Calling all New Jersey nonprofit leaders.
You know your staff and board, and you know what you need to advance your mission. Dodge’s Board Leadership Series is designed to help you best support these needs.
We only have room for 10-12 organizations to participate, and spots are filling up quickly. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to be part of the Dodge learning community. The registration deadline for the series is Oct. 10.
We invite you to review the series brochure, where you will find a comprehensive and sequential seven-part series requiring team participation, with additional opportunities to attend webinars and access other support tools. We know it is a big commitment of time and energy, but we are confident it will be worth the investment.
After 10 years of offering the series, we have learned some things about how to maximize the impact of the series and manage the commitment:
- This program is most effective when the executive director, board president and other board members attend as a team consistently for the whole series.
- The board president should prioritize the first two workshops and the diversity, equity, and inclusion workshops called “Leading for High Impact”.
- A good way to engage other board members is to have your board committee chairs take a leadership role at relevant workshops. For example, your Governance Committee chair can attend the Retaining and Recruiting workshop and your Fundraising Committee chair can attend the Fundraising workshop. If you have a vice-president or board member in line to become the next Board President, they should attend as well.
- If your executive director and/or board president have attended the series multiple times in the past, consider sending a comparable senior staff leader and/or board member to attend the workshops as part of the organization’s team.
- Above all else, no matter your team combination, decide how your team will share the information with others! Set up follow-up debriefings, schedule a portion of your board meetings to try the video exercises, and find ways to teach what you have learned.
Don’t forget, your commitment to the full series will yield multiple benefits.
First, here’s what we have heard from past participants:
“Though board governance can be learned about in books and blogs, the Dodge Board Series provides a unique platform of workshops and support for individual organizations to formulate their own strategies and action plans.”
“I learned the importance of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and that knowledge alone is not enough. Intercultural competency is a muscle you have to develop- I was glad to gain tools that I can take back to my colleagues.”
“I brought three new trustees who have just joined the Board. It helped inform them on how to focus their efforts and be more effective.”
“These workshops provided great networking with other New Jersey nonprofits. The peer-based days are extremely useful for sharing information with similar nonprofit organizations on similar issues.”
In addition, another benefit is that along with all the new knowledge and tools at your fingertips, your team will be eligible to apply for a “Day of Clarity” Retreat for your whole board. You can download a description of the full Board Leadership series that can easily be printed or emailed to your board leadership team here.
Please feel free to reach out to Judy Ha Kim or Wendy Liscow if you have questions or issues relating to fulfilling the commitment to the series.