Thursday, April 30, 2009

Need something to do tonight??

Don't forget Center for Women's 8th Annual "It's In The Bag" Purse Silent Auction
http://www.c4women.org/in_the_bag.htm

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

A New Service for Lowcountry Nonprofits

I received an email about a new service that helps local nonprofits connect to local consultants and service providers. I wanted to pass along the information so you all could check it out yourselves.

You can visit the website www.pluffmudconnect.com but here is a quick summary from Laura Deaton of Full Glass Consulting of how it works:

* Nonprofits register for free. Once registered, they can search our database of enrolled consultants and service providers. Better yet, they can also fill out an online RFP (Request for Proposals) form and easily get multiple quotes from local consultants and providers.
* Consultants and service providers pay a small annual enrollment fee. Once enrolled, they can promote themselves by posting detailed profiles about the services they offer. They’ll also receive real-time email notification of RFPs that are posted by nonprofits so that they can immediately bid for their work.
* Because the emphasis is on local connections for coastal South Carolina, this service is currently only available to nonprofits and consultants/service providers in Charleston, Berkeley, Dorchester, Georgetown, Colleton, Beaufort, Jasper and Hampton counties.

The WIN/WIN for nonprofits and consultants is obvious, but the entire community also benefits. Not only do these connections strengthen the local economy, but we’re also taking a portion of the enrollment fees and creating a fund that will allow registered 501(c)3 organizations to use the fund to hire local consultants and service providers who are enrolled with us for small projects. (HINT: Nonprofits – forward this to your current service providers and consultants so that they are on our eligible provider list for project funding!)


If anyone has a vendor they could recommend…

“…send that person to
www.pluffmudconnect.com . Even if they are from outside the area, they qualify if they’ve served a local nonprofit within the last 6 months. Also, make sure you register as a nonprofit. I’m starting a technical assistance fund that will have project-based funding for nonprofits who need to hire a local consultant from our site for small projects. It could even help you pay for service from an existing consultant or service provider if they are also registered. As soon as we’ve got critical mass for service providers, it’s going to be a great way for nonprofits to get competitive bids for everything from direct mail to plumbing to executive and board coaching.”

Although we don’t officially launch until May 15th, I’m encouraging friends and colleagues to sign up now. Any consultant or service provider who enrolls before 5/15 will receive an additional six months free, and if they use our friends and colleagues discount code “230EA” before 5/15 they will also get an additional 20% off. Nonprofits can always register for free and are also welcome to sign up now and begin using the service.

Pethelpers Cookout on King

O'Malley's Bar & Grill is throwing a fund raiser for Pet Helpers. Come out for an afternoon of food, live bands and games.
When: Saturday, May 2 from 2pm - 5pm
Where: O'Malley's located at 549 King St., Downtown
Cost: $10 gets you hotdogs, hamburgers, baked beans, pasta's, veggie options, and more.
Tickets are available at Pet Helpers by calling 795-1110 ext 16 or go to 1447 Folly Road James Island. or-at O'Malleys by calling 805-5000 or go to O'Malley's located at 549 King St. Downtown. Tickets will also be sold at the door the day of the event.

Monday, April 27, 2009

Golf Tournament to benefit The ARK

The ARK's 6th Charles DuBose golf tournament will be held on May 15 at the Miler Country Club in Summerville. Registration 12:00 noon. Start-time 1:00 . Cost is $60 and includes all fees, lunch, and cookout. Proceeds benefit The ARK, a provider of family support services to individuals with Alzheimer's or related dementia.
Contact: 843-832-2357 to register or sponsor the event.

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Tips from a Federal Grantwriter

Willi Glee, from Charleston County Human Services Commission, spoke to the Charleston Association of Grant Professionals Tuesday night about tools and methods to use when writing federal grants. In case you missed it, here are some of the highlights.

Have an Institutional Boilerplate.
You should already have on your computer such information as your Statement of Need, Population Served, Program Name, Project Goals, Current Programs, Initiatives, Key Staff and Annual Budget. This is information you need for any grant you will write and already having it ready will save you an enormous amount of time. We also talked about this in the last Nonprofit Workshop- Developing a Fundraising Plan.

Outline
Use the sections of the Request for Proposal as your outline. Explain each line item.

Good Writing
Write in an active voice and learn to say what you need to say is as few words as possible.
Even though it comes first, write the Executive Summary last.

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Sc Dept of Education Grant Writing Workshop

The deadline for registering for the May session is today!!!

2009 Grant Writing Workshop Series
This three-day series provides an introduction to grantsmanship, from seeking announcements to preparing a complete, effective grant proposal.
The Grants Program in the Office of Innovation has scheduled three sessions of the 2009 Grant Writing Workshop Series for February 11-13, May 6-8, and September 9-11.
See the Grant Writing Workshop Series Advertisement for additional information and registration deadlines.
All sessions will be held at the South Carolina Department of Education Career Development Center. Map and Directions
To enroll, send a Registration Form with payment to: Grants Program, Office of Innovation, South Carolina Department of Education 1429 Senate Street, Suite 1101, Columbia, South Carolina 29201.
Registration forms received without payment will not be processed. Late registration for a higher fee is possible if space permits.

Monday, April 20, 2009

CAGP- Tuesday Night

The Charleston Association of Grant Professionals (CAGP)
will meet on Tuesday, April 21st, at 5:45 p.m.
in the auditorium of the Charleston County Public Library.


Presenter: Willi Glee, Charleston County Human Services Commission

Topic: “Tools and Methods of a Federal Grant Writer”

Mr. Glee will talk about the creation of the agency's boilerplate, the RFP, and writing skills.

If you have any questions, email carolynlackey@comcast.net.

Thursday, April 16, 2009

“Charleston Believes” Saturday, April 18th

On Saturday, April 18th join The Dee Norton Lowcountry Children’s Center (DNLCC) for some free family fun at “Charleston Believes” on Marion Square from 8am until 12 noon.

Children will enjoy hands-on butterfly art projects, face painting, and a bubble machine. The Charleston Police Department will be there to fingerprint children, and the Charleston Fire Department will provide fire safety tips and tours of a fire truck. DNLCC and its community partners will provide information for adults on how to keep children safe.

Enter The Butterfly Billboard Contest sponsored by 95sx! Enter for your chance to win your artwork on DNLCC's 'I believe...' campaign billboard on I-26! Children, 5K through 5th grade, may enter! Download the PDF NOW on DNLCC.org or 95SX.com OR come to DNLCC's "Charleston Believes" event on Marion Square to enter! You may also enter on 95sx.com!

Running throughout April, which is National Child Abuse Prevention month, DNLCC’s annual “I believe…” campaign is giving Charleston area residents knowledge and tools to keep children safe. The campaign focuses on the belief that child abuse is a grown-up problem. DNLCC wants adults to take an active role in the prevention of child abuse and to know that services are available at the Center when abuse occurs.
The “I believe…” campaign sponsors include Wachovia, Piggly Wiggly, Live 5 News, Citadel Communications, Adams Outdoor Advertising, and Cognetix. DNLCC is an accredited member of the National Children’s Alliance.

Wine and Auction Picnic

To benefit the outreach ministry of the
Rural Mission, Inc.
“Celebrating 40 years of Building with Love !
Sunday, April 19, 3-6pm
Irvin House Vineyard- Wadmalaw Island
Enjoy Lowcountry cuisine, music, wine from this award winning local vineyard, the fun of auctions and raffles and a beautiful Spring afternoon on the Sea Islands! Enjoy chicken bog, BBQ chicken, side dishes and the special blends that Irvin House Vineyards are well known for.
Tickets: $20 per person, all inclusive
Reserve or purchase tickets through the Mission at 768-1720 or through ETix.com
Event and ticket information are also available at: www.ruralmission.org

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

A Step by Step Approach to Fundraising Planning

If you weren't able to join us for the Fundraising workshop today I hope you will be able to join us on May 12 for "How to Involve your Board in Fundraising".

Here are the 10 steps to developing a fundraising plan we discussed today.

1. Presenting a strong mission statement and vital programs

2. Conducting an assets inventory for your organization

3. Creating a dynamic case statement

4. Setting realistic fundraising goals

5. Diversifying funding mix for your organization

6. Formulating strategies for raising money from individual donors

7. Formulating strategies for raising money from institutions

8. Putting the fundraising calendar together

9. Making the approach/Building relationships

10. Monitoring and evaluating your fundraising effort

Monday, April 13, 2009

Don't forget! Fundraising Workshop tomorrow.

Introduction to Fundraising Planning

April 14 at 10 a.m.
Main Library Auditorium

This workshop will introduce participants to strategies for devising a fundraising plan that best reflects their organization’s needs and resources.

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Nonprofit Workshop @ the Library


Introduction to
Fundraising Planning

April 14 at 10 a.m.
In the Main Library Auditorium

This workshop will introduce participants to strategies for devising a fundraising plan that best reflects their organization’s needs and resources.

Call 805-6930 or email jonesmi@ccpl.org for more information.

Dealing with Payday Lenders & Payday Loans workshop

Increasing H.O.P.E. Financial Training Center will be conducting a budgeting class on Thursday, April 9th, at 6:00 pm. They will also be discussing “Dealing with Payday Lenders & Payday Loans”.
The class will be held at the Increasing H.O.P.E. Financial Training Center at 2154 N. Center St. Ste 416-D, N. Charleston, SC 29406. The cost is $10.00

Local nonprofit brings clean water to African village, fund-raiser set for May 2

What started as the ultimate field trip for a group of inner-city kids from North Charleston has grown into a humanitarian effort to help others less fortunate in a small village in Ghana. During the summer of 2006, the children of the Djole Dance and Drumming Company from the Union Heights neighborhood in North Charleston embarked on a trip to West Africa to learn more about their ancestry roots. After a moving and eye-opening experience, the children returned home with a mission – determined to help the children of Ghana orphaned by HIV/AIDS. Together with the elders in the community and friends from the Medical University of South Carolina, the children began a partnership with a nonprofit in Ghana and Project Okurase (pronounced Oh-krah-see) was born.

The main focus of Project Okurase is to build a multi-purpose, arts-based center that will provide a loving, home environment for orphaned children, as well as education and jobs-skill training to village residents. The name of the center is the Nkabom Centre, meaning ‘coming together’ in the Ghanaian language of Twi.
Earlier this year, the official ground-breaking for the center took place and village residents are currently making bricks for the construction of the eco-friendly buildings. Students from Clemson University’s Architectural Center are developing the design for the Nkabom Centre and on Saturday, May 2, Project Okurase will host one of the Lowcountry’s most unique music and arts festivals to raise money for a sustainable, clean water treatment system through a partnership with Water Missions International.
The eco-, family-friendly event will take place on the site of the former Food Bank distribution building near the Cosgrove Avenue entrance of the Navy Yard at Noisette in North Charleston. It will be held from 4 to 8 p.m. with an after-party celebration with the popular group The Afromotive, Charleston’s own Dub Island Soundsystem, and all the way from Ghana, master drummer and co-founder of Project Okurase, Samual Yeboah, also known as Powerful from 8 to 11 p.m.
Tickets are available through etix.com and are $15 in advance and $20 at the door. Children 12 and under are welcome to attend for free.
Sponsors for the event include the Navy Yard at Noisette, Fisher Recycling, Trio Solutions Inc. and Little Dog Advertising Agency, PDA Green Light and Big Hair Productions.

Sponsorship and volunteer opportunities are available. If you are interested in supporting this event, please contact Jennifer Cherock at jcherock@trio-solutions.com or call (843) 216-0442. More information can also be found at www.projectokurase.org.

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

I Believe Campaign Events


The Dee Norton Center for the Lowcountry has tons of events coming up this month in support of their I Believe Campaign.


Thu, April 9th: Take Back the Night 5pm rally begins @ College of Charleston Cistern
Fri, April 17th: 'I believe...' @ Family Circle Cup, 10 am to 5 pm.
Sat, April 18th: Charleston Believes Event @ Marion Square, 8 am to noonBRING YOUR FAMILY!
Sat, April 18th: 'I believe...' @ the Children's Museum of the Lowcountry's FAM JAM, 10 am to 2 pm
Sat, April 18th: I believe@ the Charleston Battery , 7:30 pm
TBD: I believe@ the Charleston RiverDogs, 7:30 pm
Tue, April 28th: I believe... Golf Marathon at Patriots Point Golf Links


Visit http://www.dnlcc.org/ for more details.

12th Annual Nonprofit Conference

Visit www.scanpo.org for details.

Monday, April 6, 2009

Grants.gov webcast

The next Grants.gov Stakeholder Webcast is Wednesday, April 15, 2009, from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. EDT. This meeting will be a webcast only and registration is NOT required

Agenda:
Introduction
Grants.gov Quarterly Update
Grants.gov and the Recovery Act
Grants.gov Recently Accomplished System Builds
Recovery.gov; Representative from Recovery.gov will discuss the initiative
Grant Fraud; Representative from Dept. of Justice will discuss Grant Fraud

Instructions:
Registration is not required. Click here: http://www.hhs.gov/grants/webcast/index.html at 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday, April 15.

Friday, April 3, 2009

Join us on Facebook

After the great turnout at the Nonprofit Networking Lunch I thought it would be great if we could all continue to network between events. So the Charleston Area Nonprofit Network is now on Facebook. Feel free to post any upcoming events, fundraisers etc.
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=76931204752

Drayton Hall Picnic


Here's to our Friends! Grab your friends and family and join us for the
2nd Annual Friends of Drayton Hall Picnic.
Under the tent, you'll enjoy Lowcountry favorites like BBQ pork, fried chicken, and fresh local fish along with beer, wine, and soft drinks. This family-friendly event also includes historical children's games, so it's perfect for parents, grandparents, and children alike.
New this year, Drayton Hall's 2007 Wood Family Fellow Sarah Stroud will be giving informal presentations on her archaeological work--including sharing an array of artifacts--while 2008 Wood Family Fellow Natalie Ford will be in the house presenting her architectural research. What a great way to learn something new about Drayton Hall!
Tickets for the general public are $19.95.
Tickets for members of the Friends of Drayton Hall are $16.95.
Children (12-6) are $11.95, 5 and under free.
For more information or to purchase tickets today, please contact Courtney Bates by phone, 843/769-2612 or email, courtney_bates@draytonhall.org


Thursday, April 2, 2009

8th Annual "It's In The Bag" Purse Silent Auction & Reception





A fun, fabulous and feminine fundraiser to benefit the

Center for Women!

Thursday, April 30 6 to 8:30 pm
City Gallery at Waterfront Park

34 Prioleau St Charleston, SC 29401
$25 at the door includes wine & fabulous hors d'oeurves

Local artists and talent have designed beautiful one-of-a-kind purses for you! This year each purse comes with a $100 value piece of merchandise or gift certificate.

More than $40,000 was raised to support CFW programs and services last year!

Networking Lunch recap

We had a great turnout for the first Nonprofit Networking Lunch. If you missed it, the next one will be May 21 at noon. I some some ideas for some really great topics and I will let you know soon.
Yesterday, Tina Arnoldi from Coastal Community Foundation spoke about different types of social media and how nonprofits can use them to communicate with potential volunteers, donors and the community in general. It was a great presentation with a lot of valuable information. I wanted to make sure I posted the websites she talked about.

Google Alerts
http://www.google.com/alerts

www.twitter.com

www.facebook.com

www.blogger.com

www.razoo.com (this was one of the donation sites she mentioned)

www.universalgiving.org (this is the other)

W also talked about how fast Facebook and Twitter are growing. Here's an interesting post on just how much.
http://mashable.com/2009/03/16/twitter-growth-rate-versus-facebook/