Monday, December 24, 2012

Aligning Board Governance and Fund Development

Board Governance and engagement are a crucial component of an organization's fund development strategy. Among the topics discussed will be:

• Best practices for nonprofit board governance and volunteer engagement
• Ways to align your governance structure, development plans and support networks to create an effective fundraising strategy that promotes sustainability and engages board members
• Fund development strategies, recognition opportunities and institutional policies that can affect development success
• Major gift strategies and developing a customer service ethic for development operations at a time of generational transition

When:
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
9:00am – 11:00am

Where:
Central New York Philanthropy Center
431 East Fayette Street
Syracuse, NY 13202
Tel: 315.422.9538

Cost:
$25 per person

Friday, December 14, 2012

The Volunteer Management Handbook: Leadership Strategies for Success
Edited by Tracy D. Connors

With volunteers such a vital part to the operations of most nonprofit organizations, here is a book that provides guidance for volunteer resource management. This practical handbook covers the best practices for recruiting, orienting and training volunteers with useful tips on how to get, develop and keep the right volunteers.

Friday, November 30, 2012

Grant opportunity for Nursing Schools

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the American Association of Colleges of Nursing have initiated a program to help alleviate the nursing shortage and increase the diversity of nursing professionals.

New Careers in Nursing provides scholarships to college graduates without nursing degrees who are enrolled in accelerated baccalaureate and master's degree programs.

Eligibility: Applicants must be accredited by a nursing accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education and offer an entry-level accelerated baccalaureate nursing program or master's nursing program for non-nursing college students.

Deadline: Janusry 9, 2013
Contact: Vernell Dewitt, 202-463-6930

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

How to Measure Your Social-Media Results

Learn How to Measure Your Social-Media Results
Date: Wednesday December 12
Time: 2:00 pm EST Duration: 60 minutes
Cost: Early Bird: $75, After December 5: $96

Your nonprofit spends a lot of time reaching out to supporters on Twitter, Facebook, and other social networks. But if you're like a lot of the nonprofit leaders I speak to about social media, you aren't properly measuring whether these efforts are worth the time and cost.
Learn how to collect and analyze data to support informed decisions about your social-media strategies.
Hear case studies and concrete examples of how nonprofits are measuring their social-media results and how they are using data to nimbly adjust their online approaches.
One of the presenters, Beth Kanter, co-author of the new book Measuring the Networked Nonprofit, will also outline the 7 steps of effective measuring.
This is a great opportunity to learn how nonprofits of all sizes can measure the results of their social-media campaigns.

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Upcoming Workshop

Strategic Thinking and The Power of The One Page Business Plan
Thursday, December 13
9:00 AM - Noon
$25.00
Central New York Community Foundation

How do you use strategic thinking to produce an executable strategic plan? In this session, you will be introduced to a practical strategic planning process, which will enable you to:

Focus and collect your thoughts for building your organization’s future
Address the five key elements needed for strategic planning
Begin road-mapping your strategy and planning for strategy execution
Document your ideas and plans on a single page
Track progress towards your organization’s goals

Sign up today - class size is limited.

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Writing Grant Proposals That Win 4th edition
By Deborah Ward

Provides readers with the fundamental basics of proposal writing: how to understand a RFP, how reviewers function and what they look for, and how technology is an integral part of the grantsmanship process. This edition has been updated to reflect the grant process since 2005. It includes sample propiosals, budget forms and narratives.

Friday, September 28, 2012

Throughout October,the Foundation Center is celebrating Funding for the Arts with special events, free classess and webinars. Be sure to take advantage of this free instruction and chance to network with others in your field.

From Grantspace.org, here is a list of Resources for Artists

Also visit the Nonprofit Resource Center at the Robert P. Kinchen Central Library for a special selection of books for indivudal artists or to access the Grants to Individuals Online database.

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Turn Donors into Fundraisers!

How to Turn Donors into Fundraisers a webinar featuring two nonprofit leaders who staged successful peer-to-peer fundraising campaigns by turning donors, volunteers, and other supporters into ambassadors for their causes.

Sponsored by the Chronicle of Philanthropy

Guest, Ryu Mizuno, will share insights from his experience transforming the U.S. Fund for Unicef's well-known trick-or-treat drive into a social-media phenomenon. By focusing on donor engagement, he was able to raise more than $250,000 through Facebook and Twitter in 2010.

Ryu's case is just one being looked at during the 60-minute webinar.

The early bird deadline is September 13, so register today!

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Perfect Phrases for Fundraising
by Beverly Browning

Hundreds of ready-to-use phrases for appealing to donors and getting the funding you need. Check it out today!

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

The Complete Book on Grant Writing by Nancy Burke Smith

Information is presented from the point of view of both an experienced grant seeker and an experienced grantmaker with writing samples of grant proposals, preproposals, concept papers, letters of inquiry, interagency agreements, support letters and media releases. Learn the difference between reactive and proactive grantseeking and much more!

This updates Smith's 2006 edition by the same title. Another useful title by Smith is The Everything Grantwriting Book

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Charity Navigator suggests you consider being a ‘lifesaver’ by giving your favorite charity a surprise donation this summer.

Most of us give around the year-end holidays when we are inspired by the religious season and/or we're thinking about the year-end cut off for our charitable deductions.

But charities need your support year round. In fact, many charities struggle with cash flow in the summer as donations taper off.

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Hot off the presses!

Copies of the latest edition of the Foundation Center's Guide to Proposal Writing are available to check out from the Onondaga County Public Library's Nonprofit Resource Center.

In her 6th edition of this essential guide, Jane Geever incorporates the results of 40 interviews with grantmakers across the nation. She reveals their priorities in reviewing submissions and provides insight into what makes a winning proposal.

Grab your OCPL library card and place your hold on this new title today.

Friday, June 8, 2012

Creating a Successful Succession Plan

The Central New York Community Foundation and the SUNY Oswego Metro Center are sponsoring a 3-part series for organizations that forsee having a turnover in a leadership postion within the next five years. Executives, board members and other key employees should plan to attend all three sessions.

June 21 9am-Noon, at SUNY Oswego Metro Center
June 28 9am-11am and July 26 9am-Noon at the CNY Philanthropy Center

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

June is Funding for Education Month

Funding For Education Month
All month long the Foundation Center will be hosting webinars and podcasts of interest both to educators and students.

How to Find and Win Scholarships and Fellowships
Wednesday, June 6 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM

Getting a Grip on Your Student Loans
Wednesday, June 13 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Webinar

Navigating Pinterest, Google+, and Other New Social Networks

Thursday, June 21, 2012 2-3 p.m. Eastern Time

Early Bird (Ends June 7) $75.00 Regular (Starts June 8) $96.00

Learn how nonprofits can keep up with the latest trends in the ever-changing social media landscape. You'll hear case studies on Pinterest, Google+ and others. Plus you learn how to determine when to invest time in a new social network—and when to wait.
Trainers: Jenna Sauber,Interactive Communications Manager, Case Foundation and Maegan Clark, Digital Communications Specialist, Heifer International

Saturday, May 5, 2012

National foundations support local efforts. Here are three examples. Find many more by searching the Foundation Directory Online – a free database available when you visit the Nonprofit Resource Center at the Onondaga County Central Library.

Model Youth Programs Funded
American Legion Child Welfare Foundation
The Foundation supports organizations that contribute to the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual welfare of children through the dissemination of information about new and innovative programs designed to benefit youth, or through the dissemination of information already possessed by well-established organizations. Grant requests should have the potential of helping American children in a broad geographic area (more than one state). Application forms must be postmarked no later than July 15, 2012.

Grants Promote No-Kill Animal Shelters
Maddie's Fund
Maddie’s Fund is investing its resources in building community collaborations where animal welfare organizations come together to develop successful models of lifesaving, in veterinary colleges to help shelter medicine become part of the veterinary curriculum to train veterinarians to save the lives of sick and injured dogs and cats in animal shelters, and in the implementation of a national effort to promote accountability and transparency in animal shelter operations.

Environmental Conservation Initiatives Supported
Wallace Genetic Foundation
Specific areas of interest include the following: sustainable agriculture, protection of farmland near cities, conservation of natural resources, biodiversity protection, reduction of environmental toxins, and global climate issues. Grants generally range from $25,000 to $40,000. Requests may be submitted throughout the year.

Strength-Based Grant Writing

Strength-Based Grant Writing
*NEW* Online Education Session from Grantstation

When: Thursday May 24 2:30pm – 4:00pm EST
Cost: Registration fee is $89 per person

"Strength-based grant writing" is a phrase commonly used in the nonprofit world today. It is a collaborative approach that seeks shared understanding and commitment to action by the organization and the larger community in identifying opportunities for change and new direction.

During this 90-minute webinar, Alice Ruhnke will walk through the common sections of a grant application, infusing the process with methods to promote your organization's strengths and create positive change.

See the complete list of Grantstation online education sessions .

Also discover the many free Foundation Center webinars at Grantspace.org

Friday, April 20, 2012

Bolster the power of your grant keyword search in the Foundation Directory Online!

Three new fields have been added to the Grant Record: fund name; fund type; and program name. These fields, part of the grantmaker information section in the grant record, provide further information on how the grantmaker has classified the grant.

Just search for the terms that you use anyway — describing types of awards like 'donor-advised' or 'discretionary,' for example, or describing areas of interest like 'arts & culture' or 'research' — and you can potentially get more grants in your results list. This enhancement currently applies to the over 102,000 grant records that are in the database now and as new grants are added.

For more information on how the Foundation Directory Online database can assist you in researching potential funders, visit the Nonprofit Resource Center at the Central Library. Group orientations as well as one-on-one training is available.

Friday, April 6, 2012

New Books !



The Non Nonprofit: for-profit thinking for nonprofit success
by Steve Rothschild

Many new titles have been added to the Nonprofit Resource Center collection. Check here for a partial list and visit the Library to see what's new.

Tuesday, March 20, 2012


Give potential donors personalized insight into what your nonprofit does and the change you're making in the world. The most compelling stories can be told by people who know you best—your clients, volunteers, and partners—as well as your existing donors.

GuideStar's partnership with GreatNonprofits makes it easy for you to collect stories about your organization—for free. All you have to do is to encourage your constituents to tell their stories about you. Send e-mails, tweets, Facebook updates with the link to your Nonprofit Report on GuideStar.

For more information check out this Reviews Tool Kit

Guidestar publishes monthly articles on a variety of nonprofit issues, from IRS regulations to fundraising tips to insurance.

Monday, March 19, 2012

The RFP Bulletin is a publication of the Foundation Center that includes recently announced Requests for Proposals (RFPs) from private, corporate, and government funding sources.

To search or browse all RFP postings, visit the Foundation Center Web site. New RFPs appear daily.

Or sign up to receive the RFP Bulletin automatically by email.

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Grantspace Mobile

The Foundation Center has recently launched Grantspace Mobile and is providing opportunities to learn more about it and mobile giving at several upcoming, free events!



Mobile-izing Your Cause - March 8 from 12pm-1pm ET

Is-Mobile-Giving-Right-for-You - March 16 from 2pm-3pm ET

Wednesday, February 15, 2012



The Foundation Center's Guide to Proposal Writing, 5th edition
by Jane Geever

Through a partnership with the New York unit of Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic , the Foundation Center is making available free of charge a new audio version of the most popular book in their Fundraising and Nonprofit Management Series.

Download individual chapters or the entire audiobook as a single file.

Print copies of this title can also be checked out from the Nonprofit Resource Center.

Friday, February 10, 2012

Grants to Individuals

Great news!

Foundation Grants to Individuals Online, the go-to resource for finding grants for students, artists, and individuals, has been upgraded. Now it is even easier to find the information you need. Take a quick video tour


Here are more resources for Individual Grantseekers.


Check out these free webinars and tutorials:

Grantseeking Basics for Individuals in the Arts


Finding Foundation Support for your Education


Basic Guide to Funding Research

Visit the Nonprofit Resource Center on the 3rd floor of the Central Library to use the Foundation Grants to Individuals database and to learn about the library’s other grant resources.

Wednesday, January 18, 2012



Charting Impact enables your organization to serve your community better. It sharpens your thinking about your work, and it creates a concise, standardized report about your plans and progress that you can share with people looking to invest their money, time, and attention.

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Fundraising Effectiveness

Why should you invest in training for your staff when nonprofit budgets are tighter than ever and barely making ends meet?

Learn how training can really pay off when it comes to the business of seeking grants.

Sign up to download a copy of
"The Importance of Training in Fundraising Effectiveness—and How to Get Started", a recently released Foundation Center whitepaper.

See additional information about Foundation Fundraising and Fundraising Planning on Grantspace.org





The Philanthropy News Digest publishes RFPs and notices of awards as a free service for grant-making organizations and nonprofits.


Sign up here to receive PND e-newsletters including the weekly RFP Bulletin.

Tuesday, January 3, 2012


2012 may be another rocky year for fundraising. In GuideStar's new report, "Your Fundraising Calendar for 2012," fundraising consultant Gail Perry presents a month-by-month plan to help nonprofits get the most out of their fundraising efforts next year.

Perry breaks fundraising down into manageable chunks—major donors, social media, messaging, events, board retreats, Web sites, planned giving, and more—addressing one per month. Nonprofits that follow her advice will build a comprehensive fundraising strategy that will help them weather economic storms not only in 2012 but in years to come.

Complete this form to download your free copy of the report.


Gail Perry is the author of Fired Up Fundraising: Turn Board Passion into Action .


Borrow this and many other useful fundraising books from the
Nonprofit Resource Center
collection.