Registration

Keynote

“Safely Navigating the Information Superhighway”

Larry Magid, Syndicated Columnist & Author

Concurrent Sessions #1-3

#1 Advanced Topics in Risk Management

Experienced nonprofit ED/CEOs, CFOs, and risk managers have seen it all. From catastrophic losses caused by Mother Nature to negligent conduct or outrageous participant behavior, the experienced risk management professional knows how to weather the storm of risks brewing in the lobby or on the horizon. If you’re a veteran of the risk management team or have been responsible for your nonprofit’s risk management and insurance program for some time, you won’t want to miss this interactive workshop covering emerging risks in the nonprofit landscape. Connect with peers who bring years of experience and insight gained from having been there and done that.

#2 Fraud Prevention and Internal Controls

Is a headline reading “ Nonprofit Worker Charged with Theft” your worst nightmare? Despite the lack of evidence that theft of nonprofit assets occurs at a more frequent rate than in business and government, intensive media coverage of fraud in the nonprofit sector paints a disturbing, though unfair picture. Despite its rare occurrence, every nonprofit should take steps to prevent workplace theft and procedures to ensure prompt detection. The longer a fraudulent scheme continues, the greater the total loss to your nonprofit; therefore, the timely discovery of fraud is key to reducing the amount of the loss to the organization. This session will explore a wide range of fraud prevention and internal control strategies, with special focus on measures that are practical for a diverse array of organizations.

#3 Risk Management 101

Ideally a risk management program creates an environment where your nonprofit can take more risk, not less. In this session, you’ll identify your organization’s tolerance for uncertainty and the role of risk. You’ll see where it falls on the continuum from risk averse to extreme risk taker and how that affects the risk management program.

Concurrent Sessions #4-8

#4 Crisis Management and Business Continuity Planning

Spending time preparing for a crisis is not only important to the health of your nonprofit, it may be essential to survival in the wake of a disaster. This session offers a framework for crisis management and business continuity planning that can be adapted to fit the needs and resource constraints of any organization. Learn how your organization can plan to survive a crisis and develop a business continuity plan that will prepare your nonprofit to operate under adverse circumstances.

#5 Forum for Insurance Agents and Brokers (Part 1)

Each autumn, insurance agents and brokers who specialize in serving nonprofits gather to share wisdom and insights and discuss current and emerging challenges. For insurance specialists, the forum has become a highlight and “not-to-be-missed” component of the annual conference. This year’s program continues that tradition. If you are an agent or broker with a sizeable or growing book of nonprofit accounts, plan to join your industry colleagues for a fast-paced forum covering critical topics. Representatives of insurance carriers are welcome.

#6 Insurance Boot Camp (Part 1)

Directors’ and officers’ liabilit, commercial general liability, professional liability, non-owned auto, business interruption, and crime coverage are just a few examples of insurance policies commonly purchased by nonprofits. Depending on your mission, location, and services, your nonprofit’s insurance program takes different forms — there is no one-size-fits-all answer! So pull up your socks and get ready for an in-your-face immersion into knowing and getting the coverage you need, what policy covers what risks, how to select and work with an agent or broker, and how insurance fits into a total risk management strategy.

#7 Nonprofit Accounting Basics

What do your programs and services really cost? Is that contribution unconditional or conditional? How do you allocate rent? What are practical methods for allocating non-direct expenses in your organization? These questions and more ill be discussed and answered. You’ll also be introduced to functional accounting and learn how it can benefit your organization and help you tell your story.

#8 When Spider Webs Unite: Connecting Giving in North Carolina

The Ethiopian proverb, “When spider webs unite, they can tie up a lion,” aptly describes the power of giving when it is strategically connected. In a highly participatory way, this workshop will focus on successful strategies for amplifying the giving of time, talent, and treasure that exists in all communities and particularly within nonprofit organizations.

Workshop

The Leadership Challenge

Karen McNeil-Miller, President, Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust

No longer can nonprofit leaders hope to “wait out” the storm of change. The world is continuously filled with volatility, ambiguity, uncertainty, and complexity. No nonprofit is immune from these realities, and executives and boards must be prepared to address this new reality and lead boldly and effectively. Using film, case studies, and table discussions, Karen will illustrate four leadership models and perspectives for anyone in a leadership role, but particularly executive staff and board members. Participants will analyze their key roles, identify their preferred leadership perspective within those roles, and assess both the positive and negative aspects associated with their perspectives.

Concurrent Sessions #9-12

#9 Financial Risk Management: Lessons to Live By

This presentation will begin with a fast-paced overview of key financial risks facing nonprofits. We will discuss commonly overlooked and underestimated exposures, as well as risks that are more familiar to veteran nonprofit managers. The session will present 10 essential lessons (and two bonus ones!) for nonprofit leaders. The practical advice that will be shared during this session is relevant for nonprofit CFOs, senior staff, ED/CEOs, and board members. Participants will learn what is required to avoid or mitigate financial risks that could lead to unfortunate and costly, if not catastrophic, outcomes for their organizations.

#10 Forum for Insurance Agents and Brokers (Part 2)

More time to spend with your insurance colleagues.

#11 Human Resource Mythbusters: Separating Legal Fact from Fiction in Your Employment Practices

Is it legal to terminate employees who post unflattering information about your nonprofit on their blogs? Can you change an employee’s status from employee to independent contractor if they waive their rights to benefits? Is it possible to give a detailed reference for a departing employee without angering your legal counsel or insurance provider and exposing your nonprofit to undue risk? These and many other quirky legal questions will be explored in this session designed to separate helpful facts from science fiction in the realm of employment practices.

#12 Insurance Boot Camp (Part 2)

More of the same, plus a chance to pepper the presenter with your specific questions.

NRMC Satellite Office Meeting

(by invitation only)

Hanes Boardroom

Registration

Newcomer’s Orientation

Keynote

Clara Miller, President & CEO, Nonprofit Finance Fund

Concurrent Sessions #13- 26

(risk management sessions listed)

#13 Working with a Broker or Agent and Putting Your Insurance Program Out to Bid

This session is ideal for nonprofit leaders who want to improve or maximize the services they receive from an insurance professional, typically an agent or broker who places coverage for the nonprofit. Attend this session to find out how you can take your relationship with an insurance advisor (agent or broker) to the next level. The presenters will also discuss possible strategies you might pursue when you realize that putting your program out to bid is in order. What factors support the decision to put your program out to bid, and what methods are most effective in selecting the best qualified providers?

#15 Serving Vulnerable Populations: Critical Risks and State-of-the-Art Responses

Nonprofits serving children, the elderly and persons with disabilities strive to deliver vital services without in causing harm. Yet, all nonprofits working with vulnerable clients need more than good intentions; they need a plan to prevent harm and to respond to harm should it occur despite the nonprofit’s precautionary efforts. How an organization reacts to accusations plays a major role in the cost and consequences of any subsequent claims filed by alleged victims. This session provides a frank discussion of what an organization must do (and must not do) when designing abuse prevention activities and responding to allegations of abuse.

#16 Crisis Communications

A crisis is any event that disrupts delivery of your services or programs. No matter the source, it hits hard and fast, leaving no time to make plans. When you have a plan in place, your nonprofit will be in the ideal position to contact key suppliers, employees and board members, leap high hurdles in a single bound and keep on keeping on. The key is to identify key processes and have a backup plan for delivery and communicating to inside and outside audiences. Learn how to lay the groundwork for constructing your crisis management/communication plan, evaluate key concepts and adapt them to suit your needs and test the plan once it’s in place.

#17 Managing Governance Risks

Risk is inherent in nonprofit organizations as in every other sector of the economy. One of the roles of the board is to ensure the systematic identification of the risks that threaten the mission and survival of a nonprofit organization. What is the board’s responsibility for risk management and how can board members discharge this duty? The goal of this session is to help participants define the role of the board and determine a workable strategy for getting the board engaged in risk management. Whether you are serving as an executive director, CFO, program manager or board member, you will leave this session with new insights for protecting your mission and your organization in a changing world.

Lunch Conversation & Presentation of 2007 Nonprofit Sector Stewardship Awards

(Sign up Thursday morning to sit at tables hosted by foundation, business and government funders or special interest topics with special guests.)

Concurrent Sessions #27-38

(risk management sessions listed)

#27 Insurance Myths and Mysteries

If you are the type of nonprofit manager who breaks out in hives at the very mention of the word “insurance,” this session is for you. The purpose of this workshop is to unravel the mysteries and myths of the insurance industry, while suggesting an approach for gaining a deeper understanding of your insurance needs, options and opportunities. The insurance landscape is dynamic and complex. It is a jungle out there. Attend this workshop to hear from veteran “guides” who will help you take the first steps in strengthening the insurance program for your nonprofit.

#28 Hallmarks of an Effective Risk Management Program

Fourteen leaders from the nonprofit sector met under the auspices of the Nonprofit Risk Management Center in November, to refine risk management hallmarks of excellence, part of an ongoing initiative, generously funded by St. Paul Travelers Foundation, to empower U.S. nonprofit organizations to adopt sound and practical risk management strategies via the promulgation of standards and best practices. The end products of groundbreaking project will be a multimedia library of training tools that will assist nonprofit organizations of various sizes and missions to incorporate prudent risk management practices into their everyday operations. The Center’s objective is to demonstrate that there are many tools and approaches to integrating sound risk management into the delivery of services to clients, consumers, members and other stakeholders in the nonprofit sector.

#29 Cyber Threats

E-mail attachments, viruses, spam, hoaxes, urban legends, passwords, spyware, identity theft, privacy, cookies, copyright infringement, patches, denial-of-service attacks, ISPs and musculoskeletal strains and stress. Do you feel these terms are relevant only in the realm of the IT department? Not so. Your computer can be hazardous to your health and that of your nonprofit, clients, employees and volunteers. You need to put policies and procedures into place and stay current with cyber threats in order to update your protection. Attend this session to get familiar with the threats and the defenses.

#30 Managing Volunteer Risks

How does protecting a volunteer differ from protecting an employee? Are there laws that provide special protection for volunteers? Are volunteers immunized from liability under federal and state volunteer protection statutes? Is your nonprofit protected or exposed when a volunteer makes a mistake or causes harm to persons or property? What can every nonprofit do to protect itself? Attend this session to: Get the scoop on the risks that arise from volunteer service. Find out where to learn about the laws affecting the state(s) where your nonprofit provides services. Apply a checklist against the policies and procedures you have in place to determine what needs updating, and what must be added to protect your nonprofit.

Curbside Consultants

Speak individually with experienced consultants and nonprofit leaders about issues in your daily work. Confidential 25-minute appointments are available on a first-come basis for staff and board members. Topics range from advocacy and fundraising to risk management and insurance.

Create-Your-Own Sessions

• Any registered participant may create a discussion session for this time slot. To be listed in the program, send the title of the session, your name, title and affiliation with a 4–5 sentence description of the topic you will discuss to Shelley Cromartie by August 15. You can also organize a session on site.
• Special “Create Your Own Session” for Free Clinics with John C. Patterson, Senior Program Director, Nonprofit Risk Management Center

Exhibits

Mini-Plenary Sessions #1-3

#1 “Armored and Legal Employment Practices: How to Fortify Your Nonprofit and Dodge the Occasional Stray Bullet”

Melanie Lockwood Herman, Executive Director, Nonprofit Risk Management Center

This session will delve into employment topics on the radar screen for 2007 and beyond. What activities and practices are getting nonprofit employers into hot water? What strategies have proven effective in avoiding employment claims or escaping the heat of a lawsuit alleging wrongful employment practices? Learn from Melanie about the potential dangers lurking in your employment policies and practices. Find out how you can avoid these risks while taking the “high road” in your relationships with employees.

#2 “Picking Pockets: Everyone Gives”

NCGives

When it comes to building resources to support your work, does it feel like the pockets are too deep to access? Too often the deep pockets of public and private funders are believed to be the only pockets available to finance the nonprofit sector. Join this session to learn more about other resources that can build the capacity of your organization and help to make it more stable over the long term.

#3 “Robin Hood Marketing”

Katya Andresen, Vice President of Marketing, Network for Good

When it comes to finding supporters, do you feel lost in Sherwood Forest? Step out of the trees by letting go of mission myopia and thinking like a corporate marketer! Learn how to steal corporate savvy that will get you inside the heads of your partners, donors, and beneficiaries and enable you to craft a compelling message that motivates people to take real action. In this session, Katya will outline the four secrets to successful messages discussed in her book, Robin HoodMarketing, and then tell you how to take those messages online into the world of social networking.

Closing Plenary

“The Future Is Now for Our Nonprofit Sector”