By participating in Piper Academies, nonprofits can learn from experts in a variety of fields. Ranging from two-hour to full-day programs, Piper Academies offer professional development opportunities for nonprofit staff and board members as well as forums to share best practices and convene professionals doing similar work.
Upcoming Piper Academies
February 2010 Piper AcademyManaging Through Tough Times:
A Recession Fundamentals Workshop  Nonprofit Finance Fund is a national leader in helping nonprofits strengthen their financial health and improve their capacity to serve their communities. This workshop will explore the financial realities of meeting your mission during economic crisis. Nonprofit Finance Fund designed the session to help nonprofit leaders develop and use financial information to make better decisions and communicate more effectively with supporters. Participants will learn about the interplay between financial risk, revenue reliability and fixed costs, and how this information can be used to enhance planning and decision making during recession. Topics will include: - Balancing the organization's mission with its financial realities
- Assessing organizational preparedness for navigating the financial crisis
- Evaluating risk exposure and tolerance
- Practical scenario planning, cash flow management and program profitability analysis
- Cash flow management and managing credit
- Communicating your financial story to your board, funders and stakeholders.
Presenter David Greco is Vice President for the Nonprofit Finance Fund’s Western Region. Previously, he served as Vice President of the Youth Leadership Institute helping to bring youth and adults together to create more just and sustainable communities as well as Senior Marketing Manager at Jossey-Bass Publishers. Presenter Nicole Simoneaux is a Nonprofit Finance Fund Senior Associate in the West Coast office where she works directly with nonprofit organizations, helping them assess and improve their financial health through delivery of the Nonprofit Business Analysis and other services.
Who: | Chief Executives, finance staff or board members—just two per organization! Space limited by the design of the learning experience, and there is only room for two persons per organization, please. | When: | Wednesday, February 17, 2010 | Where: | Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust
1202 East Missouri Avenue, Phoenix (map)
| RSVP: | Respond soon; the workshop will fill quickly!
RSVP to piperacademy@pipertrust.org |
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Past Piper Academies
Change is hard. Nonprofits know that. What if those of us in the nonprofit field could look at change as something to accept and use to our advantage?
Chip Heath, author of the best-selling book Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die, presented a Piper Academy in October 2008 to discuss concepts for a new book that he and his brother are writing on change. Some 40 executive directors attended.
October 2008
How Nonprofits Can Incorporate World-class Customer Service
Presented by The Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center
In just 26 years, the world-renowned Ritz-Carlton has built one of the strongest brands in the country. While the physical facilities contribute to its reputation, the hotel chain’s approach to service and attention to customers sets it apart among hotels.
At a Piper Academy in November, The Ritz-Carlton Phoenix’s general manager, Christoph Roshardt, and Marketing Director Jennifer Blackman shared the luxury hotel’s customer service strategies and provided insights that many nonprofits can adopt to enhance their own service to clients receiving services and donors.
November 2006
What Baby Boomers Can Do For You The baby boomers are coming – in fact, 650,000 Arizonans will turn 60 in the next 10 years – and they are interested in paid and unpaid opportunities in the nonprofit community. But this new talent pool will require organizations to think creatively and understand baby boomers’ goals if they want to successfully attract them.
August 2006
Several nonprofit executives and senior managers heard directly from Piper Fellows about their experiences, how to structure a fellowship and tips for preparing an organization while the fellowship recipient is away. Read More
June 2006
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As Congress looks into issues of accountability and governance for nonprofits and seeks to create a bill along the lines of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, nonprofits need to begin strengthening their boards and improving their governance policies now, according to Diana Aviv, president and CEO of Independent Sector and executive director of the Panel on the Nonprofit Sector. Aviv spoke to an audience of more than 200 at January’s Piper Academy, emphasizing that accountability is at the heart of most nonprofits, but that not all nonprofit leaders or board members are aware of governance best practices. Read More
January 2006
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Storytelling as Best Practice Featuring Andy GoodmanLeadership teams from more than 60 nonprofits heard from national storytelling expert Andy Goodman about how stories strengthen organizations, engage audiences and advance missions. Prior to the workshop, each team wrote a story illustrating the work of the organization and Goodman provided feedback. After Goodman's lively, interactive presentation, the teams redrafted their stories and then shared them with the group.
September 2005 |