Nonprofit Net, Inc.

Nonprofit Net Mission Statement

Our mission is to unite nonprofits within a community to attract local philanthropic resources and to increase their capacity to deliver services.

We work with nonprofit organizations to facilitate access to local resources that would not otherwise be available. Whether the objective is fundraising, finding new board members, recruiting volunteers or improving operations, we help our member organizations reach their goals more easily and more quickly. We also help our members to improve the capacity of their boards and improve their own internal management and operational practices by providing access to managerial and executive talent at regular peer group meetings.

Seminar Videos Now Available on LexMedia

Lexmedia has been video taping our meetings and has made available the videos of our May, October and November 2009 seminars. We will be adding videos of our seminars going forward.

To view the videos, please click here.

March 2010 Seminar Announcement

Nonprofit Net is pleased to announce a seminar on Thursday, March 18, 1.30 to 3.30 pm; in the Meeting Room in Cary Memorial Library, 1874 Massachusetts Avenue, Lexington MA 02420.

To register for the seminar please click here.

Seminar Description

Building a Better Board: Getting the Right People for the Job

Do you struggle to find great new board members – ones who will get engaged and take an active role on your board? Are your new board members not meeting your expectations? Do you have excessive board turnover? This seminar will address these all-too-common issues using the concept of The Board Building Cycle. Participants will get practical tips and tools to help find, recruit, elect, and retain qualified, engaged board members. This seminar is geared toward board members and staff who assist with board recruitment.

The seminar will be conducted by Amy Cahners and Susan Donahue, principals at the consulting firm of Cahners & Donahue Associates LLC. www.cahnersanddonahue.com . They serve nonprofits in the areas of board governance, strategic planning, and fundraising. Known for developing creative, customized and common-sense solutions to meet client challenges; their approach builds upon not only the industry best practices but also more than 30 years of their leadership experience in both for-profit and non-profit organizations. Notably, Amy served as board chair of Harvard Business School alumni pro bono consulting organization-Community Action Partner; and currently serves on the Board of Overseers of Newton Wellesley Hospital. Susan served as board chair of The Food Project; and currently serves as president of the Alumni Council of Phillips Academy Andover. Amy and Susan are on the faculty of the Arts & Business Council of Greater Boston and have been frequent speakers at nonprofit conferences including the MNN/AGM Conference, Foundation for MetroWest, New Sector Alliance, and The Lenny Zakim Fund.

Materials from the February 2010 Seminar have been posted

Here are the materials from the February Seminar:

Seminar Description: Click here.

icon 2010-2-23 - Effective Marketing on a Shoestring ( )

Materials from the January 2010 Seminar have been posted

The materials from the January 2010 Seminar have been posted.

Seminar title: Why we all throw away requests for donations
10 essentials for the next letter you send to prospective donors

Seminar description - 2010-1-19 Why we throw away requests for donations

icon Letters and 10 Ways (1.04 MB 2010-01-19 11:35:57) - this version is a PDF and doesn't contain the notes.

icon Letter and 10 Ways (1.6 MB 2010-01-20 10:27:36) - this version is a PowerPoint document and does contain the notes.

Materials from the November and Decmeber 2009 seminars

The materials from both seminars have been posted.

November Seminar materials: "The Art of the Ask"

icon 2009-11-18: The Art of the Ask? ( )

December Semianr materials: "Get That Grant Through a Sublime Proposal Budget!"

icon 2009-12-17: Get That Grant Through a Sublime Proposal Budget ( )

December Seminar Announcement

Nonprofit Net is pleased to announce a seminar on Thursday, December 17, 2009, 1:30pm - 3:30 pm; in the Meeting Room in Cary Memorial Library, 1874 Massachusetts Avenue, Lexington MA 02420.

To register for the seminar please click here .

Seminar Description

Get That Grant Through a Sublime Proposal Budget!

Foundations are experiencing reduced endowment income to the tune of 25 to 30 percent due to the last year's market meltdown and at the same time are receiving higher funding requests due to the current great recession. Obtaining grants has become more competitive than ever, so if your proposal isn’t excellent, chances are you will not receive the dough, re, mi. If your current proposal does not sing with clarity, or looks like it was written on Fantasy Island, come to this workshop and learn to create sublime, winning proposals budgets! Attendees will learn about budgeting pitfalls, tools to help with budgeting, common revenues and expenses, and presentation of budget material accompanying the proposal. Sample budgets will be dissected.

The seminar will be conducted by Carla C. Cataldo, M.P.P , principal at the consulting firm of Proposals, Etc.( http://proposalsetc.com ). Carla brings eighteen years of proposal-writing experience which has garnered several million dollars in support from federal, state, corporate, and private foundation sources. She has served clients in the areas of education, health and human services, economic development, transportation enhancements, housing, historical preservation and the arts with spectacular results -- in 2008, her clients received, on average, a return of 1600% on their investment of services. She is the co-author of Get That Grant! The Quick-Start Guide to Successful Proposals (Booklocker.com 2009) and is a frequent presenter of proposal-writing workshops . She currently serves on the Board of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, Central Massachusetts Chapter; and previously served as a member of the MetroWest Community Health Care Foundation’s Distribution Committee. Carla holds degrees from Smith College and the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.