Nonprofit Utopia Podcast

The Power of Reflection In Moving Forward

Sankofa is a word in the Twi language of Ghana meaning “to retrieve" More commonly, it symbolizes taking from the past what is good and bringing it into the present in order to make positive progress through the benevolent use of knowledge. Sankofa is often symbolized by a mythical bird with its head turned backwards while its feet face forward carrying a precious egg in its mouth.
 
As we finish out the year in the Nonprofit Utopia community, we are taking stock of our wins, our losses and challenges in 2022 so that we can finish the year strong, and hit the ground running in 2023. One of our first steps is to use assessment tools to gauge our leadership styles and skills and organizational skills in order to get a true sense for where we are. Indeed, we believe that we can’t really know where we should be going until we know where we are and where we have been. Even if it means peeking through our fingers because the truth is so glaring that we could be startled into paralysis.
 
This podcast will help you understand
 
1. The power of assessments
2. How to use assessments to chart your professional course
3. How to use assessments to help your organization navigate community change
Nonprofit Utopia community members will also have access to individual and organizational assessments and a members-only group coaching session to get answers to questions and draw from support of their peers.

Making the Most of Your Volunteer Management Program Session 2

Making the Most of Your Volunteer Management Program Session 1

I have worked with a number of nonprofit leaders who live by the adage, "If you fail to plan, then you plan to fail." Often, when it comes to volunteer management, they don't pay quite as close attention. After all, volunteers are not salaried employees, and they are often brought on for ad hoc projects. The tendency is to give higher priority to processes that have greater budget impact. However, leaving volunteer management up to chance is doing your organization and volunteers a great disservice. The organization misses out on opportunities to leverage volunteers to grow capacity. At the same time, volunteers who are looking at volunteerism as a way to develop professionally are left feeling unfulfilled. Careful planning is necessary to create win-win situations for your organization and volunteers.
 
This session will show you how to assess your organization's readiness for volunteers, develop a volunteer management plan and develop policies and procedures. Nonprofit Utopia members will be able to download sample documents from the online community.
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How to Use the Media to Effect Systems Change

According to Lawrence Wallack, a prominent health researcher, "media advocacy is rooted in community advocacy and has as its goal the promotion of healthy public policies. It can be differentiated from traditional mass media strategies in a number of ways. Media advocacy shifts the focus from the personal to the social, from the individual to the political, from the behavior or practice to the policy or environment. While traditional media approaches try to fill the 'knowledge gap,' media advocacy addresses the 'power gap'."
 
Join us for a lively discussion with Sarah Karp, a reporter with WBEZ in Chicago. We will talk about ways you can engage the media to bring about systems change in your own communities. You will learn
 
1. What makes a story concerning systems change newsworthy 2. The differences between a news story, press release and op-ed
3. The subtle differences between working with print media versus radio and other media
3. The do's and don'ts of working with the media
4. How to ride the news cycle