Way To Go Mullens!

Congratulations to the three Beacon Award winners at the BluePrint Communities final meeting in Beckley, West Virginia last week! One of the communities, Mullens, was a community I had the honor to work with over the past six months. I am so proud of the work the team and the town put into the planning and execution of their plan. Here is a link to the press release about the honor.

Press Release

Make sure you keep an eye out for the activities happening in Mullens, which is a great little town about 20 miles from Beckley, West Virginia. Great things are happening there, and they have a great artist community forming there, with open mike night, plays, and bluegrass music. Make sure you visit and enjoy their warm hospitality!

BluePrint Communities is an inituative sponsored by the Federal Homeloan Bank. Here is a link to their website
BluePrint Communities

Monongalia County Literacy Volunteers

I had the great opportunity to work with the Board of Directors and Staff of the Mon. County Literacy Volunteer. What a great group! They have made so much progress over the past year. It was a pleasure to work with them this weekend.


http://www.boardsource.org/


I am going to add some more resources to the Board areas. The best advise I can give Boards that are wanting to start reviewing policies and proceedures and are wanting to move their organization to the next level is to go to the Community Development Partnership of West Virginia.

They have a great training on best practices for organizations, and when you sign up to take the three day class you leave with a notebook with every example for policies and proceedures you could ever want or need! Hope this helps. Check back for update! Here is the weblink for the Mon. County Literacy Volunteer: www.monliteracyvolunteers.org
Here is the weblink for the Community Development Partnership of West Virginia:
www.cdpwv.org

Funding Announcement for Child Abuse Prevention

Prevent Child Abuse West Virginia Announces Community Grant Opportunities
Those interested in strengthening families and keeping WV children safe are invited to apply.
With funding from the West Virginia Children's Trust Fund, the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation, and the WV Department of Health and Human Resources, Prevent Child Abuse West Virginia announces two grant opportunities for organizations and qualified individuals working to prevent child abuse and neglect in West Virginia. The purpose of these grant programs is the primary prevention of child abuse and neglect in the state.
The Good Beginnings Mini-Grant Program will provide up to 25 to 30 grants of up to $1,000 per year for community-based programs that have creative strategies for preventing or reducing the occurrence of child abuse and neglect. Applications may be submitted by public or private institutions and faith-based communities for the Good Beginnings mini-grant program.
In addition, Prevent Child Abuse West Virginia is inviting community teams to apply to participate in its successful Partners In Prevention initiative. Partners in Prevention is a statewide network of twenty-five community teams implementing various community projects and working together to keep children safe. Up to ten new community teams are expected to be added to the network this fall. The Partners In Prevention grant program requires a team of at least three organizations working together in a community. Participating teams receive annual grants of up to $7,500 to conduct local projects to strengthen families, protect children and engage the public in these efforts. Additional information, including a directory of current teams and project descriptions, is available at www.preventchildabusewv.org/partners.html
Application guidelines for Good Beginnings Mini-Grants and Partners in Prevention Community Teams are available on the Prevent Child Abuse West Virginia website at www.preventchildabusewv.org. Application deadline is August 15, 2007.
More information about these programs and ongoing efforts in West Virginia is available at the WV Children's Trust Fund website, www.wvctf.org, and the Prevent Child Abuse WV website, www.preventchildabusewv.org.
For information specific to the grant programs, contact Genny Ferri, Community Partnerships Coordinator, at 1-866-4-KidsWV (866-454-3798) or email genny@teamwv.org.

Tips for Fundraising in Multiple States

My friend Marilyn in Kentucky sent me this link to share with you about those who raise funds in multiple states (with newsletters, direct mail, and email donations).
To make compliance easier, some 35 jurisdictions (34 states and the District of Columbia) have come together to develop a Unified Registration Statement. Using this one form, available at www.multistatefiling.org , your organization may register in these 35 jurisdictions. Before you get started, however, it’s a good idea to determine the states in which your group will be raising funds from the public and look at the registration and disclosure requirements of those states (see the appendix of the Unified Registration Statement for state-by-state information).

Sorry I haven't posted in a while

Hello, sorry I have not posted in a while. Traveling has been intense. I have had lots of people ask me for more resources for Time Management and Organizational Skills. Let me share the titles for a few books that I think are just great on this topic. Julie Morgenstern is a writer that is great on this topic. I have read the following books by her and use her ideas in my trainings. They are:
"Time Management from the Inside Out"
"Organizing from the Inside Out"
"Never Check E-Mail In The Morning" (this is one of my favorites)
and by Kenneth Zeigler
"Organizing For Success"
These will help you organize everything from your home to your office. I have created a task list in my Outlook to track my personal and professional "to do" lists based on these books. It has really helped me become more organized and use my time more efficiently. I hope they help you as well. Here is a link to her website www.juliemorgenstern.com
www.juliemorgenstern.com

Grantsmanship Workshop in Morgantown

Thanks so much to Big Brother Big Sister in Morgantown for hosting the Grant Writing workshop last week. It was a great group and I enjoyed spending time with you all. I wanted to share some of the pictures from the workshop that Sylvia took. Enjoy! I will create a Flickr page for them when I get them all. Hope everyone had a great Mother's Day today.

Photos on Flickr

I have placed all of the photos from the Christain Appalachain Project's marketing training at Jenny Wiley State Resort and park on my Flickr account. Just use this addressto view all 87 pictures (www.flickr.com/photos/leadingthefuture/)! Hope you guys enjoy. I had a great time hanging out with everyone. Let me see what you create. Email me a copy so I can post it on the blog.

marketing workshop, day 2

Today The Idea Farm presented to us tips and tricks of the trade! The two gentleman, Ron - president of the company, and Marc - vice-president and senior art director dazzled us with information. I believe nonprofits must take part in this type of training in order to effectively drive their resource engines. Basically, you must be able to reach your market where they are, not from where we are. You are trying to obtain money, time, or donations of both from people, so you must develop a clear, compelling message that motivates people to give to you. A well thought out, well executed marketing campaign can help you accomplish that goal. It is crucial that nonprofits start thinking like businesses when it comes to marketing to the public. We need to think like Nike, Starbucks, Dove and other companies that have effectively marketed to their target audience. As nonprofits, we tend to try to reach all of our audiences with the same message, kind of a one-size-fits-all mentality. This is a fatal mistake. Different audiences are motivated to do different things, and it is up to us to find out what motivates our audience. Why would someone give money to your organization? Why would they donate time? Why would they serve on your Board of Directors or on a committee? You have to know their reasons before you can create effective marketing messages for them.
All that being said, take the time to learn how to be an effective writer, learn a little about graphic design. And if you can't, then hire someone who are professionals in the field. If you can't find the money to pay a professional firm, then find a college student that is majoring in marketing or graphic design, and see if they will work with you. Many times they are looking for projects to build their resumes and will do work gratis, or for a very low cost.
I encourage you to check out Katya's blog (see links). She updates her blog several times a week and has great links on her sIte, and great information! Also, the link to The Idea Farm is www.theideafarm.net
I also wanted to tell you about the books used for the three day workshop. I think they are all great for nonprofits who want to learn more about marketing. They are:
THE NON-DESIGNER'S DESIGN BOOK
GUERRILLA PUBLICITY
MARKETING WORKBOOK FOR NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS VOLUME I
MADE TO STICK
ROBIN HOOD MARKETING

marketing workshop at Jenny Wiley State Park

Here we are at beautiful Jenny Wiley State Resort and Park for the Christian Appalachian Project's Marketing Conference. We have our Hawaiian theme going on for today's festivities. The company is grand, the scenery beautiful, the information valuable. Minds are working, friendships forged, marketing plans are starting to come together. This afternoon will involve us working on our Elevator speeches, viewing good examples of print, video and web based marketing, and defining our audiences for our marketing efforts. We will also be looking at our existing marketing materials and making suggestions for improvement. I have included pictures of our room, our resort, and our lake (which we will be taking a pontoon boat ride on tomorrow). I will keep updating the blog with pictures and updates on the 3 day Marketing training!

One of my favorite places to train

Faith Mountain is one of my favorite places to train. If you are in West Virginia or Kentucky, and you are looking for a place to have a family retreat, strategic planning for your Board of Directors, Staff Retreat, or workshops (complete with an overnight stay)I would highly recommend a stay at Faith Mountain. You need to know up front, they are a Christain based organization, and go to there web site for more information on their mission, vision, rates, and other information. Youth groups, churches, and Faith-Based Organizations will find the view breath taking, the hospitality top notch, the peacefullness soothing, and the whole experience calming. On top of it all, their rates are cheaper than most hotels (and you get so much more). I always like to spread the word when I find an organization that is truely fullfilling their mission, offering the best customer service, and offering a unique service. Faith Mountin hits the mark on all accounts. They are also hosting serveral workshops over the next few months for nonprofits and faith based organizations. They will host a Board Roles and Responsibilities workshop on May 11th, 2007 in conjunction with Mission West Virginia, Inc. I will be the trainer for that event. It is free of charge and open to the public. Just call Faith Mountain if you are interested in attending. I am going to add a few more pictures of the actual cabin I stayed in.


Needless to say, I arrived at Faith Mountain on Thursday evening tired (worn out really) and not feeling well. I was shown to a beautiful cabin, with a great back porch, a wonderful view, a pristine kitchen, and a whirlpool bath tub!!!! Guess where I headed first! Yep, the big bath tube! Just what I needed. I read, relaxed, and recharged, and was my old self again by the time I started the training the next day. I have plans to take the family back, for my hubby's birthday no less! There web site is www.faithmountain.org. Hope you get a chance to go, it is a great experience, and a great way to support another nonprofit in West Virginia.

Nonprofit Congress

I am placing a link to this blog on this blog (that sounded wierd). It is so important that we stay abreast of what this movement is doing, and that we support it. I visit this blog about once a week. I hope you enjoy this blog as much as I do. I will keep adding links. Please let me know if you have any np blogs you like and want me to add to this blog.

Marketing Workshop

I have been searching for commercials and print ads to use in my Marketing Workshop in Kentucky on May 7th, 2007. I have been going through the book "Robin Hood Marketing" by Katya Andresen and pulling up the different ads she talks about. I came across this Dove ad, and really liked what it had to say. It would be interesting to take this concept, and take a person from "street person" to "executive" using a teacher, community support, family, etc. instead of a make-up artist. A kind of "showing us the potential underneath" approach. So, go ahead and watch, and see what you think.

Thoughts on Virginia Tech

My personal thoughts on Virginia Tech. Why in the world are we cutting funding in this country for mental health when it is so obvious that it is a critical need? What more has to happen to illustrate the need for public mental health services, that are affordable, available, and critical!?!? I encourage you to visit this website
http://www.vt.edu/
Today, my thoughts and prayers are with the victims, their families and friends, the students and the community. Hope everyone is wearing their maroon and orange today. I know that the students of Marshal University have formed a bond of grief and understanding with Virginia Tech. And as a past University Prof. (Lindenwood University), I can only imagine the grief and disbelief shared on campus. I hope we will wake up as a country, and demand funding for social services that will give communities and individuals the tools needed to avoid future tragedies. Today, I am a Virginia Tech alumni even though I graduated from a different university, and I hope you are too.

The First Blog

I went to this great training today, and as a result I learned about blogging (which I already did personally, but not professionally) and came home motivated to make this blog site for people who want to share ideas, thoughts, news, and support to other people who work in the nonprofit sector. I also thought this would be a great way to stay in touch with so many of the wonderful people I have met through the Leading The Future trainings. I am putting in links, and books, and news, and what ever else I can think of that might be of interest to you. Let me know what else you might want to see on this site.