NC Conservation Network 9th Annual Retreat Agenda


Thursday May 7 and Friday May 8, 2009. Raleigh Convention Center, 500 South Salisbury Street, Raleigh, NC 27601, 919-996-8500. Directions available here (opens in new window).


Thursday, May 7


10:30am-11:30am: Registration Open

11:30am-1:00pm: Kick-off/Lunch/Fundraising Expert Tables

Join us as we kick-off the 2009 Annual Retreat with lunch and our favorite funders and fundraising experts!
A few of the great experts we've lined up include:
*Bill Bondurant: Trustee, Park Foundation
*Donna Chavis: Executive Director, NC Gives
*Mike Crum: Principal, TMC Consulting
*Carrie Gray: Director of Donor Engagement, NC Community Foundation
*Robyn Fehrman: Community Program Officer, Triangle Community Foundation
*Bobbi Hapgood: Executive Director, NC Network of Grantmakers and Board member, Educational Foundation of America
*David Neal: Trustee, Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation
*Sandra Rodriguez: Donor Relations Officer, Triangle Community Foundation
*Annette Taylor: Program Officer, Community Impact through Nonprofit Excellence, BlueCross BlueShield of NC Foundation
*Hawley Truax: Program Officer, Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation

1:00pm-3:30pm: Workshops


  • Building Diverse Organizations

    Come hear four different organizations share their story of how they have worked to diversify their organizations. This workshop promises to inspire and provide you with new ideas to make your own organization more diverse.
    Presenters:
    Dothula Baron-Hall, Rural Empowerment Association for Community Help
    Jenn Frye, Democracy North Carolina
    Tim McCaffrey, Pamlico-Tar River Foundation
    Skill level: advanced

  • Raising Money in Tough Times

    Last year we saw historic falls in the stock market and things haven’t quite recovered. Many of us are wondering what this means for our nonprofits and how we’re going to continue to raise money when pocketbooks are locked tight. In this workshop, you will hear from a fundraising expert who will give an overview of national and state economic trends and how your organization can stay afloat.
    Presenter: Joyce Mitchell-Antione, Planned Parenthood of Central NC
    Skill level: advanced

  • Building and Developing Your Membership Base

    Strong organizations have a strong membership base. In this workshop Stacy Baker, will teach you how to grow and maintain a membership base for organizational sustainability. In addition, you’ll be able to plan out your own membership campaign with a consultant on-hand.
    Presenter: Stacy Baker, Institute for Conservation Leadership
    Skill level: beginner

  • Crafting Strategy

    Crafting strategy is not an episodic event done every three years and then carefully written up on a strategic plan. Successful organizations are constantly adapting their strategy in response to trends, factors, and events in the external environment. Come learn about some quick tools that you can use with your board and staff to keep your organization’s strategy fresh and relevant, even in the midst of dramatic shifts: a crashing stock market, stimulus packages with an emphasis on green jobs, new administrations, and more.
    Presenter: Meredith Emmett, Third Space Studios & Institute for Conservation Leadership
    Skill level: intermediate


4:00pm-5:30pm: Advocating for the environment in a down economy

In a typical economic downturn conservation advocates usually end up advocating to save critical programs from budget cuts instead of proposing new funding. This is not a typical economic downturn. While there will be battles to preserve funding for good programs, there is also a massive wave of new funding about to pour into North Carolina to stimulate the economy. Hear from our panel about new opportunities and challenges for energy conservation, green jobs, land conservation, transportation and water infrastructure.

Panelists:
  • David Farren, Southern Environmental Law Center
  • Peter Raabe, American Rivers
  • Sharon Campbell, SYNERGY Development and Training Group
  • Katherine Skinner, The Nature Conservancy

6:00pm-8:00pm: Reception at Artspace



Friday, May 8


8:30am-9:30am: Welcome and Breakfast



9:30am-12:00pm: Workshops


  • Internet Organizing to Win

    Have you already started using online organizing tools and techniques in your work, but want to move to the next level? This session will dig more deeply into using the web to mobilize supporters, raise money, find new supporters, and spread your message. Learn lessons and effective strategies from large and small nonprofits, as well as the Obama campaign. This session will be focused on concrete takeaways, and there will be ample time left for questions and conversation.
    Presenter: Heather Cronk, New Organizing Institute
    Skill level: advanced

  • Building Leaders Everywhere

    For our movement to be sustainable and successful we need to make sure we are continually building new leaders. We need trained and knowledgeable individuals ready to take charge when existing leaders leave our community; whether developing new Board members, activists, staff, or other leaders. In this workshop, you will learn how your organization can make sure you’re building leaders for future fights.
    Presenter: Stacy Baker, Institute for Conservation Leadership
    Skill level: beginner

  • Water to the Well: Sustaining Ourselves at Work and at Home

    We are the busiest people we know. We work more hours than we should. We volunteer for other organizations and causes we care about. We have families who don’t get as much of our attention as they should. How can we manage it all and still take care of our selves? In this workshop, you’ll learn tools for practicing self-care such as mindfulness meditation, strategies for setting boundaries, and how to develop your own personal plan for sustainability.
    Presenter: Margie Hattori, Stone Circles
    Skill level: any

  • Hot or Not?: A Media Makeover

    If people don't know who you are, what you want or how to help ... well, you're pretty much road kill. In this session, learn how to sidestep oblivion and heat up your message and your means of communicating. 'Pitch' yourself and your story to a live audience, craft a campaign with legs (hot!) and turn up the burners on how you put it all across (from the snap of your intro speech to the zip of your Facebook page). Your hosts are messaging and marketing pros who've worked with organizations such as Google, Deloitte and E! Entertainment Networks.
    Presenters: Billy Warden, Principal, Billy Warden Communications & Imagination Group and Greg Behr, Principal, Figurative Hats Consulting
    Skill level: advanced


12:00pm-1:00pm: Networking Lunch



1:00pm-2:30pm: Making Change in North Carolina

There’s no denying that the 2008 Obama presidential campaign changed the way political and grassroots campaigns are waged in the nation and in North Carolina. What we want to know is: How did they do it? What can we learn from it? And, is there a way the environmental community can capitalize on what they left behind?
Panelists:

  • Marc Farinella, formerly the North Carolina State Director for President Barack Obama's general election campaign
  • Heather Cronk, New Organizing Institute
  • Brad Thompson, Brad Thompson & Associates

2:30pm-3:00pm: Wrap-Up & Adjournment/Farewell



3:00pm-until: Field Trips (optional)

We're making sure that we build in some fun outdoor time. Check back regularly to see what field trips options we've lined up for you.