Over 200 Community Action professionals, partners, exhibitors, and trainers joined us last week in Dayton, Ohio for the 2018 Annual Summer Conference, #OHASC18, and we’re glad that they did. Together we enjoyed another great lineup of featured speakers and training workshops geared directly toward the Community Action Network. Five tracks including Leadership, Housing, Energy, Fiscal/HR, and Data gave opportunities for …
OACAA Foundation Level Seminar Series CPR Training
The Spring Foundation Level Seminar Series 2, Part 4 was held on April 24th, 2018. There were thirty-two staff members in attendance from six community action agencies receiving certification in CPR, First Aid, and choking prevention for adults, children, and infants. OACAA offers classes under our Foundation Level Seminar Series twice a year. These classes are designed for community actions …
Leadership Training Series
Last year, OCATO partnered with OSU’s John Glenn College of Public Affairs to pilot a leadership training series for Ohio’s Community Action Network. Because we received such great feedback from participants, we are bringing it back for 2018! The series, which is suitable for aspiring, emerging, and experienced Community Action leaders, will be tentatively held once per month June through …
Goldilocks and the board financial dashboards
Over the years, I have attended quite a few board meetings either as an auditor, a consultant, a Fiscal staff person, or a board member. For me, one of the most interesting and fascinating agenda topics has always been the financial reports presented to the board. Yep! I am one of those weird “numbers guys,” and dare I say it, …
2018 Winter Legislative Conference Recap
Thank you to all who attended the 2018 Winter Legislative Conference, #OHWLC18! Over 200 Community Action professionals, partners, vendors, presenters, and elected officials joined us in Columbus last week. We hope you enjoyed the great lineup of featured speakers and workshops. Photos from the mobile app and others throughout the conference can be found in our Flickr album. If you …
Learning Communities: A collaborative experience
Community Action Agencies (CAAs) around Ohio, as well as around the country, are always looking for ways to improve services and strategies that ultimately impact poverty in their communities. Peer-to-peer facilitated learning is an ideal way to identify effective practices that address the causes and conditions of poverty. The Community Action Partnership has taken the lead on developing new ways …
Year-End Fundraising Ideas
It’s hard to believe that another year has come and nearly gone. As we look forward to the holidays and reflect on 2017, many of us are also planning year-end fundraising campaigns to kick-start our efforts to help low-income Ohioans in 2018 and beyond. If you haven’t already started, or are looking to add to your year-end planning options in …
What is the Foundation Level Seminar Series, anyway?
Like pyramids, organizations are only as strong as their foundational level. That foundation determines the size of the pyramid, if the pyramid stays straight, and to how high the pyramid can grow. In 2016, OACAA launched a seminar series for entry level and new employees. By offering a series of seminars such as these, we believe agencies can build the …
Effective grant writing
Grant writing is the process of requesting funds from various sources, typically through a competition that requires submission of an application or proposal. Nonprofit organizations rely on this form of fundraising to support programs, agency operations or other financial needs. Grants are especially popular because they are considered “free money” by many in the industry, which leads some to believe …
Branding in Community Action
“Brand” has been defined as many things in both for-profit and nonprofit fields: a symbol or identifier, a logo or an image, a psychological perception of a company, an asset. In the nonprofit world, branding has experienced a paradigm shift that has moved away from simple imagery to the embodiment of mission and values. Branding goes far beyond a logo, …