Nonprofit Summit Workshops
Download a printable PDF of the list of courses here.
MONDAY, MAY 11TH
Session One: 3:30 pm – 4:45 pm
Panel: Capturing the Imagination of Influential Donors (D)
The best nonprofit organizations distinguish themselves from competitors in order to appeal to the ever-shrinking base of major donors. The challenge: How do you appeal to the head and heart of the sophisticated donor? How do you maintain your donor base in a climate of change? Attend this session to learn how the image of your organization is critical to your fundraising efforts.
Moderator: David King, President, Alexander Haas
Panelists: Charlie Yates, Jr., Executive Vice President, Director of Business Development, Zurich Financial Services
Penelope McPhee, President and Trustee, The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation
Howell Adams, Philanthropist
Madeline Adams, Philanthropist
Mark O’Connell, Director, Advanced Leadership Program & Former President, United Way of Metropolitan Atlanta
Location: Level 4, Horizons Hall A
Sponsored by Smith & Howard, Certified Public Accountants and Advisers
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Want to Make a True Impact? Change the Way You Lead Change (L)
Unlike traditional leadership approaches with a top-down hierarchical style, nonprofit leadership instead emphasizes collaboration, trust, empathy and the ethical use of power. At heart, the individual leader is a servant first, making the conscious decision to lead in order to better serve others, not to increase his or her own power. This session will walk you through the concept of leading without authority and leading with success.
Joel Cowan, Adjunct Professor, William B. Turner Chair in Servant Leadership, the Georgia Institute of Technology
Location: Level 4, Horizons Hall B
Sponsored by Nonprofit University
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CAREER DEVELOPMENT POWER TOOL:
Power tools are designed to provide you with practical, summarized information. Each presentation will be 35 minutes in length and will take place back-to-back within the timeslot of one workshop.
Location: Level 3, Horizons Hall C
Sponsored by Ackerman & Co.
(1) Motivation: The Key to High Performance (HR)
In today’s economic climate how can leaders motivate strained employees to perform at their best? Motivation is at the very heart of performance management—something that managers must attend to on a continual basis. Getting people to do their best work, even in trying circumstances, is one of the most enduring and slippery challenges of management. This power-packed session will share the latest theories and research on how to motivate employees through leadership. We’ll examine the four drives that underlie motivation; the organizational levers of motivation, and how to use both effective leadership and organizational dynamics to drive performance.
Mary Ellen Brantley, President and CEO, BrantleyHouse
(2) Nonprofit Cost Reduction via e-procurement (HR)
This workshop will primarily cover using the Nonprofit Marketplace as a key initiative in your organization as a tool for reducing organizational cost. Additionally, this course will examine how to perform spend analysis and provide an overview on procurement, the advantage of using contracts to leverage your key suppliers.
Dave Stephens, Coupa
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Innovation: Coming to a Nonprofit Near You (S) (T)
If your ideal organization cared about getting new ideas and products from your employees, you would strongly encourage them to spend a specified chunk of time on innovation. If you cared about productivity, you would provide a rich array of support to your employees so they could concentrate on their work. You would hire the best quality people in the first place and if you wanted to keep those people, you would provide a stimulating intellectual and fun environment. IBM does all these things and despite how far-reaching it sounds, nonprofits can too—and they can exponentially increase their mission impact in doing so.
Kathleen Kurre, Executive Director, Techbridge
Location: Level 3, Horizons Hall D
Sponsored by Nonprofit Marketplace
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Elevate Your Marketing Voice in this Economy (M)
This workshop is all about how to cut through the media clutter! Learn to create a marketing roadmap, linking your organization’s goals to specific marketing tactics to meet to boost the bottom line. You will leave empowered to make better marketing decisions, stop wasting money, start getting results and create marketing programs that achieve results.
Gail Martin, President, DreamSpinner Communications Inc.
Location: Level 3, Horizons Hall E
Sponsored by WorkflowOne
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TUESDAY, MAY 12TH
Session Two: 11:00 am – 12:15 pm
High Net-Worth Philanthropy (D)
Join this workshop for a thorough examination of the 2008 Bank of America Study of High Net-Worth Philanthropy. Written and researched by the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University, the Study updates and expands upon the original groundbreaking Bank of America Study of High Net-Worth Philanthropy conducted in 2006. The new research tracks significant and surprising shifts in giving patterns and attitudes among America’s wealthiest donors and provides new observations into the demographic and psychographic characteristics that influence philanthropic decisions. A significant portion examines the dynamics of the relationships between these donors and the organizations they support, providing valuable insight to nonprofit organizations hoping to attract, sustain and deepen relationships with affluent individuals and families.
Jeffrey Sharon, Southeastern United States Director, Bank of America, Philanthropic Management
Location: Level 4, Horizons Hall A
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Panel: The Power of “The Big Idea” in the Hands of the Social Entrepreneur (S) (L)
A social entrepreneur identifies and solves social problems on a large scale. Just as business entrepreneurs create and transform whole industries, social entrepreneurs act as the change agents for society, seizing opportunities others miss in order to improve systems, invent and disseminate new approaches and advance sustainable solutions that create social value. Unlike traditional business entrepreneurs, social entrepreneurs primarily seek to generate social value rather than profits. And unlike the majority of nonprofit organizations, their work is targeted not only towards immediate, small-scale effects, but towards sweeping, long-term change. The stories of social entrepreneurism illustrate the results possible when an innovative idea is coupled with a strategy for action and an entrepreneur's indomitable will.
Panelists: Stephen Woods, Executive Director, Project Open Hand
Stephen Satterfield, Founder, International Society of Africans in Wine
P.J. Bullock, Founder, International Society of Africans in Wine
Elston Collins, Marketing Director, Good Measure Meals
Location: Level 4, Horizons Hall B
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Building Creative Teams that Get Results (L) (HR)
The difficult act of harnessing and capturing creativity on your team can be likened to the act of catching fireflies on a summer night. Using this metaphor as a foundation, Kimberly Douglas will share specific tools and techniques from her newly released book, The Firefly Effect. You will learn how to motivate and lead your employees to work together willingly, cooperatively and creatively – and thus build a team that gets real results and improves your organization’s performance.
Kimberly Douglas, President, Firefly Facilitation
Location: Level 4, Horizons Hall C
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Measuring and Communicating High Performance (D) (S)
New calls for accountability have created increased scrutiny on the financial management outcomes of the nonprofit sector. This session will present strategies and techniques on how to develop and implement a system to measure and communicate an organization’s social impact in a consistent and meaningful manner.
Jon Desenberg, Policy Director, Center for Nonprofit Innovation
Location: Level 3, Horizons Hall D
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Marketing’s Next Great Leap: Doing More with Less Utilizing Web 2.0 (M) (T)
Are your marketing initiatives the same year after year? Do you know you need to revamp your efforts, but find yourself unsure of how to step into the next generation of marketing? Attend this session and discover how Web 2.0 is your answer to reaching your audience and delivering your message with less! Learn how to leverage new media— blogs, podcasts, social-networking sites, photo- and video-sharing sites, mobile phones, wikis, online maps and virtual worlds—in order to drive traffic to your website, mobilize volunteers and donors and advance your mission.
Kelly Hornbuckle, Marketing and Communications Manager, The Georgia Restaurant Association
Carl Muth, Developer, Food Service Resource Kit
Location: Level 3, Horizons Hall E
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TUESDAY, MAY 12TH
Session Three: 2:00 pm – 3:15 pm
Anticipating and Harnessing the Future of Philanthropy (D)
When asked to explain his athletic success, hockey legend Wayne Gretzky said, “I never skate to where the puck is. I always skate to where the puck is going to be.” Changing approaches to philanthropy and changing expectations of philanthropists are creating a new reality for every gift and every giver. Economic trends, increased competition, ethical dilemmas about needs, shifting wealth, technology ascendant and persistent public skepticism about the nonprofit sector all are contributing to a changed relationship between nonprofits and philanthropy. Join this innovative workshop to skate to where these changes are taking us and discuss how the evolution of philanthropy will shape the nonprofit environment of the future.
Susan Raymond, Ph.D., Executive Vice President of Research Evaluation and Strategic Planning, Changing Our World Inc.
Location: Level 4, Horizons Hall A
Sponsored by The Loudermilk Center
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Expose Yourself (M)
Now more than ever before, nonprofits need to understand the importance of being visible. Listen and learn from an industry expert on the importance of increasing your organization's visibility with your constituents and understand the appropriate strategies for how to maintain this exposure.
Bari Love, Principal, Jackson Spalding
Location: Level 4, Horizons Hall B
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Panel: Tackling Economic Challenges, Expanding Opportunities for Impact and Creating Innovative Approaches through Collaborative Work (S)
In an era of tight budgets and great needs, more and more groups (public, private and nonprofit) are working together to combine resources, expand services and increase impact. But collaborations can create challenges for all parties. Join this experienced group to take a real-life look at the pros and cons of collaborations. What are the hallmarks of a successful collaboration? What are the hard choices that need to be made? How can you fund your collaborative work? What are pitfalls to avoid? And most importantly, what are the real returns?
Moderator: Janet Rechtman, Ph.D., Senior Public Service Associate, Fanning Institute, the University of Georgia
Presenters: Pat Willis, Executive Director, Voices for Georgia’s Children
Valarie Wilson, Executive Director, Beltline Partnership
Suzanne Donovan, Communications Director, Step Up Savannah
Location: Level 3, Horizons Hall C
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Career Transitions: How to Move Up and What to Do When You’re There (HR)
This workshop speaks directly to the nonprofit job seeker, providing information on the state of the sector, highlights of the current research on leadership needs and specific strategies for breaking in. Geared towards sector switchers and nonprofit career transitions, this will focus on strategies and resources on how to translate business skills to a nonprofit employer and taking current and past job role experiences towards advancing a nonprofit career.
Lori McQueen, Ed.D., Director of American Humanics Southeast Region Initiative
Location: Level 3, Horizons Hall D
Sponsored by Opportunity Knocks
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The Art of Negotiating (L) (D)
Effective influencers get valued resources, maintain and build relationships and gain people's trust. This session will explore the major principles of influence that are universal across cultures; methods for establishing credibility through expertise and relationships; and understanding practical tools that can help managers avoid the most common negotiation mistakes.
Bill Johnson, Executive Vice President, Partnership Group, Citi Cards, Citigroup Inc.
Location: Level 3, Horizons Hall E
Sponsored by Troutman Sanders Attorneys at Law
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TUESDAY, MAY 12TH
Session Four: 3:45 pm – 5:00 pm
Catalyze Effectiveness: Reframe the Work of Nonprofit Boards and Activate Change (L)
Nonprofits, it seems, are in a never-ending search for board effectiveness. Common complaints are that boards are under-involved, excessively involved or unclear about their responsibilities. However, fresh thinking about the issue has reframed the conversation of the board’s work, which can be summed up in the following question: “What if the central problem plaguing the board is not, in fact, uncertainty about its role or responsibilities, but rather a lack of compelling purpose in the first place?” The work of the board is fiduciary, strategic and generative –requiring the board to engage in deeper inquiry, exploring root causes, values, optional courses and new ideas to activate the heart and mind of the director and develop the future of the organization.
David Styers, Senior Governance Consultant, BoardSource
Location: Level 4, Hanover Hall A
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What if? The Art of Scenario Thinking for Nonprofits (S)
Scenario thinking is a tool for motivating people to challenge the status quo, or get better at doing so, by asking "What if?" Asking "What if?" in a disciplined way allows you to rehearse the possibilities of tomorrow, and then, empowered by those provocations and insights, take action today. What if we are about to experience a revolutionary change that will bring new challenges for nonprofits? Or enter a risk-averse world of few gains, yet few losses? What if we experience a renaissance of social innovation? And, importantly, what if the future brings new and unforeseen opportunities or challenges for your organization? Will you be ready to act?
David Liroff, Senior Vice President, System Development and Media Strategy, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting
Location: Level 3, Horizons Hall E
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Unleashing the Power of Diversity (HR) (L)
Diversity management is a key strategic response to the changing landscape of the nonprofit sector. The proper initiatives can increase your ability to effectively communicate your mission to your volunteers and constituents. Learning to foster an environment that provides meaningful leadership opportunities for a diverse workforce will also position you to address the looming sector leadership gap. Join us as and discover how to effectively develop diversity management approaches that really work.
Melanie Harrington, President, American Institute for Managing Diversity
Location: Level 3, Horizons Hall C
Sponsored by PricewaterhouseCoopers
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DEVELOPMENT POWER TOOL:
Power tools are designed to provide you with practical, summarized information. Each presentation will be 35 minutes in length and will take place back-to-back within the timeslot of one workshop.
Location: Level 3, Horizons Hall D
(1) Development Office Assessment (D)
Do you find yourself asking, “Is our development office doing as well as it can, or can we do better? How can we get to the next level in our fundraising? Are we ready for a major campaign?” Similar to a medical check-up, a development office assessment examines the critical components of your fundraising efforts to help you benchmark your success and plan for the future. In this power tool session you will learn how to conduct a mini self-assessment to help you think through your goals and evaluate your past and current fundraising performance. The results will tell you how you're doing and help your organization meet your goals.
Debbie Bowling, Consultant
(2) Strategically Engaging your Board to Secure Major Gifts (D)
The road to fundraising success is ahead and you already have the beginnings to make it happen—your board! Ensure that your journey is successful and your organization has the resources it needs in the future by actively engaging your board to secure major gifts. Boards and organizational leaders must work together to set responsibilities, outcomes and strategic directions for fundraising efforts. Regardless of your organization's size, this seminar will: provide practical how-to examples and advice; explore ways that your board can bring results for your organization; and delve into questions that will stimulate further ideas and discussion.
Scott Sikes, Vice President and Executive Director, Shepherd Center Foundation Inc.