The Sunny Point Conference Center was filled with board members and nonprofit leaders and staff in April 2015 for a workshop entitled “Strengthening Nonprofits”, hosted by the Ketchikan Community Foundation.
The workshop was among the first events to be funded with earnings from the Foundation’s endowment fund, plus help from The Rasmuson Foundation.
Tom Schulz, chairman of the Foundation grants committee, said one of the first things the Foundation board did a couple of years ago, when starting to spearhead the endowment campaign, was to meet with a roundtable of nonprofit leaders to gather ideas for what kind of support they felt was needed.
“We heard from many people in town that there was a real need for more training for nonprofit boards, so we took it on as a service we could offer the community,” Schulz said.
The first board development workshop was in 2013, facilitated by Sara Lawson.
The board was able to offer similar training this year, again with the support of The Rasmuson Foundation. This year’s workshop was facilitated by Susan Howlett, author of “Boards on Fire! Inspiring Leaders to Raise Money Joyfully,” and “Getting Funded, The Complete Guide to Writing Grant Proposals.” (www.susanhowlett.com)