Once again, it’s professional development time for nonprofit folks – fundraisers, board members, administrators, active volunteers and volunteer coordinators – with our monthly round-up of free online presentations and seminars. Fundraising and nonprofit technology topics are in the lead for May 2010, but I think you'll find a little something here for everyone.
And, as always, we can expect more free webinars to be added to this list in the comments section, so do keep checking back from time to time for updates as the month rolls on.
Tuesday, 4 May 2010
12:00 noon (Eastern)
Every nonprofit leader, solo-preneur, and business owner is a prospector, looking for the gold of new donors or investors, new clients or volunteers. In this free webinar from Ventureneer, you’ll learn how to use online tools and resources to locate the donors, investors, clients, or volunteers that your organization needs in order to grow, and you'll know how to do it on a limited budget.
Tuesday, 4 May 2010
1:00 pm (Eastern)
If your organization has never developed a fundraising plan or calendar, this Foundation Center session is for you. It provides an overview of the process of strategically thinking through the components of a fundraising plan. You'll learn how to conduct an assets inventory; develop a case statement; identify potential funding partners; and prepare a fundraising plan and calendar.
Tuesday, 4 May 2010
1:30 pm (Eastern)
Transparency promotes accountability and provides information for citizens about what is happening inside their local government. This GoGovTV webinar, presented by the National League of Cities and the Public Technology Institute, will examine the technology tools and practices city governments are using to provide real-time information to citizens.
Tuesday, 4 May 2010
2:00 pm (Eastern)
In this free live webinar, led by the friendly and knowledgeable Useful Apricot, Giuliano Valentino (Behind the Scenes at Wild Apricot blog), you’ll learn about the many features of Wild Apricot member management software, get your questions answered, and see first-hand how Wild Apricot can help you manage the 'boring stuff' so you can get on with the real work of your organization.
Wednesday, 5 May 2010
1:00 pm (Eastern)
The old methods of recruiting top leadership are costly, and the worldwide economic downturn is making that expense harder to bear even for the most important searches. Learn how one executive search and professional development firm merges old wisdom with new technologies, and how to get your professional services consultants to work smarter for you. Part of the Wednesday Webinar series from Synthesis Partnership, presented by Laura Gassner Otting, and Katherine Jacobs, Nonprofit Professionals Advisory Group.
Wednesday, 5 May 2010
1:00 pm (Eastern)
Are you looking for undergraduate scholarships, doctoral support, or funding for continuing education? Join the Foundation Center for this one-hour session on obtaining financial aid for your studies, followed by a live Q&A session on Getting Student Aid, with Mark Kantrowitz, publisher of Finaid.org, a comprehensive web site of student financial aid information.
Wednesday, 5 May 2010
2:00 pm (Eastern)
Cisco and Verizon present a free, live webinar with Guy Kawasaki, venture capitalist and Entrepreneur Magazine columnist, in which Kawasaki will discuss his favorite technology tools for small businesses and teach attendees how to harness technology to shave expenses and streamline employee workflow for greater efficiency. Designed for small business, but should be equally valuable to those in leadership roles of not-for-profit organizations.
Wednesday, 5 May 2010
2:00 pm (Eastern)
A crisis hits and your organization receives gifts from a wide variety of donors, many giving for the first time. For most organizations, first-time crisis donors are difficult to retain. Once the aftershocks from the crisis calm down, how do you successfully retain these donors in support of your ongoing missions? Lawrence Henze, managing director of Target Analytics, Blackbaud, will discuss the best strategies for boosting retention of crisis donors.
Wednesday, 5 May 2010
11:00 am (Pacific)
Looking for a way for your community members to contribute information to an online collective database? Why not consider a wiki? A wiki is a website that allows multiple contributors to easily add, edit, and contribute content, images, web links, and more. This free introductory webinar from TechSoup will review the basics of wikis, including software options, best practices, advantages, as well as drawbacks, and will include discussions with a nonprofit professional and librarian using wikis effectively .
Wednesday, 5 May 2010
11:00 am (Pacific)
Learn from the experts about online video encoding for the web, in this free webinar from the video platform Vzaar. Ask questions about the various video formats, codecs, bitrates and more; get tips on best encoding practices so your online video performs at the optimal level of quality; and hear what the pros have to say about HTML5 and delivering video to the mobile.
Thursday, 6 May 2010
2:00 pm (Eastern)
This GoGovTV webinar, sponsored by the Public Technology Institute (PTI) Public Safety Technology Council, will focus on how to better manage and execute the implementation of technology projects within local government agencies. Attendees will become familiar with the elements and practices that make for successful project management. The webinar will highlight information from real-life experiences.
Tuesday, 11 May 2010
11:00 am (Eastern)
Nonprofit organizations are different than businesses and government; not better or worse, but different. These differences should not be glossed over as you explore whether the creation of a nonprofit is the best way to achieve the goals or purposes you seek to achieve. Barry Silverberg, of the Texas Association of Nonprofit Organizations, discusses what it means to be a nonprofit organization and what’s involved in starting a nonprofit.
Tuesday, 11 May 2010
1:00 pm (Eastern)
Facebook recently released a set of tools that give your nonprofit the ability to customize your visitor's experience, allow them to meet other supporters of your cause, and instantly recommend your nonprofit to all of their Facebook friends. Presented by social media expert John Haydon, this free webinar from CharityHowTo will give you an overview of Facebook's new social tools with examples of how they are being used.
Tuesday, 11 May 2010
2:00 pm (Eastern)
The affluent market has been one of the fastest growing in America for more than two decades. Through consistent and meaningful communications with affluent prospects within your constituency, you can strengthen and grow your annual fund and your major donor base. Find out more in this webinar from Blackbaud, presented by Katherine Swank, JD.
Tuesday, 11 May 2010
2:00 pm (Eastern)
In the digital age, people are learning in new ways that are both communal and autonomous. So how does this affect your traditional conferences and events? In this free webinar, Jeff Hurt will teach you how room environments and traditional setups affect learning, 5 principles of designing next-generation conference education sessions, and new ways to integrate and structure collaborative learning opportunities in your conference or event.
Tuesday, 11 May 2010
3:00 pm (Eastern)
Are you a representative of a nonprofit organization? New to fundraising? This introductory course from Foundation Center provides an overview of the funding research process for those seeking grants from foundations, corporations, and grant-making public charities. (This course is also offered in Spanish.)
Wednesday, 12 May 2010
1:00 pm (Eastern)
It’s much more expensive for you to find a new donor than it is for you to keep a current donor. This webinar will explain the reasons donors often stop giving to your organization (it’s not the economy!) and what you can do to change that. Part of the Wednesday Webinar series for nonprofit staff and board development, presented by Tina Cincotti, Funding Change.
Wednesday, 12 May 2010
3:00 pm (Eastern)
Blackbaud invites K-12 Independent Schools to take a tour of The Shipley School website with Rachel, the school's web master. See how The Shipley School uses targeted content to publish personalized information to different audiences in real-time! Also learn tips and tricks in e-communication, school marketing, and efficient and effective management of the website.
Wednesday, 12 May 2010
3:00 pm (Eastern) Find out the answers to the most frequently asked questions about a little-understood vehicle for philanthropy: foundations. This session from the Foundation Center is excellent background information for grantseekers and perfect for anyone who is curious to learn what foundations are all about. Prior attendance at the Grantseeking Basics webinar is strongly recommended.
Thursday, 13 May 2010
3:00 pm (Eastern)
Every organization, no matter its size, needs a fundraising plan to guide and support its efforts. The purpose of a fundraising plan is to clearly spell out your overall fundraising picture of the organization. This plan will help you find funding sources and build community awareness of your organization. Join this free webinar from CharityNet USA, and learn how to design a workable fundraising plan for your organization.
Tuesday, 18 May 2010
3:00 pm (Eastern)
This free one-hour webinar from the Foundation Center will cover strategies for effective communications with grantmakers, taking you through initial contact to what happens after you receive funding. You will learn how to initiate contact with potential funders; plan calls and meetings; communicate during and after a grant decision; and, ultimately, how to build lasting partnerships with grantmakers.
Wednesday, 19 May 2010
1:00 pm (Eastern)
Strategic planning should be a means not only to develop a strategy, but also to develop new energy, commitment and consensus around mission. Participants will acquire tools to assess their situation, engage their constituencies, develop a detailed mission-based plan, and put in place the means for implementation, as well as gaining an understanding of the basic structure of an effective planning process. Part of the Wednesday Webinar series for nonprofit staff and board development, presented by Sam Frank, Synthesis Partnership.
Wednesday, 19 May 2010
2:00 pm (Eastern)
In this free 75-minute webinar, experts from the Canadian business law firm Pitblado LLP will discuss the legal do's and don'ts of monitoring employee social media activities (both during and after work hours); tips for creating meaningful social media policies; tips for dealing with privacy and competition law, and securities regulatory risks; and how to deal with potential civil liability resulting from employee social media activities.
Thursday, 20 May 2010
2:00 pm (Eastern)
If you are new to proposal writing, you may be wondering: What are the key components of a proposal to a foundation? Who should sign a grant request? How should the proposal be packaged? Should you contact a funder if your proposal is turned down? This free webinar from Foundation Center will teach the basics of writing a proposal for your nonprofit organization. (This course is also offered in Spanish.)
Tuesday, 25 May 2010
1:00 pm (Eastern)
This webinar will provide you with a step-by-step checklist approach to help increase your organization's readiness for foundation fundraising. Foundation Center is gearing this towards representatives of community groups without nonprofit status or new nonprofits with very little experience in grantseeking in general. The focus is specifically on foundation fundraising.
Tuesday, 25 May 2010
2:00 pm (Eastern)
What is an unconference and how is this style of collaborative learning useful for meeting planners and event professionals? In this free webinar, Lindy Dreyer and Maddie Grant (Socialfish) will explain the concept of a participant-led “unconference,” how the unconference format provides a collaborative learning environment using social technologies, and how elements of the unconference format can be translated into improving education sessions within a traditional conference.
Wednesday, 26 May 2010
8:00 am (Pacific)
This recurring webinar will examine how nonprofits are using the Internet, how they'd like to be using the Internet, and how they should be using the Internet – and how to bridge that significant gap easily and quickly. You’ll learn how to drive more traffic to and fundraising through your site, and host CharityFinders will give specific suggestions on how you can improve your website.
Wednesday, 26 May 2010
1:00 pm (Eastern)
Join Laura Gassner Otting, Tracy Welsh, and Erin DeCurtis (Nonprofit Professionals Advisory Group) for a lively presentation about what happens inside of the mystery search firm, and learn how we attract candidates, build deep and diverse pools, vet candidates, and make the final matches. This webinar will review the nuts-and-bolts of search, but also dig into the “craft” as well. Part of the Wednesday Webinar series for nonprofit staff and board development.
Wednesday, 26 May 2010
3:00 pm (Eastern)
Effective human resource management will help employees find meaningful work and provide them with career satisfaction, leading organizations, programs or facilities to improve their level of performance. Learn how human resources can aid your organization to meet its desired goal in this free webinar from CharityNet USA.
Wednesday, 26 May 2010
3:00 pm (Eastern)
This webinar is geared to the novice grantseeker and will answer budgeting questions such as: What kinds of expenses are covered under "personnel"? What level of detail do you need to include for non-personnel expenses? What types of expenses can be included in the "overhead" category? Host Foundation Center recommends taking its Proposal Writing Basics webinar before this one.
Want to see your webinar on next month’s list?
The round-up of free nonprofit webinars is a regular monthly feature at Wild Apricot Blog. If you’re planning an event for June 2010, and you'd like to make sure it gets listed here, feel free to send the details to rebecca @ wildapricot.com.
And if you know of a May 2010 webinar that got missed on this month’s list, please let us know in the comments, below –
