Center for Nonprofit Excellence

Maintaining and growing your brand's identity is crucial for every nonprofit, especially in uncertain times. Learn important tips to stand out from the crowd, including: Efficient and cost-effective uses of mailings Creative ways to cultivate and maintain donors Part 3 of the Giving Day Training Series. Presented by David Stowe, Dot Generation of Connecticut. Click [ ... ] Continue reading »

The annual Greater Norwalk Nonprofit Legislative Forum is an opportunity for Norwalk-area nonprofits to directly connect with their state legislators on issues affecting our region. Confirmed legislators include Senator Toni Boucher, Senator Bob Duff, Representative Gail Lavielle, Representative Fred Wilms, Representative Terrie Wood, and Norwalk Mayor Harry Rilling. Click here to register.

Held in partnership with the University of Connecticut Stamford Campus, the annual Greater Stamford Nonprofit Legislative Forum is an opportunity for Stamford-area nonprofits to directly connect with their state legislators. Confirmed legislators include Senator Scott Frantz, Representative Caroline Simmons, Representative Fred Camillo, Representative William Tong, and Stamford Mayor David Martin. Click here to register.

Join us for this lively conversation on “Advancing Your Mission Through Local Advocacy” with Jeff Shaw, Director of Public Policy at the CT Community Nonprofit Alliance. At this lunch and learn, you will: Learn the latest trending public policy issues impacting the ability of the nonprofit sector to advance their mission Understand the power of [ ... ] Continue reading »

Held in partnership with Bank of America, register for this free webinar focused on using social media in your Giving Day campaign. In this session, you will learn: Key roles and responsibilities to consider when managing social media Social media tips for organizations with limited resources Tips for creating engaging content Tips and tools for measuring [ ... ] Continue reading »

Held in partnership with Housatonic Community College, the annual Greater Bridgeport Nonprofit Legislative Forum is an opportunity for Bridgeport-area nonprofits to directly connect with their state legislators on issues affecting our region. Confirmed legislators include Senator Ed Gomes, Representative Steven Stafstrom, Representative Brenda Kupchick, Representative Laura Devlin, and Representative Cristin McCarthy Vahey. Click here to register.

The annual Greater Danbury Nonprofit Legislative Forum is an opportunity for Danbury-area nonprofits to directly connect with their state legislators on issues affecting our region. Confirmed legislators include Senator Toni Boucher, Representative Adam Dunsby, Representative Michael Ferguson, Representative Mitch Bolinsky, Representative William Duff, Representative J.P. Sredzinski, and Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton. Click here to register.

The word is out! Fairfield County's Giving Day will be back on March 1, 2018. If you or your organization is new to Giving Day, join us for a Giving Day Bootcamp, where you will: Learn important steps you need to take to win big on Giving Day Get comfortable accessing the Giving Day platform [ ... ] Continue reading »

What does excellence in financial management look like? How can your organization set the stage for sustainable operations? Join us for a highly interactive workshop where you'll learn what financial planning is really about, how to build and communicate the different types of budgets you need to operate, and more! Teams strongly encouraged to attend. [ ... ] Continue reading »

Join us for this lively conversation on “What's Next for Community Philanthropy” with Karen Brown, Vice President of Innovation and Strategic Learning at Fairfield County's Community Foundation. In 2014, The Monitor Institute published What's Next for Community Philanthropy, a tool kit to highlight six critical trends that will change the evolving community and philanthropic landscape in [ ... ] Continue reading »

Join Fairfield County's Community Foundation as we continue our "Community Conversations" webinar series on April 24, 2018 with Jim Horan, CEO of CT Association for Human Services. Our April webinar explores what has been effective in Connecticut to close the opportunity gap and what we need to do moving forward. We'll also share more about [ ... ] Continue reading »

Chuck Loring returns to Connecticut by popular demand to deliver this powerful, full-day workshop focused on best practices in governance and fundraising. We’ll take a close look at board recruitment, structure, operations, and culture to understand the correlation between effective boards and successful fundraising. An ideal opportunity for Board/Staff teams, this course offers insights on [ ... ] Continue reading »

Please join the Community Foundation for a two-part workshop on Results-Based Accountability (RBA). It is open to nonprofit organizations seeking to learn a powerful and practical way to measure impact, manage performance, and tell their story to strengthen their organization, increase sustainability and improve community well-being. In the first session on July 17, you will: Understand [ ... ] Continue reading »

Join Fairfield County’s Community Foundation as we continue our “Community Conversations” webinar series on July 18, 2018 with Tia Hodges, Program Officer at Citi Foundation. Our July webinar explores the bold and innovative approach that the Citi Foundation has taken in their "Pathways to Progress" initiative to empower urban youth around the globe. Click here [ ... ] Continue reading »

Being a board chair can be a rewarding and challenging experience. As board chair, you are charged with managing the board, building an effective relationship with your Executive Director, providing strategic leadership to the organization and more. With all these responsibilities the role can feel overwhelming at times, but don’t despair. Our Board Chair Essentials [ ... ] Continue reading »

This workshop will introduce participants to a comprehensive model and time-frame for assessing and managing Organizational Sustainability and Succession. Participants can expect the following outcomes: Familiarity with the Sustainability and Succession planning frame, with attention to leadership and staff development Understanding of key trends effecting mission and organizational sustainability Initial assessment of participant’s organizational readiness using [ ... ] Continue reading »

Data Bootcamp is a day-long training focused on data analysis and data visualization for nonprofit professionals. Our users are looking for opportunities to learn in a hands-on workshop style and to have supportive instructors close at hand. In the first half of the day, we will practice data analysis in spreadsheeting format, including constructing formulas, [ ... ] Continue reading »

This class will show you how to get the most out of the investments you’ve already made in current websites… And if you are thinking about a new or upgraded website, this class is an absolute must. In Nonprofit Website 3.0, you will learn: The essential principles of creating a third-generation website (websites 3.0) The three [ ... ] Continue reading »

Join us for this interactive conversation on “Finding Data for Grants” with Mark Abraham, Executive Director of DataHaven. Click here to register.

Social networks are powerhouses of change and they were not invented by Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn!  Humankind naturally creates social networks. Nonprofits have long used the power of social networking for advocacy, community building and fundraising. The digital age is providing new and quick ways to widely build and activate human networks. In Powerful Social Networking, [ ... ] Continue reading »

Are people bothering to listen to what your nonprofit is saying? The truth is that many nonprofits are sending out lots of communications, but too few people are listening. In this training, you’ll learn how to create digital content that stands out and get people to act. This workshop is part of a four-part series [ ... ] Continue reading »

The annual Greater Norwalk Nonprofit Legislative Forum is an opportunity for Norwalk-area nonprofits to directly connect with their state legislators on issues affecting our region. Click here to register.

Held in partnership with the University of Connecticut Stamford Campus, the annual Greater Stamford Nonprofit Legislative Forum is an opportunity for Stamford-area nonprofits to directly connect with their state legislators. Click here to register.

The cloud is, a system of servers that host information on the Internet. Many use the cloud to store their data in that system. They access their information online instead of storing it on on-site. Cloud is unlocking benefits such as insight, agility and operational efficiency that are enhancing nonprofits’ ability to help those who [ ... ] Continue reading »

The annual Bridgeport Nonprofit Legislative Forum is an opportunity for Bridgeport-area nonprofits to directly connect with their state legislators on issues affecting our region. Click here to Register.  

The annual Greater Danbury Nonprofit Legislative Forum is an opportunity for Danbury-area nonprofits to directly connect with their state legislators on issues affecting our region. Click here to register

It’s critical to any organization’s success to raise public awareness and maintain community goodwill. Media channels can enable that success, but it’s important to manage them properly to best achieve your organization’s goals. Attend this training to discover which forms of media might be best suited for your message, learn how to create a newsworthy [ ... ] Continue reading »

Trends in Local Philanthropy with Karen Brown Interested in hyper local trends in philanthropy? Join Karen Brown of Fairfield County’s Community Foundation to discuss the latest happenings in Fairfield County. Learn more about funder networks, giving circles, the growth in women’s philanthropy and how donor mindsets have changed. Register today!