2007 Regional Conferences

Finance & Risk Management Essentials for Nonprofit Leaders

June 27, 2007 • Hilton Garden Inn • Missoula, MT

The Center is grateful to the Public Entity Risk Institute for its generous sponsorship of this conference.

I attended the regional conference in Denver last week. Thank you for putting together such an informative day! It was just what I needed to help get our agency going in the right direction in looking at these risk issues.

— Tamra Schmitt, Adoption Alliance, Denver, CO

This Training Is for You

  • executive directors
  • chief operating officers
  • chief financial officers and treasurers
  • fiscal managers
  • professional risk managers
  • program managers
  • board members
  • advisors to nonprofits

Conference Agenda

8:00–9:00 am

Registration, Breakfast and Ice-Breaker
9:00–9:15 am

WELCOME

Brian Magee, Executive Director, Montana Nonprofit Association
9:15–10:15 am

Are You Under a Rock or Out on a Ledge? Managing Risk in a Changing World

The opening plenary session will explore the concepts of risk perception, risk communication and assigning responsibility for risk management in a nonprofit organization. Learn why reputation risk may be the most ignored but most critical topic on your board’s agenda and what your organization can do to harness fear about the future into a plan of action.

Speaker: Melanie Lockwood Herman, Executive Director, Nonprofit Risk Management Center
10:30–Noon

Effective and Legal Employment Practices: Hot Topics, Emerging Issues and Proven Strategies

This session will explore employment topics on the radar screen for 2007. What risks lurk in your current employment practices? What changes in law and regulation are most likely to result in errors on the part of even a dedicated nonprofit leader? Learn what your organization can and must do to “take the high road” with its employees while remaining safely within the lanes of legal conduct.

Speaker: Jennifer Chandler Hauge
Noon–12:45 pm

Buffet Lunch

Insurance: What You Need to Know but Have Been Afraid (or Unwilling) to Ask

Few nonprofit leaders relish the opportunity to pour over their insurance contracts. Yet most leaders rely on the protection promised in these documents. The luncheon program will explore and debunk common myths about buying appropriate insurance coverage for a nonprofit, and present a framework for making certain that your nonprofit is an educated consumer of insurance. Let’s face it, you’re going to buy coverage at some point and at some level. Why not commit to being a good steward of financial assets and putting together an insurance program that protects and fortifies your mission.

Speaker: Melanie Lockwood Herman
1:00–2:30 pm

Financial Risk Management: 10 Lessons to Live By

This presentation will begin with a fast-paced overview of key financial risks facing nonprofits. The speaker will discuss commonly overlooked and underestimated exposures as well as risks that are more familiar to veteran nonprofit managers. The session will continue with ten essential lessons (and two bonus lessons!) for nonprofit leaders. The practical advice that will be shared during this session is relevant for nonprofit CFOs, senior staff, 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.

Speaker: Melanie Lockwood Herman
2:45–4:30 pm

Risk Management Case Studies

This problem-solving workshop brings cases drawn from real events at real nonprofits (Don’t worry we won’t mention you by name). Alcohol use, pluralism challenges, sexual harassment, improper use of the organization’s credit card and volunteer enthusiasm gone wrong, very wrong. Participants will be presented with interesting case studies and have to answer the burning question, “If this happened at our agency (Heaven Forbid!), how would we deal with it?” Strengthen your analytical and problem-solving skills with these thought provoking aerobics for your mind.

Facilitator: Jennifer Chandler Hauge
4:30 pm

Presentation of Certificates

About the Conference Faculty

Jennifer Chandler Hauge, Esq. — Jennifer Chandler Hauge is currently the Assistant Director of the Panel on the Nonprofit Sector, which was convened by Independent Sector (Washington, D.C.) to present recommendations to Congress and the nonprofit sector on charity reforms, among them self-regulation, accountability, and financial reporting. Jennifer’s law practice has focused on advising public charities and private foundations, since 1992. She served as an associate in a private law firm in New Jersey in the employment and labor department before forming her own law practice to counsel nonprofits in employment law and corporate governance. From 2000 to 2005 she served as Deputy Director of the Pro Bono Partnership, a tax-exempt legal services organization that provides pro bono legal assistance to public charities in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.

Jennifer is a frequent presenter at national and regional conferences on employment law topics and governance topics as they impact the nonprofit sector. She has taught courses at the Rutgers School of Social Work, Continuing Education program, on the legal and ethical responsibilities of social workers, and is the author of two texts on employment law for nonprofits: Taking the High Road: A Guide to Effective and Legal Employment Practices for Nonprofits, published by the Nonprofit Risk Management Center, Washington, D.C. and Hiring, Firing and Risk Management, published by the Center for Non Profit Corporations, New Brunswick, New Jersey.

Jennifer currently serves as a trustee of the Hyde and Watson Foundation (Chatham, New Jersey), and The Hartley Dodge Memorial Foundation (Madison, New Jersey), and has provided volunteer service on boards of directors for the past 15 years, most recently as a trustee of the Council of New Jersey Grantmakers (Trenton, New Jersey), Family Service of Morris County (Morristown, New Jersey) and Chair of the Board of Episcopal Community Development, Inc., (Newark, New Jersey). She is also a past-Chair of the Pro Bono Committee of the New Jersey State Bar Association, and has served on the New Jersey Governor’s Advisory Council on Volunteerism since 2000.

Melanie Lockwood Herman serves as Executive Director of the Nonprofit Risk Management Center, a Washington, DC-based resource center serving the nonprofit sector. The Center provides training, technical assistance and informational resources on a wide range of topics, including risk management, liability, employment practices, accountability, insurance, and child abuse prevention. Melanie has spent her entire career in the nonprofit sector and has authored and co-authored more than 15 books covering a wide spectrum of risk management issues. Each year she delivers numerous workshops, seminars and keynote presentations on risk management, liability and insurance topics. Her most recent books are Taking the High Road: A Guide to Effective and Legal Employment Practices for Nonprofits (2nd Edition), Pillars of Accountability: A Risk Management Guide for Nonprofit Boards (2nd Edition), and Managing Risk in Nonprofit Organizations: A Comprehensive Guide. Malanie earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Urban Affairs from the American University (Washington, DC) and a Juris Doctor from George Mason University (Arlington, VA). She is a member of the District of Columbia Bar Association.

Conference Sponsors

Montana Nonprofit Association

The Montana Nonprofit Association (MNA) is a membership organization that promotes a stronger nonprofit sector, a supportive public climate, and the ability of nonprofits to accomplish their missions. MNA achieves its mission through:

  • Advocacy and public policy on sector-wide issues;
  • Discount goods and services to save administrative costs;
  • Training, professional development, and technical assistance;
  • Research, education, and referral on issues of importance to nonprofits;
  • Communications and networking; and
  • Leadership and convening on issues of sector-wide importance.

For more information, visit www.mtnonprofit.org.

Missoula Nonprofit Network

Nonprofit Risk Management Center

The Center provides free technical assistance on risk management, liability, and insurance matters; offers interactive risk assessment programs online; publishes easy-to-use written resources; designs and delivers workshops and conferences; and offers competitively priced consulting services. The Center’s library of affordable publications includes more than 20 titles, and its software resources include Nonprofit CARES. For more information, call (202) 785-3891.

Conference Registration Fee

  • $70 for each registration if your organization is a member of:
    • Montana Nonprofit Association
    • Missoula Nonprofit Network
  • $95 for the each registration if your organization is not a member of one of the above organizations

The Conference Registration Fee includes breakfast and lunch. Registrants will also receive a resource guide containing handout materials.

Questions?

  • Melanie Herman via e-mail or by phone at (202) 785-3891