Educational Events

Torrington Public Library, Torrington
9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.

Trainer: Gina Marcantonio, G. Marc & Associates, LLC, Development Consulting for Nonprofits

Prioritizing, Realistic Expectations, and Flexibility. In the first session of this series, you will learn the essentials to create an integrated fund development plan. This workshop will provide methods for implementing a fundraising strategy from identifying potential funding streams to incorporating different types of activities to raise money to support your organization’s overall mission.

Those in attendance will learn to prioritize and establish basic policies and procedures needed to manage a solid development program.

Gina is President of the AFP Connecticut Chapter and an AFP Master Trainer. She is a seasoned fund development professional that focuses on the business side of an organization for growth, including board development, strategic planning, operations, program impact, and fundraising, all in developing strategies to generate revenue and grow philanthropic programs.

Gun Memorial Library, Washington
9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.

Trainer: Sharon J. Danosky, President, Danosky & Associates, Sherman, CT

A successful annual giving program provides a steady flow of unrestricted financial support year-afteryear to fund your nonprofit organization’s operations. This workshop will teach you how to build an annual giving program to generate a steady, strong pipeline to keep those donors coming back for a lifetime or longer. With a strong annual giving program, your organization will be able to thrive through whatever crisis may come your way, and will allow you the foundation to build a reliable, sustainable development program.

Sharon is a strategist, thought leader and BoardSource Certified Governance Consultant. Over the course of her career, first as the chief development officer for several hospitals and human service organizations, then as a consultant, she has raised hundreds of millions of dollars. Sharon launched her consulting firm in 2008 and has worked with hundreds of clients to build capacity.

Norfolk Library, Norfolk
9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

Trainer: Diane Gedeon-Martin, President, The Write Source, Glastonbury, CT

Nonprofit organizations often seek grant support but fall short in receiving an award. Competition from foundations and corporations continues to grow as government funding dwindles. Learn how to identify grant opportunities for your organization as well as prepare proposals that get the attention of funders. This workshop provides not only the tools and resources but also a proposal outline to prepare comprehensive, concise, and competitive grant applications.

NOTE: This session is the only one of the five that is two hours in length.

Diane is a national grants consultant and an AFP Master Trainer with 32 years of experience in the area of grants and grant seeking for nonprofit organizations. Since launching her company in 1993, she has worked with over 300 nonprofit clients in 27 states and Washington, DC to help them achieve their goals through grants ranging from $5,000 to $11.0 million.

The Cornwall Library, Cornwall
9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.

Trainer: John Brooks, Senior Consultant, Danosky & Associates, Monroe, CT

During these challenging times, can your organization use help raising money from new funding sources? Did you suspend volunteer activities during the pandemic? Are you having trouble keeping volunteers engaged virtually? One of the best ways to help your organization raise more money, even during an tough economy, is to enlist the help of your extensive volunteer network. In this session, you will learn where to look for the best volunteer fundraisers and how to work with and energize your volunteers to help during uncertain times and beyond. This workshop will also provide tools to evaluate volunteer effectiveness to increase your organization’s capacity to raise more money.

John has over 28 years of experience with all levels of fund development, raising $1.5 million annually for Columbus House in New Haven for over 19 years. He is the 2021 AFP Outstanding Fundraising Professional and has extensive experience developing, training, and leading numerous volunteer and board committees to identify, solicit, and conduct grassroots fundraising events.

Hotchkiss Library, Sharon
9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.

Trainer: Abbie von Schlegell, Principal, A. von Schlegell & Co., Pittsfield, MA

In this last session of the series, you will take everything you have learned to engage donors at a deeper level so that their annual giving reaches maximum financial capacity.

Cultivating donors to provide major gifts to support specific programs or initiatives takes time but the payoff is worth it. This workshop will provide a framework for developing a successful individual major gifts program that includes laying the groundwork of necessary attitudes, skills, insight, and knowledge to create meaningful donor relationships both in person and virtually that can potentially lead to larger support for your organization.

Abbie has been in the development field for over 40 years, as a consultant specializing in fund development and nonprofit governance for half of her career, and a senior development officer with four major institutions. She is a BoardSource Certified Governance Trainer, an expert on women’s philanthropy, and author of Women as Donors, Women as Philanthropists

At the core, nonprofit board members are the fiduciaries who guide their organizations in fulfilling their mission and ensuring a sustainable future. Over the past five years, nonprofit boards appear to be evolving and taking on enhanced roles.

While boards still execute many traditional responsibilities, they are beginning to adapt to a more purpose-driven leadership role as they face new, more challenging issues. In this breakout session, we will explore the traditional aspects of board leadership roles, responsibilities, and the duties of care, loyalty, and obedience.

We will also examine what it means to be a purpose-driven board, how to prioritize a board's purpose, respect the eco-system in which they operate, commit to equity and inclusion and understand the power dynamics within the communities they serve. We will conclude with discussing the incremental steps every board can do to meet the emerging needs of a challenging world.

Sharon Danosky is a strategist and thought leader who brings a unique combination of expertise in governance, strategy, and fundraising. Sharon’s nonprofit experience began by being a member of the team that raised the funds to build a new hospital, almost 40 years ago.

She started her consulting firm Danosky & Associates in 2008 and has led organizations to achieve unprecedented growth, re-infuse boards with a new sense of purpose, focus discussions on strategy and impact, build sustainable fundraising programs that achieve double-digit increases, facilitate multi-stakeholder collaborations, and challenge existing structures through narrative change.

Securing a major gift for your organization is no accident, and developing a major gifts program is more than asking people for a single large gift. It is a strategic process that is implemented over a period of time and culminates with both the donor and the nonprofit reaping significant benefits.

For the donor it is the ability to have an impact on causes that they are passionate about. For the organization, it is financial support to achieve its mission. This breakout will help executive directors, development directors, board members and volunteers learn how to move donors from casual contributors to significant supporters.

John Brooks has more than 27 years of nonprofit management and fundraising experience. He has expertise in major and planned giving, corporate sponsorships, foundation and corporate grants, fundraising events, direct marketing, volunteer management, community outreach, external communications, and media relations.

A successful development office must include policies, structure, and strategies to help build relationships that are vital to nonprofits long-term sustainability. It's more than just fundraising. It's designing strategies to increase revenue and build partnerships. It's learning how to identify, cultivate, solicit and steward donors.

This workshop will help you plan and organize your development office and implement a successful fund development program.

Gina Marcantonio of G. Marc & Associates, LLC is a development professional with more than 30 years of nonprofit experience. She knows firsthand the challenges nonprofits face and can provide organizations with various innovative solutions that help build organizational capacity.

Gina has a master's in nonprofit management and philanthropy. She is the president of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP), Connecticut Chapter. She is an AFP master trainer.

Do you often feel alone in this journey as a leader? Not only are you called to serve as a visionary and business executive, but you are also the one who holds high the torch of your organization’s mission and inspires your workforce to embrace greatness. No small feat.

Together we will look at establishing your own “Circle of Strength” to maintain balance and refresh your spirit. Starting with a genuine self-assessment, we will consider how to take the next steps in your personal and professional journey with a more definite sense of your ultimate goals, capabilities, and areas for growth. As a leader of a Board or as the Executive Director, taking the opportunity to “recharge or fill your tank” will keep you inspired and focused as you travel the demanding road of creating a better world for those your organization serves.

Anne Ruwet is a recently retired Chief Executive Officer of a multi-million-dollar agency. Anne is intimately acquainted with the financial governance, service delivery and workforce challenges nonprofit leaders are faced with on a daily basis. Having served as a leader in the nonprofit realm for more than three decades, she is now sharing her experience and insights with others through her own consulting service. Anne also served as a CT State Representative for six years and continues her civic service in municipal government as a City Council member.

Friday, May 8, 2020

Develop assumptions and evaluate the implications of each assumption, including financial ramifications. Learn to run different financial models to help plan now and in the future.

Friday, May 1, 2020

Communication with all your constituents is vital. How frequently should you communicate and how? What tone of voice is most effective, and how can you communicate most authentically?

Friday, April 24, 2020

Every board and every board member should be stepping up to help the nonprofits they serve weather the storm and stay on course. Learn what board members can take on right now.

Friday, April 10, 2020

Your Business Continuity Plan (BCP): Is it in place? There is still time to look at it.
Preparing a BCP will help you evaluate scenarios now, raise funds, and plan for a successful re-emergence later. Know what resources are available and how to plan when you don't know what lies ahead.

Friday, April 17, 2020

Should you be fundraising now, or cultivating your donors? What is the best fundraising approach? How can you best engage with your donors and what should you be doing, so you can raise funds later?