Workshops
Through a series of one-day workshops, we can teach you and/or your staff the basics in many areas of management of nonprofit organizations. And we can help you decide whether and when you need a consultant and how to find a good one (although if you come to our workshops you will find the best, Savage, Melendez & Associates —Singular Consultants).
Fund Raising 101 — all day
In this lively interactive workshop, particularly helpful to novices in fund raising, we lead participants through all the steps of successful fund development: individual donor development private foundation fundraising developing corporate donors federal, state and local grant making agencies and review of responsibilities of staff and board members.
In the morning, we will focus on assessing your current fund raising situation ways of broadening income streams the role of the board and the CEO in ensuring fiscal stability and the Who Does What, When and How in raising funds.
In the afternoon we will offer exercises in how to structure a foundation proposal touch on individual donor development strategies and end with “Five Things to Do Tomorrow” to improve your fund raising strategy.
Major Donor Development — all day
If 80% of all philanthropic giving comes from individuals how do you find those elusive donors willing and ready to invest in your cause?
In this interactive workshop we help you to identify the necessary steps to develop your organization’s overall mission into specific fundable pieces. We lead you through ways to identify and cultivate potential major donors for your cause; cover how to develop donor pyramids for projects and how to create striking case statements. In the afternoon, we present useful examples of donor materials, a list of things NOT to do when asking for financial support, and offer opportunities for role playing and exercises in making the ask and receiving a grant.
How to Write Successful Foundation Proposals — three hours
In this three hour workshop we lead you through the most important components of private foundation requests from the initial funder research to the letter of intent (LOI), creating a useful outline, developing a functional project budget, and writing and submitting the final proposal.
Participants will learn how to: tie their project directly into the foundation’s own priorities; use the submission letter to reinforce the request and structure a proposal that makes it easy for the program officer to present the project to the foundation’s decision makers.
Take the Time To Sharpen the Saw — can be a morning or a day
Development work is excruciatingly detailed. Chronically overworked, always dependent on the decision of others for their successes, development folks tend to burn out easily. In this two hour workshop we focus uniquely on the tools every development office could or should use in its fund raising efforts, and shows participants how and why it is important to take the time to keep those tools well-oiled and shiny.
We will talk about: how to create, maintain and regularly update all boilerplate materials; how to organize and maintain fund raising files, grant charts, proposal charts and reporting ticklers; how to code and cultivate prospects even with minimal resources; why it is so very important to be an advocate for your work within your organization and especially with your board; and why it is important to have a development committee and why you should regularly report on successes and failures.
We also cover that all important interaction between finance and development: how to track and handle incoming funds, donor acknowledgments and grant reports; and we even cover the best in available software that can make your life easier.
How to Set Up a Development Office (or Department or Operation) for Your Organization
You have finally hired someone for development — so now what? In this hands-on workshop for CEOs, development directors and board members, we will walk you through the major steps of setting up a well-functioning development operation: we define roles and responsibilities, and assist participants in creating and then actually working the annual development plan. We cover the basic fund raising tools, how to sort out actual from imagined development needs; how to assess the performance of your staff fund raiser; how to inspire the board development committee, and how to attract additional fund raising volunteers.
Strategic Planning 101 to Get the Results You Want (One day)
In this one-day workshop we will take you through all the steps of a strategic planning process dealing with questions such as:- Why should we spend the time and effort on strategic planning?
- How often should we engage in strategic planning?
- Who is responsible for planning?
- Who should be involved in the process?
- Do we need to hire consultants?
- Can strategic planning be done at little cost?
- What information or knowledge do we need to design a strategic plan?
- How do we conduct an environmental scan?
- How do we do a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses opportunities and threats) analysis?
- How do we design winning strategies?
- How do we incorporate evaluating the organization and our programmatic success into the strategic plan?
- What are some successful implementation strategies?
Developing the Board of Directors You Want And Need for Your Organization’s Health (One day)
In this one day workshop, we give CEO’s and board members some tools for recruiting, orienting, evaluating and developing board members in order to increase their effectiveness in:
- planning,
- fundraising policy formulation,
- advocacy for your cause and your organization,
- prudent stewardship of resources,
- board-CEO relations,
- overseeing and monitoring organizational compliance with laws and the organization’s values, and
- ethical, accountable and transparent management of your organization.
Effective Advocacy and —heaven forbid — lobbying for your Cause and Your Clients (One day)
In this one-day workshop, we help organizational CEOs, senior-level staff and board members understand the importance of nonprofit involvement in advocating for their causes and their clients. We teach you about the relationship between the government and nonprofits; what is permissible in advocacy and lobbying; and government reporting requirements on advocacy and lobbying.
We will review the federal and state legislative processes, how to develop a plan for effective advocacy, including communications, finding and working with partners and collaborators, and , how to fund your advocacy efforts.
You’re the Good Guys, But Are You Trustworthy?: Nonprofit Ethics, Transparency and Accountability (One day)
In this one-day workshop, we help CEOs of nonprofit organizations and their board members develop their organization’s espoused values and assess their organizational ethics and culture. You will learn: how to develop a code of ethics for your organization that will help you, and your board members and staff know when a problem or an issue involves questions of ethics or real or perceived conflict of interest. You will learn how to use your espoused values and conflict of interest policy to ensure your organization’s effectiveness, reputation and public image.
Making Friends With the Media to Benefit Your Work/Cause (One day)
The media can be friendly or hostile to nonprofits. They are always looking for stories that sell. We will teach you how, with a little work, perseverance and well-crafted messages, you can develop effective, trusting relationships with the media that will improve your chances of getting out your story and increasing support among the public and your donors.
© 2009 - 2010 Savage/Meléndez & Associates, LLC