Description

Sponsored by Kohler Co., Pivot (formerly BoardStar), is offering a nonprofit board education series in conjunction with Lakeshore Community Foundation, The Chamber of Manitowoc County, Sheboygan County Chamber of Commerce, United Way Manitowoc County and United Way of Sheboygan County.
 
This five-part series is being offered once again this fall at no cost to Lakeshore area non-profit boards and staff leadership. Topics covered in this series include organizational sustainability, strategic planning, financial health and fundraising.

To qualify, applicant organizations must:

• Be located in Manitowoc or Sheboygan County
• Have the commitment of the executive director, senior staff person and/or a board member in a leadership position to attend all sessions. Priority consideration will be given to applications which include both a staff and a board member.

More information about each session:

Session 1:  "Pursuing Nonprofit Sustainability"
Learn the difference between financial oversight and financial sustainability to ensure your organization’s long-term financial success! Which programs should pay for themselves? Which programs should be subsidized and to what degree? How can the board really determine the return on financial impact relative to the impact on the mission?
 
Session 2:  "Role of the Board in Strategic Planning"
One of the primary roles for any board of directors is to plan for the organization’s future. Planning allows an organization to be proactive, to strategically address opportunities and challenges, and to avoid operating in a perpetual crisis mode. Embarking on a strategic planning process is a large investment of time that can pay back through increased organizational success over the course of many years.
 
Session 3:  "Understanding & Assessing Financial Health"
To truly be a financial leader, one must be financially literate. This session is designed to increase the financial literacy of organization leaders by removing the jargon so they can read and understand financial statements. This session will dive deeper into understanding the differences between cash and accrual accounting, highlighting the importance of monitoring cash flow. We'll also use the financial statements to calculate key ratios to assess both immediate and long-term financial health.
 
Session 4:  "Taking the Fear Out of Fundraising"
Overcome your fundraising fears and learn to ask for the resources your organization needs! Research identifies fundraising as the greatest training need for nonprofit Boards. Financial concerns range from funding cuts and budget constraints to the need to develop new, reliable funding sources.

Session 5: "Community Needs & Collaboration"
At this session, participants will share best practices and challenges, discuss previous topics more deeply and leave with a plan to share information learned with other board members and staff.

 
Pivot is a regionally-focused nonprofit organization based out of Milwaukee that brings the right players and research to the table to shape the future of governance and drive impact in our community. Pivot believes that impact in organizations occurs when the right leadership is equipped with the right skills. They provide custom services to organizations, funders, community groups and others to build educational projects which will build more informed boards, staff and community leaders. Learn more about Pivot here.