The Gay & Lesbian Fund for Colorado continues to expand its services to nonprofit organizations with a growing number of resources in addition to the financial grants it awards to groups that serve the needs of Coloradans. With a long-standing commitment to serving as an advisor and resource for nonprofit organizations, the Gay & Lesbian Fund for Colorado is broadening the scope of its multi-faceted offerings to include:
- An array of consulting services that give nonprofits access to expertise and information that help their organizations grow and that help their staff develop community leadership skills.
- An expanded schedule of workshops designed to provide nonprofits and their management teams with key skills for: enhancing fundraising strategies; generating community awareness; building collaborations with businesses in the public, private and nonprofit sectors; attracting strong board leadership; and adopting long-term sustainability strategies.
- Additional community forums that give nonprofits access to experts and thought leaders in areas that directly impact an organization’s ability to successfully support the public and achieve its mission, including: management best practices; raising visibility for a cause; acknowledging diversity and creating equality; and other topics.
- Networking services that establish relationships between nonprofits and key potential partners, including other nonprofits, local businesses, other foundations, individual donors, and government agencies.
- Availability of the Gay & Lesbian Fund office space to host or support events, conferences and meetings.
“The Gay & Lesbian Fund’s resources for nonprofits have played a key role in the growth of FutureSelf and our team members,” said Wendy Mike, executive director of FutureSelf (www.futureself.org), a nonprofit organization in the Colorado Springs area that serves at-risk youth by providing arts-related programs that demonstrate the transformational power of the creative process. “Like many people, I entered the nonprofit world from a very different field – the creative arts – and the Gay & Lesbian Fund helped me establish successful strategies and tactics for building our organization.”
Added Wendy Mike: “In particular, the Gay & Lesbian Fund has greatly helped us expand our network of contacts – with potential partners, diversified funding sources and community leaders – who all contribute in significant ways to our success as a nonprofit. Many of the most important friends of FutureSelf have come through these ‘matchmaking services,’ and I know the same holds true for many other organizations as well. FutureSelf would not be where we are today without the access that the Gay & Lesbian Fund offers to these non-financial resources.”
Following is the schedule of upcoming free workshops and community forums for nonprofits:
Workshop: “Policy Governance”
Description: Is your organization struggling to find relevance and demonstrate accountability? Bring your issues and look at them through the policy governance lens. Policy governance is a comprehensive set of integrated principles that, when consistently applied, allow governing boards to realize owner-accountable organizations.
Dates, Times and Locations:
October 10th, 2006 – 1:00-4:30 p.m. — Gill Foundation office, 2215 Market Street, Denver
October 11th, 2006 – 9:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m. — Gay & Lesbian Fund for Colorado office, 315 E. Costilla Street, Colorado Springs
Community Forum: “Strong Women & Beautiful Men — Examining Gender Conformity and Expression”
Description: Join Riki Wilkins, Executive Director of GenderPAC, for a discussion about how funders, nonprofits and other organizations are responding to help ensure that workplaces, classrooms and communities are safe places for everyone to learn, grow and succeed – regardless of whether they fit expectations for masculinity or femininity.
Dates, Times and Locations:
October 26th, 2006 – 1:30-3:30 p.m. — Gay & Lesbian Fund for Colorado office, 315 E. Costilla Street, Colorado Springs
October 27, 2006 — 9:00-11:00 a.m. — Gill Foundation office, 2215 Market Street, Denver
Following are just a few of the workshops and community forums that are planned for 2007:
- A seminar on “Artistry of Leadership”
- Workshops about effective grant writing
- “Meet your Program Officer” community forums
- Workshops about successful special events planning
- A seminar entitled “Raise More Money” presented by Terry Axelrod
- And many others
Dates and times for these and other 2007 events will be published in the near future by the Gay & Lesbian Fund for Colorado.
To RSVP for the workshops or community forums, contact Paulette Lopez at 719-473-4455 or paulettel@gayandlesbianfund.org.
About the Gay & Lesbian Fund for Colorado
The Gay & Lesbian Fund for Colorado was established in 1996 as a program to financially support nonprofit organizations that enhance the quality of life in Colorado and promote equality for all people. Since its inception, the fund has awarded more than $16 million to hundreds of nonprofit organizations whose program areas include arts and culture, civic leadership, healthy families and public broadcasting. In addition to providing financial assistance, the Gay & Lesbian Fund for Colorado offers training programs, workshops, technical assistance and public meeting space to strengthen nonprofit organizations’ ability to grow, flourish and succeed. The organization is headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado. For more information please visit www.gayandlesbianfund.org.
About the Funds
Every year, the Gay & Lesbian Fund for Colorado receives a financial allocation from its parent organization, the Gill Foundation, that must be donated in the form of grants to nonprofit organizations that have an IRS 501(c)(3) status and adhere to a nondiscrimination policy inclusive of sexual orientation. These monies, which typically amount to approximately 18 to 20 percent of the Gill Foundation’s earned investments, are not used for private or political purposes, in accordance with IRS regulations.