What is the Center for Nonprofit Excellence?

The Center for Nonprofit Excellence (CNE) is a local resource center designed to bring local, regional, and national resources to a single place.  By making these resources more readily available, area nonprofits will save time and money and be able to focus on maximizing their potential.

Nonprofit Advocacy Alert

As part of the national health care reform debate, Congress is considering incentives to help smaller employers, including nonprofits, provide health insurance for their employees. Learn more about the proposed changes and what nonprofits can do to help ensure that congress passes health care reform legislation that will provide the incentives needed for nonprofits to have access to affordable health insurance for their employees.

read more

Thanks to All Day of Service Volunteers!

The Center for Nonprofit Excellence would like to thank all of the volunteers who contribute their time and energy during the 2010 Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service. The Corporation for National and Community Service estimated that more than 1,000,000 volunteers joined forces during last year's holiday!

visit serve.gov to learn more

Upcoming Events & Trainings

THE ROLE OF THE BOARD IN FUNDRAISING

Date & Time: Friday, February 12, 2010, 9:00am - 11:00am
Location: Cityspace
Speaker(s): Wendy McGrady, Vice President of The Curtis Group
Fee: $20 for members; $40 for nonmembers
Advance Registration: Greatly Appreciated. Register Now.
Type: CNE Workshop
Today more than ever nonprofits boards are expected to raise significant amounts of money. This workshop will outline the key elements necessary to building an effective fundraising board, including the board's role in major gift fundraising. As the only Virginia-based member of the Giving Institute, the Curtis Group’s extensive fundraising work with nonprofits has provided them the opportunity to interact with a wide variety of nonprofit boards of different sizes and levels of experience. This workshop will bring that experience to the table and help participants better understand how successful nonprofit boards operate. Participants will leave the workshop with a greater understanding of why board leadership is essential to successful fundraising. They will learn how to go about building a successful fundraising board, traits to look for in potential board members and how to orient the board and prepare them for their role in fundraising. Executives Directors, Directors of Development and board members are encouraged attend.

EFFECTIVE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT STRATEGIES

Date & Time: Wednesday, February 24, 2010, 9:00am - 12:00pm
Location: Virginia Foundation for the Humanities
Speaker(s): Maurice Jones, City of Charlottesville; Susan Payne, Payne, Ross & Assoc.; Alex Gulotta, Legal Aid Justice Center
Fee: $25 to members; $50 to nonmembers
Advance Registration: Greatly Appreciated. Register Now.
Type: CNE Seminar
Broad community engagement is key to nonprofit success-- whether it's engagement with local government, the private sector or the public. Often, though, nonprofits are successful at one form of engagement, but not others or lack a concrete plan for community engagement that adequately supports their mission. This seminar will provide techniques for developing an effective community engagement strategy to increase your organization's visibility, develop critical resources and build support for your programs. Hear from a marketing expert, a government leader and a nonprofit executive on tried and true strategies that work. This will be a working session; attendees will have an opportunity to begin crafting a plan specific to their organization to engage the community and to receive feedback from the panelists on their draft plan. Executive Directors, Public/Community Relations and Marketing Staff as well as Board Members are encouraged to attend.

Weekly Highlights

Our weekly newsletter will keep you up-to-date on all the latest happenings in the nonprofit sector and the local community. 
Read the latest issue: February 2010 Volume 1 
Not receiving our newsletter? Sign up here. 

Article Spotlight: Virtual Meeting Attendance: Not Present, But Still Here
Consider the benefits and challenges of virtual meeting attendance and learn practical tips to make it a viable option for most boards. (read more)

Browse through the articles in the CNE's online library.

Funding Spotlight: Motorola Foundation: Innovation Generation Grant Program
Supports targeted, innovative education programs that support math and science teacher-training programs and nonprofit organizations that excite young people about these subjects.

Check out other funding opportunities.