The Northwest Connecticut Community Foundation offers and hosts various non-profit training events throughout the year. Low-cost informative workshops address topics, including grant writing and special events, and informative sessions on issues that affect Connecticut non-profits, such as changes to the Connecticut state budget.
Nonprofit Education: Powering Through COVID-19
The Northwest Connecticut Community Foundation in conjunction with Community Foundation LEAP instructors, Danosky & Associates, presents Powering Through COVID-19, a series of workshop webinars created specifically to address the current challenges facing nonprofits in Northwest Connecticut during this difficult time. As part of a comprehensive response to COVID-19, the Community Foundation is providing these workshop webinars free of charge. Registration is required.
Friday, May 8, 2020
Financial Scenario Planning: What are your assumptions? How do you plan in an evolving situation?
Develop assumptions and evaluate the implications of each assumption, including financial ramifications. Learn to run different financial models to help plan now and in the future.
Danosky Financial Scenario Planning During Covid 19 from Guy Rovezzi on Vimeo.
Friday, May 1, 2020
Communications During the Corona Virus
Communication with all your constituents is vital. How frequently should you communicate and how? What tone of voice is most effective, and how can you communicate most authentically?
Danosky Communication Seminar from Guy Rovezzi on Vimeo.
Friday, April 24, 2020
The Board's Role During a Crisis
Every board and every board member should be stepping up to help the nonprofits they serve weather the storm and stay on course. Learn what board members can take on right now.
GMT20200424-123023_Northwest-_1920x1080 from Guy Rovezzi on Vimeo.
Friday, April 10, 2020
Your Business Continuity Plan (BCP): Is it in place? There is still time to look at it.
Preparing a BCP will help you evaluate scenarios now, raise funds, and plan for a successful re-emergence later. Know what resources are available and how to plan when you don't know what lies ahead.
Danosky Business Continuity Seminar April 10 2020 from Guy Rovezzi on Vimeo.
Friday, April 17, 2020
Fundraising: what to do now and what to do later
Should you be fundraising now, or cultivating your donors? What is the best fundraising approach? How can you best engage with your donors and what should you be doing, so you can raise funds later?
Danosky Fundraising Seminar April 17 2020 from Guy Rovezzi on Vimeo.
Leadership Enrichment for Advancing Professionals
Leadership Enrichment for Advancing Professionals (LEAP), LEAP 1.0 will be presented by Danosky & Associates, LLC (D&A) and consist of 7 sessions designed to build a foundation of skills and awareness. D&A facilitators share their experience, expertise, and insights while engaging the proficiencies of all participants; this happens in presentations, group discussions, research and case study analysis, simulations, home assignments, and action-planning activities. The immediacy of the learning experience encourages thoughtful application and experimentation with ideas and best practices.
October 13, 2018, The Board Leadership Forum. The region's first and only daylong training and networking opportunity exclusively for nonprofit board members and executive directors, featuring three learning tracks on nonprofit governance, fundraising and managing organizational change, and nine workshops by leading experts on the latest trends in the field.View photos from the Board Leadership Forum
May 17, 2018, High Performing Fundraising Boards.Nonprofit board expert Chuck Loring leads a fast paced workshop that will cover several topics critical to achieving exceptional board leadership. Sustainable fundraising is the goal for every nonprofit organization and it is possible with an engaged and educated board of directors.
December 13, 2017, Strengthening Your Board Through Evaluation. BoardSource Certified trainer Sharon Danosky, Danosky & Associates, leads a conversation on how to best utilize evaluation and assessment to strengthen your board. Evaluation and assessment enables a board to hold itself, its members, and its processes accountable, to identify gaps between current performance and expected or hoped-for performance, and chart a course of improvement, refinement, and further progress.
Resources:
September 7, 2017, Recruiting and Retaining Strong Board Members. Debra Hertz is Managing Director of The Strategy Group, a firm that works to help strengthen the impact of nonprofits and private foundations. The Group works with organizations on issues related to planning, leadership training, merger negotiations and integration, and organizational effectiveness. Debra brings extensive experience serving on and chairing nonprofit boards. Join us as we discuss how to cultivate, recruit, orient and engage board members to get maximum impact for your organization.
Resources:
McKinsey Board Assessment Tool (pdf)
Board Assessment (pdf)
Board Member Self Assessment (pdf)
June 16, 2017, The Changing Landscape of Philanthropy and What it Means for your Nonprofit. Robert Evans, Philanthropic columnist, Board member of the Giving Institute, and President of The Evans Consulting Group, has been working with nonprofits to harness the power of philanthropy for more than 20 years. Learn about trends in giving and best practices in leveraging your nonprofit's access to resources in a changing philanthropic climate.
Tuesday, November 29, 2016 Nonprofit Advisory Institute Board Chair Roundtable with Anne Yurasek, Principal at FIOS Partners. What does a recent national survey of nonprofit board chairs tell us about the future of nonprofit boards? Learn about the results of the survey and join in a discussion on what it may mean for your organization.
October 4, 2016, Board Chair Roundtable with Hez Norton, Director of Partnership and Leadership Initiatives, Third Sector New England. Sustainability planning is a critical component of nonprofit health, mission effectiveness, and transition readiness. Sustainability planning prepares an organization to weather the departure of key organizational leaders, builds organizational capacity, and strengthens leadership. In this workshop, participants will increase their understanding of how sustainability planning builds organizational capacity and clarity on the steps needed to integrate sustainability practices into their organization over the long term.
Resources:
Organizational Sustainability Checklist (pdf)
Emergency Succession Planning Template (doc)
Reports:
Creative Disruption
The Long Goodbye
The Leadership in Leaving
July 13, 2016, Stop Asking – Start Stewarding with Sharon Danosky of Danosky & Associates. For too long we have been recruiting Board members with the expectation of “Get and Give.” In many ways this is discouraging to the new Board member and does not represent the best utilization of their time and talent. With the average non-profit losing nearly 57% of their donors annually, it’s time to stop asking Board members to raise funds and teach them to build relationships with people by being the stewards of a vision.
Principles of Fundraising: This high-caliber, basic skills program provided by the Community Foundation Connecticut Association of Nonprofits and AFP Connecticut Chapter offers introductory-level, half-day workshops about fundraising theory and practice taught by locally trained faculty. All of the workshops are designed to help new and established nonprofit organizations raise money more effectively and efficiently. Perfect for novice to intermediate development personnel, executive directors, board members, volunteers, and others interested in learning more about fundraising:
- April 6, 2016, Starting a Development Program by Dr. Jonathan Spinner
- April 13, 2016, Annual Giving by Sharon Danosky
- April 20, 2016, Corporate and Foundation Grantseeking by Diane Gedeon-Martin
- April 27, 2016, Board & Volunteer Development, by John Brooks
- May 4, 2016, Individual Major Gift Fundraising, by Abbie von Schlegell
March 10, 2016, Board Chair Roundtable with Hez Norton, Director of Partnership and Leadership Initiatives, Third Sector New England. Community Foundation of Northwest Connecticut, Connecticut Community Foundation and Third Sector New England (TSNE) partnered to survey executives and board members to discover the challenges and opportunities facing our leaders and organizations. In this report, TSNE compiled the findings from more than 1,200 leaders around New England. Hez explored the challenges that many nonprofits in the Northwest Corner will face in the coming decade and discussed strategies that will contribute to a thriving nonprofit sector.
In the Fall of 2015, The Leadership Enrichment for Advancing Professionals (LEAP) was presented by Danosky & Associates, LLC. LEAP is specifically designed for nonprofit Executive Directors.
October 20, 2015, Rick Schwartz presents: Make sure that everyone who matters hears your message: a new approach to strategic communications and Deserving bequests: 10 steps to earning the biggest gifts your nonprofit will ever receive.
As a consultant, Rick has worked with community foundations from Abilene, Texas, to Oxford, England; with 'alternative' foundations such as the Haymarket People's Fund and RESIST; and with the Council on Foundations, regional associations of grantmakers, and other affinity groups of funders.
Email Rick Schwartz for access to his DropBox with additional resources.
September 10, 2015, Nonprofit Education Series Presents: How To Make a Good Board Great. Each year, Chuck Loring conducts dozens of training programs for funders, community foundations, and nonprofit centers interested in good governance.
June 24, 2015, 2015, Nonprofit Education Series Presents: Communicating Profitably With Your Donors. In this "truth stampede," you'll learn the best information and insights Tom Ahern has gathered in 15 years of high performance, award-winning direct mail, case writing, and audits for charities.
Communicating Profitably With Your Donors (pdf)
June 24, 2015, 2015, Nonprofit Education Series Presents: Creating Websites & Newsletters Donors Will Love. How do you "loverize" your website or newsletter? Learn the nuts and bolts in this heavily illustrated new workshop from copywriting master, Tom Ahern.
Creating Websites & Newsletters Donors Will Love (pdf)
April 30, 2015, Critical Board Chair Communications Roundtable with speaker Anne Yurasek explores the role improved communication strategies and efforts play in establishing successful governance. There will be an opportunity to work with other board chairs on techniques that can be adapted to fit your strategy.
October 15, 2013, The Affordable Care Act and What it Means for You