Think Creative Group

Do Good. Think Big.
Enter our non-profit contest for online branding

You’re overwhelmed, understaffed and have a non-existent budget. You need to communicate with your target audience why they should help support you. Why they should volunteer, donate and be part of your cause. But where do you start? How do you get in front of them with an easy to manage communications plan?

That’s where we come in.

We love non-profits. And we love Connecticut. So we figured, why not help out a non-profit in Connecticut! We are donating our online branding expertise to help your cause develop a strong online strategy, from social media, to blogs, to emarketing.

Tell us about your non-profit organization [remember, your non-profit/charity must be 501©(3) organization]. What makes you so special? How do you “do good” and why you should be chosen?Remember…tell us a good story about your cause because the public will be reading your story and voting to determine the finalists. So you don’t need to just tug at our heartstrings…you need to tug at everyone’s!

How do you win? Simple.

1. You submit your non-profit’s story to our contest.
2. Tell your existing friends, supporters and fanbase to vote for you.
3. Get the most votes to be one of the top 5 finalists.
4. Our panel of judges will make the final selection.

More info here.

see flier for more details and the entry form: CAYS 2010 Art Contest Flier.pdf

Seeking 10-15 year old artists to create an original, creative, sports-themed logo for CAYS.

Guidelines:

You must be between the ages of 10 to 15

The design must be hand-drawn and hand-colored

(Sorry, no computer-generated or colored images!)

The design will be judged by:

Originality

Creativity

How well it represents the organization

DEADLINE: April 30, 2010

Community Alliance for Youth Sports seeks to help young people have the opportunity to participate in sports by aiding through financial scholarships.

http://southernct.edu/pathways/links/

The PAcE scholarship program is for students studying in

• Math
• Physics
• Chemistry
• Biology
• Earth Science
• Computer Science
  

Educators can sign up for classroom visits, math/science presentations and other

resources at the CRISP Education and Outreach site.

PAcE is supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation.

http://southernct.edu/pathways/links/

Register at www.techsoup.org for more information and details.

This refurbished desktop computer has a Pentium 4 processor, the Windows XP Professional operating system, and the Microsoft Office 2003 Standard office suite. The keyboard and mouse are new, not refurbished. A monitor is not included. Monitors must be obtained separately, either from RCI or from other sources.

The computer will meet or exceed these specifications:

Processor speed:

2.8 GHz to 3.0 GHz

RAM:

minimum of 512 MB

Hard disk:

minimum of 40 GB

Optical disk drive:

CD-ROM

Input devices:

keyboard with numeric keypad and mouse

Power cord:

standard

Interface ports:

Ethernet, USB (multiple), parallel

The operating system and Office 2003 Standard are preinstalled by the refurbisher.

This computer is covered by a 90-day warranty from the refurbisher.

Register at www.techsoup.org for more information and details.

Continue Reading Here

Temporary position (20 to 25 hours per week)
Duration: April through October 2010

OBJECTIVE: To assist The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven in the comprehensive gathering and organization of detailed data on nonprofit organizations in the Foundation’s twenty town service area.

Job Requirements:
The position requires training and interviewing staff, directors and board members of nonprofits; assessing, analyzing and validating information; entering data and serving as the primary point of contact for nonprofit partners. This will require managing daily projects, ongoing communication with nonprofits to answer questions and to promote the effective use and implementation of this product.

The Skills Required:
Strong computer skills in Microsoft Office, desktop publishing, and database management concepts. Excellent interpersonal skills are required. Deep knowledge of nonprofit sector essential. In addition, there must be a demonstrated capacity for strong writing skills, problem solving and effectiveness with nonprofit management. A Bachelor’s degree is required.

Inquiries with respect to this opportunity should be directed to:

Leon Bailey
Vice President, Human Resources
The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven
70 Audubon Street
New Haven, CT 06510
203-777-7094
lbailey@cfgnh.org

The application deadline is Friday, April 9th, 2010.

Nonprofit Organizations Respond to Form 990's New Governance Questions

For more information on the best practices in nonprofit management and governance described in the Standards for Excellence: An Ethics and Accountability Code for the Nonprofit Sector®, click here.

To order copies of the Standards for Excellence® code, click here. Discounts are available for members and those who order in bulk.

Visit the Standards for Excellence Institute® Blog>>

Community Mediation, Inc. needs to recruit two African American adults and two Spanish speaking bilingual adults to take the upcoming Facilitator Training April 12, 13, 24, from 5pm to 9pm. Collaborating with the Housing Authority, those having taken the training will provide facilitated dialogues for parents at two housing sites (Quinnipiac Terrace and Village West). A range of concerns will be addressed, including nurturing parenting, financial management, school-related advocacy, and health care to name a few.

With the basic facts and an opportunity to share their struggles and concerns about parenting, these mothers and fathers will have a better understanding of the needs and abilities of their children; an opportunity to feel heard and create connections that can become future support systems; and the skills to act on the behalf of their children and themselves.

This initiative is not yet funded, so trained individuals may be called upon for other dialogues. Pending funding the timeline would be (all or part of) a commitment of once or twice a month on a weeknight from 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. beginning in July/August of 2010 and ending July/August of 2012.

If you are interested in putting your leadership skills to work in the community, please contact Susan Spight, Community Mediation, Inc., at skspight@gmail.com to find out more information. Your help is appreciated. Thank you.

Another Social Service Agency Hit By Budget Bomb - Courant.com http://shar.es/mWzlb

Hartford Courant

Helen Ubiñas

March 18, 2010

I probably should have done what a colleague suggested and asked Dr.Mark Mitchell if he had an inhaler handy.

But I figured it was best to just break the bad news to him.

"You're not getting the money," I told the president of the Connecticut Coalition for Environmental Justice.

"Oh my God," Mitchell said after a long moment of stunned silence. "I don't know what we're going to do."

A day earlier, Mitchell and I talked about a $130,000 grant for an asthma outreach and education program which — after surviving a line-item veto by Gov. M. Jodi Rell — was approved by the legislature in August.

Seven months later, this week, they were still waiting for the money.

Figuring they were just another organization whose funds were stuck in political limbo, I made a few calls. Doug Whiting, spokesman for House Speaker Christopher Donovan, said the holdup seemed to be with the
state Department of Public Health, which administers the contract. Calls to DPH went nowhere fast, but Mitchell said they told him the funds were stalled at Rell's budget office.

And then late in the day Wednesday, the Office of Policy and Management finally dropped the bomb.

"We're denying the contract," OPM spokesman Jeffrey Beckham told me.

And then I got a crash course in Rell budgeting that boiled down to: Don't blame the governor. Not her fault.

The legislature may have approved funds for programs like these, Beckham said. But in the same budget, they demanded $95 million in cuts in non-direct-care contracts.

OK, but why did they leave an organization twisting in the wind for seven months before finally pulling the plug on the very day a reporter called about the long overdue money? That's seven months the coalition could have used to find another source of funding.

And why was I the one breaking the news to the poor guy?

Beckham said OPM received the contract in late January. He also said OPM advised state agencies months ago that the budget required administrative savings that would impact their own operations as well
as contracts that they administer. Apparently DPH forgot to tell the coalition that.

Continuing my Messenger of Doom duties, I called the speaker's spokesperson back. Whiting insisted the governor had other options. He said they are now questioning whether she has the authority to cut the
funds.

That's all fine and good. But meanwhile, the coalition is left reeling, and once again it's the poor and vulnerable paying the price. Asthma is a major health crisis in Connecticut — especially in urban areas.

It's the leading cause of kids missing school and their parents missing work, Mitchell said. And yes, I know — there are programs that work with people already seeking care. But this program targets low-income people, communities of color, people on Medicaid and the uninsured with a preventive program that wait for it saves money. And since this is all about money, consider this:

Millions in public money is spent each year in hospitalization and emergency room costs to treat asthma. In Hartford, New Haven and Bridgeport, the number of hospitalization and emergency room visits are two to three times higher than the state average.

And here's the kicker, Mitchell said: If the coalition's outreach program reduces emergency room visits by only one-half of 1 percent, it will have saved the state the cost of the program.

Or put another way: For about what the state pays for a single deputy commissioner, they could improve the health and lives of thousands of its residents.

But then, this isn't just about one program. The coalition may now have to close its doors. In addition to outreach, the money also covers a third of the operating budget for a 12-year-old organization that helped pass Connecticut's first environmental justice law.

After composing himself, Mitchell called me back. "We're very shocked,'" he said. "We really believe we're saving the state money and we just don't understand." They're not the only ones.

Helen Ubiñas' column appears on Thursdays and Sundays. Read her blog at courant.com/helen.

Courant.com http://shar.es/mWzlb

The Executive Director must be a visionary and engaging leader, an experienced manager, and deeply committed to young people’s growth and development. YRM is a small, lean organization where all staff play a direct, hands-on role. The Executive Director must excel at balancing multiple tasks, including internal management of the staff and programs, external relationships with key stakeholders, collaborators, and allies, and the demands of working in a fluid, fast-paced youth-centered environment. The Executive Director will be responsible for ensuring that the organization is fiscally and programmatically sound, and must work to strategically advance YRM’s purpose and goals.

This is a full-time salaried position with benefits.

The Ideal Candidate:

The ideal candidate will posses business and financial management skills; youth development, criminal justice and education policy expertise; and experience leading and managing staff. The ideal candidate will also have a demonstrated commitment to social justice efforts. In addition, the ideal candidate will be:

• Familiar with youth media production, specifically as it relates to issues impacting young people in urban settings;

• Experienced in managing, developing, and leading youth programs that integrate youth development theory, and principles of youth organizing;

• Knowledgeable of the New Haven community, including specific policies and trends impacting youth in the educational and juvenile justice systems.

Responsibilities:

The Executive Director is responsible for:

• Supervising the organization’s staff and overseeing the development, implementation and evaluation of programming that advances vision and mission;

• Fostering and maintaining relationships with partner agencies, local government, educational and community organizations, and relevant partners that advance the mission of YRM;

• Maintaining a positive and strong organizational culture that prioritizes young people and helps attract and retain creative, competent, and committed staff;

• Working in partnership with the board of directors to address critical organizational needs and strategic priorities;

• Fundraising, including cultivating individual donors, obtaining support from foundations, and grant writing;

• Managing the organization’s finances and ensuring the organization maintains sound business practices and legal compliance

To Apply:

Submit a cover letter and resume, including employment history, professional qualifications, professional memberships, salary requirements, and references to Fahd Vahidy at yrmedsearch@gmail.com with Executive Director of Youth Rights Media in the subject heading or by mail to:

Youth Rights Media

c/o Public Allies CT

85 Willow Street, Building A, Suite 2-3

New Haven, CT 06511

Applications must be submitted by April 23, 2010.

Youth Rights Media is an equal opportunity employer, and does not discriminate against any individual on account of that individual's sex, race, color, religion, age, disability, status as a special disabled veteran, veteran of the Vietnam era or other covered veteran, or national or ethnic origin; nor does Youth Rights Media discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity or expression.

It has happen too many of us, you have a document -- picture(s) or a spreadsheet you would like to share over email and come to find out that the file(s) are too big and can not be emailed or they can not be downloading because of the size of the file(s).

Two solutions:

http://www.yousendit.com/ - Send, receive & track files up to 2GigaBytes

http://docs.google.com allows you to share documents; they can be viewed and edited without downloading them. Documents can be made open to the world or just viewed by people you select.

Resources contribute by Christina Ciociola and Tricia Caldwell of The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven.

If you have a resource that you have found helpful post it. If enough people are interested we can start a group or a discussion just for useful resources for non-profits. Just let us know what YOU can contribute and what YOU need.

It sounds corny but it is true: there is a U in GNH CommUnity.

2807 North Parham Road, Suite 200, Richmond, VA 23294

UWGNH Furniture Donations.xls

In two weeks, United Way of Greater New Haven will be relocating to its new 900 Chapel Street, 10^th floor office. As a result of our move, we are able to offer area nonprofits an assortment of gently used office furniture at no cost to them.

Available items include U, L, regular and table desks; credenzas; coffee, end, meeting and folding tables; wood and metal file cabinets; assorted chairs; AV equipment; white/corkboards; a small TV; and other miscellaneous office furniture and supplies. Attached is a complete itemized list of the items available. If your organization is interested in claiming an item for your use please attend our “Furniture Tagging” Party on Friday, March 19^th from 11am-3pm at our 71 Orange Street offices. (Furniture will be donated to nonprofits on a “first come, first serve” basis.) All furniture must be picked up on Friday, March 26^th from 9am-2pm (at the cost of your organization).

Contact Jan McCray with questions regarding this event.

Please feel free to share this announcement with your contacts.

Jan McCray

Community Impact Associate

United Way of Greater New Haven

71 Orange Street

New Haven, CT 06510

(203)772-2010x216

Direct Dial: (203)691-4216

Fax: (203)789-8167

jmccray@uwgnh.org

GIVE. ADVOCATE. VOLUNTEER.

LIVE UNITED

"Take 10 Minutes" to complete and mail back the 2010 Census Forms. Partners are asked to motivate your constituents, clients and customers to do just that. Your support of the 2010 Census is instrumental in inspiring people to fill out and mail back their census forms in a timely manner.

Here is THE TOOL to motivate your constituents an interactive, map-based, http://2010.census.gov/2010census/take10map/

"Take 10" Web site that allows local areas to track and compare their 2010 Census mail back participation rates, which will be updated on a daily basis at http://2010.census.gov/2010census/take10map/, and to look up their 2000 Census participation rates.

THANK YOU FOR PARTNERING WITH THE CENSUS BUREAU.

TOGETHER WE CAN INSPIRE EVERYONE TO "TAKE 10" FOR AN ACCURATE 2010 CENSUS.

The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven (The Foundation) is launching a multi-pronged, multi-year initiative designed to enhance levels of student achievement in the New Haven Public Schools. The Foundation is seeking to hire an individual with the knowledge, experience, leadership potential and skills to conceive, design, implement and lead this initiative.

The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, founded in 1928, is the charitable endowment for a twenty-town region in South Central Connecticut. Governed by a board of eleven community leaders, The Foundation is comprised of more than 700 separate philanthropic funds and manages total philanthropic assets of almost $290 million as of the end of 2009. The Foundation is the region’s largest grantmaker, making approximately $14 million in grants in 2009. The Foundation raises substantial new philanthropic resources each year as well, with new gifts to The Foundation averaging almost $10 million annually over the last five years.

Given The Foundation’s size, scope and deep long-standing relationships in the region’s philanthropic and non-profit communities, The Foundation has a long track record of leadership on important community issues. In 2009, The Foundation decided that it would focus significant effort, resources and attention in the coming years on enhancing student achievement in the New Haven Public Schools (NHPS) through a new initiative (the Student Achievement Initiative). This decision was made in the context of the public commitment of the City of New Haven in 2009 to undertake its own comprehensive school reform initiative designed to achieve exponential progress in closing within five years the achievement gap between the academic performance of students in NHPS and the academic performance of students in Connecticut generally. The Foundation’s Student Achievement Initiative will be designed to be aligned with, supportive of and at the same time independent of school reform as it is taking place within NHPS.

The Student Achievement Initiative will encompass a comprehensive set of inter-related activities that will go far beyond The Foundation’s traditional education grantmaking. At the center of the Student Achievement Initiative will be a dedicated Foundation intervention strategy designed to achieve specific defined goals over a period of five years related to enhancing student achievement in NHPS. This strategy will have its own budget ($250,000 has been budgeted in 2010 for the first year of this strategy, which does not include funds budgeted for the director of the Student Achievement Initiative). The director of the Student Achievement Initiative will take the lead role in defining this strategy, including its long-term and annual goals, and in defining how it will be pursued. While no direction has yet been established, examples that have been mentioned as areas in which The Foundation might undertake this dedicated strategy include enhancing teacher quality, strengthening school administration through training of principals, and encouraging parental engagement in school reform.

Other elements of the Student Achievement Initiative will include:

· Grantmaking. Starting in 2010, The Foundation intends to undertake a dedicated competitive process to provide responsive grants to non-profits that are providing services that will enhance student achievement in NHPS (funding for these grants is over and above the budget for The Foundation’s dedicated strategy mentioned above). The Foundation expects to work with NHPS and the United Way of Greater New Haven regarding these grants. The director of the Student Achievement Initiative will work closely with The Foundation’s grantmaking staff in this process.

· Development. The Foundation will make a priority of raising funds for the Student Achievement Initiative. This will involve extensive work with corporate and institutional funders and with individual donors. In addition, The Foundation expects to play the role as needed of intermediary for governmental and private philanthropic grants to support elements of NHPS school reform. The director will work closely with The Foundation’s development and donor services staff in this work.

· Community Knowledge and Accountability. The Foundation, through its participation on the Regional Leadership Council, is involved in discussions with local private sector leaders as to establishment of an accountability mechanism that will be designed to track the progress of and keep the community’s leadership informed about the status of NHPS school reform. The director of the Student Achievement Initiative will work closely with the President of The Foundation in this work. In addition, the director will work closely with The Foundation’s communications staff and community knowledge staff on developing our strategy for keeping the broader community informed as to The Foundation’s Student Achievement Initiative.

· New Haven Promise. Building on The Foundation’s long-standing leadership in raising funds for and in administering local scholarships, The Foundation is likely to be the administrative home of New Haven Promise, which will be a comprehensive financial assistance program for higher education for graduates of NHPS. The Foundation will work closely with Yale and with the City of New Haven on New Haven Promise. While it is not yet clear how the Foundation’s work with respect to New Haven Promise will be staffed, the director of the Student Achievement Initiative will work with New Haven Promise staff as appropriate.

The Foundation is establishing a Student Achievement Task Force to guide, shape and oversee the Student Achievement Initiative and to act as the interface with The Foundation’s board on these matters. The task force will consist of Foundation board members as well as non-board members who have significant and varied experience in K-12 education, in school reform and in related educational issues. The director of the Student Achievement Initiative will work closely with the task force.

The director of the Student Achievement Initiative will report to the President and CEO of The Foundation.

The director will have a minimum of 5 years of experience in urban public education or related urban policy work with a graduate degree in a relevant discipline being desirable but not required. It will be important that the director of the Student Achievement Initiative has the following skills, experience and attributes:

· Experience in successfully managing people and projects;

· Deep knowledge of school reform best practices;

· Experience in translating programmatic goals into powerful and persuasive presentations to potential funders and partners;

· Experience in and commitment to working to address the challenges of inner-city communities;

· Creativity and experience in designing and implementing social change activities;

· A collaborative working style and experience working in situations demanding complex coalition-building; and

· The political savvy, stature and self-confidence to interact with the public and private sector leadership of Greater New Haven.

Inquiries with respect to this opportunity should be directed to:

Leon J. Bailey

Vice President, Human Resources

The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven

70 Audubon Street

New Haven, CT 06510

203-777-7094

lbailey@cfgnh.org