When conflict enters our organization, we must address it with a goal of reconciliation, and prioritizing the preservation our mission integrity. Conflict at any level has the potential to disrupt an organization, so how do we confront conflict, at all levels? How can we move conflict into collaboration? How do we handle conflict when is seems inevitable or unfixable? This session will discuss how we can best address conflict in our organizations. 

It is easy to see the glass as half empty. These are challenging times. There is a path forward. Every organization has strengths and weaknesses. Too often, leadership focuses on what cannot happen, longing for the glory days of the past. Strong organizations cast a vision for the future, focusing on strengths and mission.

Anxiety is present in every system; the key is responding, not reacting. You cannot leave your worries at home, work, or church. Try as you might, anxiety is cumulative, and we bring it with us wherever we go. This means that when interacting with people, they bring all that background with them. Responding, not reacting, is the key to healthy relationships. 

In system thinking, this is called self-differentiation. People who are not well self-differentiated tend to agree with the person in front of them. Trying to keep everyone happy all the time is a recipe for disaster.

GSB Partner, professional coach, and seasoned leader Nathan Swenson-Reinhold will discuss the attributes of an equipping leader who empowers organizations toward effectiveness, engagement, and joy. This is at the heart of a successful organization.

Strategic Plans don’t always have the best “reputation” in nonprofits and churches. Organizations often spend a lot of money developing them to have them sit on a shelf doing nothing.

Within organizations, some people naturally think and work strategically. Others thrive on knocking things off their to-do list. To-do lists are not the same as making crucial decisions that help guide the work of the organization toward common goals and objectives.

Recruiting people to serve in leadership positions too often involves persistent badgering until people, who may not have the needed skill set, eventually give in and agree to serve.

Giving may be up. It may be down. Either way, do you know why? Was it something you did? Or didn't do? Is a certain appeal still worth sending? An event worth doing?

“Whatever you do, don’t talk about money from the pulpit!” Yet how can we preach without addressing the single greatest anxiety in most people’s lives? This three-part series will help leaders address the crushing shame and anxiety that most people in the pew encounter every day. What Good News can the church proclaim that will bring hope and healing? How can we help people move beyond guilt to abundant living?

Planned Giving Team Annual Check List

Building a Donor First culture is critical to the success of any annual fund work, capital campaign, or planned giving effort. If donors feel you are only ever after a withdrawal, they will withdraw from the ministry or agency. Learn how to tell the difference between a deposit into your donor relationship before asking for a withdrawal.

Build a strong planned giving program with the core components.

Mitzie Schafer gives an overview of how telling stories will bring your donors more engagement with your ministry. Telling stories in this way reminds everyone of why you do the mission that you do. In addition to learning to tell stories this way, you will also learn how and where to share them.

Mitzie Schafer gives an overview of how telling stories sparks donor engagement with your organization. A critical first step is to evaluate your current communications to determine how much of what you are sharing is "informational" and how much is "inspirational." How much of what you are sharing is an "ask" and how much is connecting the donor to the impact their generosity provides? During this session, we explore where to use stories, what they should include, and how to evaluate your current practices.

Developing relationships with your donors will help you grow their linkage to the organization. This isn't just for capital campaigns, but is relevant to all aspects of developing the donors passion for your organization.

Developing sustainable money that can be planned for can transform your organization. You can also encourage younger donors to be more generous with a robust recurring giving program.

This is a great evaluation tool to use with your staff, key volunteers, and board members. Have each of them, or a select group of them complete the evaluation and then discuss the results together. You will each see things a little differently and that knowledge will be helpful in making real changes and improve in giving to your organization.

This week we will review how to assess your website for your internal and external audience. When someone visits your website, you have 7 seconds to convince them to keep scrolling. Many organizations and churches built a website and then checked that box. But website interaction is constantly changing and if we don’t keep up, it sends a message that we aren’t current or organized. In this week's round table we will learn how to audit our websites for our different audiences and where content should be included and where it is sending damaging messages.

Social media platforms can be an excellent tool to raise awareness about your organization with potential clients, employees, or donors. But with so many messages fighting for attention in our newsfeeds, how can you create traction with your posts – especially if you have a limited or nonexistent digital media budget? Establishing a team of social media ambassadors could be the right solution to help your organization build its social media footprint and reach a bigger audience. Join us to learn more about: The difference between an influencer and an ambassador Identifying and approaching potential partners Levels of formality and setting expectations of ambassadors Quality vs. quantity of social media content

This week we will walk through how to conduct a self-evaluation communications audit to determine what your current messaging is really saying and doing for the level of engagement you receive from your stakeholders. If you wish more people knew, if you feel like people aren’t responding to the content you are sharing, this is for you. How we message and where we message is critical to building engagement as volunteers and donors. These tools can show you where you have room to improve and where you can lean into what you are doing well more deeply. Mitzie will walk you through the tool so you can do the audit yourself.