Monday, January 25, 2010

Board Training Workshops Announced for Binghamton

The State of New York is pleased to present the
State Board Training Consortium’s
Achieving Excellence in Governance

Click here to register online

Are you a nonprofit receiving funding from OASAS, DOH AIDS Institute and Center for Community Health , OMRDD, OMH or OCFS?

These state agencies, in collaboration with NYCON, have created a free Board Training program! All board members (and Executive Directors or Chief Fiscal Officers accompanied by a board member) are welcome to attend.

The SBTC´s Achieving Excellence in Governance Training Series is intended to empower board members of affiliated nonprofits throughout the state with the information and tools necessary to carry out their very important responsibilities and obligations. Whether you are an experienced board member, or just beginning your volunteer service, on a board for a larger established agency or a newer smaller one, there is a SBTC training that can meet your needs.

BINGHAMTON WORKSHOPS
SBTC: Understanding Your Legal Obligations as a Nonprofit Board Member Binghamton
Thursday, April 08, 2010 from 1:00 PM - 4:00 PM (ET)
Binghamton, NY Holiday Inn - Binghamton

SBTC: Human Resource Issues for Nonprofit Boards Binghamton
Thursday, April 08, 2010 at 5:30 PM - Friday, April 09, 2010 at 8:30 PM (ET)
Binghamton, NY Holiday Inn - Binghamton

SBTC: Nonprofit Accounting Basics for Board Members Binghamton
Friday, April 09, 2010 from 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM (ET)
Binghamton, NY Holiday Inn - Binghamton

SBTC: The New Form 990: A Focus on Board Governance Binghamton
Friday, April 09, 2010 from 1:00 PM - 4:00 PM (ET)
Binghamton, NY Holiday Inn - Binghamton

Program Committee Proposes Program Topics

The Program Committee has developed three topic ideas and would like your input on these areas:
1) Training Executive Directors to work with the board
2) Collaboration a step by step guide
3) Partnerships, mergers and acquisitions

Click here for the survey.

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Comptroller Questions, Nonprofits Respond

Last week NYCON was asked to provide feedback to the Comptroller's Office on how late New York State contracts and payments were affecting real nonprofits in the community. NYCON has already collected almost 250 responses - and more nonprofits are responding every day.
• 66% of nonprofits responding said they currently have a line of credit
• 66% of nonprofits responding said that they had borrowed money because of delayed government contracts and/or payments in the last two years.

Well over 100 comments were also submitted to the Comptroller´s Office. Click here for a sampling of these comments (a full list will be posted soon on the NYCON website.) Still want to add your feedback? Click here for the survey.

Want to know what else you can do? The Comptroller's Office will be holding nonprofit forums around New York State soon. NYCON will inform our members when those forums are scheduled.

Membership Benefits Corner: Special Package Offers on Bylaws, Personnel Policy Reviews and more...
Bylaw & Personnel Policy Reviews
Whether you are a newly created organization or a long standing one, risk management is the keystone for good governance of your organization. Two important tools for protection of your organization from mission killing liability and litigation is the creation and annual review of corporate bylaws and personnel policies. Our attorneys and legal staff will dissect your corporate documents and review same for legal pitfalls, returning same to you with revision comments and "best practice" advice within 30 days.
A Bylaw Review is $500.
A Personnel Policy Review is $700.
A Package price for both is only $1,000.
Interested? Click here and let us know and we´ll have one of our legal staff get back to you to start the process!

Corporate Document Review
Another important element of risk management is the maintenance of the proper form of corporate existence. Our attorneys and legal staff will analyze your Certificate of Incorporation, and any Amendments for consistency between them and your internal corporate documents and Bylaws, returning the same to you with revision comments and "best practice" advice within 15 days.
A Corporate Document Review is $300.00.
Interested? Click here and let us know and we´ll have one of our legal staff get back to you to start the process!

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

January Risk Management Tip for Your Nonprofit

The New York Council of Nonprofits is a satellite office for the Nonprofit Risk Management Center, and will be offering these monthly risk management tips. Interested in more information on risk management? NYCON and our insurance brokerage subsidiary, Council Services Plus, can offer your nonprofit access to resources and assistance. Contact us!

JANUARY Getting Your Board’s House in Order
Effective nonprofits boards are essential to mission fulfillment, yet many nonprofit boards continue to operate on a “wing and a prayer”—just barely able to get the job done. Nonprofit CEOs, working in partnership with their volunteer boards and committees, are in the pilot’s seat when it comes to empowering outstanding governance practices by the board. Remember that:

1. The board’s principal responsibility is to guide and monitor the values and goals of the organization. Ineffective boards simply rubber stamp the plans of a staff or volunteer leader. Effective boards revisit the values and goals of the nonprofit on a regular basis and guide the realization of the nonprofit’s mission. CEOs must encourage and support the board in this important work.

2. Every board member has legal and moral responsibility for providing thoughtful oversight. Two of the most important steps a CEO can take to empower the board is to schedule training on the review of financial statements (you can’t oversee what you don’t understand) and encourage tough questions from the board. Acting as if questions from the board are an insult will extinguish healthy boardroom discussion and increase out of the room conversations about the CEO’s performance. At some point those conversations may turn to the nonprofit’s need for new staff leadership.

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Paterson's State of the State Address

WBNG-TV reported on Paterson's State of the State Address. As WBNG related: In his second State of the State address, Governor David A. Paterson today outlined his plan to rebuild New York through firm and decisive steps ,including fiscal and ethics reform and an economic development plan that puts New Yorkers back to work.

The Governor laid out an agenda to end the culture of over-spending and abuse of power that has for too long dominated State government, including a proposal for sweeping and comprehensive ethics reform - the centerpiece of which is a new independent Ethics Commission.

Governor Paterson also announced a replacement for Empire Zones – the Excelsior Jobs Program – which includes three aggressive tax incentives for targeted growth industries, the Sustainable Neighborhoods Project to revitalize prime housing stock that sits vacant in urban cities across New York State and the Manufacturing Legacy Program to leverage the strengths of the State’s manufacturing industries to guarantee the economic security of the people who are carrying its legacy into the twenty-first century. In addition, the Governor proposed a bold initiative to revive the New York Insurance Exchange that would bring buyers and sellers of complex commercial insurance closer together, providing increased transparency and security for everyone in the process. Read more here.

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Interested in Employee Benefits for Your Employees?



Take a look at three of NYCON's most popular programs. NYCON adminsters each of these programs, answers your questions, and gives you and your employees the customer service and value you deserve! The flyer outlines NYCON's Delta Dental Plans, Flexible Spending Accounts, and Life Insurance Plans. Questions? E-mail NYCON today.

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

2010 Program Input Needed!

The Program and Steering Committees need your input to plan this year's programming efforts. Please take a minute and click on the survey link below and share your thoughts.

2010 Planning Survey

Monday, January 4, 2010

Family Enrichment Network Hosts Grant Writing Workshop

Dear Colleagues:

Family Enrichment Network is pleased to host the “The Art and Science of Grant Writing: Winning Strategies To Get More Money” presented by US Government Grants (USGG). We would like to invite you to participate in this one-of-a-kind workshop. It will be held March 3-4, 2010 at Family Enrichment Network.

U.S. Government Grants (USGG) is a national grant writing training and consulting company offering a full range of services to assist a diverse group of individuals and nonprofit organizations throughout the United States and Puerto Rico. USGG’s goal is to help nonprofit organizations win more grant awards to expand and enhance the good work they do and to empower individuals to make a positive difference in their community. Beverly Santicola, President of US Government Grants and presenter of this workshop is the author of more than 100 award winning grant proposals over the last eight years that produced $8.7 million in grant funding for education, after school programs, labor relations, workforce development, technology, distance learning, science, economic development, community revitalization, health care and breast cancer.

Whether you are a beginning grant writer or a seasoned professional, you will learn how to create better grant proposals in a simple step-by-step process. All training programs feature actual grant writing practice as well as team activities, and immediate feedback. Students have the opportunity to work on their own grant proposals and receive recommendations for improvement. Professional presentation handouts are provided along with a workbook full of samples of award-winning grant proposals for government grants, private foundation grants and corporate grants. This workshop is divided into two sessions. Day one will cover the basics including: where to get new money; why 50% of grant proposals fail; how to develop good problem statements; eleven key components of a proposal; five-step process for program planning; 28 items to have prepared in advance; private foundation & corporate grants. Day 2 will focus on developing award winning local, state and federal government grant proposals and steps to building relationships with funders.

Tuition for this grant writing workshop is $100/ per session or $200 for both sessions. (A limited number of scholarships are available for organizations with annual budgets of less than $500,000.)

To provide individualized attention, enrollment is limited to 20 participants per session. These workshops fill quickly, so we ask that you enroll early. If you cannot attend, we encourage you to send an agency representative. For questions, to register, or to apply for a scholarship, call April Ramsay, Director of Program Development at (607) 723-8313 ext. 886.

Please see the Grant Writing workshop flyer. We look forward to seeing you.

Sincerely,

Darrell R. Newvine
Executive Director

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Diane Kunzman
Administrative Assistant
723-8313 ext 834
dkunzman@familyenrichment.cc