Social Media for Social Good in Nashville
Join Social Media Club Nashville and panelist from several local community and non-profit organizations to explore their use of social media and its impact in promoting community services, recruiting volunteers, and reaching fundraising goals.Wednesday July 15th from 6pm to 8pm at Center for Nonprofit Management in Metro Center
(44 Vantage Way, Suite 230 Nashville, TN 37228)
This event is FREE to attend; however, space is limited to the first seventy reservations. Please RSVP to socialmediaclubnashville@gmail.com

Below is a list of the panelists for the program and resources to connect with them online:

Sam Davidson- CoolPeopleCare, Inc.
Website: http://www.coolpeoplecare.org/
Facebook: http://www.new.facebook.com/coolpeoplecare
Twitter: http://twitter.com/coolpeoplecare
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/coolpeoplecare

Corinne Ciocia- Center for Nonprofit Management
Website: http://www.cnm.org/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/cnmmidtn
Blog: http://blog.cnm.org/

Jim Bartoo- Nashville Zoo
Website: http://www.nashvillezoo.org/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Nashville-Zoo/97534520621
Twitter: https://twitter.com/NashvilleZoo and https://twitter.com/Gumu_at_the_Zoo
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/nashvillezoo

Kallie Bienvenu- The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee
Website: www.cfmt.org
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Nashville-TN/The-Community-Foundation-of-Middle-Tennessee/55356141327
Twitter: http://twitter.com/cfmt

About Social Media Club Nashville:
Social Media Club Nashville is part of an international network of community groups that host conversations that explore key issues facing our society as technologies transform the way we connect, communicate, collaborate and relate to each other. The Club’s primary mission is to promote media literacy, promote standard technologies, encourage ethical behavior and share best practices.

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=40982994791&ref=mf
Wiki: http://socialmediaclub.pbwiki.com/Nashville%2C-TN
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SMCNash
*If you blog, shoot video, take photos, tweet, etc, please use #smcnash as your tag

For more information about Social Media Club Nashville programs and events, please contact
Jessica Murray at jessicarmurray@gmail.com or Georgia Cross at georgia.cross@hotmail.com.

Media Advisory from United Way on Tomorrow’s press conference with Mayor Karl Dean:

Mayor Dean and United Way Announce Education ProgressWHAT/WHY: Press conference to announce critical progress that has been made in getting Nashville’s most at-risk children (those from low-income homes) ready for school this fall through Read to Succeed, a United Way of Metropolitan Nashville initiative.

WHERE: United Way of Metropolitan Nashville
250 Venture Circle (in MetroCenter), Nashville, TN 37228

WHEN: Friday, June 26, 2009, 12:45 p.m.

Press conference is just prior to United Way’s June Day of Action, Stuff the Bus.
At 1 p.m. volunteers will begin loading four metro school buses with school supplies (backpacks, binders, pencils, etc.) and deliver them to 42 United Way partner agencies where they will in turn be distributed to families and children who need them.

SPEAKERS: Nashville Mayor Karl Dean
United Way Board Chair Tony Heard

Click here for more information.

Members of the CNM Excellence Network: This coming August Vanderbilt University is embarking upon its fourth annual Commodores in the Community event that will introduce 1600 eager first-year students to the vast array of service opportunities in the Nashville area.

In previous years these Vanderbilt students have participated in a single day of volunteer work. This year, in an effort to promote awareness and longevity in volunteer opportunities, Vanderbilt is hosting Commodores in the Community: Community Agency Fair.

You are invited to participate in this event by staffing a table at the Community Agency Fair from 9am-12pm on Tuesday, August 25th. All first-year students will visit the fair and learn about volunteer opportunities with your organization as well as gain an understanding of the issues you work on in the Nashville community.

Vanderbilt University will also be promoting September 11th National Day of Service and encouraging student groups to make plans for a Day of Service following the community agency fair.

To sign up to participate in the fair, please click on the link below. For planning purposes, please respond by no later than Friday July 3.

Thank you for your consideration of this event and for all you do in the Nashville community. We hope you will be able participate in this great event come August!

Link to Sign Up:
https://sitemason.vanderbilt.edu/form/f160jC

Sincerely,
Amanda Taylor

Office of Active Citizenship & Service
Graduate Intern

oacsvu@gmail.com

From the Nashville City Paper:

The $625,000 grant will be awarded to the YMCA of Middle Tennessee to operate a YouthBuild program in Nashville. The program assists dropouts in obtaining their degrees while also providing occupational training in the construction industry.

The effort to land YouthBuild locally was led by Mayor Karl Dean and Vice Mayor Diane Neighbors, according to a release from the mayor’s office.

“YouthBuild is exactly the kind of program we wanted to attract through the Alternative High School Initiative – it gives students who have dropped out a second chance,” Dean said. “There are no throwaway people in our society.

“We need to continue to reduce the number of students that dropout of our schools, but we also need to go after those who have already dropped out and get them back on track. It’s the right thing to do from both a moral and economic standpoint.”

Cool People Care will be hosting Social Media Summer Camp on Mondays in July. These interactive and informative sessions will give you the ins, outs, and latest ideas on how to use social media to promote your work. For a complete schedule and to register, visit: http://www.coolpeoplecare.org/about/summer-camp/

The Center for Nonprofit Management has announced the finalists for the “Academy Awards” of the nonprofit community in Middle Tennessee.This year Salute will present nine awards totaling nearly $160,000 for nonprofit excellence. The winner of each award will be announced at Salute to Excellence 2009 on Thursday, September 17, 2009.

The Frist Foundation Awards of Achievement recognizes excellence in Middle Tennessee nonprofit organizations in three categories: Innovation in Action, Making a Difference, and Team Building.

• Finalists in the 2009 Innovation in Action category are: Monroe Harding, Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle TN and STARS/Oasis.

• Finalists in the 2009 Making a Difference category are: Health Assist Tennessee, Homework Hotline, and Nurses for Newborns.

• Finalists in the 2009 Team Building category are: Interfaith Dental Clinic, PENCIL Foundation’s LP PENCIL Box, and Our Kids, Inc.

Baptist Healing Trust and Erie Chapman Foundation Servant’s Heart Award recognizes individuals who are providing care and/or assistance to the clients of a nonprofit agency and who are on the “front lines” of the service profession.

• Finalists for the 2009 Servant’s Heart Award are: Martha Oldham of BrightStone, Bob Overton of Discovery Place, and Emad Khalil of Siloam Family Health Center.

Baptist Healing Trust Healing Charity Award recognizes a nonprofit where love and compassion characterize its delivery of service.

• Finalists for the 2009 Healing Charity Award are: Health Assist Tennessee, Renewal House, and Our Kids, Inc.

The Bank of America Chief Executive Officer of the Year Award highlights the importance of executive leadership in an organization’s achievement of mission-related results.

• Finalists for the 2009 CEO of the Year Award are: Brenda Hauk of BrightStone, Mary Bufwack of United Neighborhood Health Services, and Linda Leathers of The Next Door.

The KraftCPAs Board Member of the Year Award recognizes board members who go the extra mile for their organizations.

• Finalists for the 2009 Board Member of the Year Award are: Judy Fisher of Alive Hospice, Don Kendall of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Middle Tennessee, and Andrea Overby of The Next Door.

The Marvin Runyon Leadership Award is presented to a nonprofit agency that has demonstrated sound management strategy in the heat of crisis.

• Finalists for the 2009 Marvin Runyon Leadership Award are: Hands On Nashville, Hope House, and Mercy Children’s Clinic.

The Ford Motor Company Excellence in Communications Award is presented to the organization that exemplifies the best strategies for planning and executing a communications program designed to advance the mission of the organization.

• Finalists for the 2009 Excellence in Communications Award are: Big Brothers Big Sisters of Middle Tennessee, Nashville Ballet, and the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee’s NowPlayingNashville.com.

Junior Achievement announces internship positions available immediately JA of Middle Tennessee has openings for both short term (3 months) and long term (6 month) internships available. Both internships are 10-20 hours/week, unpaid. Perfect for anyone looking to build a resume or someone who is considering a career change and would like nonprofit experience. For more info, visit www.janash.com/internships. Please contact Jessica Bowers at jessicab@janash.com.com with questions or to submit a resume.

News from the Alignment Nashville Elementary Oversight Committee:

If your organization works with MNPS elementary students, please read this message. Otherwise, it probably will not apply to you. Thanks!

The Alignment Nashville Elementary Committee invites your organization to respond to a NEW Invitation To Participate (ITP) for the Alignment Nashville Elementary Character Education Program. The due date has been extended to July 10, 2009.

If you responded to an ITP prior to May 1, 2009, please do so again. We don’t want this process to take a great deal of time, so keep it very simple. In your own words, just tell us what you do that supports Character Education of MNPS elementary students. Click here and complete as much as you can on the form.

What if Character Education is not the main focus of your organization?

No Problem. Please respond anyway. You may be a group like Book’em, whose mission is related to children’s literacy. Book’em supports character education by training reading role model volunteers, who read aloud to elementary classrooms, to incorporate the Alignment Nashville character education traits into their time with students.

What is in it for you?

When your response is approved your organization will be:

• Included in a published Character Education Resource Guide provided to elementary school administrators and counselors
• Invited to participate in a Character Education Community Fair allowing you to network with elementary school administrators and counselors
  If funding becomes available through Alignment Nashville, your organization will be eligible to apply for the funding

What happens next?

Your response to the ITP will be reviewed by the Alignment Nashville Elementary Oversight Committee for approval.

The committee will be looking at your organization’s:

1. Description of services and locations of services to be delivered;
2. Capacity to deliver these services;
3. Description of plans to document activities and outputs, as well as to measure the outcomes of your program.

We will notify you by August 28, 2009 of your proposal’s outcome.

Please share this information with other groups that you think may be working with MNPS elementary students during school and/or outside of school. If you have any questions about this, feel free to contact me, Melissa Spradlin, at 255-1820 or ceo@bookem-kids.org. Thank you. – Melissa

An offer for CNM members from TFLI:

In an effort to provide much needed foreign language classes to employees of other not-for-profit agencies in the Nashville area, TFLI is again offering CNM members 20% off the regular price of $350 per term.

 CNM members pay only $280 for 10 week (20 hour) group classes!

The Summer 2009 term starts the week of July 13th and runs through September 21st.
Along with our most popular classes of Spanish, French, Italian and Japanese, we are offering Modern Standard Arabic, Mandarin Chinese, German, Portuguese and Russian again this term. Also note that there are more daytime classes at both our Metro Center and Green Hills locations!

Complete Schedule Available Now at www.tfli.org. Registration deadline is Friday, July 3rd.

To receive your discount please:

• Go to www.tfli.org and register online with the special discount code: AYWZZG

• You may also call 741.7579 and mention your CNM membership when you enroll or follow the offline registration procedures below:

• Search the online catalog for the class you wish to take and note the “class code” (language/time/day/place) on your form.

• Enter that information and your personal contact details (current email address, etc) on a registration form (downloadable from our website: www.tfli.org adding a note that you are a CNM member.

• Then, email, fax, OR mail it to us. We will contact you regarding the status of your registration and the class you selected.

Note: Please register early to get the class of your choice.

WSMV reports on the nonprofit’s difficulty since losing a residence that housed women in the program:

But the three Magdalene Homes in Nashville have become overcrowded because earlier this year, a fourth home on Arthur Avenue was torn down because it was structurally unsafe, meaning the 21 women currently in the program have been divided among just three houses. Eighty other women are on a waiting list.

“We got women all the time that’s coming out of jail that are continuing to be on the streets that we cannot service,” said program director Donna Grayer.

The plan all along was to build a new home in place of the old one, but for an organization that relies solely on donations and grants, leaders with Magdalene House said the economy has put the plans on hold.

More than $15,000 is needed to start construction.

“It’s so many other women that need help like we do, you know, because I didn’t have a clue what I was going to do when I got here, and, you know, they gave me some hope,” said Gasaway.

“If we don’t provide the resources to get these women in, we’re going to pay for it in the long run,” Grayer said.

According to the founder of Magdalene House, 70 percent of the women who complete the two-year program remain clean. Since opening in 1997, more than 100 women have received help from Magdalene House.

To donate, call 615-322-4798 or write to Magdalene, Box 6330-B, Nashville, TN 37235.

Click here for the video report.