Our learning experiences will help you build collaborative capacity and make greater impact.
Build your capacity to work better together to address our region’s complex problems and create community assets for all. Learn to use systems practice, a process to understand the system you’re working in and identify leverage points for change, and explore a suite of skills and mindsets to help you create the conditions for meaningful collaboration. Filter the list of upcoming learning experiences by the impact areas below, find the path that is right for you and take the next step in strengthening your organization, network and community.
Ready to learn? Let us help! The Learning Fund provides financial support to help local changemakers cover tuition and conference fees for virtual learning experiences offered from partners across the globe.
Upcoming Learning Experiences
Time: 10:00 am
Offered by Kalamazoo Public Library, explore how an organization can balance being mission-focused while being centered in the community, connecting the dots between on-the-ground programs and the big-picture work bring accomplished through collaboration with others. No cost associated.
Time: 1:00 pm
Offered by the Tamarack Institute, in this 2-part workshop will help you design, implement and renew a successful Collective Impact Initiative to achieve high-impact results, focusing on the importance of bringing a systems lens to Collective Impact to explicitly incorporate both programmatic and systems-change strategies into Collective Impact implementation plans. Cost associated. Eligible for support through Rotary Charities Learning Fund.
Offered by Rotary Charities, join Des Worthington and Megan Motil in the fourth of five sessions that will explore how to maximize board effectiveness through all stages of the nonprofit life cycle. In this session you will explore the fundraising expectations of boards and staff depending on their organization’s life cycle stage and creating alignment between the two. No cost associated.
Time: 2:00 pm
Offered by Candid Learning, learn the importance of individual giving in a nonprofit’s fundraising strategy, identify key steps for a successful individual giving program, and draft a plan to start or improve your annual individual giving program. No cost associated.
Time: 9:00 am
Offered by NMC Extended Ed, in this 2-part series you will learn about the Anishinabek culture with teaching, philosophy and stories, and discover cultural changes that have evolved over time. Cost associated. Eligible for support through Rotary Charities Learning Fund.
Time: 11:00 am
Time: 12:30 pm
Offered by CompassPoint, this 2-part workshop will focus on using teh "purpose, outcome, and process" format to design a meeting and will explore strategies for interrupting oppressive power dynamics and centering marginalized voices. Cost associated. Eligible for support through Rotary Charities Learning Fund.
Time: 2:00 pm
Offered by Candid Learning, learn the basic steps for developing a fundraising plan, including tips on: making your case for support, diversifying your organization's fundraising base, and creating a plan of action. No cost associated.
Time: 12:00 pm
Offered by the Tamarack Institute, join in a conversation with a group of inspiring youth leaders from our Communities Building Youth Futures movement to explore what belonging looks like from their perspectives, uncover the conditions that are needed to build authentic relationships and a sense of connectedness between youth and their community, and share lessons learned on how communities can foster belonging among youth.
Time: 10:00 am
Offered by TSNE, learn key concepts of strategic planning, facilitation, and community engagement for nonprofit organizations, gain insight to methodology and framework for analyzing data to develop strategy, learn how strategic planning fits within the governance and management roles / responsibilities of nonprofit organizations, and recognize how to engage the community to achieve social change. Cost associated. Eligible for support through Rotary Charities Learning Fund.
Time: 1:00 pm
Offered by the Interaction Institute for Social Change, this 7-part workshop will explore ways to develop practical collaborative skills and tools for tapping our individual and collective creativity and experience as social change agents. Cost associated. Eligible for support through Rotary Charities Learning Fund.
Time: 9:00 am
Offered by Propel Nonprofits, learn hands-on tools to help you calculate program costs and move your organization to greater financial sustainability. Cost associated. Eligible for support through Rotary Charities Learning Fund.
Time: 10:00 am
Offered by TSNE, explore the ways that adaptive communication and feedback contribute to supporting, developing, and managing successful employees, understand the dynamic continuum of employee performance, and learn and practice a model of performance management that focuses on adaptive communication and feedback strategies. Cost associated. Eligible for support through Rotary Charities Learning Fund.
Time: 12:00 pm
Offered by Human Systems Dynamics Institute, this 4-part series will explore four rules for creating hope in times of turbulence and uncertainty: Honor stories, open options for action, play with patterns, and engage in inquiry. Each session will focus on one of the rules. Cost associated. Eligible for support through Rotary Charities Learning Fund.
Time: 2:00 pm
Offered by The Chronicles of Philanthropy, learn how to better manage and analyze donor data to reveal the stories it can tell and make fundraising, at all levels, more strategic. Cost associated. Eligible for support through Rotary Charities Learning Fund.
Time: 1:00 pm
Offered by the Dorothy A. Johnson Center, gain an understanding of the core functions, legal and other responsibilities of a nonprofit board of directors, understand board governance and how boards are structured, and identify common challenges and related strategies facing nonprofit boards. Cost associated. Eligible for support through Rotary Charities Learning Fund.
Time: 10:00 am
Offered by the Center for Nonprofit Management, learn about surveying the digital media landscape, creating a research-informed social strategy, articulating goals and SMART objectives, creating basic content to engage your audience, and more. Cost associated. Eligible for support through Rotary Charities Learning Fund.
Offered by Rotary Charities, join Des Worthington and Megan Motil in the last session of our five-part series that will focus on building a healthy board culture through behaviors and processes. In this session you will learn what it means to have a healthy board culture and relationships, explore how boards can clarify values and create shared expectations for communication processes and conduct, and develop a plan for how boards can stay accountable to shared expectations. No cost associated.
Time: 2:00 pm
Offered by Candid Learning, learn how to write a standard project proposal to a foundation, including the basic elements of a proposal, the "do's" and "don'ts" of writing and submitting a proposal, and how to follow up whether the answer is yes or no. No cost associated.
Time: 2:00 pm
Offered by Candid Learning, learn the basics of shifting focus from your nonprofit’s activities to its outcomes including how to draft SMART objectives for a program and identify the parts of a logic model. No cost associated.
Time: 1:00 pm
Offered by The Communications Network, learn about the LinkedIn platform and how it lends itself to nonprofit communications, how to leverage the platform for communications, and hear about case studies on what has worked effectively. No cost associated.
Time: 9:00 am
Offered by TSNE, explore what resonance looks and feels like, as well as ideas to develop someone’s “resonant leadership” capability, their emotional intelligence, and the experiences of mindfulness, hope, and compassion to help individuals and teams develop, organizations adapt and grow. Cost associated. Eligible for support through Rotary Charities Learning Fund.
Time: 2:00 pm
Offered by Candid Learning, learn how to generate a standard project budget for a foundation proposal, including the basic components of a project budget including income and expenses, how to estimate the realistic cost of a project, and what other financial documents you may also need to submit with your proposal. No cost associated.
Time: 12:30 pm
Offered by CompassPoint, this 2-part workshop will explore the distinction between change and transition and how they impact individuals and gain an understanding for the Margin to Center frameworks to identify solutions to challenges. Cost associated. Eligible for support through Rotary Charities Learning Fund.
Time: 2:00 pm
Offered by Candid Learning, explore the different types of corporate giving, what motivated corporations to give, and how to find potential corporate partners. No cost associated.
Time: 10:00 am
Offered by the ABCD Institute at DePaul University, this 6-part series will introduce the core principles and applications of Asset Based Community Development (ABCD) in the context of local communities and will occur in light of current conversations about equity and social justice that will enable participants to think deeper about responses to these challenges. Cost associated. Eligible for support through Rotary Charities Learning Fund.
Time: 4:00 pm
Offered by LifeLabs Learning, explore the how managers can encourage effective one-on-one meetings to increase engagement and productivity and transform organizational culture. No cost associated.
Time: 9:00 am
Offered by Propel Nonprofits, learn about preparing for an upcoming leadership change, setting yourself up for a successful search process, and onboarding your new leader for short-term and long-term success. Cost associated. Eligible for support through Rotary Charities Learning Fund.
Time: 9:00 am
Offered by TSNE, gain an understanding of the foundational principles for governance frameworks and strategies, learn about the benefits and challenges of these frameworks, and explore ways to apply the guiding principles of these new approaches to the governance of their own organization, coalition, or network. Cost associated. Eligible for support through Rotary Charities Learning Fund.
Time: 2:00 pm
Offered by Candid Learning, learn how to write a standard project proposal to a foundation, including the basic elements of a proposal, the "do's" and "don'ts" of writing and submitting a proposal, and how to follow up whether the answer is yes or no. No cost associated.
Time: 3:00 pm
Offered by Nonprofit Quarterly, learn how to define strategy so that people can embrace it, engage people at all levels of an organization and beyond it, meet challenges around power and decision-making, articulate and visualize strategy so that it comes off the shelf. Cost associated. Eligible for support through Rotary Charities Learning Fund.
Time: 2:00 pm
Offered by Candid Learning, learn the basic steps for developing a fundraising plan, including tips on: making your case for support, diversifying your organization's fundraising base, and creating a plan of action. No cost associated.
Time: 10:00 am
Offered by the Center for Nonprofit Management, learn essential tips and guidance for those who are performing HR tasks with little or no formal HR training with a focus on the activities necessary to be legally compliant. Cost associated. Eligible for support through Rotary Charities Learning Fund.
Time: 12:30 pm
Offered by CompassPoint, this 2-part workshop will cover five conflict resolution styles and how they intersect with positional power and social privilege and identify your "best self" in conflict that build of listening, inquiry and empathy. Cost associated. Eligible for support through Rotary Charities Learning Fund.
Time: 12:00 pm
Offered by LifeLabs Learning, explore the how managers can encourage effective one-on-one meetings to increase engagement and productivity and transform organizational culture. No cost associated.
Time: 2:00 pm
Offered by Candid Learning, learn how to write a standard project proposal to a foundation, including the basic elements of a proposal, the "do's" and "don'ts" of writing and submitting a proposal, and how to follow up whether the answer is yes or no. No cost associated.
Time: 10:00 am
Offered by Propel Nonprofits, gain an understanding of nonprofit finance terminology, financial statements, and staff and board roles and responsibilities. Cost associated. Eligible for support through Rotary Charities Learning Fund.
Time: 9:30 am
Offered by One Place at Kalamazoo Public Library, in this interactive workshop you will explore how bias often appears in hiring, identify the must-have skills for the role, and leave with drafts of foundational materials and clear next steps for your hire. No cost associated.