Dear Nonprofit Supporter,
Welcome to Cedar Valley Connections, a newsletter to connect the leaders of the nonprofit sector.
|
|
CVNA & AFP Workshop...
|
What's Your Story? Learn techniques of crafting and sharing inspiring stories to increase donations and motivate volunteers.
Hosted by Cedar Valley Nonprofit Association and Association of Fundraising Professionals- Northeast Iowa chapter
Wednesday, September 20, 2017
8:00am-12:00pm
UNI-CUE 800 Sycamore, Waterloo, IA
Agenda:
8:00am Complimentary refreshments and check-in
8:15am Welcome
8:30am Breakout #1 (Choose 1)
A. Volunteers can do it all: how to engage across your entire organization. Lead by Lauren Finke- Executive Director, Volunteer Center of Cedar Valley
B.
Art of sustainable grant seeking.
Lead by Constance Grimm- Director of Grants and Resource Development, Hawkeye Community College
9:40am
Breakout #2 (Choose 1)
C. All I want to do is raise some funds: Practice the power of word choices to inspire action like never before. Lead by Lori J. Jacobwith- Founder, Ignite Fundraising.
D. Grantwriting Do's and Don'ts and exclusive UNI Foundation Directory review. Lead by Angie Widner- Executive Director, YMCA.
10:45am All session keynote: Sharing powerful impact stories to create action. Lead by Lori Jacobwith, Ignite Fundraising.
12:00pm Conclude
Cost:
AFP/CVNA members free and have 1st priority to space if registered by September 1. All non-members can register after September 1st for a charge of $25. Please click here to register for this great workshop by September 19th.
|
|
Effective Meeting Planning Workshop...
|
Join us on October 5, 2017 from 8-9:30 am at the Philanthropy Center (425 Cedar Street, Waterloo; 3rd floor US Bank Bldg.).
Isn't there a better way? 5 meeting mistakes and how to stop making them!
How does your nonprofit achieve its mission? Search your calendar for the answer and you will likely find
that "go to meetings" is our sector's preferred mode of operation. As nonprofits, we use meetings to
align goals, make decisions, solve problems and generally - get stuff done! But, poorly designed
meetings eat up time, make us desperate for the "real work" at our desk, and drive our teams apart.
As leaders we have the opportunity to design better meetings; meetings that strengthen organizations
and relationships and help meet our goals. During this session we'll explore the ways that meetings go
wrong and investigate the art and science of meeting design. You'll learn the architecture of exceptional
meetings and you'll
have a chance to consider new meeting designs.
Stacy Van Gorp is the Executive Director of the R.J. McElroy Trust, a private foundation dedicated to inspiring and transforming young people in northeast Iowa. She has 20 years of experience in nonprofit leaders
hip, philanthropy and higher education... adding up to about 10,000 me
etings in her career. She i
s passionate about helping organizations align their strategy, actions and organizational culture to
achieve remarkable social change and innovation.
To RSVP for this great workshop, please click here. Free for CVNA members, $25 for non-members. Please RSVP by noon, October 4th.
|
|
Sector Solutions By CVNA (NEW)...
|
Sector Solutions: What is ONE thing we could do to strengthen the nonprofit sector in the Cedar Valley?
The Cedar Valley Nonprofit Association planning committee has been thinking about our Association's role in strengthening the nonprofit sector. In our first five years, CVNA has worked to strengthen the sector by supporting the growth of individual members....
(1) bringing high-quality training to our community every quarter
(2) offering regular professional networking opportunities
(3) sharing information via our newsletter and our (new) website
Our surveys tell us that these services are important to CVNA members and we plan to continue offering workshops, networking, our website, and our newsletter!
We're also thinking about how to strengthen the entire nonprofit sector, for all of us, and our community. Our legislative forum is an example of a sector strengthening activity. The forum (coming again on December 1) is a chance for us to give voice to issues that affect all of our organizations. Examples of topics from previous forums include student loan forgiveness for nonprofit employees, minimum wage changes, reimbursement timelines for state grants and contracts, etc.
An invitation to participate in a new editorial series:
We're interested in hearing your ideas about how to strengthen the entire nonprofit sector. We'll begin the conversation with a question: What is ONE thing we could do to strengthen the nonprofit sector in the Cedar Valley? We're looking for big ideas and small ideas, research-based ideas, and locally sourced-ideas, simple ideas and even a few crazy ideas.
Can you help us? We'd LOVE to hear YOUR ideas about specific practices or policies that could help the nonprofit sector to grow and improve. Send us a quick note about your idea and then we'll select some for longer opinion pieces on our website and in our newsletter.
The fine print: The items in this series will be marked as editorial/opinion and do not reflect an endorsement or official position of Cedar Valley Nonprofit Association or its sponsors/investors. We reserve the right not to publish editorials that are designed be inflammatory or discriminatory.
Sector Solutions: Editorial One
Take Cedar Valley Internships to the Next Level
By Stacy Van Gorp, R.J. McElroy Trust
For the last few weeks, I've been thinking about CVNA's big question: What is ONE thing we could do to strengthen the nonprofit sector in the Cedar Valley?
It's a question that seems easy until you stare at your blank screen waiting for an answer to fall out of your fingers! During my ruminations, I attended the CVNA workshop on improving boards of directors. Better boards could be a good answer to the big question. But that's not the idea that emerged to me during the board of director's workshop.
Instead, I reflected on how proud I was to be affiliated with the speaker, Kari McCann Boutell. She's a great trainer and an expert on boards of directors. Kari is the President of the Iowa Council of Foundations, the go-to network for grantmakers in the state. The funders in her network have assets of $3.9 billion with grantmaking of $215 million annually. They are some of the strongest threads in the fabric of Iowa's communities... to read more click here.
|
|
Job Opportunities...
|
We are hiring two AmeriCorps 4-H Program Assistants to provide programing in the urban areas of Black Hawk County. Please share this opportunity with any high school graduate, retiree or potential candidate in between. Anyone interested should send cover letter, resume and references
to
[email protected]
|
|
National Philanthropy Nominations...
|
NATIONAL PHILANTHROPY DAY NOMINATIONS NOW BEING ACCEPTED!
The Association of Fundraising Professionals Northeast Iowa chapter is recognizing the wonderful people that give of their heart to make our community a better place through five Gift of the Heart categories.
Each winner will receive the opportunity to donate $250.00 to the charity of their choice, in honor of their award, sponsored by the Community Foundation of Northeast Iowa. Please join us in nominating a deserving individual or group and celebrating with us on
November 9, 2017.
Visit our
website for a list of categories and application. Deadline to submit applications is September 8,, 2017.
|
|
UNI's 3rd Annual Town Forum...
|
UNI's 3rd Annual Town Hall for Community Engagement
Nonprofit and Community leaders are invited to meet UNI faculty, staff and students to create partnerships that will build capacity for their organizations, mission, programs, and services.
UNI faculty, staff, and students are invited to meet non-profit and community leaders to create partnerships that will support faculty research and scholarship, build service-learning opportunities to complement classroom instruction and introduce students to service projects.
Sponsored by the Cedar Valley Nonprofit Association and Office of Undergraduate Studies
|
|
Interesting Read for Nonprofits...
|
INFOGRAPHIC: Mobilize Millennials for Your Cause
Millennials are the future of philanthropy. No social impact organization can afford to ignore this massive audience with a passion for social good and global connection. A new generation of
social sector leaders is emerging and as these young adults advance in their careers, their giving power will only grow. Organizations that engage them now will see big rewards in the future.
We've combed through surveys and reports from the
Pew Research Center, the
Millennial Impact Report,
The New York Times, and more to find the most important insights for nonprofits who want to appeal to and engage with millennials. We've gathered what you need to know in this handy infographic.
Click here to find out what causes millennials love, their preferred communication channels, and how they can support your mission.
|
|
State Representatives Updates...
|
| Please click here for the most updated information from Bob Kressig
Please click here for the most updated information from Sandy Salmon
Please click here for the most updated information from Walt Rogers
Please click here for the most updated information from William Dotzler
Please click here for the most updated information from Bill Dix
Please click here for the most updated information on Timi Brown Powers
Please click here for the most updated information on Ras Smith |
We Don't Want You To Miss A Thing!
|
Have you renewed or joined yet? Don't miss out on our upcoming programs and networking opportunities!
RENEW/JOIN TODAY!
In our first 5 years we have:
(continually being updated)
- 75 member organizations
- 6 investors
- 1,413 program registrations
- 119 hours of programming
- 165 e-newsletters
- Grant Gurus workshops
- 176 jobs advertised
- 20+ organizations connected with 50 UNI students
- added additional educational training workshops to our members
- won the "Gift of the Heart Innovation" award in 2013
- Partners with Idealware
- Developed a new website 2017
Check out the other benefits of membership
HERE.
If you are interested in joining CVNA, you can access our application form online
HERE
If you have any questions, please email CVNA Coordinator at
|
Share your good news with the CVNA and be featured in future e-newsletters. Have you implemented an innovative idea? Are you hiring? Have you created or updated your website?
Are you hosting an event? Let the CVNA spread the word.
To submit an item for the next newsletter, click on the
submit news
page. Please note that only member organizations who have submitted membership applications may post items. The newsletter is published every two weeks.
|
|
|
|
