Learning Communities

The Learning Communities Program

A place to connect with professionals in similar roles, with facilitated conversations led by experts in the field based on what YOU want to learn about.

Nonprofit New York has combined two of its most successful programs, the Nonprofit Excellence Awards and Learning Labs, to create a new model for sustained community engagement, growth, and expertise.

In this model, we take the community experience and facilitated expertise of the Learning Labs and combine them with the sharing of best practices and feedback of the Nonprofit Excellence Awards. The result is a fellowship experience that honors the knowledge already in the room, while providing facilitated opportunities to network and share tools, practices, and outcomes with the larger nonprofit sector. We approach this work with the beliefs that we are stronger together, significant expertise already exists within our network, exploring challenges across nonprofit sectors leads to innovation, and providing organizations with the space and time to share ideas and information can benefit the New York area’s nonprofits and Nonprofit New York.

Each cohort is different, and each experience is personalized to meet the needs of cohort participants. The program experience is approximately 8 months long. At the end of the program, participants share their experience and learnings with the broader nonprofit community through Nonprofit New York events and programming.

The program consists of three phases.

Phase 1 - Planning Phase (~2 one and half hour meetings over one to two months)

  • Determine a shared challenge within the cohort
  • Nonprofit New York designs a curriculum with resources and experts who can support Learning Communities members in addressing that challenge

Phase 2 - Learning Phase (~5 one-two hour learning and practice sessions over 3 months)

  • Learning Community participants engage in trainings and workshops with experts to address the challenges identified in Phase 1
  • Brainstorm and debrief with a partner organization after each learning session

Phase 3 - Action Phase (~2 one hour meetings plus independent work over 2 months)

  • Develop an Action Plan and work with a partner in the program to implement and make changes within your organization

Thanks to a generous grant from the New York Community Trust, Nonprofit New York is currently able to offer this program at no additional cost for our members. This program is only open to our members.

Spring 2023 Learning Community Cohort

The Learning Community that will convene in the Spring of 2023 will be composed of pairs – Executive Directors and an additional leadership team member – who work in nonprofit organizations with operating budgets between $3 and $8 million dollars.

All Nonprofit New York members that meet this criteria are invited to apply. Applications close on January 18, 2023.

Apply Now!
Spring 2023 Cohort

Previous Cohorts

Spring 2022 - Founders of Small & Emerging Nonprofits
Fall 2022 - Chief Operating Officers of Established, Larger Nonprofits with More Than 50 Employees

For more information or questions regarding the Learning Communities program or if you have a suggestion for a future cohort, please reach out to Darby Masland, Programs Manager, at [email protected].

Learning Labs

Learning Lab Application

The Nonprofit Technology Framework: Tools and Skills for Thriving in the “New Normal”

Do you need a clear plan for technology growth to meet the demands and opportunities in today’s “new normal”? Join us to learn the skills, processes (and a few great tools!) so that you can transform your organization through excellence in technology!

Kim Snyder and Joshua Peskay of RoundTable Technology have recently released the Nonprofit Technology Framework, a tool to help nonprofit professionals build the skills to leverage technology and thrive in today’s world. We’ve invited Kim and Joshua to take you on a learning journey through the Nonprofit Technology Framework, to explore excellence in each of the key areas of IT Leadership, Governance, Cybersecurity, Data, Project and Change Management. During this highly interactive workshop, you will have access to tools and resources that have been developed specifically for the nonprofit professional. This six-part program will help you to build a culture of strategic transformation, collaboration, and accountability and enable you to optimize on the opportunities that are so essential for thriving in today’s “new normal.”

Session Titles and Key Take-aways

  1. I Can See Clearly Now (May 18, 1-2:30)

    2. Assessing where you are and where you want to go

    • Why technology matters for mission
    • Technology capacity as a continuum
    • Understanding current state versus desired state
    • Building the 1-page Technology Plan
    • Technology and the New Normal
    • There’s been a huge shift in cybercrime AND data privacy
  2. Excellent! (May 25,1-2:30)

    3. What it means to have “excellence” in technology and why it matters

    • The different functions of technology governance, and how they make a difference
    • Understanding excellence as a continuum in IT leadership, Infrastructure, Cybersecurity, Data and Project/Change Management
    • Measuring technology excellence in your organization
  3. The Magic of Data Culture (June 1, 1-2:30)

    4. Becoming a data-informed organization that protects what it collects

    • Documenting workflow with an Information Workflow Inventory
    • Visualizing the process (and gaps and risks) with a Data Map
    • Pathways for gaining data insights in 2022
    • Data privacy and ethical data practices
  4. Cybersecurity and the “Reasonable” Imperative (June 8,1-2:30)

    5. What “reasonable” cybersecurity means and why you need to be “reasonable”

    • The three cybersecurity basics if you do nothing else
    • Organizational risk appetite (or aversion)
    • How the idea of “reasonable” cybersecurity applies to privacy laws
  5. Herding Cats - Project and Change Management (June 15, 1-2:30)

    6. How to keep your culture from eating your strategy

    • Why everything starts with the problem to be solved, who you’re solving it for and why solving it matters
    • The three faces of change management
    • Retrospectives and the importance of pivots
  6. Changing the Wheels While Driving the Car (June 22, 1-2:30)

    7. Agility and excellence in technology as a way of being

    • Building a culture of accountability while getting the work done
    • Getting buy-in for investments and effort
    • Right-sizing the overwhelm
    • Building continuous improvement into the process

Cost

Members: $175 for the series

Non-members: $225 for the series

If you register one participant at full price, you can register a second participant from your organization for 50% off!

Apply Now!