Helping Community Service Organizations Make Connections
I had the pleasure today of leading a training workshop for a wonderful group of non-profit executives. This was a great group of community service leaders from West Virginia. The participants came from a diverse range of organizations, including:
Vista volunteers
Family resource networks
Homeless shelters
Mental health support groups
Community development organizations
Welfare-to-Work groups
Main Street organizations
Women's support & advocacy groups
Career training organizations
I have tremendous respect for the tireless, resourceful, passionate and effective leaders who are inspired to get the word out about their programs. They face many challenges, such as lack of funding, staff shortages and breadth of territory--not to mention complexity of message and audience.
Together, we worked to polish networking skills, audience mapping, message development and message delivery. The coup de grace was, undoubtedly, the videotaped elevator pitch session! (Again, great job everyone!)
This was all part of the annual Conference on National and Community Service, also known as the Faces of Leadership Conference. It is presented each year by the Volunteer WV organization. Everyone was eager to learn and share their insights, questions and experiences. It was made so much better by the presence, talent and energy of my talented co-instructor, Jennifer Wood!
Conference participants--a big welcome! Please leave a comment and say "hi."
Kudos to marketing geniuses everywhere who take the time to sharpen their skills and build new ones!
Labels: bootstrap marketing, Charleston, CNCS, Jennifer Wood, marketing, non-profit marketing, not for profit marketing, training, volunteer, Volunteer WV, WV
posted by Skip Lineberg at 5:00 PM
2 Comments:
Skip-As always, it was a pleasure to work with you. From the feedback that I've received, the session was informative, engaging and valuable to the folks in attendance.
Many folks don't understand that nonprofits usually do not have a marketing budget and many npo's run on all volunteers or just one executive position. They scrimp and save and only spend on the necessities. Many npo's overlook the need of promotion and marketing for their organization. This session gave them the tools to network, make connections, and improve their brand equity and awareness. This will result in more funding, community support, and more service recipients.
This year's tagline for the Commission for National & Community Service Faces of Leadership Conference was "Telling your story". Presenting a compelling message to someone is the most important thing that npo staff/volunteers can do! It can raise funds, awareness, and community involvement at the same time.
This session reminded me of the great works being done EVERY DAY in this great state. People make a difference every day. Get out a make a difference of your own. VOLUNTEER! If you would like more information, please contact the Commission for National & Community Service (VolunteerWV!) at 558-0111 or on the web at www.volunteerwv.org.
11:31 AM
Jennifer-
Thank you for your comment. It was great to work with you--as always!
Can't wait for the next collaboration, whether training session or brainstorming.
Skip
11:36 AM
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