The Second Wednesday of Every Month

6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
Join the social innovators in your community to learn, plan, and grow.

June 2009 Forum Theme: Sustaining the Good

How can nonprofits become more financially stable? Can nonprofits develop strategies that foster long-term income? How exactly can it be done? What works? What are the legal and financial implications? We will set the tone with an expert panel. They’ll speak directly to the sustaining strategies they’ve created and then allow you to ask the questions while they’re on stage.

Panelists: Sustaining the Good
Facilitated by Amy Pearl, Springboard Innovation

• Chris Bekemeier,
  Our United Villages
  How is community outreach sustained by the ReBuilding Center? How are these two efforts connected and what can you adapt and adopt for your own organization? What has changed, and what has remained true?
  
  
• Amy Sacks, Pixie Project
  The Pixie Project operates with other nonprofit partners, runs a store, and has launched a new line of related specialty products. How can a nonprofit do this and remain a nonprofit?
  
• Cynthia Cumfer, nonprofit attorney, Community Development Law Center
  What are the legal ramifications of making decisions to launch strategies like these? What’s truly possible? Find out what you have to know from a legal expert who gets it.

• What do you think of when you
  talk about sustaining the good?
• What are the benefits and challenges of earned income strategies?
• What are some examples of how to create sustaining strategies if you’re a nonprofit?
• What are the legal and financial implications?

Workshops ~

• Nonprofit Sustaining Strategies and the Law -  Cynthia Cumfer, attorney.  How does a nonprofit launch specialty products, buy a building, or have a store? Are these legal activities for nonprofits to engage in? What else is possible for sustaining nonprofits? How do you plan and report these activities? Get your legal questions answered in this hour-long workshop.

• Identify Assets for New Income – Amy Pearl and Elizabeth Moreno.
  Learn to do an “Asset Inventory” of your organization’s value, and capitalize on it for income. This effective practice allows you to explore potential value you might not have otherwise noticed. We’ll work through a framework to get you thinking. And, this includes your current supporters--they are existing assets too! We'll talk about how to ensure they are a part of your sustaining strategies.
  
  
• Creative Approaches to Developing a Sustaining Strategy – Laura Mansfield, gameplan.
  Come hear from a successful social entrepreneur who now helps organizations develop strategies for success. She'll share her story and provide ideas for developing new ways of thinking about your organization's strategies for long-term viability.
  

-- Download the Forum Program Agenda --

Cheryl Lohrmann, founder of CreatePlenty, and Amy Pearl, Executive Director of Springboard.