There's no business like small business!

It's Small Business Saturday! 
Think global; support local!

Grant opportunities from the Arts Work Fund

There are two grant opportunities available from the Arts Work Fund to support the capacity building needs small arts and cultural organizations

1. Capacity Building grant program

2. Building Capacity in Culturally Diverse Arts Organizations grant program ( for organizations that have no previously received AWF funding)

Qualifications:

·         A mission primarily focused on presenting, producing, or providing arts programming and/or on serving  artists or small arts and cultural organizations

·         A three-year operating history after incorporation as an Illinois nonprofit

·         At least one paid part-time staff and a minimum of five board members

·         Located in and serving Chicago or Cook County

·         Most recently completed fiscal year expenses between $50,000-$800,000

Full details available at www.artsworkfund.org.

Proposal deadline: January 15, 2014

Questions: call Marcia Festen @ 773-296-2601 or email marcia@artsworkfund.org

DanceWorks Chicago's open company audition TODAY!

Get behind-the-scenes with DanceWorks Chicago and sit in on our open company audition held on stage of the Dance Center of Columbia College TODAY from 10am-2pm. Audience members may come and go as they please. FREE! 

Start your Thanksgiving week with a healthy dose of the arts! http://www.danceworkschicago.org/Event/11232013audition.aspx

Basic Bookkeeping with Quickbooks

Wednesdays, January 22 and 29, 9:30am-12:30pm
A&BC Office building, 70 E Lake St,
3rd Floor Conference Room

A two-part introduction to nonprofit bookkeeping. As participants learn bookkeeping basics they will also be introduced to the corresponding Quickbooks entries relevant internal control issues for each type of transaction. The training will cover recording and tracking income and expense transactions, creating standard reports, and establishing internal controls to ensure accuracy and prevent fraud. The presentation will focus on the specific needs of nonprofit arts organizations.

 

Trainings will be led by a certified Quickbooks Adviser from The A.C.T Group LTD, a Chicago CPA firm and Dan Jacobson, Director of Operations for the Arts & Business Council of Chicago. Dan is a Certified Nonprofit Accounting Professional (CNAP), through the National Association of Nonprofit Accountants & Consultants (NPAC).

 

This course is meant for Managing Directors, Office Managers, Bookkeepers or anyone else who is new to bookkeeping and is responsible for their organization’s financial record using Quickbooks, Class size will be limited to 12 people.

 

Price: $199 for 2 class sessions

 

REGISTER NOW!

Proposal Writing 101 - January 23, 2014

When: January 23
Time: 9:00 am - 4:00 pm
Location: TBA
Fees: $ 150 Discounted fee for Forum Partners, Members, and Associate Members; $ 250 standard rate
Register Here

This full-day introductory workshop focuses on positioning your organization to prepare, write, and submit successful proposals to foundations and corporations. Through detailed instruction as well as small-group exercises and peer review, you'll learn how to craft each of the seven essential elements of a winning proposal. We'll also explore what it takes to build a close partnership with your funders to achieve fundraising goals. This session includes a unique opportunity to hear from, learn, and ask questions of a panel of funders.

Webinar: How to Create an Awesome Nonprofit Facebook Page

Dates available (space is limited):
Thursday, November 21, 1-2:30pm EST
Thursday, December 5, 1-2:30pm EST

Price: $69

Course Level - Beginner

This nonprofit webinar is presented by John Haydon, author of Facebook Marketing for Dummies.

Nonprofits, large and small, are using Facebook to engage with supporters, launch fundraising campaigns, enhance donor relationships, and spread awareness about their causes. You can do this too, and it all starts with your organization’s Facebook Page. Many inadvertently select the wrong page type, the wrong page category, and miss basic, but fundamental, settings that can adversely impact your nonprofit's results on Facebook.

This live nonprofit webinar will give you the strategies and the step-by-step tactics to take your Facebook Page from average to amazing! You will learn how the smartest nonprofits are using cover images, milestones, highlighted photos, and pinned posts. You will also learn how to avoid the most common Facebook mistakes when selecting your Page’s type and category, how to create and edit your Page’s short URL, and how to automate comment moderation.

John will demonstrate how to create a nonprofit Facebook Page from scratch, with a profile picture, an effective cover image, milestones, and more!

You'll Get These Questions Answered:

• How can I best present my nonprofit within a Facebook Page?
• What Page type and category is best for our specific nonprofit?
• How can I use Facebook cover images for my Page to encourage people to like our Page?
• How can I optimize my Facebook Page for maximum virality?
• What considerations should I keep in mind for SEO (search engine optimization)?
• How can I configure different levels of access for Page admins?
• What are some powerful ways I can initially promote my Facebook Page?
• How can I prevent spam and negative comments on my Page?
• When should I delete negative comments and/or ban users?
• How can I make sure my personal information (photos, friends lists, contact info) isn’t seen by people who like our Facebook Page?
• Who should be managing my Page?
• How can I create a commenting policy for my Page?

Bonus! This nonprofit webinar also includes 9 step-by-step videos:

1. How to Create A Nonprofit Facebook Page from Scratch
2. How to Configure Your Page Permissions For Maximum Reach
3. How To Create An Effective Cover Image
4. How To Keep Your Page Private Until You’re Ready For Launch
5. How To Find Useful Applications For Your Facebook Page
6. How To Login Correctly Between Your Profile And Page 
7. How To Receive Email Notifications About Your Page's Activity
8. How To Add And Manage Multiple Admins To Your Facebook Page
9. How (and why) to Delete Negative Comments & How To Ban Specific Users

Additional learning materials:

• A complete downloadable version of the slides
• A Facebook Page features map with terms, image dimensions, definitions, etc.
• A eecorded version of this webinar is included with your purchase

About the Topic Expert: John Haydon is the author of Facebook Marketing for Dummies, and founder of Inbound Zombie, a new media consulting firm helping nonprofits with online marketing. He has spoken at the Nonprofit Technology Conference, BlogWorld, BBCon, is an Instructor for Marketing Profs University, and is a regular contributor to The Huffington Post. John has trained thousands of nonprofits, both large and small, via CharityHowTo nonprofit webinars

Basic Bookkeeping with Quickbooks

The Arts & Business Council is hosting a Quickbooks series of workshops in January. Save the dates!

A&BC Office Building
70 East Lake St, 3rd Floor Conference Room
1:00-4:00pm

• Part I: Wednesday, January 22
• Part II: Wednesday, January 29

TODAY: Last Dance Bytes of 2013

Join us for the unveiling of a new work by guest choreographic duo casebolt and smith TODAY at 1pm and 3:30pm in the Katten/Landau Studio, 425 South Wabash, 4th floor. Dance Bytes is an informal, behind-the-scenes look at the work of art. It's FUN. It's FREE. It's DIFFERENT!

How do you promote yourself?

Join Chicago Creative Coalition for a rousing and informative discussion, as well as great food and drinks (everyone orders off the menu.)

Bring a friend and join your fellow creatives in this moderated roundtable on how we show-and-tell the world about our work.

Prepare to discuss methodology, websites, physical portfolio set-ups, best practices, favorite apps, tips and tricks - whatever you use to promote your work, yourself and your business.

Bring your ideas and questions to this first in a series of roaming, informal roundtables.

Thursday, November 14 @ 6:00pm

The Globe Pub
1934 W. Irving Park Rd.
Chicago, IL 60613 

The program is FREE! 

Just order enough off the menu for yourself so we don't get kicked out 'til we're good and ready to leave!

RSVP to George Berlin by noon on Nov. 13 

Click here to RSVP

Individual Giving 101 Workshop by Donors Forum

Learn How to Grow Your Organization's Individual Giving at our Workshop on Tues., Nov. 12

Do you know these fundraising facts?

• Seventy-nine percent of all charitable donations come from individuals. 
• For most organizations, cultivating individual donors is the best way to ensure that their fundraising is successful and sustainable.

Register now for Individual Giving 101, our workshop which will help you enhance your fundraising through building relationships with individual donors.

You'll learn top techniques, strategies, and skills for turning prospects into donors. You'll also learn how to prepare a case for support, develop prospect lists, and cultivate, motivate, and retain individual donors. We'll cover donors solicitation, including online fundraising, as well as moving smaller donors up to becoming more significant donors.

Your instructor will be Jackie Kaplan-Perkins, a well-recognized fundraising consultant with more than 20 years of practical experience. Jackie has served as senior staff at leading Chicago philanthropies and nonprofits, and was a fellow in both the Rockefeller Foundation's Next Generation Leadership program and Leadership Greater Chicago. She has received numerous awards and honors.

Individual Giving 101: The Secret to Fundraising Success with Individual Donors
Tuesday, November 12, 9 am - 4 pm (breakfast and lunch provided)
Donors Forum Large Conference Room
208 S. LaSalle, Suite 1535, Chicago

$150 – Discounted rate for Forum Partners
$250 – Standard Rate

Register now!

Hola from Cordoba!

DanceWorks Chicago is finishing up a fabulous week in Cordoba, Mexico, where we have been teaching, performing, and representing at the Festival Internacional de Danza Cordoba! Back in Chicago soon. Hasta luego!