Upcoming Events

These are trainings where Fieldstone Alliance staff will be presenting. We suggest you contact the sponsors about registration as some sessions may not be open to the public. Click on a topic title below for more information.

 

Date(s)	Topic	Host	Location	Presenter
8/19/09 8/22/09	Resilient Leaders: A convening of nonprofit leaders who seek ways of increasing their organization’s health and resiliency during an extended economic downturn.	Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota Foundation	St. Paul, MN	Sandy Jacobsen Carol Lukas Gordon Goodwin
9/21/09	"	"	Redwood Falls, MN
9/22/09	"	"	Little Falls, MN
11/12/09	Keynote: The promise, pitfalls and potential of different ways of working together to reach shared goals	Ohio Grantmakers Forum conference	Columbus, OH	Carol Lukas
Recent Events
7/16/09	Alternative Revenue Strategies	Neighborhood Networks - HUD	Philadelphia, PA	Tom Triplett
3/17 - 6/2	Mini Master of Nonprofit Finance	University of St. Thomas	St. Paul, MN	Tom Triplett
5/7/09	State Budget Reality: Riding the Ups and Downs of Public Funding	LarsonAllen	Minneapolis, MN	Tom Triplett
5/18/09	Real Collaboration	Nonprofit Alliance	Battle Creek, MI	Sandy Jacobsen
5/19/09	Collaboratives: A Workshop for Consultants	Nonprofit Alliance	Battle Creek, MI	Sandy Jacobsen
4/28/09	Collaboration: A Strategy for Surviving in Tough Times	Society for Nonprofit Organizations	Webinar	Sandy Jacobsen
4/23/09	Coping with Cutbacks:  Creative Options for Dealing with Tough Times	University of Kentucky, Nonprofit Leadership Initiative	Lexington, KY	Sandy Jacobsen
4/20/09	Using Theoretical Models in Consulting	Nonprofit Alliance	Webinar	Carol Lukas
4/18/09	Coping with Cutbacks	Missouri Arts Council	Webinar	Sandy Jacobsen
4/16/09	Legislative Policy Approaches & Lessons	Social Enterprise Alliance	New Orleans, LA	Tom Triplet
2/18/09	Emergency Funding Sources in Times of Economic Crisis	Virginia Network of Nonprofit Organizations	Webinar	Tom Triplett
3/03/09	Diversity’s Challenge: Achieving TRUE Inclusion	University of St. Thomas	St. Paul, MN	Multiple
3/4/09	Leading in Lean Years: Organizational Survival Strategies	Association of Community Services of Howard County and Horizon Foundation	Clarksville, MD	Sandy Jacobsen
3/6/09	Collaboration: A Winning Strategy	Arizona State University, Lodestar Center	Scottsdale, AZ	Carol Lukas

 

Recent Events

Mini Master of Nonprofit Finance
Now more than ever, nonprofits need staff with financial management expertise. Here's an opportunity to enhance your employment options by learning essential skills. The Mini Master of Nonprofit Finance is a comprehensive, 12-week program for successful financial management in the nonprofit sector.

The program brings together the tools needed for effective analysis and oversight of an organization's finances with the latest in new ideas on how to strengthen the nonprofit's financial situation. A significant advantage of this program is the opportunity for participating nonprofits to have their own financial situation analyzed by the faculty and their peer nonprofit executives.

Ideal learner
Nonprofit board members, chief executive officers, financial officers and program leaders with responsibilities for financial management who are—or soon will be—facing serious challenges to their organization's revenue streams.

What you will learn

• Skills and roles for key members of the financial team
• Inter-relationship of the three cycles of financial management
• Available analysis tools for budgeting, financial statements, auditing, the 990 IRS form, and financial tracking systems
• Completion of the annual fiscal planning process and a more strategic view of long-range budgeting
• Fiduciary responsibilities, relations between internal staff, managerial and financial reporting, and public accountability
• Cash management and investment strategies
• Management of budget, fraud, and external risk
• Evaluation of current and alternative business models
• New revenue models for your organization

 

Real Collaboration: Finding  Opportunities, Tackling Challenges
Collaboration—designing and delivering services with multiple organizations—is more than a buzzword; it’s a process that gets people to work together in new ways. It offers the chance to access resources and leverage outcomes in ways no single organization can do by itself.

However, working and managing together as a group of leaders, and doing it well, has its own set of challenges. This workshop will cut through to some of the tougher issues individuals and organizations deal with as they begin, move through, and sustain a collaboration. This session will explore:

• The collaboration continuum—from cooperation and coordination to true collaboration. Where do your current partnerships fit in this continuum, and are they where they should be?
• The practical steps of building a collaboration. Who takes the first step? How do you sustain it? Is there a point where it ends? How do you end it well?
• The factors that make a collaboration successful, including what factors to incorporate into your operating agreement to make your collaborative work more smoothly.
• Bringing a collaboration back from the brink—when it is not succeeding, how do you prevent failure? How do you address common roadblocks, find momentum, and move forward as a group to meet your goals?

 

Collaboratives—A Workshop for Consultants
Collaboration between nonprofits is a necessary but challenging tool to achieve organizational missions and community goals.  This workshop will explore the skills necessary to aid nonprofits in building and maintaining successful collaborations, understanding the risks and rewards of these partnerships, and making connections with others who share their mission.

Building on the learning from the previous day, this session will explore:

• Why and when consultants are needed to assist collaborations.
• The roles consultants play with collaborations.
• Skills and tools which are useful during each stage of collaboration development.
• How to create collaboration plans and operating agreements.

 

Collaboration: A Strategy for Surviving in Tough Times
It’s a new era. More of everything—from time, to energy, to money—seems needed. Can we do more with less? Yes, with the power of collaboration. Collaboration means bringing together people from sometimes vastly different sectors—grassroots groups, nonprofits, businesses, government agencies, economic classes, and ethnic and racial groups—to accomplish what no single power could on its own. But, working together has its challenges.

In this webinar, Fieldstone Alliance collaboration expert Sandy Jacobsen will help you think through whether or not collaboration is the best way to accomplish your goals.

You’ll discover:

1. The pros and cons of collaborating during tough economic times.
2. What your true goals are and whether or not collaboration is the right strategy to reach them.
3. The three toughest issues in collaboration: building trust, leading successfully, and making decisions.

Through stories and examples, you’ll see the power of collaboration to turn barriers upside down and inside out, so we can solve our problems with lasting changes rather than band aid solutions or pilot projects that fall apart with the latest round of budget cuts.

A recording of this webinar can be purchased from the Society for Nonprofit Organizations.

 

Coping with Cutbacks:  Creative Options for Dealing with Tough Times
Advice on how to deal with a down economy is everywhere. Advice that you can act on is in shorter supply. In this interactive webinar, Fieldstone Alliance management expert Sandy Jacobsen will present specific things you can do when faced with cutbacks. Join us for a real discussion of the options available to your organization (outside of slashing the budget!).

You’ll discover:

• A range of options, from increasing revenues, to cutting costs, to possibly modifying your organization’s structure
• A six-step process for involving key stakeholders in developing workable strategies
• The pros and cons of collaborative partnerships
• Tools and examples to help you organize your thinking and analyze your current approach to fulfilling your mission

 

Legislative Policy Approaches & Lessons
Information on L3Cs, or “low-profit limited liability company.” Enactment of the L3C law is a huge step forward for the movement to broaden the base of funding sources available to nonprofits.

For more information on L3C's read this free article, "Hybrid Business Model Gives Social Causes Access to Venture Capital"

 

Using Theoretical Models in Consulting—or—Why You Do What You Do
This webinar examines the importance of learning and using theoretical models to guide consultants' work with organizations. It covers the use of models, the risks of not using models, and a quick scan of ten models. Models discussed include systems theory, open systems planning, force field analysis, ladder of inference, learning organizations, and managing transitions.

Participants will:

• Understand how the use of theoretical models can strengthen their consulting work.
• Learn about at least eight theoretical models, including when, why, and how to use them.

 

Coping with Cutbacks
It's a familiar refrain, "How do we get more money to keep our nonprofit in business?" Yet, the authors of Coping with Cutbacks say for long-term success you should really be asking, "How do we involve other segments of the community in our work?" This presentation (and book) shows you ways to make new connections, create buy-in, and bring new partners to the table to accomplish your mission. It also gives you a six-step process for coming up with solutions to problems—financial or otherwise—plus 185 specific cutback strategies you can put to use right away. Book contains reproducible checklists and worksheets.

This 90-minute webinar was part of a half-day session for board and staff of The Missouri Arts Council. Participants (250 people at seven sites) discussed local issues first, participated in the webinar from locations throughout Missouri, and then debriefed and networked afterwards.

 

Emergency Funding Sources in Times of Economic Crisis
Missed the session? Buy the recording from VANNO with the related handouts and presentation materials. Get all seven "Just In Time" audioconference recordings: $65 for members and $95 for non members.

 

Diversity’s Challenge: Achieving TRUE Inclusion

Presenter	Multiple staff
Sponsor	University of St. Thomas
When	March 3-4, 2009
Where	St. Paul RiverCentre, St. Paul, MN

 

Leading in the Lean Years: Organizational Survival Strategies
There's no silver bullet for organizational survival in hard times, but awareness of the range of strategic options open to your nonprofit is critical. This free conference (lunch provided) will focus on organizational strategies during the economic recession. Local and national experts will explore strategies and tactics to enable organizational survival in the difficult times ahead. Renowned national nonprofit consultant Sandy Jacobsen will provide important tips in terms of revenue strategies, innovative collaboration models, and management approaches.

 

Collaboration: A Winning Strategy
Learn more about collaboration and the nonprofit sector at the 2009 Forum on Nonprofit Effectiveness at Arizona State University Lodestar Center. Each attendee will receive a copy of Collaboration Handbook: Creating, Sustaining and Enjoying the Journey, as well as the opportunity to walk through the workbook with a professional from the ASU Lodestar Center and one of the eight finalists of the inaugural Collaboration Prize. In the afternoon, attendees will meet in breakout sessions with local nonprofit professionals who have gone through the process of collaboration. What worked? What didn't? What are some best practices? These questions, and more, will be answered!

 

For more information on training or keynote presentations, please contact Alexis Cress at 651.556.4653 or email her at .