Upcoming Courses

Instructor: Everett Marshall
Location: Webinar, link will be sent to participant
CEUs: .5
Date: November 18, 2021

Building trust is essential to forming strong relationships and healthy, cohesive organizational cultures. In today’s complex and interconnected world, it is a competency that is essential for leaders to learn and develop, and one that can be instilled in everyone who wants to help further their organization’s mission. Based on the practical, proven framework described in The Thin Book of Trust by Charles Feltman, this workshop will provide participants with tools and concepts to bring enormous value to their organizations by helping them learn to intentionally and consistently create and nurture trust-based relationships in their work lives and beyond.

Learning Objectives:

• Define “trust” and identify key enablers and barriers
• Explain how trust can be created in individual and team relationships
• Understand the 4 key Domains of Trust:
  • Care
  • Sincerity
  • Reliability
  • Competence
• Practice applying tools and concepts for building trust (for individuals and teams)
• Explore the Triscendance Trust Assessment for Leadership Teams (a tool for assessing levels or trust and challenge areas for teams)

Instructor: Tom Geary, TCC Faculty
Location: Webinar, link will be sent to participants
Time: 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Cost: $50.00
CEUs: .3 (FDC)
Dates: July 29, 2021

In every profession, effective written communication is heavily valued. One’s ability to clearly, concisely, vividly, and convincingly inform or persuade different audiences is a skill essential to successful collaboration, partnerships, and business operations. Yet confidently composing an error-free, cohesive paragraph, a direct yet detailed e-mail, or a tonally appropriate memorandum can be a challenge.

In this writing workshop, participants will engage in hands-on, interactive activities and lessons to sharpen their rhetorical, composition, and technical writing skills. This class will focus on both larger issues in writing – rhetorical situations, paragraph building, e-mails and memoranda, and ethos construction – and small level details like concision and brevity, voice and style, grammar, mechanics, and punctuation.

The goal of this workshop is to strengthen your confidence as academic and professional writers for any situation.

Learning Objectives:

• Attendees will learn about the components of a rhetorical situation and how it can be used for analyzing every act of communication.
• Attendees will practice use of the rhetorical situation through an analysis and composition role play activity.
• Attendees will review and learn grammatical and mechanical lessons, including but not limited to commas, independent clauses, run on sentences and fragments, dangling modifiers, and appropriate formal diction.
• Attendees will test their skills in a grammar review activity.
• Attendees will strengthen proofreading abilities and utilize them to self-assess their use of standard American English conventions and proper grammar and mechanics.
• Attendees will learn the most common grammatical mistakes to avoid.
• Attendees will learn the principles of concision and how to avoid wordiness in writing.
• Attendees will complete a concision and directness activity to apply their skills.
• Attendees will review their abilities in composing e-mails, memos, and other professional documents.
• Attendees will revise and reflect on how these writings can be strengthened based on knowledge of rhetorical situation, grammar and mechanics, and concision.

Instructor: Dionne Clemons, Clemons Consulting
Location: Webinar, link will be sent to participants
CEUs: .5 FDC
Dates: December 16, 2021

In this course students examine all aspects of social media and how it is used as a tool for messaging, reputation creation and preservation, and audience interaction. As a part of learning how to utilize online spaces effectively, students will examine and learn to use and manage a variety of social media channels. Students will also learn the persuasive writing skills needed to engage audiences on social media and will learn how and when to use the various social media platforms.

Learning Objectives:

• Analyze the strategic PR functions social media can perform
• Apply social media concepts and strategies to campaigns and causes
• Compare and contrast how social media can be used innovatively to engage audiences
• Describe emerging trends and developments in social media
• Monitor and analyze social media sites and social networks and respond to comments
• Create and optimize content for search engines and create content on topics likely to attract organic search traffic
• Select the most useful social media tools for segmented audiences
• Learn how to manage a social media campaign

Instructor: Jay Frost
Location: Webinar, link will be sent to participants
Time: 9:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Cost: $70.00
CEUs: .5 (FDC)
Dates: September 22, 2021

In this one-day workshop, we will fully explore how you can plan and execute a successful annual and/or capital campaign for your organization. We will talk discuss how you can: establish a realistic goal; identify top donors; assemble campaign leadership; develop a timeline; create a compelling case statement; draft proposals and other requests for support; train solicitors; ask for gifts; and more! This class is designed for small to medium sized organizations with modest budgets and staffing but big ambitions.

Learning Objectives:

• To gain an understanding of the key elements of any successful fundraising campaign;
• To identify what processes will need to be carried out, when, and by whom;
• To determine where you will find your leadership donors and how you can successfully engage and invite their support; and,
• To explore how to create and use a compelling case for support.

Instructor: Manny Cosme, CFO Services Group
Location: Webinar, link will be sent to participants
CEUs: .5
Dates: November 2, 2021

Do you hate doing your annual budget? Do you dismiss the process and “just get it done” every year because your bylaws require you to do so? Are you confused as to how you build an effective budget and why you should even do it? The budget process is one of the most powerful things that you can do as a non-profit leader. Yet it is often shrouded in mystery and consequently dismissed as something that the Board of Directors “has to do” as part of its obligations. There is much power locked within the budget and the budgeting process and it is imperative that this process be done with much time and attention. This course is designed to help you, the leader of a non-profit organization, understand the significance of the budgeting process and how to use your budget to unlock the growth and success of your organization.

• Difference between a “budget” and a “forecast”
• Translating an annual budget into a financial forecast
• Updating financial forecast on an ongoing basis
• When and how to amend a budget
• Purpose of a financial report
• What should…and should not…be included in the report
• How to include action items into the report so Board members can be active participants in the organizations’ finances
• Financial statements to include with the report
• How to flush out all the costs involved in the program.
• Allocating and accounting for common organizational costs at the program level
• How program-level budgets ultimately roll up into a main organizational budget
• Setting up program / class tracking to monitor program budgets once set

Instructor: Charm Bullard, VA Center for Diverse and Inclusive Communities
Location: Webinar, link will be sent to participants
Time: 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Cost: $50.00
CEUs: .3 (FDC)
Dates: August 18, 2021

The Cycle of Prejudice will help participants increase their understanding of the concept and consequences of prejudice, thereby strengthening their efforts to foster an environment of inclusion. Through this workshop, participants will better understand their own identities and increase their knowledge about barriers to inclusion and working across lines of difference. As a result of this workshop participants will have an increased knowledge around identity and diversity, and will also identify preliminary actions they can take to carry this work forward in the non-profit space.

Program Objectives:

By the completion of the engagement, participants will:

• Heighten self-awareness and sharpen analysis of interactions with colleagues from diverse backgrounds;
• Gain an increased understanding of social identity development;
• Reflect on and confront their own beliefs and assumptions;
• Examine the role of prejudice and advantage, and how these dynamics affect behavior, productivity, and feelings of belonging;
• Develop strategies for creating more supportive working environments; and
• Gain skills for building more effective relationships with colleagues across lines of difference

Instructor: Sheri Bender, SHRM-SCP, Pulse HR Solutions 
Location: Webinar, link will be sent to participants
Time: 9:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.
CEUs: .5
Dates: October 12, 2021

Any manager with responsibility for recruiting and managing staff requires an understanding of the basics of HR best practices in order to get the best out of their team and avoid employment legislation pitfalls. This session will provide practical human resources information and tools.  It is generally the frontline managers and supervisors that interact with employees most frequently on a day-to-day basis. 

The more familiar a leader is with the employment laws and expectations, the less likely it is they will create a problematic situation for the organization.  The Virginia employment landscape has changed as much in the last two years as it has in the last decade. If managers do not understand these guidelines and how to apply them practically, they may be unintentionally placing their employers at risk.
Proper HR training enhances every supervisor’s basic skill to create a positive work environment for employees and provides an opportunity to increase morale while hopefully decreasing turnover.

This training session will be interactive with high participant involvement. Attendees will be asked to share and discuss approaches that have been effective for them, and will have the opportunity to informally discuss issues of current and mutual interest with other members of the session.
Participants in this session will:

• Discuss the role of effective supervision in upholding HR policies, procedures, and accountabilities;
• Review the alphabet soup of employment law:  ADA, FMLA, FLSA, and ADEA;
• Explore some of the recent changes in the Virginia employment landscape with the VHRA; and,
• Examine recent updates to Covid guidelines in the workplace and suggested ways employees can navigate the employee vaccination status updates

Instructor: Sarah Milston, The Spark Mill
Location: Webinar, link will be sent to participants
CEUs: .5
Date: September 9, 2021

For decades nonprofits have been asked to “think like a business” – for better and for good. During this session we will review the best parts of that advice and we will leave the rest of it! Engaging strategic thinking and focusing on employee relations are two key areas where we can learn from business best practices.

Learning Objectives:

1. Review of business best practices for Human Resources and employee engagement 
2. Gain insight on strategic thinking and its impact on change management 
3. Highlight employment and finance lessons that business can teach nonprofits

or Bundle BOTH OPME Fall 2021 classes here for savings!

Instructor: Liz Scott, PhD, Brighter Strategies
Location: Webinar, link will be sent to participants
CEUs: .5
Date: October 21, 2021

This workshop provides a hands-on overview of program evaluation and will cover how to create a logic model, how to apply it to a program, and how to develop outcomes/goals for the program based on the evaluation.  The three major types of Program Evaluation will be discussed: Goals-Based; Process-Based and Outcomes-Based evaluations.
A brief discussion of the focuses of each type will include:

• Understanding or increasing the impact of the program;
• Identifying strengths and weaknesses to improve the program;
• Verifying the program is running as intended;
• Developing goals and creating accountability for the programs management; and
• Producing tangible programmatic data.

Information on how to utilize questionnaires, surveys, checklist, interviews, documentation reviews, observation, focus groups and/or case studies to conduct the evaluation will also be reviewed. 
Additionally, each participant will have the opportunity to create a basic logic model during the workshop.  Discussion will also take place around how to use a completed logic model as a management tool to manage the program, identify gaps, write implementation plans, and establish program goals.

Learning Objectives:

Participants will learn:

• about the basics of Program Evaluation (what it is and why they should be conducted);
• how to conduct a program evaluation and how to tie it to an Outcome Measurement System (or Performance Outcome System);
• how to develop a user friendly logic model; and
• how to use the logic model to identify program objectives and goals.

or Bundle BOTH OPME Fall 2021 classes here for savings!

Instructor: Manny Cosme, CFO Services Group
Location: Webinar, link will be sent to participants
CEUs: .5
Date: October 5, 2021

As a non-profit organization, one of your responsibilities is to closely manage and monitor your finances so that they match a previously agreed- upon budget.   After all, the majority of your money as a non-profit does not belong to you, but rather is entrusted to you.   QuickBooks contains some amazing tools that help you fulfill this very important task. In this presentation, we will learn how to use QuickBooks to monitor our actual finances against our budgeted finances – both on an organizational level and on a programmatic level.

In this beginner QuickBooks class you will learn the basics:

• Creating and paying a bill
• Creating and receiving payment for an invoice
• Recording the deposit of cash into your bank account
• Reconciling your cash accounts to ensure that your records are 100% accurate
• The difference between an asset, liability, equity, revenue, cost, and expense account
• Creating and modifying accounts in QuickBooks
• Parent-child account structures
• Expanding and collapsing reports
• What is a class and why that’s important for you to understand
• Examples of powerful classes you can set up
• Determining which products are earning a profit…and which are losing money
• Tracking profitability by jobs / projects that you do.Purpose of reports
• Key reports to pay attention to
• What your Balance Sheet and Income Statement are telling you
• Creating and saving custom reports
• Inputting your approved budget into QuickBook
• Generating and reading the various budget-to-actual reports available in QuickBooks
• Tips on how to generate your budget so it’s easier to enter into QuickBooks
• Coding transactions in QuickBooks so they will show up on your budget reports

Instructor: Amanda Lloyd
Location: Webinar, link will be sent to participants
Time: 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Cost: $25.00
CEUs: 0
Date: December 1, 2021

What’s Covered:

• What to consider before you begin
• What are the required forms
• Fundraising Basics
• Operating and Governance Guidelines

What’s Included:

• Presentation guide to the required paperwork
• Relevant online links & resources
• Networking with others with similar passions and ideas

What’s NOT Covered:

• This is not a complete step-by-step filling out each piece of IRS paperwork, as it may require legal tax advice.