Executive Director Forums are a low-effort, low-cost, and high-impact way to gather with your executive director peers and learn from each other. Each forum gives you the chance to participate in three roundtable discussions led by an experienced executive director. Participants share problems and solutions and trade tips and resources.

For more than a decade, ED Forum participants consistently report that they left with actionable information and an extra bounce in their step from networking with others in our sector. Email nancy@501commons.org if you are interested in being a discussion leader.

Upcoming ED Forums

Our King County Board Training Series runs from September to May, offering over a dozen well-reviewed sessions about governance and board development for staff and board members.  

Sessions are always held at Pacific Tower in Seattle but attendees from other counties are welcome! Cost is $45 per person and $40 for organizations that are 501 Commons members. Organizations with budgets under $1 million receive a $20 discount. Direct questions to Kendra Demuth at kendra@501commons.org.

Upcoming Board Training:

Ask. Thank. Report. Repeat. – Dec. 11, 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

What You Need to Know About Board Governance – Dec. 17, 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

Technology is a crucial component for the success of nonprofits to serve their missions. 501 Talks Tech is a series of FREE monthly sessions that provide information on free and low-cost technology tools that are readily available to organizations of all sizes.

Held periodically at Pacific Tower or online as a webinar, topics discussed at 501 Talks Tech include website maintenance, Google AdWords, social media, databases, search engine optimization, project management / collaboration tools, security & privacy, mobile, e-mail, and more.

Upcoming workshops:

Check back for future workshops, please.

Affordable in-depth classes designed to build up your professional skills and leadership capabilities are available through the 501 Commons Staff Development Coalition. These workshops improve how staff and executive directors work with each other and the communities they serve.

Sessions are 3-6 hours long and cover topics such as staff retention, diversity and inclusion, cultivating empathy and emotional intelligence, building leadership skills, improving communication, and handling difficult conversations.

Upcoming workshop:

Mindfulness & Self-Compassion for Stress Management and Burnout Prevention – Dec. 16, 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Pacific Tower

Did you miss the GiveBIG Washington 2020 kick-off webinar? Don’t worry!

Watch it right now – or whenever it’s convenient for you – and learn from our technology partner CiviCore what changes to the GiveBIG website/back-end functionality you can expect, as well as what your organization should be doing right now to prepare for the Big Day from The Ostara Group.

GiveBIG Washington will be on Wednesday, May 6, 2020 from midnight to midnight.

For a busy nonprofit professional, effectively managing volunteers can seem daunting – even challenging – but with a little time and intention you can go from being solely reactive to highly effective at engaging volunteers. You will be guided you through the critical components of setting a volunteer program up for success, learning things like writing great volunteer descriptions, recruiting fantastic volunteers, building your supervisory skills, and more. Both sessions are at Pacific Tower.

• Tuesday, March 10, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
• Tuesday, May 12, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

All volunteers have skills. What distinguishes skills-based volunteers is that they are engaged in roles that use their specific abilities, credentials, and experience. Nonprofits can benefit greatly from engaging skills-based volunteers, but they often lack the knowledge and tools required to do so effectively. This session will guide you through the basics of successfully engaging skills-based volunteers, explore the factors leading to strong matches with skills-based volunteers, and explore how to collaborate on projects with them once they're onboard.

Register for the April 21 workshop from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. (Pacific Tower).