Community Conversations

Community Conversations are Community Partner peer-led discussions on a selected topic. Each Community Conversation will focus on a different topic ranging from administrative skill workshops to issue-area focus group discussions.

Community Conversations will be held the last Wednesday of every other month from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. in Lee's Garage.

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Community Conversations Resource Links

GuideStar - An up-to-date registration on GuideStar is vital for your Non-Profit. GuideStar helps potential investors and sponsors know that your organization is a legitimate Non-Profit and how your organization is operated. Many companies that offer Non-Profit discounts require an up-to-date listing on GuideStar.
Tech Soup - TechSoup supports nonprofits, charities, and libraries by providing access to donations and discounts on software, hardware, and services from major brands.
WordPress with Kadence Blocks, presented by Maggie Ardito of St. John's River to Sea Loop Alliance - WordPress is a free website builder. The addition of Kadence Blocks helps simplify the WordPress experience. Kadence Blocks pricing ranges from $0 to $219 annually depending on subscription level.
Get Connected/Galaxy Digital, presented by Jessica Heck of United Way - Get Connected is a volunteer management and sourcing platform provided by United Way to area service organizations at no charge.
Give Butter, presented by Heather McLean of Volusia Pride - Give Butter is a fundraising platform that allows you to set up multiple types of fundraising campaigns including recurring monthly/quarterly/annual donations, auctions, and event ticketing. Give Butter does not charge a commission for donations received, however, standard credit card processing charges do apply with options to pass those fees along, in whole or part, to the consumer.
Trello, presented by Ann-Marie Willacker - Trello is "digital post-it notes" or more technically, a collaborative project and task management application that syncs in real-time across devices and team members. A Trello tutorial document is attached and you can reach out to me directly if you have any specific questions. Pricing ranges from $0 to $17.50 per month depending on subscription level and Trello offers a 75% discount to non-profits.
Volusia County Library has several resources available to Non-Profits through their website with a Volusia County Library card including LinkedIn Learning, access to Foundation Center Online, and Gale's Demographics Now. Visit their website or give the library a call for more information on how to access these resources.
Linktree - Linktree allows you to create a landing page that puts links to all your different profiles or websites in one place.
Community Box - Community Box is a directory platform. It allows you to create searchable directories with tags that can be embedded into your website. This is the platform that the Volusia Resource Directory uses. Non-Profit pricing is $159 annually.
Canva - Canva is an online graphic design app for creating social media graphics and presentations. Canva has a free version for personal use but also offers non-profits free access to its Pro version.
SignUpGenius - SignUpGenius lets you create custom online sign-up forms in minutes.
Zip Books - ZipBooks is free accounting software that sends invoices, tracks time and expenses, integrates with your bank & lets you process credit cards.

Community Conversations Handout Downloads

We know the struggle is real when trying to schedule important events that don't conflict with other important events.

We gather annually to compile various community calendars to help identify any conflicts or scheduling challenges. View the Google calendar below which will continue to be managed by the Center for Civic and Community Engagement and Visit West Volusia. If you see any events that are missing from the calendar please email us at [email protected]

Community Event Google Calendar

You may subscribe to the Google Calendar if you wish. By subscribing, the calendar will be available using your Google Calendar App. If you are not a regular Google Calendar user, the link above will allow you to view the calendar online whenever you wish. If you need directions on how to subscribe, you can find information on how to do that at the link below.

Google Calendar Subscription Instructions

Most people get into Non-Profit work to "do good work, not paperwork" and I suspect that many of you share the same sentiment.

How do you know if you have all the right forms filed, or the right policies in place, or the right data tracking? Sometimes the administrative side of running a non-profit can be daunting!

Here is a great compliance checklist from the Florida Non-Profit Alliance to help you make sure all your Is are dotted and Ts are crossed!

Non-Profit Compliance Checklist

Non-Profit Start-Up Checklist

Community Conversation Powerpoint

Funding for Good Templates - FfG has some great free templates. You will need to scroll down the page to find the free resources near the bottom of the page.

After our January Community Conversations, I heard from several of you about how you were experimenting with AI and how you would like to learn some more practical applications for it in your organization's work.

I have asked a few of our team members here in the Center for Civic and Community Engagement to share with the group about how they utilize ChatGPT to streamline some of their daily tasks.

Below are some of the prompts we used during our discussion:

Job Descriptions

create a job description for a donor relations position for Volusia Pride
create a job description for an unpaid student internship position, job title - community outreach assistant, 10 hours per week, some weekends, flexible schedule, during fall semester

Resume writing

create a resume entry for Front of House Restaurant Manager

Webpage creation

design a website for a new community center. Services provided are group therapy and support groups, counseling services, legal aid and other educational workshops, and a youth hang out space.

Press Releases

write a press release for the grand opening of a community center (include date, time, location, activities, and contact person in the prompt)

Prompt from Events list

create a social media content calendar for August using the events listed on the Volusia Pride Monthly Calendar

Prompt for donations

create 5 social media posts promoting a capitol campaign titled "Building Fund Sustaining Supporters" to help fund Volusia Pride's new building remodel. Direct potential donors to the Building Fund webpage.

Newsletters

Create a list summary of the August events from the Volusia Pride Monthly Calendar

Grant Narratives and Justification statements

provide justification for why a grant is needed to improve voter turn out for marginalized groups

Demographic statements

what are the LGBTQ demographics in Florida (remember to fact check!)

LinkedIn Learning on Generative AI

Other Resources

Building on lessons from the Non-Profit Leadership Summit, we looked at a key section from Turning Donors into Partners on Building Your Case for Support—an essential piece of any fundraising strategy.

Building a Case for Support slides

Building a Case for Support Workbook