Conexión Américas, United Neighborhood Health Services and Vanderbilt Center for Health Services are in search of additional partners for a South Nashville Community Center designed to service the immigrant community:

As Nashville welcomes more and more immigrants and refugees into our community, coordinated services are needed to address the complex and interlocking challenges facing these new arrivals as well as to help them maximize the opportunities our city affords them.

The South Nashville Community Center seeks strong partners committed to social, economic and civic integration for immigrants and refugees. While South Nashville is home to a large number of immigrants and refugees and is increasingly recognized as our city’s vibrant international district, a diverse population of hard-working Nashvillians has called South Nashville home for many generations. Therefore, this nonprofit collaborative also seeks partners committed to social justice who wish to strengthen their presence in one of Nashville’s most diverse neighborhoods.

Benefits of South Nashville Community Center:

• Nonprofit collaboration and coordination of services
• Located in Nashville’s international corridor
• Convenient access to services for immigrant families and diverse community of South Nashville, on the bus line
• Increased operating efficiency through shared costs (meeting space, training & classrooms, kitchen, restrooms, parking and possibly other back-office collaboration)

Continue reading ‘Nonprofit Collaborative Seeks Partners to Help Anchor South Nashville Community Center’

In CNM’s monthly e-newsletter, NP News, we asked nonprofits to take a look back, and tell us some of their “top moments” of 2009. Middle Tennessee nonprofits stretched budgets, worked longer hours, applied for more grants, all with the looming threat of an economy that was in a free fall. It was quite a year! Here our some of our “top moments” (in no particular order) of 2009. In the comments section, please tell us some of yours!

1. Successful 2009 Conference

Geoffrey Canada, Mayor Karl Dean, and 200 nonprofit leaders came together to learn, network, and be inspired!

2. Salute to Excellence 2009

Nothing is more fun for us than giving away close to $160,000 to local nonprofits in a star studded event that honors the entire nonprofit community.

 3. Introduction of Webinars

CNM launched a new initiative designed to bring our training to the comforts of your own home or office. Look out for more opportunities to learn online in the coming year!

 4. Young Nonprofit Professionals Group: A Pilot Program

What started with an idea, turned into a four-month pilot program, and ended up with 80 people at our kick-off event. Needless to say, we were blown away by the response, and are excited about the first year of the Young Nonprofit Professionals Group in 2010!

From Hands On Nashville:

The Mary Catherine Strobel Volunteer Awards recognize individuals and groups who have selflessly given their time and talents to improve the lives of others in Middle Tennessee. Mary Catherine Strobel was a community volunteer known for her compassion and generosity. She helped start numerous charitable efforts in our community and led a life of service work with homeless, impoverished and those less fortunate. These annual awards were created to honor her memory and celebrate her legacy of service.

The luncheon will be held on April 6 at the Franklin Marriott Hotel Cool Springs Conference Center. Tickets for the event are just $35 per person and a table of 10 can be purchased for $350. This luncheon provides an excellent opportunity for you to show appreciation to your volunteers without having to do all the planning.

Now is the time to nominate your volunteers – individuals and/or groups for the distinguished Mary Catherine Strobel Volunteer Awards. This year we have updated several of the categories to better represent the commitment and extraordinary service of your volunteers. Also, we are pleased to announce a new category – Corporate Service Project – to recognize volunteer projects developed and/or completed by corporate business groups. Year after year, volunteers say that they feel incredibly honored just to be nominated for these awards.

Visit www.hon.org for more information about the nominating process and to download the 2010 Nomination Instructions and Form.

All nominations are due by February 10.

Awards luncheon is April 6. (Formal invitations will be mailed in March.)

If you have questions, please contact:

Ramsey Raybeck
Corporate Relations and Special Events Manager
Hands On Nashville
615.298.1108 ext. 111
ramsey@hon.org

A great story from today’s Tennessean on a process developed by our local Second Harvest food bank that is both innovative and effective:

Workers at the Nashville food bank don’t just coordinate donations to locals in need; they also manufacture food and prepare it for shipping as boil-in-a-bag or TV-dinner-type meals to other food banks and disaster sites across the country. With the capability to cook 1,900 pounds of food in an hour, they can turn out 40,000 entrees and 80,000 side items each day.

Through food manufacturing, Second Harvest can repurpose difficult-to-use donations into healthy meals. At a soup kitchen, for example, a 55-gallon drum of tomato paste might get shoved into a corner, while a steaming pot of chili will be served.

“We’re basically the only food bank in the country with this process,” said Burleson, who formerly worked with Logan’s Roadhouse. “At the end of the day, I can go home and say I’ve made a change.”

The Center for Nonprofit Management and the Tennessee Attorney General’s Office have released a guidebook for nonprofit board members. From the Nashville City Paper:

“What Every Board Member and Officer Should Know” is a product of coordination among the Tennessee Attorney General’s Office, the Department of State and the Center for Nonprofit Management.

It is designed to serve as a reference tool for board members and officers of Tennessee nonprofits. It is available online at the Attorney General’s website at http://tn.gov/attorneygeneral.

“We believe the principles and practices in this guidebook can help board members and officers fulfill their duties and enrich their experiences,” Attorney General Bob Cooper said.

The three entities collaborated to develop the guide because each has a particular role in the nonprofit business operation. The Attorney General has broad oversight and authority over Tennessee’s nonprofit sector, including public benefit hospitals.

The Tennessee Department of State is responsible for processing documents filed under the Nonprofit Corporation Act and administers and enforces the Tennessee Charitable Solicitations Act and Charitable Gaming Implementation Law.

The Center for Nonprofit Management provides a range of services and guidance to nonprofits, including workshops, training and networking with other nonprofit organizations.

A special offer from the Nashville Symphony:

As a thank you to all of Nashville’s non-profit employees and volunteers, the Nashville Symphony is providing a special discount Jan. 21-23. Mention promo code 7121 to receive main floor seats for just $20 on January 21, 22 or 23 (regularly $85). This discount is available by phone at 615.687.6400, online at NashvilleSymphony.org and in person at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center Box Office.

More info on the concert:

Penderecki Comes to Nashville Jan. 21-23

Schermerhorn Symphony Center

Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki has remained one of classical music’s most important and most talked-about figures for the past 50 years. Bold, resonant and deeply personal, his music has embraced an array of styles, from the expressive Romanticism of Richard Strauss to the bracing, energetic sounds of postwar modernism. He makes a rare visit to Nashville to conduct a specially chosen program that includes his Concerto for Piano “Resurrection,” a gripping, moving response to the events of 9/11. With a remarkable scope that recalls the symphonies of Mahler, but rendered in Penderecki’s singular voice, the work will feature the gifted pianist Barry Douglas. Penderecki will also lead the orchestra in Shostakovich’s alternately contemplative and lively Symphony No. 6.

Click here to learn more and watch a video preview for the concert.

Mayor Karl Dean is one of seventeen Mayors that founded the Cities of Service Coalition. The mission of the organization that now boasts 80 cities as members,  is to find ways to harness the power of volunteers to solve local challenges. Yesterday, it was announced that Nashville was one of only ten cities selected for a leadership grant from the Rockefeller Foundation:

New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley, founding members of the Cities of Service coalition, today joined Rockefeller Foundation President Dr. Judith Rodin to announce the winners of the first-ever Cities of Service Leadership Grants.

Ten cities were selected to receive $200,000 two-year grants, funded by the Rockefeller Foundation, to hire a Chief Service Officer – a senior city official dedicated to developing and implementing a citywide plan to increase volunteerism and target volunteers to address their city’s greatest needs.

Due to the extraordinary response from cities to the first request for proposals – 50 cities applied to receive one of the ten grants – the mayors and Dr. Rodin announced that there will be a second competition in the coming months to award similar grants to an additional ten cities.

The cities selected to receive leadership grants are Chicago, IL; Detroit, MI; Los Angeles, CA; Nashville-Davidson, TN; Newark, NJ; Omaha, NE; Philadelphia, PA; Sacramento, CA; Savannah, GA; Seattle, WA. Each of these cities displayed a strong commitment to service and outlined thoughtful, thorough and creative approaches to expanding local opportunities for volunteers to make an impact.

“I can think of no better way to celebrate the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and this national day of service than to invest in the capacity of cities to mobilize their citizens in innovative ways to solve our common problems,” said Mayor Bloomberg. “As we work to help our neighbors and communities through the greatest financial crisis we’ve seen in a long time, we believe citizen service is needed now more than ever. These grants, funded generously by the Rockefeller Foundation, will help us develop new strategies to tap volunteers as a serious strategy to solve local challenges.”

Kim Carpenter Drake has over 20 years of experience working with nonprofit organizations on everything from fundraising to cause related marketing. She is also a CNM trainer and consultant conducting  a workshop on February 4 entitled, What Sponsors Really Want: Successful Sponsorship Strategies; register today to ensure you have a spot! In the following blog post, Kim analyzes the value of reputation when trying to acquire corporate support:

The Value of Reputation

Benjamin Franklin said, “It takes many good deeds to create a good reputation and only one bad one to lose it.” This is so true, especially in the world on consumer culture.

A product or company lives by its reputation. To survive in a competitive environment, smart business people distinguish their offerings from the competition. Wal-Mart is the best value. Armani is the best quality. Southwest Airlines is friendly and efficient.

These are all excellent values but how do companies take this one step further? They enhance their reputation by aligning themselves with another success story. Often, these take the form of celebrity endorsement. In the last ten years, the “new” celebrity – the celebrated cause – has taken a higher profile. Breast Cancer Awareness, AIDS research, hunger relief, and homelessness are but a few of the causes with which corporations have aligned themselves to improve their consumer image AND their bottom-line.

Continue reading ‘CNM Trainer and Guest Blogger Examines the Value of Reputation’

The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee as established a Haiti Relief Fund:

While details are still unfolding about the devastation in the aftermath of the recent Haitian earthquake, The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee has established the Haiti Earthquake Response Fund to support relief efforts. Donations of any size can be made online at www.cfmt.org or by mail to The Community Foundation, PO Box 440225, Nashville, TN 37244.

Grants from the Haiti Earthquake Response Fund of The Community Foundation will be made to nonprofits and aid groups for response, clean-up, and restoration efforts in the aftermath of the earthquake.

The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee is poised to react when disaster strikes in the Middle Tennessee region or around the world and has systems in place to simplify and expedite the process of helping people in need. The Foundation’s focus during a time of disaster is to connect generosity with need.

For more information, call The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee at 615-321-4939, or toll free at 888-540-5200. To contribute to the Haiti Earthquake Response Fund, give online at www.cfmt.org or by mail to The Community Foundation, P.O. Box 440225, Nashville, TN 37244.

The America Red Cross is also accepting funds for Haiti relief. Thus far, they have raised $3 million via text message for victims of the earthquake.

This is a great opportunity for an individual looking to take an active role with a nonprofit:

Gear 4 Career provides professional clothing, shoes and accessories for men seeking employment, transitioning back into society or looking to empower themselves. Gear 4 Career offers the following resource sessions for each qualifying client:

Workshops (Interviewing skills and techniques)
Seminars (Career Advancement)
Job counseling
Resume Writing
Communication training
Temporary to Permanent Job Placement Opportunities

Gear 4 Career is looking for dedicated, talented individuals who can offer a wide resource of visions and opportunities to help carry out the goals and mission of its organization. Our goal is to persevere in moving Gear 4 Career forward especially in these harsh economic times.

Having lost our space sometime ago, we are still eagerly looking for a home in which to house Gear 4 Career. We would gladly share a space with someone or an organization that might also be reaching out to the men in our community.

If you would like to join this nonprofit organization, please respond by e-mail to the Founder/Chief Executive Officer of Gear 4 Career: Terry Richard: terryrichard@ comcast.net. We welcome your questions and comments. Please know that we need your help now, more than ever. There is always someone who desperately needs help at one time in their life. Gear 4 Career extends a helping hand to all who come to us. Come, be part of this meaningful effort.