Chicago Creative Expo is near...

Good afternoon SMARTies!

Mark your calendars for next week's Chicago Creative Expo. The Expo connects Chicago's creative community the resources they need to thrive.

Through Keynotes, Workshops, Vendors and more, get professional development expertise from top local and national providers.

Friday March 1 (focused on organizations)
and 
Saturday March 2 (focused on individual artists)
10:00 am - 4:00 pm
Chicago Cultural Center
78 E. Washington Street
Chicago, IL 60602

Admission Free

Take a Free Workshop - there will be more than 30 at the Expo on topics like Fundraising, Copyright, Placemaking, Websites, Kickstarter Campaigns, Board Development and more.

Each workshop is 1 hr. 

Click for more information.

Workshop: Trends in the Arts Sector: Funder Perspective

Good morning SMARTies,

Here's a great workshop opportunity to hear and learn about the latest trends in the field from local foundation program officers who support arts and cultural nonprofit organizations. You'll learn about funder perspectives regarding best practices and the future direction of the arts sector.

Details
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
9:30 am - 11:30 am
Columbia College Chicago
623 S Wabash Avenue
Hokin Lecture Hall, Rm 109

Price: $45 (NPO budget < $250k) or $65 (for-profit/NPO budget > $250k)
Click to register

Moderator: Deb Hass, Principal Consultant, Serendipity Consulting
Panelists: Marcia Festen, Director, Arts Work Fund and Arthur Pearson, Director - Chicago Program, Gaylord & Dorothy Donnelley Foundation

Webinars and more webinars

SMARTies, we hope you're enjoying the Fall season! There are many great upcoming webinars and workshops.

Donor's Forum is hosting a FREE workshop where you'll receive a tutorial on using prospecting databases, which you can access free in the library. You'll also receive an overview of the free reference collection of books and resources on grantwriting, individual fundraising, and nonprofit management, leadership and governance. 

When: Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Time: 12:00 am - 1:15 pm

Where: Donors Forum Library, 208 S. LaSalle, Suite 1540

Fees: Register here

Other Events of Interest

Axelson Center Fall Workshop and Webinar Series

Remember: Nonprofits with an operating budget of $1 million or less receive a 20% discount on Full-Day ($150) Half-Day ($75) workshops, and webinars ($50).

Click here to see a full list of upcoming webinars and workshops

Suggested Webinar:

Wednesday, November 14, 2012 from 12pm-1pm

Making the Ask: The Basic of Major Gift Solicitations

Mary Morten, President, Morten Group

Click here to learn more and to register. 

This webinar will provide participants with an overview of how to make a successful major gift solicitation, including structuring the meeting (who should attend, what on the agenda, flow, etc); building rapport; turning the conversation around (how to overcome objections) and making the ask

Successful Event Planning: Friend-raiser vs. Fundraiser

Tues, June 26 from 9:30 – 12:00pm
Columbia College Chicago, 623 S Wabash Ave, Hokin Hall, Rm 109

Panelists:
Carolina Jayaram, Executive Director, Chicago Artists Coalition
Erik Schroeder, Director of Marketing, Lookingglass Theatre Company
Megan Smith, Executive Director, Sideshow Theatre Company
Stef Tovar, Founder/Artistic Director, Route 66 Theatre Company

What does it take to execute a successful  fundraising event and how do you define success? What's the difference between a friend-raiser and a fund-raiser? What are the advantages of each?

This workshop will discuss the benefits and challenges of different types of events, including budgeting, marketing, acquiring donations, and board engagement. Panelists will share their experience creating, managing and evolving their organizations' events and tips for fundraising success.

Who should attend:

• Organizations that are planning a fundraiser for the first time
• Organizatins that have had small, singular events and are hoping to plan 1-2 years ahead
• Board Members, Event Committee Chairs, and staff interested in innovative themes and programming for their upcoming fundraisers.

Price: $45 (npos under $250,000)/ $65 (for-profit/npos over $250,000)
(Nonrefundable)

Register: http://www.artsbiz-chicago.org/events/2012/06/successful-event-planning-friend-raiser-vs-fund-raiser/

Arts Organizations & Community Engagement Workshop - May 22

Tues, May 22 from 5:30 – 8:00pm
Columbia College Chicago, 623 S Wabash Ave, Hokin Hall, Rm 109

Presenters:
Michael Rodd, Founding Artistic Director, SoJourn Theatre
Kimberly Bares, President, PLACE Consulting 

The Chicago Way: Working together and building more vibrant, socially and culturally inclusive, and economically prosperous neighborhoods. We will discuss how supporters, residents, civic and business leaders can engage with arts organizations in their communities to reach these mutually beneficial goals.

You'll hear case studies from our lead presenters on how successful cross-sector partnerships were established and maintained. This workshop is intended to ignite dialogue from a variety of perspectives, so we encourage an audience across sectors.

At this workshop, we will discuss:

• What do arts organizations offer the community?
• What does the community offer the arts organization?
• What are ways to partner that help build a better community?

 
Price: $45 (npos under $250,000)/ $65 (for-profit/npos over $250,000)
(Nonrefundable)

Registration: http://www.artsbiz-chicago.org/events/2012/05/arts-organizations-community-engagement/

A&BC Board Basics Workshop Tomorrow

Tomorrow's workshop is from 5:30 - 8:00pm at Columbia College, 623 S. Wabash Ave, Hokin Hall.  It will be led by Lisa Tylke, who is also a smARTscope consultant.  Online registration closes this evening, but we will accept walk-up registrations at the door tomorrow.  More information can be found here: http://www.artsbiz-chicago.org/events/2012/04/board-basics/

A&BC Workshop - Board Basics - April 24

Tues, April 24, 2012, 5:30 – 8:30pm
Columbia College, 623 S. Wabash, Hokin Hall, Room 109

Developing a robust, engaged board begins with your recruitment and orientation process.  We’re going back to basics with this board development workshop.  You’ll hear from board and staff members of small-to-mid sized arts organizations about what has worked well to position their new board members for success.

At this workshop, you will learn how to:

• Define board/staff roles & responsibilities
• Recruit new board members in creative ways
• Orient new board members to maximize their effectiveness

Price: $45/65 (nonrefundable) - http://www.artsbiz-chicago.org/events/2012/04/board-basics

Nonprofit Technology Conference

Go to a technology conference from your desk: the Nonprofit Technology Network (NTEN) is holding their annual conference, and you can attend from your very own office. The Nonprofit Technology Conference on April 4-5 will be streamed live so you can set up a computer in your conference room and let your whole staff attend.

Normally $300 for non-members, if you register by March 23 you can get the NTEN Member rate of just $150. Learn more HERE and enter the Blue Avocado discount code 12ONTC-7NMEMBA during checkout. An outstanding resource for Accidental Techies and Super Techies in your organization.

Salesforce for Nonprofits webinar - 3/28

March 28, 1:00 - 2:00pm

Does your organization rely on antiquated methods for tracking contacts, clients, and donors? Do you use different databases that don't communicate with each other? If you are considering moving to a unified database system, login to HandsOn Tech's webinar on Salesforce.com, a leading cloud-based CRM and database tool that offers five free enterprise licenses for nonprofits. This webinar will walk nonprofits through how they could use Salesforce to organize their data in useful ways.

This training will be conducted via webinar. You will receive a link and instructions upon registering. Please go to http://goo.gl/bn0aG regis

Publish Post

ter!

Google+ Workshop - 3/21

March 21, 9:00 – 10:30 a.m. Google’s Offices 20 West Kinzie Street Chicago, IL 60661

Google has recently launched its new social media platform Google+, which aims to make sharing on the web more like sharing in real life. Google+ offers a brand new way to connect with people, including through features such as contacts organized into Circles that make it easy to send relevant messages to different groups of people, integration with Google Chat and Gmail, and a fantastic new way to “Hangout” in a live video conference with up to 10 colleagues and friends. The goal of this workshop is to give you with the tools, knowledge, and know-how to use Google+ in your nonprofit. Come learn how Google+ can help your agency connect with your audience in a new and interactive way that fosters deeper relationships!

Taught by Googlers, this workshop will take place at Google's offices in downtown Chicago at 20 West Kinzie Street. Please go to http://goo.gl/ig0yn to register!

Registration Closed for Data Management Workshop

Registration for the Data Management Workshop is closed.  If you didn’t receive a reminder & confirmation email today then you did not register for the workshop on Monday.  Thank you!

A&BC Workshop - Strategic Brand Development - 3/27/12

Learn how to be more strategic in building and maintaining the brand of your arts organization.  Your brand is fundamental to your visibility and your ability to stand out from the crowd, and thus your ability to create a value proposition for ongoing support. Register Online.  Tues, March 27 from 9:30 - 12:00pm at Columbia College, 623 S. Wabash Ave, Hokin Hall.

A&BC February Workshop: Building Corporate Partnerships

The Arts & Business Council is having a workshop on Tues, February 21st, on the topic of building corporate partnerships. At this workshop, you'll learn how nonprofit organizations and corporations can build mutually beneficial partnerships to further both their missions and shared values. You'll hear insider perspective of why corporations are interested in investing in community organizations, what they're looking for in a partner and what challenges need to be overcome internally to make that happen.

Price: $45/65

For more details, visit our website: http://www.artsbiz-chicago.org/events/2012/02/building-corporate-partnerships/

A&BC January Workshop: Effective Board & Staff Communication

The Arts & Business Council is having a workshop on Tues, Jan 24th, from 5:30-8:00pm. Learn how to communicate your way to an excellent Board/Staff relationship. You'll hear from Executive Directors and Board Chairs who will share their tactics for maintaining open lines of communication.

Price: $45/65

For more information, visit our website: http://www.artsbiz-chicago.org/events/2012/01/effective-board-staff-communication/