Montana Nonprofit Association

August MTc3 eNews

Director's Update: MNA's 2010 Conference: the future of our sector
MNA News & Resources: Insurance Webinars | MNA's Grantstation Discount | Rural Communities Conference
Members in the News: Community Action Partnership of NW Montana | Missoula Development Services Corp. | Montana Food Bank Network & Missoula Food Bank
Links from Around the Web: See3 Communications, Flip Video, and The DoGooder Nonprofit Video Awards
Featured Member: Options Women's Clinic - Pregnancy Resource Center of Helena
Featured Job: Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Communities Program Manager, NCAT, Butte
Featured Video: Fish Wildlife & Parks - Pictograph Caves State Park, Billings
Welcome New MNA Members

Director's Update

MNA's 2010 Conference: the future of our sector
by Brian Magee, MNA Executive Director

Brian-eNews

The MNA Conference is quickly approaching and we would like to take the opportunity to personally invite all of you to attend. This year's conference theme of Nonprofits Through the Looking Glass: the future of our sector sets the stage for exploring the forces at work that will shape the nonprofit community in Montana and across the country in the years ahead. As part of our MTc3: Looking Ahead track, we will be unveiling MNA's newly completed 5-year plan and strategic priorities for the future of our association - a plan that all of you helped us shape with your input at our town-hall meetings held two years ago.

We are also very excited about our great lineup of conference speakers and presenters. Get a preview on our MNA Blog where a few of them have posted some initial thoughts about the conference and their sessions. In addition to her keynote presentation, Ruth McCambridge of the Nonprofit Quarterly will be spending time with nonprofit leaders while she is in Helena to hear directly from them about issues facing us here in Montana. Tim Delaney will offer ideas from his unique perspective as President and CEO of the National Council of Nonprofits on how our network can rally together to engage trends that are threatening nonprofits across the country. Gita Gulati-Partee & Lisa Ranghelli will share findings on the impacts of advocacy, organizing, and civic engagement in the northwest region from the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy. Ruth French, Human Resource Consultant for Associated Employers is well-known to Montana nonprofits as a great resource on HR issues and says she will share ways to save your organization a lot of time and potentially money in the long run by attending to HR basics. And, check out our video blog from Peter York of the TCC Group talking about how evaluation in your organization can support and strengthen a true learning culture toward increasing impact and taking programs/services to scale.

These are just a few of the outstanding speakers at this years conference. Check out the entire line-up on our conference agenda. And, early bird registration ends September 8, so be sure to check out the agenda and register soon. We look forward to seeing you in Helena.

MNA News & Nonprofit Resources

MNA Webinars on Insurance Products
Do you want ot learn more about saving your organization, time, money and reducing risk? Sign up for these FREE webinars on Director's and Officers insurance on Sept. 16 at 1:00 pm and Unemplyment Insurance on Sept. 8th at 2 pm. Contact Brad Robinson to learn more about how you can take advantage of these great savings.

Grantstation: Don’t forget, MNA members are eligible for a full subscription to GrantStation for $75 instead of the regular rate of $599 - an 85% discount, making it the best deal around! Search for information about private foundation and government grant opportunities. Learn more.

TIP OF THE MONTH

Comparing Social Networking Websites

Social networking site like Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn are increasingly likely to provide value to nonprofits looking to have online conversations and reach new constituents. The sites are fairly different from each other, however – Facebook is particularly good at promoting discussion and events, while Twitter is particularly good for connecting with like-minded organizations and the media and LinkedIn provides an interesting way to network with potential new supporters. How do these sites compare? In this excerpt from our much larger Nonprofit Social Media Decision Making Guide, we compare the options for social networking sites. Read more.

and in other news...

Rural Communities Conference - MSU Bozeman, Aug 31-Sept 1
Neighborhoods, schools, cities and towns are bringing all kinds of people into creative community problem solving and building a future for the rural West. This is your chance to share, learn, connect and mobilize with others dedicated to creating thriving rural communities. Find solutions, share success stories, adopt new tools, and leave ready to move from waiting to leading, from talk to action. The keynote speaker will be Joseph Marshall III, author of The Power of Four: Leadership Lessons of Crazy Horse. Breakout session topics include a plenary session on Service as Solution, and workshops on Urban/Rural Partnerships, Building Capacity in Rural Food Systems, Saving our Rural Grocery Stores, Transportation Options for Rural Communities, Farm to Table, Revitalizing Rural Communities by Bringing Home our Youth as Future Leaders, Engaging and Creating On-line Communities, and more. Learn More.

Great Links

Links from Around the Web:

At MNA we are busy compiling videos for our updoming conference and offering our members the opportunity to create their own video through our "Do You Flip?" program. As a result, the following linkscame to mind:

See3 Communications Blog: 5 Questions to Evaluate Your Nonprofit Video ROI
The Flip Video Spotlight program helps nonprofits use video to make the world a better place.
View the submissions for the DoGooder Nonprofit Video Awards held this year to see the many ways nonprofits are using video to engage people in their cause.

Billy Bowman - mascot of the GNPF

Also, we love to follow Billy Bowman on "Billy's Blog". Billy is the official blogger of the Glacier National Park Fund and also has his own Facebook page and Twitter account.

Way to go GNPF for a really creative way to engage people in your work!

Members in the News:

Feed the Children event helps those in need pick up groceries, personal care items

By KEILA SZPALLER of the Missoulian | Posted: Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Magy Stelling, a volunteer from St. Francis Xavier parish, distributes food to Zoe Miller and Rich Williamson, from left, during a Feed the Children event at the Rosauers parking lot Wednesday morning. Groceries and personal care items were distributed to an estimated 400 people. Photo by LINDA THOMPSON/Missoulian

Before heading to the Missoula Food Bank to volunteer, a cheerful Diane Keefauver picked up gratis groceries for herself, a 25-pound box in the Rosauers parking lot. "I saw they have potatoes," Keefauver said. "Potatoes go a long way." Keefauver was one of an estimated 400 people who Wednesday scored free boxes of groceries and personal care items at a Feed the Children event. Based in Oklahoma, Feed the Children is a Christian nonprofit with a mission to deliver food and other necessities to children and families in need around the world.

The event also was sponsored and organized by the Montana Food Bank Network and the Missoula Food Bank. The network distributes food across the state, including to 28 agencies in Missoula; the Food Bank operates in the greater Missoula area. Read more.

Adults with disabilities learn power of belief, learning to tell a story
By CHELSI MOY Photographed by TOM BAUER of the Missoulian | Posted: Saturday, June 26, 2010

Staff member Machell Sullivan, left, holds a microphone for client John Vanhoozen to say his lines as they and other clients and staff of Missoula Developmental Services Corp. rehearse a play recently. Producing a play is a new way for MDSC to work toward its goal of helping severely and profoundly developmentally disabled adults learn to live independently.

In the last year, Amanda Stoumbaugh has mostly kept to herself. Growing up and attending Bonner Elementary and Sentinel High School, she would sing in the school hallways and speak whenever it suited her. In the spring of 2009, she moved into a group home. Suddenly, she was talking a lot less.

Only recently has Stoumbaugh - who has cerebral palsy, epilepsy, is visually impaired and gets around in a wheelchair - started to come out of her shell. Her mother, Rita Kearn, says it's important now, more than ever, for Stoumbaugh to learn to communicate her needs. So, when Kearn learns her 19-year-old daughter has a speaking role in a production of "The Little Engine That Could," a play adapted from the popular children's book by the same name, she knows this is one performance she can't miss. Read more.

18 Months Later: Recovery Act’s Impact on the Flathead
By Dan Testa from the Flathead Beacon , 07-25-10

A road crew works on a section of the U.S. Highway 93 bypass. - Lido Vizzutti/Flathead Beacon

...But the list of recipients that used or benefited from stimulus funding in Flathead County is long and varied, ranging from school districts to logging outfits. Community Action Partnership of Northwest Montana (CAP), which administers various social and economic assistance programs, is among the biggest recipients of stimulus dollars. According to Jane Nolan, ARRA oversight officer, CAP has so far spent roughly $4.75 million out of the $6.75 million it is obligated, on approximately 1,500 clients. Read full article.

Welcome New Members

As always we would like to close with a sincere, great thanks to our recently joined new members: Broadwater Community Health Foundation, Inc., Townsend
Native American Community Development Corporation, Browning
Bozeman Sculpture Park, Bozeman
Montana Public Health Association, Choteau
Montana Renewable Energy Association, Missoula
Lakeside QRU, Inc., Lakeside
Montana State University - Northern Foundation, Havre
Bitterroot CASA, Inc., Hamilton
Indian Child and Family Resource Center, Helena
Zootown Arts Community Center, Missoula
Montana Farm Bureau Foundation, Bozeman

our new Affiliate Members:

Gallatin County DUI Task Force, Bozeman
Peggy Owens/Sage Solutions Nonprofit Consulting, LLC, Bozeman
Deborah Singer, Billings,

and all our renewing members. View all of MNA's members here.

MNA Programs

The Nonprofit Quarterly is a unique print and online magazine that nonprofit leaders count on to provide them with values based management information and proven practices. Each issue focuses on a theme of critical importance and provides you with the cutting edge, relevant and useful information you need to manage more effectively and advance your mission. MNA members receive 25% off the regular rate.

About MTc3

MTc3 is published every month by the Montana Nonprofit Association. If you have information, stories or member photos you would like us to included, please send them to Patty White, Communications Director. Submissions must be made no later than the first Friday of the month to be included for consideration.

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August MTc3 eNews