Love ‘em or hate ‘em, conferences are part of the game.
Sometimes you may feel that a conference is pulling you or your team away from more pertinent work, but attendance can have major value.
- Conferences are a great opportunity to expand your team’s industry knowledge.
- The mass gathering is the perfect place to network with peers and industry thought-leaders. Never underestimate the value of a face-to-face meeting. Conferences make in-person introductions that much easier.
- By attending and/or contributing to the conference, you’ll be able to position yourself as an industry authority.
And hey, getting out of town for a few days ain’t so bad either.
As you map out your conference schedule heading into the summer and fall seasons, plan strategically about which members of your team to send. Typically, those you send will fall into this list:
- Executive Directors
- Presidents
- Board Members
- Major Gift Officers
- Various C_Os (Chief Development Officer, Chief Marketing Officer, etc.)
Before you set your calendar, take a look at our list of summer and fall nonprofit leadership conferences.
Let’s take this month by month.
JULY
10th Annual Bridge to Integrated Marketing & Fundraising Conference
National Harbor, MD from July 7-9
The 2015 Bridge Conference will focus on educating attendees on the newest fundraising trends, solutions to nonprofit marketing challenges, and methods to improve ROI.
2015 AMA Nonprofit Marketing Conference
Washington, D.C. from July 13-15
This conference’s aim is to help nonprofits’ marketing approach through four main topics.
- Motivating the generations
- Getting personal with storytelling
- Making cause marketing work
- Amping up integrated communications
AUGUST
Young Nonprofit Professionals Network (YNPN) 2015 National Conference
Little Rock, AR from August 6-8
This annual event brings YNPN leaders from around the country together for chapter collaboration, knowledge sharing and expansion, and networking.
Social Media for Nonprofits Conference — Austin
Austin, TX on August 18
Designed to share practical advice and techniques for advocacy, marketing, and fundraising via social media, this conference is a part of a national series.
Social media is going to continue to grow as a method of online communication and fundraising, so it is a great idea to stay current on all of the strategies in the growing field.
Visit the website for conference dates for the other series’ cities including: San Francisco, New York City, Washington, DC, Silicon Valley, Boston, and Dallas.
SEPTEMBER
10th Annual Nonprofit Management Institute
Stanford, CA from September 9-10
Celebrating 10 years, 2015′s conference will focus on the theme of building resiliency. The theme is broken into three components: yourself, your organization, and your society.
New York, NY from September 27-28
Taking place concurrently with UN Week, the Social Good Summit will investigate the effect technology and new media have on social good movements globally.
With a forward focus, this year’s conference centers on the theme #2030 and the question,
“What type of world do I want to live in by the year 2030?”
The Communications Network Annual Conference
San Diego, CA from September 30 – October 2
The conference is an annual meeting place for communications leaders from across the social sector.
OCTOBER
Alliance for Nonprofit Management National Conference
Portland, OR from October 6-8
This conference is run by the Alliance for Nonprofit Management which employs a research-oriented approach to help increase the success of nonprofits and similar cause-based organizations in achieving their mission goals.
It is engineered by and for nonprofit leaders, grant-makers, academics, and nonprofit capacity builders.
Embark 2015: Independent Sector’s 2015 National Conference
Miami, FL from October 27-29
Embark 2015 will be a gathering of over 1,000 thought-leaders from the nonprofit sector who want to network and learn from other forward-thinking peers.
Cranberry Township, PA on October 29
If you’re near the Pittsburgh area attend this long-running conference to gain the knowledge and connections to fully utilize the technology resources available to nonprofits.
A well-run CRM can be a lifesaver, so just imagine what other tech is out there waiting to be optimized.
BoardSource Leadership Forum (BLF) ’15
New Orleans, LA from November 9-10
The largest annual meeting of nonprofit board leaders, this gathering focuses on newest trends and best practices for nonprofit management.
Pick and choose your conference schedule based on where your organization has knowledge gaps, as well as authority.
Mix and match. Just get out there.
Before you hit the road, make sure you’re doing everything you can do improve your fundraising and download our free checklist of nonprofit CRM best practices.
The post Are You Ready to Lead? The 11 Best Nonprofit Leadership Conferences of the Summer and Fall appeared first on NonProfitEasy.