Human Resources Roundtables
Fourth Wednesday of the month from 8–9:30 a.m.

A nonprofit’s greatest asset is often its staff, and managing, inspiring and ensuring a healthy work environment is key to achieving results. HR Roundtables offer a monthly peerlearning forum for discussing difficult issues. Each roundtable will lead off with a short presentation by ESC volunteers, and then be followed by open discussion.  Location changes monthly – please call 412-397-6000 for locations.

Fee: $10 each

Fundraisers are often paralyzed by fear of the technical and legal details of planned gifts and leery of talking to donors about a gift that involves their death. This session offers simple ways to incorporate planned giving into your fundraising program immediately. Learn why planned giving is important for every development program and how planned giving can improve donor relationships and increase dollars raised – even during tough economic times. Participants will leave this session armed with the information and inspiration to convince themselves, as well as their boss and Board that they are ready to start. A useful follow-up to this class is Planned Giving: Beyond the Basics.

Instructor: Maureen Mahoney Hill, CFRE
Fee: $65 ($55 if paid online) OR $115 ($100 if paid online) for both classes

Are you and your Board ready to move beyond bequests? In this session, we’ll explore more complex types of planned gifts including charitable gift annuities and charitable trusts, and we’ll learn how partnering with allied professionals in the community can expand your planned giving program. We’ll dig into your donor base to identify potential planned giving donors and learn to match particular gift options with the needs of your donors. This course is designed as a companion course to the session, Planned Giving: The Basics.

Instructor: Maureen Mahoney Hill, CFRE
Fee: $65 ($55 if paid online) OR $115 ($100 if paid online) for both classes

Praises With or Without Raises
Wednesday, March 7 from 9 a.m.–noon

If you are not in a position to provide salary increases, what are some ways to reward employees with little or no cost? If your budget does provide for increases, how do you link those increases to performance to get the most “bang for the buck?” Spend the morning with us and learn different ways to say “thank you” to your top-notch employees through creative incentives and rewards.

Instructor: Ray Frankoski, ESC Volunteer
Fee: $65 ($55 if paid online) OR $125 for the entire 3-part series

Staying Out of Court
Wednesday, March 21 from 9 a.m.–noon

What do you absolutely need to know as a nonprofit employer? Learn the basics of employment law to avoid costly employee litigation, no matter the size of your organization. We’ll provide an overview of Anti-Discrimination Laws and legal aspects of the disciplinary process and terminating employment, furloughs and layoffs as well as handling unemployment claims, creating severance packages and mediating legal conflict.

Instructor: Sally Griffith Cimini, Leech Tishman
Fee: $65 ($55 if paid online) OR $125 for the entire 3-part series

Presentation Visuals that Work (WEBINAR)
Thursday and Friday March 1–2 from 10–11 a.m.

Bullets are not only dangerous in guns. Although your presence and preparation make a huge impact on the success of a presentation’s ability to inform and persuade, bad visuals can undermine your message. In fact, PowerPoint itself may have taught us bad habits. This class will help you create visuals that will make your facts, stories and ideas stick with your audience.

Instructor: Jeff Forster, Bayer Center
Fee: $40

Powering Up Your Donor Database
Thursday, March 8 from 9 a.m.–noon

Get more out of your fundraising records through creative, insightful analysis. This interactive workshop will lay out manageable steps for moving from database management to database marketing. We’ll cover what to put in and what to pull out of your database. We’ll map out action plans for real-life scenarios. Also, you’ll take away the nine questions that will start your database analysis.

Instructors: Janet Emery, CFRE, J. Emery Consulting; Jeff Forster, Bayer Center
Fee: $65 ($55 if paid online)

Audience Development
Tuesday, March 13 from 9 a.m.–noon

The mission of an exhibiting, presenting, or performing arts organization is to deliver great art to an audience, serving both the art form and the community. This session will focus on the desire to expand audiences, for the benefit of the art and the sustainability of the organization. We will discuss case studies in audience development, featuring nonprofits from multiple sectors, sizes and budgets, and then consider the costs and benefits of these various initiatives. Finally, we’ll evaluate outcomes in terms of mission fulfillment and expanding earned revenues and individual donor base through audience growth, and conclude with a creative session on how to apply the day’s learning to participants’ current situations.

Instructor: Andrew Swensen
Fee: $65 ($55 if paid online) OR $125 for the entire 3-part series

Audience Engagement
Tuesday, March 20 from 9 a.m.–noon

Once you have attracted someone to your venue or to a performance, how does that attendee become a long-term patron? In examining audience engagement we will look at that evolving relationship of audience members as they begin to take ownership in an organization by becoming members, subscribers, and/or donors, ultimately translating an encounter into a relationship. The structure of the session will begin with case studies considered individually and then move to brainstorming creative solutions for current situations faced by session participants. This session will expand on the previous “Audience Development” session, though either can be taken individually.

Instructor: Andrew Swensen
Fee: $65 ($55 if paid online) OR $125 for the entire 3-part series

Strategic Partnerships and Expanding Your Reach
Tuesday, March 27 from 9 a.m.–noon

Arts organizations seeking to improve audience outreach and engagement can find substantial impact in creating partnerships. Benefits include increased internal efficiencies in managing and expanding communication and reaching high-value audience prospects at substantially less cost. Yet, cooperative endeavors have their challenges and must be created wisely. This session will examine different levels of strategic partnership ranging from cooperation on a single project to full mergers. We will identify the potential benefits and challenges, discuss case studies, and workshop potential partnerships that participants can explore in their own work.

Instructor: Andrew Swensen
Fee: $65 ($55 if paid online) OR $125 for the entire 3-part series

So You Wanna Be a 501(c)(3)?
Monday, March 19 from 6–9 p.m.

Setting up a 501(c)(3) involves a lot more than creating your website, opening your doors to clients and starting to fundraise. It’s a tricky and costly process, and might not be the best choice right now. Learn about the incorporation process and alternatives that may be more appropriate, as well as nonprofit governance and management issues and requirements. You’ll leave this class with information, homework and a template to guide you through the next steps.

Instructors: Yvonne VanHaitsma, Bayer Center; Bob Moll, ESC Volunteer; Jack Owen, Rhoades & Wodarczyk, LLC
Fee: $65 ($55 if paid online)

Becoming a Supervisor: Achieving Productivity Through People
Friday, March 23 from 9 a.m.–4 p.m.

Learn key strategies for building a productive team by developing appropriate boundaries, enhancing your skills for delivering bad news, giving and receiving feedback, dealing with conflict, and communicating with staff with different personality types based on your own style of leadership. We’ll look at the advantages and skills of using a coaching perspective when working to improve performance or to encourage your best team member. You will be asked to bring real challenges you’re facing for targeted application. This class is geared to new managers – especially those going from peer to supervisor!

Instructors: Barbara Pryor, ESC Volunteer; Wendy Hardman
Fee: $125 ($115 if paid online)

Developing Logic Models for Program Planning and Evaluation
Wednesday, March 28 from 9 a.m.–4 p.m.

Logic models are the gold standard of program development and service evaluation among nonprofits and their funders. How do you know that you’re meeting your goals? Are you sure you’re reaching the right constituents? In the morning, you’ll learn to create a logic model for your program that helps you plan and evaluate, and provides your funders with the information they want, too. In the afternoon, learn how to work with indicators and develop a data collection plan to get the best information about how well your model is working and where it may need improvement.

Instructors: Maria Zeglen Townsend, Ph.D., Townsend Associates LLC; Sheila Bell, Allegheny County Department of Human Services
Fee: $125 ($115 if paid online)

Working with the Media
Thursday, March 29 from 9–11 a.m.

Every nonprofit needs the media to get its message out. Nonprofit leaders require insight into that world. Join three Pittsburgh media writers and editors who are longtime friends of our nonprofit community as they discuss techniques for creating and maintaining those valuable relationships. We’ll have plenty of time for Q & A.

Instructors: Peggy Morrison Outon, Bayer Center; Tracy Certo, Pop City; Bill Zlatos, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review; Joyce Gannon, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Fee: $40 ($30 if paid online)

Choosing or Changing Your Fundraising Software
Tuesday, April 10 from 9–11 a.m.

Don’t make a mistake! Choose fundraising software that’s right for your organization. We help you figure out what you really need and what you can do without. Then we point you in a direction that won’t break the bank or your database.

Instructor: Jeff Forster, Bayer Center
Fee: $40 ($30 if paid online)

Get Your Stories Straight/Ready for My Close-Up!
Thursday, April 12 from 9 a.m.–4 p.m.

A new twist on a class we’ve offered before! Arm yourself and your staff with the material that will come in handy when it’s time to introduce people to your mission and story. This workshop will help you craft your tagline, one-sentence overview, an emblematic story you can tell in 15 minutes and a more detailed half-hour presentation that is sure to make sure your audience remembers what you want them to remember. After we talk through these four key communication tools for your organization, the Bayer Center’s friends from Pittsburgh Community Television (PCTV) will videotape you delivering one of your organization’s stories. You’ll be able to see how you look on camera. As a group, we’ll workshop your story and your delivery. You’ll take the raw footage of your story with you.

Instructor: Jeff Forster, Bayer Center
Fee: $125 ($115 if paid online)

Working Across Generations
Friday, April 13 from 9 a.m.–noon

Each generation shakes its head in wonder at every other one. But the truth is that our generational diversity can be the source of great creativity and collaborative richness. Bring multiple staff to this session as we “cross the ages” and look at ways to work with and serve our youngers and our elders most effectively. This class is always fun as we explore the cultural and personality quirks that define the times in which we were born.

Instructor: Scott Leff, Bayer Center
Fee: $65 ($55 if paid online)

Setting Strategy and Priority
Tuesday, April 17 from 9 a.m.–noon

This class will present the principles of effective planning. It’s important that organizations have high quality, focused and comprehensive conversations about their future. By using pertinent questions and planning frameworks, participants will be able to understand how to conduct a comprehensive plan. Those who have a plan that may now feel out of date can learn some key questions to refresh their plan. And for those who lack the time to do a comprehensive plan, this session will discuss how to select key questions for examination. Anticipation is a hallmark of effective leadership. Bring your plans to class!

Instructor: Peggy Morrison Outon, Bayer Center
Fee: $65 ($55 if paid online) OR $125 for the entire 3-part series

Moving from Strategy to Project
Tuesday, May 1 from 1–4 p.m.

Effective implementation is often based on good action planning, communication among team members and clear direction, timelines and accountability. Facilitating complex projects is difficult to manage. Learn the basic strategies behind successful project management, some technology applications that are useful, and some stories from the street on what works well.

Instructors: Kevin Sweeney and JoeMcLaughlin, ESC Volunteers; Doug VanHaitsma, Mon Valley Initiative
Fee: $65 ($55 if paid online) OR $125 for the entire 3-part series

Keeping it Together Without Coming Apart
Wednesday, May 16 from 9 a.m.–noon

Are your workload and your life load out of control? Do you procrastinate on tasks because you don’t know where to start? Here’s the good news: personal organization is a skill that can be learned, just like swimming or riding a bike. You’ll leave this class with strategies that will help you get organized, reduce stress, increase your productivity and effectiveness, and start enjoying your work and life more!

Instructor: Cindy Leonard, Bayer Center
Fee: $65 ($55 if paid online) OR $125 for the entire 3-part series

Writing a Good Press Release...and How to Sell It
Tuesday, April 24 from 1–4 p.m.

The daunting task of writing a press release does not have to feel so scary. Then, there’s the call to the media about getting it run! This discussion will center on the proper way to write a press release and talk with the media to work toward having it placed. We will take the fear out of the process together.

Instructor: Suzi Neft, Suzi Neft Promotes
Fee: $65 ($55 if paid online)

Video Success for Nonprofits
Wednesday, April 25 from 9 a.m.–noon

Video is fast becoming an essential tool for nonprofits. If a picture is worth a thousand words, then an engaging video about your organization is worth a million. Nothing tells your story better than a well-produced video production. Set yourself apart from other nonprofits by learning how to use video to cost-effectively promote your organization and bring in much needed dollars to support your mission. Learn how other organizations in the area have done it and how you can too.

Instructor: Carl Cimini, Pittsburgh Community Television
Fee: $65 ($55 if paid online)

Presenting to a Funder (WEBINAR)
Monday and Tuesday, May 14–15 from 10–11 a.m.

Although presentations of any kind can make us nervous, presenting to a funder creates a special kind of anxiety. That’s all the more reason to hone your material (what you’re going to say) and your packaging (your visuals and the documents you’ll leave with the funder) for maximum impact. This webinar will drill down from general principles about presenting effectively to focus on enlisting investment support from a funder.

Instructors: Peggy Morrison Outon and Jeff Forster, Bayer Center
Fee: $40

Register now!

BOARDSWORK

While this class is called “basics,” we’re invested in seeing that Boards are high functioning engines of opportunity for their nonprofits. We’ll provide an overview of effective nonprofit governance including role clarity, what is expected of the Board by each other as well as the IRS and funding communities, how best to compose a new or revitalized Board, statement of expectations, and Board evaluation.

Instructor: Peggy Morrison Outon, BayerCenter
Fee: $40 ($30 if paid online)

The Board’s Report Card
Thursday, March 22 from 9 a.m.–noon

Is it possible to evaluate Board members without insulting them? You bet it is – it’s one of the healthiest exercises a Board can to do keep functioning at the highest level. This interactive class will focus on getting Boards to look at themselves both as a group, and as individual Board members, starting with Board job descriptions which set up expectations and provide a starting point for evaluation. We’ll share various types of assessments so you can create what is best for your own Board.

Instructors: Lulu Orr, Bayer Center and Don Block, Greater Pittsburgh Literacy Council
Fee: $65 ($55 if paid online)

Board Governance and Fraud Prevention Issues
Tuesday, April 3 from 9 a.m.–noon

Theft or fraud committed against a nonprofit can have significant adverse impact on the organization, beyond the direct dollar amount of the loss. The current environment of heightened fraud awareness, nonprofit organizations can and should take affirmative steps toward fraud prevention and deterrence.
This session will focus on the role of the Board of Directors of a nonprofit corporation with respect to fraud prevention and Board governance.

Instructors: Karl A. Jarek, The Nottingham Group, LLC and Janice Smith, Cohen & Grigsby
Fee: $65 ($55 if paid online)

Boards and Fundraising
Wednesday, April 11 from 1–4 p.m.

This interactive seminar will explore the inherent tension in any nonprofit between Board and staff roles and offer thoughtful insights about why each stakeholder must understand and accept his or her defined role. We’ll provide practical tips on how to communicate clearly between Board and staff about this central and challenging issue. Open to staff or Board members, but most effective when an agency can send both!

Instructor: Dave Brewton, Coalition forChristian Outreach
Fee: $65 ($55 if paid online)

Register now!

FINANCE

Fundraisers are often paralyzed by fear of the technical and legal details of planned gifts and leery of talking to donors about a gift that involves their death. This session offers simple ways to incorporate planned giving into your fundraising program immediately. Learn why planned giving is important for every development program and how planned giving can improve donor relationships and increase dollars raised – even during tough economic times. Participants will leave this session armed with the information and inspiration to convince themselves, as well as their boss and Board that they are ready to start. A useful follow-up to this class is Planned Giving: Beyond the Basics.

Instructor: Maureen Mahoney Hill, CFRE
Fee: $65 ($55 if paid online) OR $115 ($100 if paid online) for both classes

Planned Giving: Beyond the Basics
Wednesday, Feb. 29 from 9 a.m.–noon

Are you and your Board ready to move beyond bequests? In this session, we’ll explore more complex types of planned gifts including charitable gift annuities and charitable trusts, and we’ll learn how partnering with allied professionals in the community can expand your planned giving program. We’ll dig into your donor base to identify potential planned giving donors and learn to match particular gift options with the needs of your donors. This course is designed as a companion course to the session, Planned Giving: The Basics.

Instructor: Maureen Mahoney Hill, CFRE
Fee: $65 ($55 if paid online) OR $115 ($100 if paid online) for both classes

Building a Financial Dashboard
Fridays, March 9 and 16 from 10–11 a.m.

Dashboards, dashboards, dashboards…what’s an automobile part have to do with running a nonprofit organization? Plenty. This webinar session will focus on the tactics behind creating a financial dashboard for your organization, and how to optimize this tool. We’ll share practical suggestions, external data sources, and actual examples of dashboards created and implemented for local nonprofits to help get you started on the road to financial transparency and wellness.

Instructor: Garrett Cooper, Bayer Center
Fee: $40

Benchmarking the Competition
Fridays, March 23 and 30 from 10–11 a.m.

Ever wonder how many volunteers other organizations with your same mission type and budget size average? Or what percent of total budget the average $500,000 nonprofit spends on fundraising? Well, look no further – this webinar session on benchmarking will empower you with the data sources and practical knowledge you need to find the answers to these questions and more. Using actual case studies from past clients, and real data sources, let us show you the power of utilizing the free data all around you.

Instructor: Garrett Cooper, Bayer Center
Fee: $40

Selecting an Auditor
Friday, May 11 from 9–11 a.m.

What level of customer service should you expect from your auditor? This session will provide that answer, and many others, from the auditors themselves. Please join us as we convene several local accounting experts to candidly discuss selecting an auditor, the audit process, and strategies on maximizing the auditor-client relationship. This is one class where you’re sure to recoup your investment.

Instructor: Garrett Cooper, Bayer Center; panelists TBA
Fee: $65 ($55 if paid online)

Register now!

TECHNOLOGY

Bagels and Bytes
Join your nonprofit techie colleagues for a new season of this popular monthly gathering.  Visit

http://tinyurl.com/bcnmbagelsandbytes for more information.

Writing for the Web and Social Media
Thursday, Feb. 23 from 9 a.m.–4 p.m.

Writing content for your website or social media channels is very different from other types of communications, in large part due to the way people read online. Most of your written materials must be altered for use on a web page or social media site in order to make them readable and usable. In this class, learn how to improve your written website and social media content, increase your sites’ usability, and leverage your website and social media as communication tools.

Instructor: Cindy Leonard, Bayer Center
Fee: $125 ($115 if paid by Feb. 2)

Presentation Visuals that Work
Thursday and Friday March 1–2 from 10–11 a.m.

Bullets are not only dangerous in guns. Although your presence and preparation make a huge impact on the success of a presentation’s ability to inform and persuade, bad visuals can undermine your message. In fact, PowerPoint itself may have taught us bad habits. This class will help you create visuals that will make your facts, stories and ideas stick with your audience.

Instructor: Jeff Forster, Bayer Center
Fee: $40

Powering Up Your Donor Database
Thursday, March 8 from 9 a.m.–noon

This interactive workshop will lay out manageable steps for moving from database management to database marketing. We’ll cover what to put in and what to pull out of your database. We’ll map out action plans for real-life scenarios. Also, you’ll take away the nine questions that will start your database analysis. Get more out of your fundraising records through creative, insightful analysis.

Instructors: Janet Emery, CFRE, J. Emery Consulting; Jeff Forster, Bayer Center
Fee: $65 ($55 if paid online)

Beginning Web Design with Wordpress
Wednesday, March 14 from 9 a.m.–4 p.m.

Are you a website novice who needs to know how to design a basic website that works? Wordpress is a website content management system that is great for building and managing websites. This session is for beginners. Nonprofit staff with no previous web design experience and web design staff who want to learn Wordpress are welcome.

Instructor: Cindy Leonard, Bayer Center
 Fee: $125 ($115 if paid online)

Minimizing Risk Via Social Media Policies
Wednesday and Thursday March 21–22 from 10–11 a.m.

Social media is a hot topic in nonprofits. It provides real-time communication among your staff, volunteers, consumers, clients, students, and constituents. Without social media policies, however, anyone might speak on your organization’s behalf, potentially opening up your nonprofit to liability. In this class, the key components of a social media HR policy will be explained. In addition, you’ll learn how risk management and insurance policies for nonprofits can help protect the organization as well as cover potential liabilities caused by social media. Various types of insurance options for nonprofits that address social media will be discussed and explained as well as discussion on common mistakes that can lead to a claim. Online resources and examples of social media policies and insurance policies will be shared.

Instructors: Todd Whiteman, Enscoe Long Insurance Group; Dave Tinker, CFRE, ACHIEVA
Fee: $40

Choosing or Changing Your Fundraising Software
Tuesday, April 10 from 9–11 a.m.

Don’t make a mistake! Choose fundraising software that’s right for your organization. We help you figure out what you really need and what you can do without. Then we point you in a direction that won’t break the bank or your database.

Instructor: Jeff Forster, Bayer Center
Fee: $40 ($30 if paid online)

Choosing Social Media Tools
Thursday and Friday, April 19–20 from 1–2 p.m.

You know you want to use social media to reach your constituents but aren’t sure what tools to choose. What is best for your organization’s style? How do you reach your intended audience? How do you choose tools that will be effective but that you can manage given the staff and time you have? In this class, we’ll discuss the various types of social media tools, including the pros and cons of each category. You’ll get to practice those skills in the “Social Media Game,” a fun learning exercise designed to help you think about the trade-offs among time, intent, content, and manageability when it comes to social media tools.

Instructor: Cindy Leonard, Bayer Center
Fee: $40

Video Success for Nonprofits
Wednesday, April 25 from 9 a.m.–noon

Video is fast becoming an essential tool for nonprofits. If a picture is worth a thousand words, then an engaging video about your organization is worth a million. Nothing tells your story better than a well-produced video production. Set yourself apart from other nonprofits by learning how to use video to cost-effectively promote your organization and bring in much needed dollars to support your mission. Learn how other organizations in the area have done it and how you can too.

Instructor: Carl Cimini, Pittsburgh Community Television
Fee: $65 ($55 if paid online)

Photo Editing with GIMP
Wednesday, May 23 from 9 a.m.–4 p.m.

Need a better photo editor than Microsoft Paint but you can’t afford Adobe Photoshop? GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) is full-featured graphics and photo editing software that is free to download! Learn the basics of photo editing in this application as well as tips and tricks to make your photos look even better. This class is for beginners - no prior photo or graphics editing experience is required.

Instructor: Cindy Leonard, Bayer Center
Fee: $125 ($115 if paid online)

Register now!