The pandemic initiated a reckoning in philanthropy, revealing the urgency for more equitable nonprofit investment strategies. Trust-based philanthropy, an approach prioritizing trust, collaboration, and minimal restrictions, took off as a buzzword in 2020, but has retained staying power as a new paradigm to build organizational capacity and shift the power dynamics between grantmakers and grant recipients.

For some funders, this was straightforward: restricted funds were converted to general operating support, lengthy applications were streamlined into accessible forms with brief reports, and check-in calls or visits replaced traditional interim submissions. Others have taken smaller but significant steps, like eliminating duplicative information or accepting another funder’s materials.  Similarly, many nonprofits began advocating for better approaches to grantmaking that build relationships and support communities with more meaningful methods.

This session’s focus will be on practical and purposeful steps that take your organization closer to a trust-based philanthropy paradigm. Whether you are a grantmaker or grant recipient, we’ll guide you on effective strategies that center trust, diminish unequal power dynamics, and empower nonprofits, grantmakers, and any changemakers to lead with trust and the impact of their work. Learn how to build a trust-based philanthropy culture in your work, and shift from a donor-centric model to practices centered on your mission and community.

Learning Objectives

Presenter

Sarah Angello
Head of Strategic Partnerships
Resilia

Understanding overhead is vital to strong financial management for every organization. In this session, presenters from Your Part-Time Controller LLC will debunk the overhead myth and discuss an appropriate administrative ratio for nonprofit organizations. To help participants develop more effective financial analysis, presenters will demonstrate the importance of reasonable and consistent cost allocations, as well as how revenue diversification can play a part in the overhead process.

Learning Objectives

Presenters

Sandra Magri
Manager
Your Part-Time Controller LLC

Gregg Indictor
Director
Your Part-Time Controller LLC

This session will demonstrate how project management practices, principles, and tools can be adapted to organizations of various sizes, using the case study of Devereux’s successful project management office. A well-structured project management function can streamline processes, improve project delivery, and ensure that projects align with the organization’s strategic goals. Whether you have many or few resources at your disposal, scalable project management techniques can help you put your strategy into action.

Learning Objectives

• How to translate strategies into tactical success using project management, no matter the organization’s size or resource availability
• Train and develop new project managers who are skilled in the art and the science of managing projects
• Develop and refine traditional and agile project management approaches to support an organization-wide project management function
• Consider how the project management office will strategically fit within the organization and act as a thought partner to senior leadership

Presenters

Sarah Boone
National Project Manager
Devereux Advanced Behavioral Health

Would you like to whistle all the way home from work? Do you wish you could fully leverage the power of your organization’s culture? Would you like to have the opportunity to learn about and implement strategies that ensure your services and organization’s success?

If the answer to these questions is a resounding YES, join Dr. Dann for a high-energy, high-impact training on the power of positive organizational culture.

We all operate within an organizational culture. Our social nature and desire to belong shapes membership behavior, and the culture that grows because of this phenomenon can become the defining measure for organizational success or failure. This interactive and engaging session will open the window to understanding your organization’s normative culture, as well as strategies to ensure the presence of positive organizational culture. A rising tide lifts all boats! A positive organizational culture makes the seemingly impossible possible!

Through this session, participants will come away with concrete strategies to ensure that their organization’s culture becomes a powerful source for ensuring success. Participants will explore proven strategies to ensure the presence of a mission-focused, positive organizational culture. Explore the power of WE, learn the connection between your program/organization’s culture and employee resilience and retention. Develop strategies to ensure positive norms that support diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging. Learn about the connection between your organization’s systems and a positive organizational culture. Develop strategies to leverage communication and feedback practices.
And don’t forget – during this session we’ll have some fun!

Learning Objectives

Presenters

Paul Dann
President and CEO of North American Family Institute
North American Family Institute

This session will begin with an overview of key elements of inclusive data-informed decision making and move quickly into an assessment of participants’ own organizational practice.

Then participants will dive into the three stages within a data cycle and discuss how to make your practice more inclusive within each stage. The presenter will cover common pitfalls, opportunities, and examples to bring those opportunities to life. Participants will gain tools and frameworks to listen and engage individuals, families, and communities. They’ll leave ready create an action plan, turning the learnings and ideas shared from this session into next steps.

Learning Objectives

Presenters

Cindy Eby
Founder + CEO
ResultsLab

This session will focus on both transactional and transformative strategies that create the conditions for an organizational culture that fosters authentic healing, resilience, and equity. It will directly address a critical need in community-based and human services organizations: To understand and mitigate the effects of stress, adversity, and trauma, especially as they relate to historically oppressed and marginalized groups.

Presenters will delve into innovative strategies based on the intersection of trauma-responsive practices and antiracism, equity, and belonging. This session is a blueprint for actionable change and will discuss the practical application of concepts at various levels within the organization. Participants will be guided through various ways of implementing and sustaining a culture that is both trauma-responsive and equity-focused. The goal of this approach is not only to enhance staff well-being and retention but also to significantly improve the experience and long-term engagement of employees and service recipients.

Learning Objectives

Presenters

Kesha Carter
Chief Diversity Officer
CCSI

Elizabeth Meeker
Vice President, Consulting & Technical Assistance
CCSI