Learning – Washington Nonprofits

Learning

Upcoming Learning Calendar

August 12, 2019 Tom Lang

We have so many workshops and webinars planned for the 2019-2020 learning year, where do we begin?! Starting in September, join us for a Fall of Fundraising – five online courses conveniently curated and bundled together for you. Digital fundraising, in-person fundraising events, grantwriting, strategy, year-end appeal letters – we’ll touch on nearly every aspect of the fundraising process. Want more? Check out the two-day virtual fundraising conference for small development shops. We’re bringing Boards in Gear, Finance Unlocked for Nonprofits, and Let’s Go Legal to cities across the state. Want to take all three courses? Join the Next Level […]

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New Advocacy Toolkit Launch: Build a Movement (BAM!)

April 15, 2019 Nancy Bacon

Knowledge is power, and nonprofits certainly have a lot of knowledge. The trick is to get that knowledge to the people who need it to make good policy decisions. How can a nonprofit communicate what they know to policymakers? How can they use advocacy to grow their mission? Washington Nonprofits has launched a new resource to help nonprofits use policy to achieve their goals. Build a Movement: Tools to Use Public Policy to Achieve Your Nonprofit’s Mission uses the metaphor of a house to explain the ways to engage advocacy in the life of your organization. There is Everyday Advocacy, […]

What Would It Take? Train the Trainer Continues

February 13, 2019 Nancy Bacon

I keep a creased and faded flip chart page on my wall. At the top it says, “What Could We Do? What Would It Take?” It comes from a November 2017 event at which we invited consultants and those who train to tell us how Washington can become a leader in nonprofit learning. This is what these participants shared: Require conference speakers to demonstrate best practice Provide a pipeline of learning experiences that teach best practice Empower and equip staff to deliver training Homegrow (support local people to deliver local trainings) Offer peer circles or affinity groups to get at […]

New e-book on how to design conferences

February 13, 2019 Nancy Bacon

Hot off the press: “Conferences That Make a Difference,” co-authored by Washington Nonprofits Associate Director, Nancy Bacon! Do you organize an annual conference? Are you looking to deepen the learning that happens at your conference? Want ideas on how to organize activities that help people take action on what they learn? You are warmly invited to download this free e-book for ideas on how to design a conference that makes a difference. It was written for membership organizations or association staff interested in expanding the learning aspects of your annual conference. The e-book covers four elements of conference design: Strategy […]

Go Deeper On Your Learning

January 15, 2019 Nancy Bacon

I think a lot about a metaphor my education professor used to talk about learning: A learning program is like a fence. A strong fence has posts that go deep enough to reach solid, stabilizing ground. Its rails are wide enough to efficiently cover a lot of ground. (Too shallow or too wide and the fence falls down. Too deep or too short, and you run out of resources!) Likewise, a strong learning program goes deep on “mission critical” topics and broad across other topics so people get just what they need to take action. Washington Nonprofits’ learning program is […]

Starting a Nonprofit: New toolkit available!

June 6, 2018 Nancy Bacon

There are 1.5 million nonprofits in the United States. Washington typically sees 4,000 new nonprofits formed each year. How do we make sure people have what they need to think about the difference they want to make and the structure best suited to moving forward? With support from the Office of the Secretary of State, Washington Nonprofits worked with 501 Commons and Wayfind to produce a new toolkit for people wanting to turn an idea into an organization. To download the free toolkit, visit Starting a Nonprofit on the Washington Nonprofit Institute. There’s also an interactive graphic to find what you need […]

Effective trainers: a key element to building a strong nonprofit sector

June 6, 2018 Nancy Bacon

“Thank you! These workshops gave me so much useful information, tangible information to use!” You need to know a lot to run a nonprofit organization. You need a well-honed set of skills and tools designed to help you take action. You need to know that every training you go to will be excellent and action-focused. In three sessions between April and May, 68 consultants and in-house trainers from both nonprofits and government agencies participated in the inaugural “Train the Trainer” series offered by Washington Nonprofits in partnership with Guila Muir and Tracy Flynn. They learned how to construct an effective workshop, […]

Introducing “Now What?”

March 14, 2018 Nancy Bacon

We nonprofit people face the ebb and flow of good and bad fortune. Our ability to achieve our mission is not always up to us. The stars align—or don’t – and things happen that we need to respond to. The Washington Nonprofits Learning team, in partnership with Three Choices Communications, has developed a new game designed to encourage conversations about risk and strategy. “Now What?” came out of conversations about the positive and negative things that can happen while starting a nonprofit. It evolved into a set of cards suitable for play at any stage of an organization. How do […]

What do you hope to achieve this year? Start there when thinking about what to learn.

January 17, 2018 Nancy Bacon

January is a time when we think about goals, aspirations, new initiatives, and strategy. We hope for success knowing that the busyness of the day-to-day will soon distract us from long term projects. January is also the time when we are asked to speak with groups around the state about the learning programs we have ready for nonprofit leaders. And we have many, from in-person workshops to webinars to on-demand options ranging from insurance to ethics. But what we have to teach is not the first question we ask at the start of a new year. We are focused on […]

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The secret behind the toolkits

December 13, 2017 Nancy Bacon

Ever wonder what goes into developing Washington Nonprofits’ nationally (and internationally!) acclaimed toolkits? We are excited to be participating in Learning • Technology • Design, a virtual conference for people in the business of continuing education and professional development. The conference sets out to find new and better ways to engage learners and create lasting impact through the effective use of technology. Washington Nonprofits sees excellence in adult learning as a key element of nonprofit capacity building. Join us!