This busy, short month has led to a mismatch between intentions and implementation - so rather than several lengthy, informative blog posts (as we had hoped), we come to you with a breathy, end-of-the-month compendium of highlights and potential teasers (we reserve the right to flesh one or more of these out into a full-length blog post at some point in the future). So - what've we been up to in the last month plus?
GFC Programs (2018 thus far) - just a few words about the programs we've offered here at the Library:
- "So You Think You Want to Start a Nonprofit?" - repeat shout-out to Sue Greenberg of Volunteer Lawyers & Accountants for the Arts and Tracy James of Legal Services of Eastern Missouri for a great 2-part program on whether and (if the answer to "whether" is "yes") how to start a nonprofit. Sue and Tracy have shared their joint wisdom on this topic before and hopefully will do so again, but in the meantime, feel free to reach out to your Grants & Foundations Librarian (Lisa Thorp) for handouts from their programs as well as library resources that you might find helpful.
- "Grant Writing 101" which was presented to a full (overflow, actually) house in November 2017 was offered again early in February to allow those who weren't able to attend a shot at hearing from Amy Lottes. We hope she will join us again in the future, so watch this space, but in the meantime a reminder that there are Grant Writing programs available as part of the online learning available through SLPL - just click that link, select Gale Courses & type "nonprofit" & you will see a handful of courses, including "A-Z Grant Writing" & "Writing Effective Grant Proposals".
- "Legal Issues for Nonprofit Board Members" in which Dan Sise of UMSL's Nonprofit Management & Leadership Program walked us through issues that nonprofit board members should be aware of - above is a shot of Dan with the 1st 5 of 10 ways to get investigated, according to the Missouri Attorney General's office (for the 2nd 5, contact Lisa for Dan's handouts). Remember, these are things NOT to do. Dan will be returning next month to present "Grant Management Basics" on March 22 - click here for more info and/or to register.
Out & About - we have also been getting out in the community, meeting interesting people and hearing interesting ideas:
- On January 18 the Community Service Public Relations Council (CSPRC) presented a panel discussion entitled "Aligning our Work with Action - Communicating During Times of Unrest and Uncertainty" at the Missouri History Museum, moderated by Gary Parker, Associate Dean of External Affairs, Brown School of Social Work, Washington University in St. Louis | Director of the Clark-Fox Policy Institute and featuring:
- Yemi Akande-Bartsch, Ph.D. | President & CEO, FOCUS St. Louis
- Ernest E. Garrett III | Executive Director, DEAF Inc.
- Mary Rachel Gould, Ph.D. | Associate Professor of Communication, Saint Louis University | Director, Saint Louis University Prison Program
- Amy Hunter | Manager of Diversity and Inclusion, St. Louis Children's Hospital
- January 26 was the Gateway Center for Giving's annual meeting/luncheon with the theme "Philanthropy Aligned" hosted by the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center.
- February 1 the Gateway Center for Giving and Network for Strong Communities co-hosted an information session abut the Missouri Common Grant Application, v. 2.0 - this tool has been revised to include more of a diversity, equity, and inclusion framework. Many local funders use this form, or a variation of it, for their grant proposals - and even if they don't, completing this application will likely put a nonprofit in a good position with respect to other (less common) grant applications - it comes with budget templates and a super-helpful User Guide!
We hope your 2018 is going well so far, and we look forward to seeing you at the Grants & Foundation Center, at one of our programs, or out in the real world!
