Wednesday, September 22, 2004, 9:00 - 12:00
at Loblaws Wonderland Market Community Meeting Room,
2nd floor, 3040 Wonderland Rd. South at Southdale.
(wheelchair accessible)
Registration fee: $20 (pay at the door)
REGISTER ONLINE at http://garberconsulting.com/register.htm
or by telephone: (519) 439-3008

Learn the basics of media relations and practical tips and techniques on how to get your message out. Including: what the media want, press releases that work, dealing with reporters, creating media opportunities, developing positive relationships with media and interview tips and skills.

This workshop is presented by the United Way Volunteer Leadership Development Program The presenter is Laurie S. Lashbrook, President of The Lashbrook Group. Laurie is well-known for her ability to take an issue or cause and develop a communication strategy that engages the community in providing support. She has received many local, national and international awards for her work, including three prestigious IABC Gold Quill Awards for her work with the United Way’s Images of Hope Campaign. Inc. The Lashbrook Group Inc. works primarily with clients in the not-for-profit sector, helping organizations communicate their missions. Current clients include Brain Tumor Foundation of Canada, Canadian Surgical Technologies & Advanced Robotics (CSTAR), Community Living Ontario, Merrymount Children's Centre, Elgin County Homes, and a number of hospitals.

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DUTIES AND LIABILITIES OF DIRECTORS OF CHARITIES AND NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS

Wednesday, October 27, 2004, 9:00 - 12:00
at Loblaws Wonderland Market Community Meeting Room,
2nd floor, 3040 Wonderland Rd. South at Southdale.
(wheelchair accessible).
Registration fee: $20 (pay at the door)
REGISTER ONLINE at http://garberconsulting.com/register.htm
or by telephone: (519) 439-3008

If you are a board member of a voluntary organization or you work with one, you need to know your responsibilities. This presentation will answer some key legal questions including:

· What are my fiduciary duties?

· What does the law require of directors?

· What is "due diligence" and how do I do it?

· What if I disagree with a Board decision?

· For what can I be held accountable?

· How do I protect myself from lawsuits?

· Should I have Directors & Officers insurance?

· How do I avoid conflicts of interest?

The presenter is Graeme Sperryn, a lawyer with the firm of Siskinds. He sits on several boards and has a special interest in the law of charities and nonprofit organizations. He consistently receives excellent ratings on this workshop. This is a great opportunity for new and prospective board members to learn about their responsibilities.

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MAKING GAINS IN MENTAL HEALTH & ADDICTIONS:
KNOWLEDGE, INTEGRATION, ACTION

From October 3 to October 6, 2004 four of the leading organizations in mental health, addictions and substance abuse in Ontario will be hosting a major conference to be held at the Hilton Toronto Hotel.

The conference will be an opportunity for researchers, primary care practitioners, mental health and addictions professionals, public educators, physicians, policy makers and analysts, political decision makers, community organizations, consumer groups, family members, service providers and volunteers to meet like-minded participants and learn about the most up-to-date issues affecting mental health and addictions today.

For full Conference Program, Online Registration and Accommodation information, please visit http://www.makinggains.ca/

[By the way, I’ll be doing a workshop at the conference on how to have better meetings.]

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EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR BREAKFAST:
IMPLEMENTING OUTCOME MEASURES

On November 10, at our next executive directors’ breakfast, we will take a critical look at the important and controversial topic of outcome evaluation. We would all like to measure our impact on our clients and community and we would all love to know if the changes we see are actually the result of our work. But how realistic is it to expect that we can really measure outcomes?

Barrie Evans, (Mme. Vanier Children’s Services), Tim Kelly (Changing Ways), and Mary Secco, Epilepsy Support Centre will discuss their positive and negative experiences in implementing outcome measurement.

Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2004, 7:30 – 9:30 am (breakfast at 7:30, panel at 8:00)
Delta London Armouries Hotel, 325 Dundas Street (at Waterloo)
Cost: $30 includes GST
To Register:

1. Let me know you are coming by e-mail to Nathan@GarberConsulting.com.

2. Mail cheque for $30. to Nathan Garber & Associates, 1071 Richmond Street, London, ON N6A 3K1

To guarantee your place, your cheque must be received by Friday, Nov. 5.
Questions? call me at (519) 439-3008

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CALENDAR OF EVENTS FOR LONDON

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if there was a single place to find out what is happening on the date you are considering for a special event? Wouldn’t it be great to be able to post your events in one place where everyone could find it?

Sorry. I don’t know of any such site, but here are some websites where you can find out what else is going on. Most of them will also allow you to post your own events – either by e-mail or online.

CFPL-TV (The New PL) http://www.nimm.com/community/calendars/

City of London http://www.city.london.on.ca/Mainpage/Guides/Cityguide.htm

The Healthline http://www.thehealthline.ca/events.asp

Information London http://www.info.london.on.ca/newsevents/index.php

London Economic Development Corporation http://www.ledc.com/newsevents/events/

London Regional Fundraising Executives http://www.lrfre.on.ca/events.php

London Tourism http://www.londontourism.ca/Events.asp

Pillar Voluntary Sector Network http://organization.pillarv.com/

United Way of London & Middlesex http://www.affirmative.com/unitedway/1/jartlink.asp?orgID=1&mTypeID=4&mode=1

I hope this list will help you promote your events and avoid conflicting dates. Please let me know of any other event calendars that should be added to the list.

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NEW AND NEWLY DISCOVERED RESOURCES ON THE WEB

BABY BOOMERS AND CIVIC ENGAGEMENT

According to this study (PDF, 800 KB) by the Harvard School of Public Health, the oldest of the baby boomers will turn 65 in seven years, with an average life expectancy of 83. As some of the demands of mid-life recede, boomers have the potential to become a tremendous social resource by actively participating in the life of their communities.
|http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/chc/reinventingaging/Report.pdf

EFFECTIVE FINANCE PRACTICES OF VOLUNTEER ORGANIZATIONS IN CANADA

A database of case studies conducted in six regions in Canada by the Volunteer Sector Working Group on Financing. The studies present the creative ways in which volunteer-involving organizations raise, access and utilize funds.
http://www.vsi-isbc.ca/eng/funding/best_practices.cfm

IMPROVING OUR PERFORMANCE: A STRATEGY FOR THE VOLUNTARY & COMMUNITY SECTOR

A paper written by members of UK's voluntary sector to help non-profit organizations achieve their targets by providing tools in creating more effective performance and marketing strategies (PDF, 1 MB).
http://www.ncvo-vol.org.uk/asp/uploads/uploadedfiles/3/324/improvngourperformncereport.pdf

VOLUNTEER MANAGEMENT MISTAKES TO AVOID

A simple guide for volunteer coordinators on how to avoid the pitfalls of engaging volunteers and non-profit organizations, specifically when tasked to create web sites.
http://www.techsoup.org/howto/articlepage.cfm?ArticleId=124&topicid=7

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NEWS FROM THE CHARITIES DIRECTORATE

"The Roadshow" Information sessions have been postponed.

Every year, the CRA sends out a team of accountants to make presentations in communities around the country. I have attended these sessions in the past and find them very informative.

This year, they were scheduled to come to London in September but due to the possibility of a civil service strike, they have postponed the information sessions and have not set a new date. If you have already registered, they will let you know when the new date is confirmed. For others, you can register online at
http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tax/charities/roadshow/response_form-e.html

I’ll let you know when I learn when they are coming.

FEATURED WEBSITE

http://www.groupspace.org/

Would you like to have a secure, private website where your board, or groups of like-minded community members can come together to discuss various pressing issues, share documents, take polls, and make decisions together?

Many groups are currently using email lists, Usenet newsgroups, or web message boards for communication. But these platforms make it difficult to move beyond the sharing of information and opinions, toward collaborative work and group action. Some commercial services such as Yahoo! Groups and MSN Groups provide richer environments for interaction, with features such as group-level file storage, announcements, calendars, polls, member databases, and lists of links. But these platforms lack key features needed for collaboration and for integrating the different aspects of a group's work.

GroupSpace is a project started at Stanford University. Its ambitious aim is to allow groups of people to use the web to do, asynchronously, much of the decision making that presently goes on in face-to-face meetings, and whose form reflects the way groups function in real life. "Asynchronous" means that individual members can participate at their own convenience rather than everyone having to be online at the same time. Email and message boards are examples of asynchronous groupware. "Synchronous" tools such as chatrooms and video-conferencing allow people to meet across distances, but do not address the most common problem faced by civil society organizations: namely, that their members have conflicting commitments, and that often they cannot all meet at the same time, or cannot all devote the same amounts of time to a meeting.

The software being developed by GroupSpace.org is called Deme (pronounced: deem). They describe it as a web-based platform for online deliberation. At present, Deme exists in an English language, text-only version, and the software needs much further refinement to make it accessible to all those who might want to use this platform. Although it is not complete, they have released a demo version so that they can get feedback and help in refining the software.

Groups that might find Deme useful include advocacy, service, or civic organizations, trade union groups, neighborhood/homeowner associations, religious organizations, university groups, social clubs, loose groups of activists, and "online communities" (those whose interaction takes place primarily on the Internet).

I have been trying out Deme and find it fascinating. You can explore its features and help the developers to improve the product by visiting the website http://www.groupspace.org/.

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FEATURED ARTICLE

What is a "Consent Agenda" and how will it make our meetings go faster?
by Nathan Garber

In my workshops on meetings, one tip that many participants seem to find very useful is using a consent agenda to quickly dispense with items that don’t require discussion. I wrote this short article on implementing a consent agenda and posted it in the Frequently Asked Questions page on my website. http://garberconsulting.com/FAQ.htm#consentAgenda

I discuss consent agendas and include a sample in the book (a manual for better board meetings) I am currently completing.

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ABOUT NATHAN GARBER & ASSOCIATES

Strong organizations don’t come about by accident. They need effective boards of directors and carefully planned strategies. Since 1986, Nathan Garber & Associates has been helping nonprofit organizations build a stronger board of directors and create powerful strategic plans. We can help you:

plan for a changing environment;
improve board performance;
evaluate programs and services;
improve relations between board and staff;
improve meeting attendance and participation;
recruit better board members;
prepare for executive succession;
raise more money.

For more information about how we can help you build a stronger organization, visit our website at http://GarberConsulting.com . For a free consultation, contact Nathan at (519)439-3008

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TO SUBSCRIBE, UNSUBSCRIBE OR CONTACT NATHAN GARBER

Nonprofit News from Nathan is an irregular e-newsletter that I prepare when I have both time and some genuinely interesting information. I send it only to people who I believe will find it useful. To let me know if you want to subscribe or to stop receiving e-mail from me, or if you feel like dropping me a line for some other purpose, send e-mail to Nathan@GarberConsulting.com

You are welcome to forward this newsletter to others.

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What is a "Consent Agenda" and how will it make our meetings go faster? by Nathan Garber

What is a "Consent Agenda" and how will it make our meetings go faster?
by Nathan Garber