3rd Quarter - September - 2024 Newsletter
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Inside this Issue:
1. Welcome to our 5 new Community Partners!
2. New Developments to the Volunteer Centre County Platform
3. Community Partners Receive 43% off the PANO Conference Sept. 30-Oct.1 at the Penn Stater
4. Some Interesting News from the National Council of Nonprofits
5. Social Media Promotion Strategy Still in Place
6. Our Audience is Your Audience
7. Do You Know About Our Widget? Use it to help boost your website’s SEO
8. Volunteer Centre County’s Latest Activities
9. Benefits for our Community Partners: PANO and AL!VE — 20% membership discount
10. Nonprofit Resource: Two Tips from a PANO Meeting: Grants and AI note-taking app for minutes
Did you know? Newsletters reside in each Community Partner’s portal on the Volunteer Centre County platform for easy reference.
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Welcome to our 5 new Community Partners
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5 Community Partners have joined since our last newsletter – 2nd Qtr 2024!
Please welcome:
The Rivet
Art Alliance of Central Pennsylvania
People's Choice Festival
Centre Region Parks & Recreation
Go ReEntry Specialists, Inc.
We are 109 Community Partners Strong!
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New Developments to the
Volunteer Centre County Platform
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We are adding a 30-day timer to all Volunteer Requests, Donated Goods Requests and Spread the Word Requests by year end to help us keep the platform fresh. Renewals are free, as is the whole platform, but we need to refresh to keep posts that are active opportunities top of mind. Each refresh will come with a social media boost.
We are adding a really, really cool new feature as well – to be showcased in newsletter #4 next quarter, so stay tuned!
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Community Partners Receive 43% off the
PANO Conference Sept. 30-Oct.1
At the Penn Stater, in State College
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Volunteer Centre County Community Partners do not need to be PANO members to receive this generous discount!
VOLUNTEER CENTRE COUNTY COMMUNITY PARTNERS REGISTER WITH THE CODE VCC2024
*If you experience any challenges in registering for the conference, please contact Christina Spadaro at christina@pano.org.
REGISTER NOW: https://pano.app.neoncrm.com/np/clients/pano/event.jsp?event=4142&secureIdCustomer=1&
Note: While the registration page does prompt people to log in if they already have an account, folks should be able to click the X at the top right corner of the login pop-up window to bypass that step and instead fill out the registration form as a new visitor to our site (screenshot below).
Learn more at: https://api.neonemails.com/emails/content/ENC3qzE2hDzemOWu15OtN1louXJ7wTCEad44m-2j7wI=
2024 Collaborative Conference
Up in the Air: Shifting Power, Opening Doors
Monday, 9/30, 10 AM-6 PM • Tuesday, 10/1, 8 AM-2 PM • State College, PA
Today's email is brought to you by the number 10. 10 Peer Learning Circles, 10 Workshops - and more, of course! - are just 10 days away at the 2024 Collaborative Conference. Check out the stellar line-up of sessions and speakers and join us in State College at the end of the month for all the fun!
LEARNING CIRCLES: https://www.collaborativeconference.org/workshops-peer-learning-circles-2024/
SPEAKERS: https://www.collaborativeconference.org/presenter-bios-2024/
REGISTER NOW
In the spirit of the "opening new doors" part of our conference theme, we are trying something a little different with the format of this year’s event, starting with community-building first and then developing content around those connections (rather than the other way around). With that in mind, each day will feature both a 75-minute workshop and an extended facilitated discussion (peer learning circle) on a topic within the broad categories of: Board Governance | Fundraising/Resource Development | JEDI (Justice/Equity/Diversity/Inclusion) | Leadership | Operations
10 Peer Learning Circles
Monday, 9/30
Tuesday, 10/1
Shifting Power for Governance
Opening Doors to Effective Governance
Taking the Feelings Out of Fundraising
Extending Your Staff Capacity with the Support of Consultants
Organizations as Allies for Racial Justice: An Open Discussion
Build Justice into Your Policies & Practices, Influence National Trends
Navigating Change: Leading through Shifting Winds
The Nonprofit Leader's #1 Superpower? Taking a Fresh Look at the Future
The Push & Pull of Remote Work: Operating Effectively in a Hybrid World
Systems Change: How to Become a Changemaker in Complex Environments
10 Workshops
Monday, 9/30
Tuesday, 10/1
The Board/Executive Partnership: Who Holds the Power & When?
HumAInity-Centered Design for Governance: Improving Nonprofit Effectiveness & Efficiency
Mission Matters: Shifting Power in the Corporate Sector & What it Means for Your Org's Revenue
Speaking in Ages: Opening Doors with Our Eldest Donors
Organizations as Allies for Racial Justice: Diving Deeper
Holding it All Together through DEIB
Shifting Influence: A 101 Workshop on Intergenerational Diversity & Youth Engagement in the Nonprofit Sector
Managing Stress for Strategic Leadership
Managing Tech in a Hybrid World: An Outreach for Cybersecurity Readiness
Generative AI Made Simple for Nonprofit Success
Cost to Attend
With the generous support of our many sponsors, we continue to be able to offer much lower pricing than would’ve been possible for an in-person event like this in the past. We're excited to offer members of PANO and Conference Partner GPNP (the Greater Pittsburgh Nonprofit Partnership), 43% off regular rates! And because being up-in-the-air is a little less scary - dare we say, even fun! - when you've got company, we are once again proud to offer team tickets.
Even still, we recognize that COVID continues to impact individuals, organizations, and our budgets differently, and we don’t want fees to be a barrier to attendance. Contact us for information about scholarships, made possible by our fabulous Scholarship Sponsors.
Individual Tickets
Ticket Type
PANO/GPNP Members
Regular Price
Student (Full Conference)
$100
$100
Monday-Only
$115
$200
Tuesday-Only
$85
$150
Full Conference
$200
$350
Team Tickets (Full Conference Only) - For 4+ from the Same Organization
Small Orgs (Budget Under $1M)
$630
$1,100
Medium Orgs (Budget Between $1-5M)
$1,085
$1,900
Large Orgs (Budget Over $5M)
$1,825
$3,200
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Some Interesting News from the
National Council of Nonprofits
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See more at: https://www.councilofnonprofits.org/nonprofit-champion-september-23-2024
Tax Exempt IRS Forms Under Review: The IRS announced it is undertaking its regular paperwork reduction review of 134 forms related to tax-exempt organizations. All of the Form 990s and accompanying schedules are on the list, as is the controversial IRS Form 1023-EZ and other applications for tax-exempt status. The public comment period runs through November 12, 2024.
[Read more]
The Coming Tax Debate
Making the Case for Charitable Giving Tax Incentives
Charitable nonprofits continue to experience growing demand for their services, yet costs continue to rise due to inflation while private donations and the number of donors are declining. The needs in our communities are far greater than the ability of governments to address alone.
Why It Matters: Congress should empower millions more taxpayers to help solve these challenges by enacting tax incentives that encourage donations to the work of charitable organizations in their communities.
[Read the entire policy paper]
[Read the full series of tax policy papers]
Help Secure the Workforce Data Your Nonprofit Needs
The nonprofit sector is a significant part of our nation’s economy, comprising about 10% of the private sector workforce in our country. Yet, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) does not regularly report nonprofit employment and wage data. Join charitable organizations across the country in asking President Biden to take executive action to ensure that BLS includes nonprofit employment data in its quarterly reports. The deadline for signing on is October 2.
SIGN THE LETTER
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Social Media Promotion Strategy Still in Place
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At our May 10, 2024 Board Meeting, we voted to boost each Community Partner’s needs for volunteers, needs for donated goods, and ‘Spread the Word’ posts at $10 each for up to 7 days.
So, all new activity to the Volunteer Centre County platform will now be boosted, offering those who use it an extra reach to get noticed.
We will continue to boost every Volunteer Request, Spread the Word News request, Donated Goods Request.
We encourage our Community Partners to post as many volunteer needs and need for donated goods as possible. Each time a need is reposted, it can move to a better spot on the platform for recognition.
Do you have silent, online, or in-person auctions coming up in the Fall? If so, consider calling out for donated items now.
Please tell us about your fundraisers and events so we can post them to your organization’s ‘spread the word’ feature and amplify them on our social media.
Share your event and fundraiser info with us via email at info@volunteercentrecounty.org and we will post it for you.
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Our Audience is Your Audience!
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Please like our posts, especially if the post is promoting your organization. This will help get the word out about your needs.
Please let us know your organization’s preferred hashtags and “@” address so that we can better promote you.
Please follow Volunteer Centre County on Facebook and Instagram.
https://www.facebook.com/volunteercentrecounty/
https://www.instagram.com/volunteercentrecounty/
Help Make Volunteer Centre County Better Known and In Turn,
We Can Help Make Your Organization’s Needs Better Known!
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Do You Know About Our Widget?
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PLEASE CONSIDER ADDING THE VOLUNTEER CENTRE COUNTY WIDGET TO YOUR ORGANIZATION’S WEBSITE
The widget is available through your Community Partner portal on the website.
The widget is to be placed in your organization’s website code and connects your website to your organization’s Community Partner page on the Volunteer Centre County website — Free!
Why use the widget? Because then you can update your organization’s volunteer and donated goods needs in one place, on the Volunteer Centre County platform, and everyone can see them instead of having to post them once on your organization’s own website and again on the Volunteer Centre County platform. This feature offers efficiency, and consistency, as well as, allows us to better advertise for your organization!
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Volunteer Centre County’s Latest Activities
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· We have 15 Community Partners that wish to participate in the MLK Day of Service on January 20, 2025 and 5 more that are “in process of deciding.” The MLK Day of Service is a partnership event between Penn State’s Office of Student Leadership and Involvement and Volunteer Centre County.
· Patrick Rothdeutsch wrote an article about Volunteer Centre County in early July published in the Gazette: https://www.statecollege.com/centre-county-gazette/volunteer-centre-county-makes-giving-back-easy/
· We received a $10,000 Google Ads Grant from Tech Soup and contracted with Cause Inspired to promote the Volunteer Centre County platform
· We placed a full-page ad in “Welcome back to Penn State” - Town and Gown
· We placed a “Back to School” ad with the Gazette
· We reached out to 98 Centre County nonprofits and invited them to join Volunteer Centre County
· We placed printed fliers in 15 locations around Centre County
· A BIG thank you to Rachel Siko for creating instructional videos for us!
· We held a Board Meeting on August 9, 2024. We discussed the new feature coming next quarter and decided to continue with social media boosting for each Community Partner post.
· On Sept. 18, 2024, we presented to the Smeal Sapphire Students about issues facing nonprofits and strategies to address them
· We contracted to have our ad placed on the Gazette’s daily “Calendar” page
· Met with The Happy Valley Adventure Bureau and they will promote us:
Add a community service component to your next conference
If your group has a desire to give back during your time in Centre County, the HVAB is happy to assist. Through our partnership with Volunteer Centre County, the HVAB can assist event planners in finding potential opportunities for volunteer service projects before, during or at the conclusion of your conference or event. This is a great way to engage with the local community in an impactful way while enjoying your time in the destination. Contact Dave Gerdes, HVAB Vice President of Sales & Marketing, to learn more. DaveG@happyvalley.com.
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Benefits for Community Partners:
PANO AND AL!VE MEMBERSHIPS
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Volunteer Centre County is happy to announce that we have partnered with AL!VE and PANO to offer a 20% discount to all Community Partners for membership in these 2 organizations!
Send us an email at info@volunteercentrecounty.org if you would like to have the latest BENEFITS document sent to you.
PANO: https://pano.org/ — PENNSYLVANIA ASSOCIATION OF NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS (20% Discount)
PANO is a statewide membership organization supporting the thousands of nonprofits that serve millions of people in the Commonwealth.
While other associations cater to specific nonprofit trades, PANO is the only membership organization that supports Pennsylvania’s nonprofit sector as a collective whole.
We support nonprofits through training, best practices, consultation, and discount programs. We amplify their impact through research, public policy initiatives, and advocacy.
PANO is accredited by the Standards for Excellence Institute, signifying that the organization practices the highest level of ethics, accountability, and transparency.
Discounted dues vary based on organization size and start at $86 a year for organizations with revenue of $50,000 or below.
Email info@olunteercentrecounty.org to request a membership form created just for Volunteer Centre County Community Partners to receive the discount. A list of benefits that come with membership is part of this form, so request the form if you simply want to peruse the benefits that membership covers (it is a long list - over 1 page).
AL!VE: https://www.volunteeralive.org/ — ASSOCIATION FOR LEADERSHIP IN VOLUNTEER ENGAGEMENT (20% Discount)
Al!VE is the national professional association for leaders in volunteer engagement to provide networking, professional development, mentoring, and advocacy for our peers.
Some member benefits include:
· AL!VE Academies - both the live sessions and recordings
· Monthly Member Newsletter and Quarterly Socials Online for Networking
· Association Database and Resources – looking for a colleague to connect with regarding a certain topic? Reach out to your fellow members who are happy to share information, mentor, or network. Members span the nation and beyond and include advocates for change, educators, decision-makers, and practitioners who strive for diversity and inclusiveness. Collectively, we share a commitment to effective leadership of volunteer efforts and continued advocacy for our profession.
· Join a Community of Practice
· We are proud to partner with our colleagues in the profession who also offer member discounts.
We are:
· Professionals in volunteer management and engagement
· Advocates for the recognition and appreciation of volunteer management
· The resource for and the link to tools, research, and best practices
· Educators of decision-makers in all volunteer management arenas
· Influencers for redefining job descriptions, compensation, and the position of volunteer manager in our organizations
· Diverse, inclusive and member-driven
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Nonprofit Resources:
SOME TIPS FROM PANO
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Hot Topics at a recent PANO meeting were:
Grant Writing – hiring a Grant Writer
Elevated Effect apparently serves nonprofits of all sizes. They also have free trainings - https://elevatedeffect.com/
AI Notetaking
https://fathom.video/ - PANO has recently began to use Fathom and so far, we love it! This is a free notetaker that launches right from your email. It is easy to set up but please let me know if you have any questions.
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Volunteer Centre County is a volunteer center with no employees.
We operate only on private donations.
To donate, please consider the options listed here: https://volunteercentrecounty.org/donate
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Thanks for reading and
Thank you for making Centre County a better place for everyone!
Please reach out if you need us to post for your organization, help with accessing your organization’s portal, or with any other questions or volunteer needs that you may have.
info@volunteercentrecounty.org
814-308-5052
http://www.volunteercentrecounty.org
Building connections to serve the needs of volunteers and nonprofits in Centre County.
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Our next newsletter will come out during the 4th Quarter of 2024.
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