Technical Assistance Initiative

photograph of meeting participants

Dodge's Technical Assistance Initiative helps strengthen the infrastructure of non-profit organizations by offering high quality workshops to our grantees focusing on those issues they report concern them the most: leadership, organizational capacity building, board development, fundraising, communication strategies and assessment.

 

2009-2010 Board Leadership Training Series

From October 2009 through April 2010 we will once again offer the Board Leadership Training Series. This is an intensive step-by-step program to build a stronger and more effective Board of Directors for your organization.  We have teamed up with The Nonprofit Center at La Salle University to present a FREE, comprehensive series that has three components: 

1) OVERVIEW: Two mandatory introductory full-day workshops: Assessment/Lifecycles and the Board Bootcamp

2) DRILLING DOWN: A series of six follow-up intensive workshops on the most pressing Board Development subjects

3) INSTITUTIONALIZING THE LEARNING: An opportunity to apply for a matching grant to bring in a consultant to work with the full Board on any area that the organization identified as a priority

Click here for more information about the Board Leadership Series

 

Strategic Alliance Workshop for Dodge Grantees

The Dodge Foundation is committed to finding ways to help its current and past grantees learn about the options available for strategic alliances and partnerships. And, since we know that these alliances require time and money to implement, we want to help design opportunities for interested parties to come together to explore options and then if exciting ideas result, help support their implementation.  If you have initiated talks with another organization or are even thinking about possible collaborations, you are likely looking for a safe and positive way to test the waters. 

Click here for more information about the Strategic Alliance Workshop


Tap into the Services of Our Partner Grantees Who Offer
Technical Assistance Services

The Nonprofit Finance Fund 
In addition to offering our technical assistance workshop series, the Dodge Foundation works with Nonprofit Finance Fund (NFF) to provide:

  • Workshops and customized consultations to help organizations plan and prepare for facilities projects, financial opportunities and challenges, new business ideas, and growth opportunities.
  • Competitively priced loans for capital/facilities projects to qualified New Jersey nonprofit organizations.

We are pleased to offer scholarships which underwrite the registration fees for staff and board members of Dodge Foundation’s grantees to attend NFF workshops, and investigate eligibility for nonprofit loans.

NFF recently unveiled its Tough Times Package of Services to help nonprofits to effectively cut costs while not damaging core programs. Their Tough Times Services—from scenario planning to modeling program profitability to improving financial tools—are designed to help nonprofit leaders cope with urgent financial issues, and show them how best to interpret and use financial data for smart financial decision-making. To learn more about NFF’s Tools for Tough Times, visit the Nonprofit Finance Fund website or contact Joyce Jonat at joyce.jonat@nffusa.org.

 

Access Free Business Legal Services Through the Pro Bono Partnership and New Jersey Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts (NJVLA)

Pro Bono Partnership
The Dodge Foundation also works with the Pro Bono Partnership, a nonprofit legal assistance organization serving New Jersey, Connecticut, and New York, which recruits attorneys from major corporations and law firms to provide volunteer assistance to qualifying nonprofit organizations without charge.  The Partnership provides:

  • Lawyers to assist you with contracts and leases, corporate structure and governance, real estate, employment law, environmental law, compliance with government regulations, fundraising regulations, lobbying, intellectual property and other business legal matters;
  • Nonprofit Crisis Management Advice on the legal aspects of strategic alliances or mergers; workforce reduction and alternatives; leases and other contractual obligations; Board fiduciary obligations and liabilities; restructuring debt , restrictions on use of grant monies, or underwater endowments; fulfilling terms of government contracts; or deciding whether to file for bankruptcy or to dissolve.
  • A wide variety of free and low cost educational workshops on important legal issues for nonprofit managers and Board Members to help you proactively adopt best practices and avoid potentially costly mistakes.

For assistance, visit the Partnership’s website:  www.probonopartner.org, or call the office nearest you. 

 

New Jersey Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts, Inc. (NJVLA)
New Jersey Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts, Inc. (NJVLA) is a non-profit organization that provides referrals for New Jersey artists and arts and cultural organizations to a large network of volunteer attorneys throughout the State of New Jersey regarding arts-related legal issues including copyright, trademark, contract, non-profit, landlord/tenant, real estate, employment, tax, and more. 

NJVLA’s legal services to New Jersey artists and arts and cultural organizations include:

  • The Legal Line: a telephone consultation with an attorney to discuss a particular arts-related legal issue, available to anybody regardless of income or annual budget;
  • The Law Fax: a telephone consultation with an attorney to discuss the contents of a short legal document, also available to anybody regardless of income or annual budget; and
  • The Full Service Referral: for matters such as litigation, negotiation, document drafting, organization formation, or anything else that cannot be resolved in a single telephone call with an attorney. 

NJVLA also provides educational programming on a wide range of arts-related legal topics and a Board Matching service for non-profit arts and cultural organizations seeking attorneys for their Boards of Directors.

If you are an artist or a representative of an arts or cultural organization in New Jersey, and you need legal assistance on an arts-related matter; if you would like to schedule an educational presentation; or if you are a New Jersey attorney interested in volunteering for NJVLA, contact Executive Director Tracey I. Batt, Esq., at 856-963-6300 or info@njvla.org.  For more information, visit www.njvla.org.