Community Foundation Offers Non-Profit Workshops

The Community Foundation of Greater New Britain has announced that, for a second year, it will offer capacity building workshops for local non-profit organizations, and the possibility of grants for implementation of the workshops’ lessons.

The Foundation says that the five workshops being offered have, “a focus on the development of strong boards of directors.”

Foundation calls 2018 non-profit workshops “an overwhelming success.”

The Foundation’s Board of Directors recently authorized funding for the workshops in 2019 after Foundation found the 2018 program to be, “an overwhelming success, with the series expanded beyond its initial design to accommodate demand. Twenty organizations took part in an initial series of six workshops; an additional three workshops were later added, accommodating another 11 participating organizations.”

“The demand for these workshops is a clear indicator that we are on the right track with what was offered,” said the Foundation’s Director of Community Initiatives and Program Services, Joeline Wruck.

“It was gratifying to have participants tell us the workshop topics were relevant to their work and that the information was applicable and actionable within their organizations,” Wruck added.

The 2018 program was also supported by the Hospital for Special Care, Jerome Home and Stanley Black & Decker.

The five workshops available in the 2019 program

The upcoming 2019 non-profit workshop program is to have five workshops covering different subjects. The Foundation says that organizations can apply to be admitted to participate in some or all of the workshops.

The first workshop, on February 19th, concerns the role of the chair of a non-profit board of directors. February 26th is the snow date.

The second session, on March 20th, with a snow date of March 29th, titled, “”Help! My Board Is …”, concerns the relationship between non-profit executive directors and boards of directors.

The third session is on April 17th. It concerns the, “Financial Responsibilities of the Board.”

On May 22nd, the fourth workshop session concerns the question, “What goes into a board self evaluation and how do you use it to strengthen your board?”

The fifth session, “The Board’s Role in Fundraising,” will be on June 13th.

Each session, which will be led by Danosky & Associates of New Milford, will be from 8:00am to 11:30am. The workshops are to be held in New Britain.

Grants possible for participating organizations.

The Foundation says that, “Organizations that attend four of the five workshops will be eligible to apply for a grant award of up to $2,000 at the end of the training sessions.”

“The grant will support implementation of some aspect of what was learned from the sessions that will strengthen participating organizations,” the Foundation says.

The Foundation says that award of this grant is not guaranteed.

Foundation accepting applications for the non-profit workshops.

The Foundation is accepting applications to the workshop program from local non-profit organizations, saying that, “non-profits based in or significantly serving Berlin, New Britain, Plainville and/or Southington are eligible to apply for the no-cost series of trainings.”

“Each workshop can accommodate 15 non-profits, 2 people per organization,” says the Foundation, adding that, “Due to limited space, organizations will be selected to participate through a competitive application process.”

For questions about the program, the Foundation asks interested organizations to contact Wruck at [email protected] or by phone at 860-229-6018, ext. 307. The application for the program is available on the Foundation’s website (PDF).

The deadline to apply for the program is January 31st.

The Community Foundation of Greater New Britain was founded in 1941. it calls its work in the communities it serves, “Where Good Begins.”