Staff Report
alexandrianews.org
Today, ACT for Alexandria held its sixth annual Nonprofit Excellence Forum, which focused on community building, citizen engagement, fundraising and marketing.
More than 300 representatives from nonprofit organizations attended the forum. “We started ACT to be a catalyst for nonprofits to receive charitable investments, and here we are at our sixth annual nonprofit excellence forum and we have capacity crowds for each of our breakout sessions,” said ACT Board Chair Allison DiNardo. “And it wasn’t required for anyone to be here.”
Jean Case, CEO of the Case Foundation. (Photo: James Cullum)
Jean Case, CEO of the Case Foundation and David Smith, executive director of the National Conference on Citizenship, held a keynote conversation with the audience to begin the day. Their topic: The Importance of Social Networking.
“Pay attention to what consumers want,” Case said. “What we are seeing in every organization – they ask ‘Can we do this? What is our policy regarding social networking?’ Well, I think you’ve got to try stuff, and there’s a ton of information online, like wearemedia.com publishing information to share what’s been tried before by the companies. For the skeptics in the room, I don’t blame you. But these things work and they make a difference. They build awareness, they build your brand, and they increase your client base.”
“Marketing – Telling Your Organization’s Story”
Panelists discussed innovative ways to market organizations and create and implement key messages to draw people to an organization.
The panel included: Nancy Belmont – Belmont, Inc.; Kathy Jankowski – The Catalogue for Philanthropy; Brooks Kenny – Promoting Public Causes; and Anne Schaffer and Edwin Taylor – Capital One.
“Fundraising – Everybody Can Play a Role!”
This panel was designed for nonprofit board members. The panel provided fundraising perspectives from Kim Fiske – Fiske & Harvey, LLC (board chair and former resource development chair); Mary-Frances Wain – MFW Consulting, Inc. (development consultant and former executive director); and Casey Golden – Small Act (entrepreneur, author and social media expert.)
“Community Building & Citizen Engagement – ACTion Alexandria”
Panelist taught organizations to use ACTion Alexandria, a new social media platform, to empower citizens to address community challenges and to take collective action to benefit your nonprofit and the community. The panel included: Bonnie Baxley – Community Lodgings; Tony Castrilli – City of Alexandria; Chris Lewis – ACTion Alexandria; and Tracy Viselli – ACTion Alexandria. The panel was moderated by Shayna Englin – Englin Consulting, LLC.