Specialty
Workshops

Workplace burnout is at epidemic levels, and the nonprofit community has been hit hard. This is not only a personal crisis; it endangers your organization and its mission. This interactive workshop first explores the causes of burnout and proven strategies for overcoming them. Participants will analyze their own stressors and stress responses to design a Radical Self-Care Plan. However, you can’t solve burnout by yourself – you need a community. So we will go further to explore the systemic causes of widespread burnout, and what employees and employers can do to overcome these systems. You will begin to develop a WE-Care Plan to take back to your team. Self-care and We-Care are not luxuries – they are the critical foundation for effective organizations and healthy communities.

Participants will:

1. Self-assess your burnout level.
2. Explore the underlying causes of workplace burnout and how to beat them.
3. Identify proven ways to take care of yourself and others, including how to complete the stress cycle to prevent burnout.
4. Design a Radical Self-Care plan so you can re-engage in your cause.
5. Design an effective We-Care Plan to take back to your team.

As we rely more on virtual meetings and presentations, it is more important than ever to advance our presentation skills. We have all used PowerPoint, but are we using its features to its potential? Or are we guilty of “Death by PowerPoint”? We have all sat through numerous PowerPoint presentations where people present list after list, read paragraphs of text from their slides, or provide a full handout of the entire presentation then wonder why people don’t pay attention. In this fun and dynamic class, you will learn the fundamentals of creating a visually engaging presentation using PowerPoint’s best features. By the end of the session, you will be able to use color, animations, and images to intentionally convey your message and inspire your audience to take action through understanding your message.

You will Learn:

• How to prepare your content for an effective presentation
• Use visuals to create the desired impact with your presentation
• Use animations to control the flow of your presentation and add clarity to complex ideas
• The use of AI in making presentations

Today many nonprofits are composed of four generations: Boomers, Generation X, Millennials (Generation Y), and Gen Z. Organizations that successfully leverage the diverse knowledge, skills, and experience that these different generations bring to the workplace can increase mission impact. But all too often, misunderstandings and conflict create a generation gap that can be difficult to traverse. In this consolidated workshop, participants will explore ways to bridge the gap by increasing understanding, empathy, and teamwork.

Participants will:

• Identify the different generations in the workplace today
• Dismantle assumptions and biases that may be informing a false narrative about the generations
• Explore the motivations, values, and priorities of each generation
• Develop an appreciation for the knowledge, skills, and experience of each generation
• Discover ways to foster multi-generational collaboration and maximize talent
• Practice effective communication between generations

There are certain members of your team that would best benefit from a Coaching style of management. This highly interactive in-person workshop is designed to help you identify who, when, and how to optimize employee engagement with coaching in the workplace. You will leave with tangible, actionable techniques for implementing coaching with your team.

Participants will:

• Identify who on their team best benefits from coaching techniques
• Investigate the power of belief systems to behavior change
• Identify the stages of behavior change and tools to assist
• Develop strategies for coaching in the workplace
• Explore tangible activities and ideas to implement with your team
• Practice coaching techniques and get feedback
• Create a coaching action plan for implementation

Every day our world reminds us how important inclusion & equity are. This workshop is your chance to dig in and be part of the solution. We will create a safe and brave space to unpack the things getting in the way of our ideal workspaces. You will then work through systemic models for organizational change, including how to conduct an audit and make an action plan to bring back to your team. We want to go beyond “diversity,” to environments where everyone truly belongs.  Prerequisite: MM4: Inclusion & Equity

 You will Learn:

• Foster an environment that allows for trust building and connection
• Engage in deep and meaningful conversations
• Communicate with peers about individual socialization experiences 
• Evaluate biases and impact they have on others and systems and structures
• Discuss ways that we can be more inclusive
• Develop plan to further the work as inclusion practitioners
• Explore opportunities to become a more impactful organization
• Provide a sense of belonging 

Topics to achieve the objectives:

• Organizational Wheel of Change: Hearts & Minds, Behavior, Systemic
• Implicit & Explicit Bias
• Schemas & Microaggressions
• Collective & Structural Impact
• Socialization Models that Make an Impact
• IDEA Audit
• Multicultural Organizational Development (MCOD) Model

Part 2 of Demonstrate Your Impact. You have your data, now what? Learn how to present your impact for reports, grants, and proposals. Data storytelling is effective when “data is compelling, clear, and actionable for your audience.” This follow-up to our initial “Demonstrate Your Impact Workshop” will dive deeper into how to convey your organization’s achievements through data visualization and storytelling. Completing the first workshop is not required to attend.

In this workshop, participants will:

• Explore storytelling and the role of data in presenting a compelling narrative for funders & stakeholders
• Learn to provide context and interpretation for the data you are reporting
• Use data visualization to tell a story and generate intended action

This workshop is designed for the non-accountant required to review, analyze, and make decisions based upon organizational financial statements.  Financial statements to be covered include Profit & Loss (P&L) Statements, Income Statement, Budget v Actual, and Balance Sheet. 

You will learn from a CPA how to:

• Use financial statements to determine the financial health of an organization
• Select the most important aspects of the statement to focus on
• Identify potential red flags

“Building a good customer service experience does not happen by accident. It happens by design.” This interactive training will take you beyond the typical “Top 10 Tips for Good Customer Service.” We will explore how to go from good to great to exceptional service. Learn to design intentional systems that empower employees to go above and beyond. This customized Intentional Service Model removes the “us-versus-them” dynamic where too often you sacrifice yourself for the sake of your clients or customers, to create a Culture of Service  that is a fun and satisfying experience for everyone.

Participants will:

1. Self-Assess current customer service skills
2. Explore what creates exceptional service
3. Identify strategies that build rapport & trust
4. Discover tips to de-escalate a situation and recover service
5. Create an Intentional Service Model based on organizational principles
6. Practice new approaches and skills
7. Commit to an Action Plan

Are you looking to report your organization’s impact but don’t know where to start? Are you collecting data but not really using it? Nonprofit professionals are traditionally very heart-centered, not data-driven. This workshop aims to blend the two: explaining how to quantifiably measure your impact with accessible and easy-to-understand language. This introductory, interactive workshop introduces the importance of data in storytelling to best demonstrate your impact to potential donors, grant funders, and the general public. You will be encouraged to reflect on your reporting needs, and then guided through the process of crafting an action plan to share your impact.

 In this workshop, participants will:

• Learn the best practices for collecting and reporting meaningful data to best demonstrate your impact
• Explore which measurements support your organization’s mission
• Create an action plan for utilizing data to report your impact

Did you know you can increase your retention rates by 20-23% by implementing a mentorship program? And 70% of Fortune 500 companies have a formal mentoring program. Do you? Why not create one!  This informative and practical workshop can help you get one going. Join inspiring professionals for a virtual & practical discussion on how to create and implement a successful program at your organizations.

In this interactive and engaging workshop participants will:

• Differentiate mentoring from other professional relationships
• Identify different types of mentoring programs
• Recognize benefits of formal mentoring programs
• Discuss the purpose of different mentoring assessments and forms
• Explore organizational development elements such as staff selection, training and evaluation.

Differentiate Your Leadership with DISC Behavioral Style Assessments. NPSolutions now offers the online assessment and workshop to understand your unique DISC behavioral style and how you interact with your team. DISC is the leading assessment tool used by over 40 million people, that helps leaders and teams create authentic and productive connections. It is practical and simple to implement for immediate impact.  Take this workshop alone or with a colleague.

Participants will:

1. Complete the online DISC Behavioral Style Assessment
2. Gain insight into your unique style: strengths, work styles, motivators, needs, and areas for development
3. Understand the strengths & limitations of all four DISC styles (Dominant, Influence, Steady, Conscientious)
4. Identify valuable communication tips to use with each DISC style
5. Explore ways to implement the DISC model immediately for increased team rapport and effectiveness

In the Mindful Manager Inclusion & Equity workshop, we introduce the differences between diversity, inclusion, & belonging: “Diversity is having a seat at the table. Inclusion is having a voice at the table. Belonging is having that voice be heard.” What prevents this sense of belonging and ensuring all voices are heard is the explicit and implicit biases we bring. This important and candid workshop will provide the sanctified space to uncover, dissect, and dismantle these biases. By doing so, you help yourself, your team, and your organization’s mission to better serve the community. 

After completing this virtual workshop, participants will be able to:

• Define implicit bias.
• Discuss the nature of the brain and how it utilizes bias.
• Reflect upon identities.
• Explore personal values and their impact.
• Discuss the continuum of micromessaging and microaggressions.
• Reflect upon your own involvement in micromessaging and upstanding.
• Explore strategies to challenge bias.

Get ready to take your presentations from so-so to stellar! Increase your impact, whether you’re speaking to a few or hundreds, whether you’re presenting to leadership & board members or outside stakeholders. Join our resident “edu-tainer” Angie Myer who has 30+ years of experience in theater, teaching, presenting, as well as teacher-training. We will use many video examples to identify what you want –and don’t want–to do.

 You will learn to:

• Self-assess current speaking skills
• Identify qualities of effective and ineffective speakers
• Explore skills to be an engaging speaker, including voice, nonverbal cues, presence, and connecting with your audience
• Introduce strategies to increase presence & engagement in virtual settings
• Identify methods to reduce nervousness and project confidence

Performance Reviews are challenging for every organization, especially if they only happen once a year. Often neither supervisors or employees like the process and report feeling unfulfilled from the experience. If you are interested in transitioning to a performance review process that is more engaging for the employee and endorsed by the supervisor, join us for this very informative and insightful discussion. Come for inspiration and practical strategies.

 Participants will learn to:

• Engage employees in the revamping process itself so they are not mere recipients of the product after it’s developed
• Encourage a culture of inclusivity and belonging by engaging diverse voices in the experience
• Evaluate the tools to be used in the building of the Performance Review
• Incorporate organizational culture into the Performance Review experience
• Build collaborative support from management

Not all meetings are created equal. Strong facilitation skills ensures that your meetings and planning sessions are more engaging and consensus building, in short, more productive. In this workshop, participants will:

• Define facilitation and consensus
• Describe principles of group facilitation
• Discuss the benefits of consensus building
• Identify effective facilitation techniques
• Practice various facilitation techniques

Are large or small conflicts hurting your team? Are you stressed by conflict at work? In this interactive full-day workshop, you will explore your relationship to conflict, the five conflict styles (including how to manage them together on a team), and how to transform conflict from hassle to opportunity. Learn to mediate conflicts from any position, as well as how to be more effective when you are in conflict.  Develop skills to facilitate an effective conflict resolution process through mediation. Practice implementing mediation skills you can put to use immediately.

 Topics Include:

• The critical role of a neutral mediator
• Evaluating your relationship with conflict
• Understanding the five conflict styles and assess your own dominant style
• Stages of mediation
• Time for practice and implementation of skills with feedback

New to MS Excel or tired of stumbling around on your own?  In this virtual, hands-on workshop learn how to use this powerful spreadsheet program and the enhanced features of version 2010. This is a hands-on experience and requires you to use your own computer that has Excel (Min. 2010) installed as you learn. Prerequisite: Knowledge of basic Windows file management, such as creating new folders, copying/moving files between folders and drives, and re-naming of files and folders. Participants will:

• Create, format and set up print ques for worksheets.
• Copy and move data within worksheets.
• Create formulas and more.

In this virtual workshop, learn how to use this powerful spreadsheet program and the enhanced features of version 2010. Build proficiency with Excel in this hands-on workshop. Redesigned for more hands-on practice so you can master the skills. This is a hands-on experience and requires you to use your own computer that has Excel (Min. 2010) installed while learning. Prerequisite: Beginning Excel or equivalent knowledge is recommended.

• Day 1: Build and Use Excel Functions & Formulas
• Day 2: Create & Modify Charts

Complete the Excel series and become your office’s Excel wizard with this popular hands-on, two-part workshop. 

In this hands-on virtual workshop learn how to use this powerful spreadsheet program and the enhanced features of version 2010. This interactive workshop is perfect if you have completed Beginning & Intermediate, but those are not required. All are welcome who are ready for the Advanced topics below.

Participants will learn:

• Pivot Tables and data analysis
  
  • Data sets and configuration
  • Table layouts and options
  • Design and formatting
  • Sorting and filtering
  • Value field settings and calculated fields
• Data visualization and dashboards
  
  • Pivot Charts
  • Slicers
  • Timelines
  • Interactive and customizable Dashboards
• Macros
  
  • Run
  • Record
  • Edit
  • Delete

The training will cover harassment in face-to-face and work-from-home environments. Emphasis will be placed on the concept of “respect” as a means of promoting a congenial workplace environment and eliminating detrimental employee behaviors that potentially place the organization at risk and undermine its larger objectives. By the end of the presentation, participants will have a better understanding of the definition of “harassment” and its various forms, the steps they should take if they believe that they or others have been harassed, the potential ramifications of workplace harassment, and how workplace “bullying” fits within the larger harassment framework. Supervisors will also be apprised of their additional duties under state and federal law.

Meets California requirements for mandatory training, including new legislation. (SB1343)

The childhood comeback may be, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” In reality, we know that words can be very damaging. We do not all have the same experiences in the world and thus do not interpret words in the same manner.  This workshop will help you become more aware of the impact of our words, rather than our intention. Now is your chance to expand your understanding of inclusive language and what it means for you and your colleagues or clients. Learn how our words can have an immense impact on people and how to make small changes in your word choice to be a more inclusive, culturally aware ally.

After completing this workshop, participants will be able to:

• Identify examples of words and phrases that are not inclusive
• Develop alternative words and phrases that are inclusive
• Understand the importance of accurate pronoun usage
• Practice helping others recognize their language choices

Learn to successfully manage projects with confidence and gain practical tools and techniques for formal project management in this full day session. This workshop is designed for people who are new to project management or have no formal training. You will walk away with new knowledge and useful templates to implement at your organization.

In this workshop, you will:

• Define “project” and determine the best types of projects to use this process for
• Develop a working definition of project management
• Discover the project process groups: initiate, plan, execute, control, and close
• Gain specific tools and techniques within the project process groups
• Practice the project management processes with facilitator feedback
• Identify available project management software applications
• Apply project management processes to a project as a project manager or project team member with increased confidence

This is an introductory workshop that is appropriate for those that are involved with their organization’s accounting and bookkeeping. Topics that will also be covered include proper use and management of the automatic bank account download function, and the preparation and sharing of reports. You will need your computer with video and mic but do not need to have QuickBooks software. 

In this workshop, we will explore the basic functions and features of QuickBooks Online:

• The chart of accounts
• Programs and locations
• Managing bank accounts,
• Tracking donations and grants

As a nonprofit, your financial success partially rests on developing successful grant proposals. This four-hour comprehensive workshop will help with effectively navigating grant applications. Participants will:

1. Understand funding realities and position your organization for success.
2. Identify funders that align with your organization’s needs.
3. Tackle each component of a grant proposal with hands-on activities.
4. Identify processes for effective and efficient grant writing that can boost your organization’s funding streams.

Your goal is to invite funders to invest in your mission. How? Tell a compelling, consistent story to develop a clear, concise, and comprehensive grant proposal. This workshop will review with you each section of a typical grant proposal, including a detailed budget, and provide tips on what funders are looking for. These techniques will help you craft successful proposals for foundations, corporations, and government funders.

Through this workshop, you will:

• Understand what funders seek in grant proposals.
• Develop a system to connect all the pieces of a grant proposal.
• Walk away with a list of writing tips so your proposals are competitive.