Thursday, September 1, 2011

The New Executive: Nonprofit Rock Stars


As our economic uncertainty increases, those organizations which survive and thrive will have strong executives who possess three vital characteristics. What are these keys to success and how do you know if you’re prepared for the demands of the future?

Presented by Michael Brand, MNO Project Officer ReTool Erie
Thursday September 29th 12noon-1:30pm (Lunch Provided)
Location: WQLN - 8425 Peach Street
Register For Any or All Events Here

The New Leader

Are you looking to enhance your effectiveness as a leader? Do you have specific employees you believe have leadership potential? Then this is the session for all of you. In his groundbreaking book Developing The Leader Within You, John Maxwell posits keys to effectively developing your leadership potential. This session will focus upon the 4 essential elements.

Facilitated by Rick Capozzi, from the Human Resources Development Center at Penn State
Thursday September 22nd – 8:30am-12noon (Breakfast buffet)
Location: Mannechor Club - 1607 State Street
Register for Any or All Events Here

The New Structure: Evolving Ways Of Doing Business


Form follows function. Is your nonprofit organized in a form that plays to your strengths? In this session, discover new models for organizing your nonprofit and consider ways you can adapt in order to meet changing demands.
Facilitated by Marsha Tongel of The Tongel Consulting Group
Thursday September 15 – 12noon-3:00pm (Lunch provided)
Location: Bayfront Sheraton 55 West Bay Drive
Register Here

Leadership Lab


Co-sponsored by The Nonprofit Partnership and Retool Erie
This special two-session leadership lab is designed for staff-board agency teams who are looking to increase their effectiveness in reaching important organizational goals. In these sessions, teams will be challenged to choose a key goal, find obstructions and barriers, identify the hidden competing commitments that individuals and the organization pursues, and develop a plan to resolve them and move toward goal achievement.
Facilitated by Bob Wooler, Executive Director of The Nonprofit Partnership and Debbie Thompson, President of Strategy Solutions
Two Sessions!
Wednesday, September 7 - 5:00pm-8:00pm
Saturday September 17 - 9:00am – 5:00pm

Location: The Ambassador 7794 Peach Street
Register For Any And All Events Here

Introducing the Map of Nonprofit Startup Resources by State

(Stephen Sherman is a reference librarian at the Foundation Center-Atlanta, on whose blog this post originally appeared.)

Have an idea for a nonprofit but not sure where to begin? We've collected the best resources from organizations across the country and listed them in one place to help you get your nonprofit off on the right foot. Our new Map of Nonprofit Startup Resources by State provides links to helpful resources such as state associations, legal support organizations, and government agencies that provide information on forming a nonprofit in all fifty states and U.S. territories. Find out where to go to incorporate, where to register before raising funds, and which organizations offer management or technical assistance for nonprofits in your area.

Monday, August 15, 2011

Business in Our Sites applications open

Harrisburg –The Commonwealth Financing Authority (CFA) Board of Directors approved a motion to begin accepting applications for the Business in Our Sites and PennWorks Programs, both programs assist with funding for the development of business sites in Pennsylvania. The application period will remain open until October 31, 2011.

“These two programs are a great example of state government partnering with private developers, local economic development organizations, and communities to develop shovel-ready sites to attract new investment and jobs,” Department of Community and Economic Development Secretary C. Alan Walker said. “There will be a heavy emphasis on financing high-impact projects in regions of the state where there is a significant need for developed business sites.”

The Business in Our Sites program provides loans for the acquisition and development of key sites for future use by businesses. PennWorks provides grants to municipalities and municipal authorities and loans to municipalities, municipal authorities, industrial development corporations and investor-owned water or wastewater enterprises for projects which construct, expand or improve water and wastewater infrastructure. Improvements must be directly related to an economic development project. Business in Our Sites and PennWorks are administered by the CFA.

The CFA plans to deploy approximately $38.5 million in funds that are available from loan repayments and projects that either did not use all of the awarded funding or did not proceed. Within the $38.5 million there is approximately $25 million available in Business in Our Sites that can be re-loaned and approximately $13.5 million in unused PennWorks funds that can be awarded in either loans or grants for water and sewer improvements.

Eligible applicants are encouraged to contact Brian Eckert or Scott Dunkelberger at (717) 787-7120 to discuss potential projects before commencing the application process. The CFA anticipates acting on Business in Our Sites and PennWorks applications at the January, 2012 board meeting.

For more information about economic development initiatives in Pennsylvania, call 1-866-466-3972 or visit newpa.com.

Media contact: Steven Kratz, 717-783-1132

Western Union supports 50 nonprofits

[from Philanthropy News Digest]

The Western Union Foundation in Englewood, Colorado, has announced second-quarter grants totaling $1.8 to nearly fifty nonprofits, including several working to expand global economic opportunity through programs that aim to improve access to labor markets and job training opportunities, enhance language acquisition, and help immigrants assimilate into their new communities.

To support international entrepreneurship, the foundation awarded several grants including $10,000 to Open Africa to provide training in marketing and business development to a group of women who have developed tourism services and attractions along a heavily used highway in rural South Africa, and $80,000 to Tsinghua University Education Foundation in China to provide senior university students and recent graduates with business training.

Through its Building Bridges initiative, the foundation awarded grants to organizations working to ease the transition of recent immigrants to their adopted countries. Recipients include Public Interest Projects, which was awarded $100,000 for a national grassroots effort to promote understanding between recent immigrants and their American-born neighbors; Upwardly Global, which received $15,000 to provide college-educated immigrants with career counseling services; and Shivi Development Society, which was awarded $10,000 to help support people in India moving from rural areas to cities.

"Today, many individuals endure loneliness and exile, simply to provide food, shelter, and other basic necessities for loved ones back home," said Western Union Foundation president Luella Chavez D'Angelo. "The organizations we support work tirelessly to ease some of the burdens faced by these people and their families, giving them a chance to build a better life. Western Union Foundation's greater goal is to help people prosper and create economic opportunity."

“Western Union Foundation Gives $1.8 Million to Create Global Economic Opportunity.” Western Union Foundation Press Release 8/10/11.