development

If staff are the number one asset of an organization, then why, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, is 4.4 years the average length a staff member will stay at an organization? Why, according to a recent Gallup poll of more than one million employed United States workers, is the number one reason staff quit their jobs a bad boss or supervisor? This workshop will help employers and supervisors make a compelling case for incorporating intentional relationship building into organizational training and development programs and provides tools for organizations to create a “whole-life” approach to leadership.

Participants will:

• Identify competencies or skills that their supervisors must possess to increase employee retention
• Learn how to develop a plan to help those supervisors gain the needed skills

Audience

Anyone in a leadership or supervisory role at an organization as well as human resources personnel who are concerned with employee turnover and succession planning.

Responding to the macro (what is our place in the community) and micro (our suite of services) environment in the nonprofit sector requires industry and community awareness, business acumen, leadership, resources, and resilience. Leaders think, “We are successful at what we do, but we want to do more and our community and our clients are changing. Should we consider fundamental changes to the scope or scale of our model? What should those changes be and how do we know they will work? Is the change worth the effort and the risk?”

Boards and Executive Teams often struggle with these questions and seek guidance on how to implement a manageable process for understanding and responding to changing community needs. Janet and Wyatt’s decades of experience working with nonprofit organizations across the country inform an interactive and inspiring dialogue on:

• How to recognize when it is time to change
• The fundamental elements of comprehensive planning that maintains mission focus
• How to secure required resources
• How manage through change in ways that honor culture and promote professional development for leaders and staff

Participants will:

• Get an overview of process and broad timeline for planning (and implementation)
• Learn how to become a student of your industry, regardless of your staff or volunteer position
• Learn how to engage and involve the right people in the preparation and planning
• Encourage open and honest discussion/feedback
• Set goals and targets – balancing aspiration and agility
• Create a change management approach that will ensure the success of your plan – Board, volunteers, staff, clients

Audience

Board members, Chief Executive Officers, Chief Operating Officers, Chief Financial Officers and Chief Development Officers who want to take their organizations to the next level. Regardless of size or mission.

For most major change efforts, "change" means culture change ― a shift in how organizations work and how staff collaborate in pursuit of the mission. Drawing on a new resource, Adapt: A Primer on Culture Change for Nonprofits, this session will define an adaptive culture and provide a framework for understanding and overcoming the barriers to culture change. Then, within the context of the Dēmos Racial Equity Transformation, the group will be guided through the process of:

• Defining the challenge
• Assessing cultural adaptability
• Engaging a change team
• Developing a change framework
• Implementing the changes, and
• Measuring progress and adjusting

In partnership with participants, the concepts of change management and adaptive culture will be brought to life through concrete tools and an opportunity to test the concepts in real time.

Participants will:

• Learn how to enhance the adaptability and change-friendliness of their organizations in order to “be the change”
• Explore why most change efforts fail – and how to avoid the major pitfalls
• Learn practical steps to strengthen your organization’s culture and enhance its adaptability
• Discuss how different tools and processes can make change easier

Audience

Ideal participants are organizational leaders, both staff and board members, who are responsible for leading change efforts at their organizations.

Marketing today is complex and can feel overwhelming, particularly with the budget and staff size of a nonprofit. This workshop gives you a new way to think strategically about your U.S.P. (unique selling proposition) and targeting your priority audiences. We’ll discuss how to focus that never-ending marketing to-do list into a doable plan that produces results.

In this workshop, participants will:

• Hear about best practices of nonprofit communications planning and marketing
• Gain insight into the Behavioral Public Relations Model to help you with methods for triggering desired behaviors from your most important audiences – including your most important ambassadors, your employees and Board members
• Discuss the differences between goals, objectives, strategies and tactics
• Start thinking about tactics that drive behavioral results instead of adopting marketing strategies because “everyone else is doing them”
• Explore the important role of research in enabling you to plan effectively and evaluate your success

Audience

All job types and skill levels

Many stories of failed nonprofits begin with unanticipated crises such as losing key funders or personnel, legal or financial oversights, and/or getting bad press. The current Covid 19 crisis has challenged organizations with those issues and more. To manage these disasters the ED and Board need to anticipate and collaborate in adapting to the unexpected.

In this workshop, participants will explore these issues, engage in a couple of nonprofit case studies and assess what they would do and how prepared their own organizations might be for such situations. The workshop will ultimately provide a roadmap to sustainability for nonprofits.

Participants will leave with a checklist of items that the leadership and board of high functioning, sustainable nonprofits pay regular attention to with the intent that they stimulate important conversations in their own organizations regarding these preventative measures.

Audience

Senior leadership and board members of small, medium and large nonprofits.

Are you thinking about using video to get your message out? Are you already using video but want to do a better job? In this workshop, we'll go over techniques for shooting better video with basic video equipment (your smartphone!) We'll discuss what you need to tell an effective story with better visuals and sound.

This workshop will address:

• Composition
• Lighting
• Sound
• Accessories (tripods, gimbals, microphones, etc.)

Participants will:

• Gain confidence in their ability to more effectively shoot video for their organization
• Be in a better position to make a video that people want to watch

Audience

Anyone from a junior staffer to CEO would benefit from this workshop. Video is becoming an important tool for communication and everyone in an organization can play a part.

This workshop will focus on relationship building, corporate partnerships, event sponsorships, and strategic nonprofit/for-profit marketing opportunities.

During the session we will discuss:

• Outreach and networking strategies
• Developing volunteer roles to attract business leaders and young professionals.
• Potential new sponsor identification and stewardship
• Relationship building for current partners and vendors and how to develop these relationships into meaningful long-term connections.

Participants will learn about creating unique sponsorship opportunities and how to deliver on marketing through impact messaging. We will review case studies to see the key elements of a sponsorship proposal. 

Audience

Board members, leadership staff, marketing, fundraising and development staff members.