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If your Board of Directors stopped meeting for a year
would anybody notice? This workshop examines the responsibilities of the
board and the ways to organize your board to improve its effectiveness.
Whether you are a new director or a seasoned veteran, this workshop will
challenge you with new ideas for strengthening your board..
Effective hiring is a most important responsibility for
managers and supervisors as well as for board members who hire the
executive director. Successful hiring brings many benefits to the
organization and allows it to work towards meeting appropriate
objectives. Unsuccessful hiring produces stress in the organization,
poor productivity and quality of work, higher turnover leading to lack
of continuity of service, higher costs with no associated increase in
value, and a poorer organizational reputation.
The workshop provides information on effective hiring
and an opportunity for some hands-on practice in analyzing jobs,
developing selection criteria, developing advertising or postings for
jobs, screening responses, interviewing and selecting candidates and
checking references.
If you are a board member of a voluntary organization or
you work with one, you need to know your responsibilities. This
presentation by a lawyer will answer some key legal questions
including:
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What are my fiduciary duties?
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What does the law require of directors?
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What is "due diligence" and how do I do
it?
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What if I disagree with a Board decision?
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For what can I be held accountable?
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How do I protect myself from lawsuits?
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Should I have Directors & Officers
insurance?
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How do I avoid conflicts of interest?top of page
Can volunteer Board Members be held to a specific set of
performance standards? Measuring Board performance is essential if we
are to improve our governance and accountability. However, implementing
a meaningful Board evaluation process can be akin to walking through a
minefield. How do you implement a Board evaluation process without
alienating yourself or other members of the Board? Understanding the
barriers, what type of evaluation is best for your organization and the
key implementation considerations are critical to success.
What good is your organization doing for the people it
serves? How can you determine the true impact of your services? This
workshop will introduce participants to the outcome evaluation process,
its value, and benefits. The session will include: an introduction to
outcome evaluation and its relevance; an opportunity to discuss case
examples to illustrate its practical application an exploration of the
challenges of outcome evaluation and strategies to address them
How seriously does your board take its responsibility for evaluating
the performance of the executive director? If it’s like many boards, it
either puts it off indefinitely, or does it in a way that leaves both
the board and the executive director dissatisfied. Regular performance
appraisal allows the board to address problems before they turn into
catastrophes. It fulfills the board's oversight responsibilities and
allows the executive director to get formal feedback on how his or her
work is perceived by others. For all its benefits, evaluation of the
chief executive officer is one of the board's most-avoided
responsibilities, sometimes being put off for years.
In this workshop, Nathan Garber presents an eight-step procedure that
can be used by any board. It will cover techniques for ensuring fair and
meaningful performance assessment including 360 degree feedback,
self-evaluation, and the evaluation interview. It also addresses
evaluation issues in a policy governance board. Whether you are evaluating
after a probationary period or whether your E.D. has been there for years,
this workshop will help you get started right away.
Do you wish you could feel more in command of your time?
It's something we all struggle with since there's only so much of it to
work with. The good news is that time management is a learnable skill.
By taking the time to consider your preferences and needs, you can
design a customized time management system that will really work for you
- reducing your stress, saving you time, and allowing you to be more
productive. At this workshop you will:
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develop a new way of looking at time and identify what's
holding you back from taking control;
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learn how to create a customized time management program
based on your individual preferences;
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identify your ideal schedule and tools to keep you on
track;
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learn about strategies that will help you deal with the
realities of everyday life.
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Getting Your Word Out: an
introduction to media relations
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.
What are the steps that go into planning
and carrying out a successful special event. In this session, you will
learn the PIE of special events – planning, implementing and
evaluating special events. This interactive workshop will provide
participants with fundamental event management tools such as developing
an event schedule, planning and managing the critical path, developing a
case statement for sponsorship requests, marketing and promoting the
event, budgeting and managing the costs, and recruiting and managing
volunteers.
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For board members, executive directors, and supervisors
of staff or volunteers, this workshop will discuss critical issues in
current employment law of interest to non-profit and charitable
organizations. This workshop is offered in collaboration with the
Volunteer Lawyers Service. Topics will include:
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Employment Contracts–Dos and Don'ts
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Dealing with Workplace Sexual Harassment
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Conducting Dismissal Meetings (and how to avoid
allegations of Bad Faith)
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Update on Just Cause
Unless you live alone on a desert island, you are
constantly in negotiating situations at work and at home. This workshop introduces the
fundamental principles of collaborative (or "win/win ")
negotiation and includes "secrets" to keep negotiations from
bogging down.
All organizations, big and small, profit or
not-for-profit need a strong strategic plan. The Strategic Planning
process can vary depending upon what challenges the organization is
attempting to overcome. This workshop will outline a process for
not-for-profit strategic planning and help your organization understand
what next steps it needs to take in order to reach its goals.
Every funding proposal must answer four basic questions:
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What are you you are proposing?
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Why is it important?
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How will you do it?
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How much will it cost?.
What can you do to make ensure that your proposal makes
it to the approval list? In this workshop, a panel of experts will
discuss the characteristics of compelling funding applications. If you
are planning to seek funding for projects or your core services, this
workshop will help you do the groundwork necessary for success.
Protecting
Personal Information: an update for Charities and Nonprofit
Organizations on the Personal Information Protection and Electronic
Documents Act
Effective January 1, 2004, the Personal Information
Protection and Electronic Documents Act imposes stringent requirements
on organizations that maintain personal information on individuals. By
spring, we expect to know a lot more about how the Act will be
interpreted and enforced, and what, if any, legislation the Province of
Ontario will be presenting to supercede the Federal legislation.
Raising money for the small
non-profit: practical suggestions for a changing world
It's not the strongest of the species that
survive, nor the most intelligent, but the ones most responsive to
change. ~ Charles Darwin
Diminishing government funding is leading an increasing
number of non-profits to turn to fundraising to support their missions.
This session will provide you with tools you can use to help your
organization transition into major and planned gift fundraising. Learn
to approach fundraising with real world solutions, creativity and
resourcefulness.
Strong boards do not come about by accident. They are
the result of careful recruitment, attention to training needs, and
systematic evaluation. This workshop explores different strategies for
finding potential board members and preparing them to be effective
directors.
What are the steps that go into planning and carrying
out a successful special event. In this session, you will learn how to plan, implement, and evaluate special
events. This interactive workshop will provide participants with
fundamental event management tools such as developing an event schedule,
planning and managing the critical path, developing a case statement for
sponsorship requests, marketing and promoting the event, budgeting and
managing the costs, and recruiting and managing volunteers.
Go beyond how to plan a special event and work towards creating,
implementing and achieving success with your fundraising events. Learn
about strategic thinking, strategic planning, strategic marketing and
strategic implementation and come away with actionable items to increase
revenue, attendance and visibility with your signature events.
This interactive workshop will provide participants with a fundamental
understanding of what events will work and why in their organization as
well as how to build on and increase the success of their current
fundraising events.
Whether you are looking to build on current event or need to create one
this session is for you!
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Board members are increasingly expected to
exercise knowledgeable and effective control over the finances of the
organizations on which they serve. Being a volunteer does not protect them
from their fiduciary obligations. This workshop will equip Board members
with tools and concepts to help them manage risks, protect assets, and
achieve financial objectives. Topics will include:
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how to obtain a better understanding of
organizational risks;
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what assets have to be protected and how can this be
done;
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how can your auditors be of assistance beyond their
statutory audit function; and
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how can you ensure that financial reports provide
actionable information for Board members.
This workshop will provide an overview of a template for
developing a personnel policy for an organization without human resource
professionals on staff. Topics to be covered include:
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Why have a policy?
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What to include?
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What to exclude?
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How to administer?
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Where to get help?
How we get there is as important as getting there!
Team building is not a separate activity that boards must undergo –
effective team building is a result of how the work of the board is
done. Operating from a team perspective creates ownership, nurtures
commitment and empowers board members to fully participate in their
work. This workshop will equip participants with tools on how to
create effective, innovative, compassionate and collaborative board
– turning boards into teams!
W hether your organization is large or small, a
number of skills are required to create and manage a successful
volunteer program. Volunteer management involves knowledge of techniques
for interviewing, screening, placement, recognition and evaluation.
Effective Risk Management within a volunteer program involves components
of each of these skill sets. In this workshop, a panel of volunteer
management professionals will explore how each of these skills can be
used to protect your clients, your organization, your staff, and your
volunteers.
Are your Board meetings too long? Do you have trouble
making decisions? Are meetings an exercise in boredom and frustration or
do you leave meetings with a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction?
In this workshop you will learn how to improve meetings by better
understanding the roles of the chairperson, minute-taker, and
participants. We will consider ways to complete the agenda, handle
difficult situations, and make Board and Committee meetings more
efficient.
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