The Tennessean reports on the sold-out program that began last week:

The program, dubbed Diversity in Dialogue, is one of two small local groups that meet over a six-week period to foster discussion and understanding of various hot-button topics. Another small group has been formed to discuss immigration, which had a waiting list last year as the English-only debate was coming to a head. Both groups met for the first time this week.

The conversations are led by group facilitators trained by Scarritt-Bennett. They lay out a series of ground rules that include only one person speaking at a time, mandatory honesty, and what’s said in the circle stays in the circle unless specific permission to share is granted.

“Participation tends to go up and go down,” said Diana Holland, the program’s coordinator. But when race is being discussed “in the media or is part of the general national affairs or even seems to be a big local issue, we do see more interest.”

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 the 10 week (20 hour) group classes!The Fall 2009 Term of Foreign Language Group Classes Start the week of October 5th and runs through December 19th.

To receive your discount:

1) Go to www.tfli.org and register online- after you select your preferred class, simply choose the “CNM” fee button to check out,

or

2)Call 741.7579 and mention your CNM membership when you enroll over the phone.

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

Click here to read the Tennessean’s coverage of Salute 2009.

The Center for Nonprofit Management  has announced the winners of the 2009 Salute to Excellence awards. Nine winners and $159,000 in awards were announced last night to the 1,000 people attending this nonprofit celebration. Congrats to all of the fantastic nonprofits in the community! Here are the 2009 winners and finalists of Salute to Excellence 2009!

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

o The winner in the Innovation in Action category is the Youth Opportunity Center. Finalists are Monroe Harding and Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle TN.

o The winner in the Making a Difference category is Nurses for Newborns. Finalists are Health Assist Tennessee and Homework Hotline.

o The winner in the Team Building category is LP PENCIL Box. Finalists are Interfaith Dental Clinic and Our Kids, Inc.

Continue reading ‘Congrats to Our Salute Winners and Finalists!’

Yesterday, CNM hosted a CEO Network session in Murfreesboro on how nonprofits can weather the economic storm. Here is a picture of the panel, and you can also read about the session in today’s Tennessean!

Lewis Lavine, President, Center for Nonprofit Management,
Sarah Ann Ezzell, Vice Chair, Family & Children’s Service, Raquel Hatter, CEO, Family & Children’s Service, Susannah Shumate, Executive Director, Nashville Civic Design Center
John Key, Executive Director Community Servants
Ronni Shaw, Executive Director, Read To Succeed
Sara A. Brody, Executive Director, Rutherford LEAP

From today’s Tennessean:

It’s the same depressing situation nearly every community nonprofit in town has faced in this economy, but with a twist worthy of the Bard himself: In spite of everything, the Nashville Shakespeare Festival, which held its final performance of the season in Centennial Park on Sunday, is ending it in the black.

“Everything we lost was made up for, $5 at a time, by the people of Nashville who said, ‘Hey, I’m broke, too, but here you go,’ ” said Nancy VanReece, the festival’s executive director.

Donations at each performance shot up 50 percent over the five-week course of the festival. Volunteers waited at the entrances to the open-air theater with buckets, hopeful smiles and a request for a voluntary donation of $5 a head.

Ten major corporate sponsors had been forced to back out of the festival this year as the economy soured, leaving organizers with a $40,000 hole in their budget. In a normal year, the festival would collect about $20,000 in voluntary donations. By the end of Sunday night’s performance, the volunteers had collected more than $40,000.

In partnership with Cool People Care, CNM is pleased to announce the new “Digital Media Institute for Nonprofits” coming this fall. Based on the success of Cool People Care’s Summer Camp this past July, the Digital Media Institute will take the trend toward social media several steps further with workshops on everything from organizational strategy and policy to how to make a good online video. Designed with nonprofit needs in mind, you don’t want to miss these sessions:

Developing a Social Media Strategy (2 offerings!)

This hands-on workshop is limited to only 10 registrants to ensure that you leave with a detailed social media strategy. Using a framework that is sure to grow your nonprofit’s presence online, you’ll not only leave knowing which social media platforms you should use, but you’ll know how much time to spend, what to say and who in your office should be doing it. Using Cool People Care’s Social Media Strategy Template, you’ll have goals, benchmarks and plenty of metrics to know if you’re succeeding online. Additionally, you will leave with ideas on developing a social media policy for your organization – who uses social media on behalf of your organization, what “personality” will you convey, determining permission levels, etc.

Instructor: Sam Davidson, President, CoolPeopleCare
Date/Time: September 28, 2009; 1:00 PM to 4:30 PM
Fee: $60.00 for Members; $125.00 for nonmembers; $25.00 for students
Click here to register.

Date/Time: October 1, 2009; 8:30 AM to 12:00 PM
Fee: $60.00 for Members; $125.00 for nonmembers; $25.00 for students
Click here to register.

Continue reading ‘Register Today for CNM’s New “Digital Media Institute”’

From the Tennessean:

Nashville’s Twitterers will gather at 6 p.m. today at the Big Bang on Lower Broadway to raise money for the Boys & Girls Club of Middle Tennessee.

The city’s last Twestival, held in February, raised more than $2,200 for Charity: Water with less than two weeks to plan it, an organizer said. Charity: Water provides clean drinking water.

“It’s great to have everyone get together for a good cause,” said Morgan Levy, who co-founded the Nashvillest blog. “I don’t think anyone wants to stay home at their computer, but we all get so busy.”

Twestivals to raise money for charity are the creation of Amanda Rose, a London communications consultant and Twitter enthusiast who planned the first one last year in her city. February’s event was global and tonight’s will be too.

The Tennessean reports on Children’s Rights, a nonprofit based in New York, that wants to block a law that would force each county to cover the cost of foster care for any children taken into state custody over a certain number:

But Ira Lustbader, Children’s Rights’ associate director, said it pressures judges in counties approaching the cap to treat children differently than if the children lived elsewhere.

“This law is designed to influence that process, and so it’s both dangerous and illegal,” he said.
The law requires the agency to alert counties when the number of children placed in state custody reaches a mark more than double the state average. The new law places the cap at 300 percent of the state average.
It also requires DCS to work with counties to address some of the underlying issues “contributing to over-commitment.”

No counties exceeded the 300 percent cap in fiscal year 2009, according to Department of Children’s Services data, but some came close.

From the Nashville Post/City Paper:

The Nashville Zoo has added several prominent area executives to its board of directors. Chief among them is Dick Ragsdale, who has made the transition from honorary board member to chairman-elect. The veteran hospital entrepreneur will take over the chairman’s slot from Renée Chevalier in January.

Other local execs joining the board are Lee Beaman, chairman and CEO of Beaman Automotive Group, and Phil Wenk, president and CEO of Delta Dental of Tennessee. Beaman’s wife, Kelly, has served on the zoo’s board in recent years.

Also coming on board at the zoo are Chris Rayback, a real estate attorney at Bone McAllester Norton and a member of the Global Alliance of Hospitality Attorneys, and Cammy Price, who has been involved with the Zoo for many years and previously was a member of the Friends of the Zoo board.