Information on this page provides a fuller description of some of the conference activities listed on the Conferences page.
| Conference |
Description
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| White House Conferences on the Faith-Based and Community Initiatives |
The most visible of the FBCI’s training efforts are its national and regional White House Conferences on Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. To date, 35 conferences have trained approximately 30,000 nonprofit organization leaders from all 50 State. In addition, in 2008 conferences were hosted in Rwanda and Zambia to strengthen both American and indigenous nonprofit organizations engaged in aid and development work in Africa. These events are designed to help faith-based and community organizations (FBCOs) understand the basics of the Federal grants process, the opportunities available to their organization, the parameters of partnering with government (including church-state issues), and the necessary first steps for seeking funding. In addition, they include information on a range of other topics from securing foundation and corporate donors to skills for effectively tracking client outcomes. Increasingly, the events also highlight partnership opportunities at the State and local levels. For this reason, recent conferences have been held in partnership with governors, including the past two Chairs of the National Governor’s Association: Governor Janet Napolitano (D-Ariz.) and Governor Tim Pawlenty (R-Minn.).
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| Helping America’s Youth |
Helping America’s Youth (HAY) is a Presidential Initiative, led by Mrs. Laura Bush, to raise awareness of the challenges facing youth, particularly at-risk boys, and to motivate caring adults to connect with youth through family, school, and community. In fall 2005, Mrs. Bush convened The White House Conference on Helping America’s Youth, which was attended by more than 500 parents, civic leaders, faith-based and community service providers, foundations, educators, researchers and experts in child development to discuss the challenges facing America’s youth and to share best practices shown to be successful in overcoming those challenges. The conference featured a new Internet resource, the Community Guide to Helping America's Youth, developed by the White House and an interagency workgroup representative of nine Federal agencies. The Guide is an online resource to help communities form effective partnerships, assess community needs and map resources, identify areas of the community where specific problems or challenges exist, and access a program tool that functions as a repository of research-based programs that serve youth. Since the national conference, five regional HAY conferences have featured training for community coalitions, helping them strengthen cross-community and faith-based partnerships and to learn about other successful strategies for effective collaboration, sustainability, and leveraging of community resources. In addition to the regional training conferences, Mrs. Bush has traveled to many parts of the country visiting with youth and caring adults and highlighting community programs that are helping prepare young people for success.
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| U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Art and Science of Grant Writing Training |
In 2004, the Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives (CFBCI) at the U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) launched its first training entitled The Art and Science of Grant Writing Training. Since then, over 30,000 nonprofit leaders have been trained at 304 HUD events. The free, 2-day workshop, offered in the United States and Puerto Rico, helps to empower emerging nonprofit organizations by providing the knowledge and skills to compete for public and private grants. During the training, potential grantees learn about organizational development, Federal and non-Federal funding sources, and the key components of writing a successful grant application. Expanding from an emphasis on acquiring funding to learning skills for maximizing limited resources, the HUD CFBCI has added a new training for 2008. Targeted to groups that have already been awarded grant funds, this training in Basic Grants Administration will cover how to successfully administer grants and manage grants-based programs. Topics include fiscal management, program monitoring, budget oversight, contracting and procurement, as well as grantor audits.
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| Department of Labor Results Technology Project |
Effective measurement of client services and outcomes are among the most important and underdeveloped skills for nonprofits. A ready grasp of outputs and outcomes allows an organization to focus on the effectiveness of its programs to ensure results, not merely compassionate intentions. Equally important, measured outcomes demonstrate the viability of the organization to potential government, foundation, corporate, and individual donors. Recognizing a need for small nonprofits to learn effective methods for measuring results, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) launched a year-long pilot program in summer 2007 for eight faith-based and community organizations (FBCOs). Early results show that a few hours of software training and follow-up technical assistance can greatly improve an FBCO’s ability to measure and manage its program results. That pilot project grew into four, 3-day Results-Based Management training events beginning in November 2007. The DOL CFBCI plans to provide both training and outcomes tracking software for up to 160 FBCOs that provide employment-related services. The progress of participant FBCOs will be tracked for one year to ensure that they are analyzing their programs using outcomes-based evaluations.
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| Corporation for National and Community Service Training and Assistance to FBCOs |
With more Americans volunteering through religious organizations than any other type of institution, the Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiative (CFBCI) at the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) leverages this opportunity by providing multiple avenues for Americans of all ages and backgrounds to give back to their communities. CNCS’s resource guide entitled National Service: A Resource for Faith-Based and Community Groups offers a framework for how CNCS encourages faith-based and other community organizations to accomplish their goals. Additionally, CNCS offers workshops and conferences for the nonprofit sector that explore how FBCOs can partner with government through various national initiatives and that help FBCOs understand the legal guidelines surrounding public-private partnerships.
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| USAID Conferences for Private Voluntary Organizations |
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) hosts annual conferences for Private Voluntary Organizations (PVOs) to provide an orientation on available resources and capacity training through USAID. The wide-ranging conference content includes such topics as challenges of local nongovernmental organization (NGO) sustainability, USAID Missions' perspectives on local NGOs, new Presidential initiatives, technical assistance training for results reporting, technical assistance training for Request for Proposal, grant programs, and orientation for interested and new PVOs. Since 2002, these conferences have reached approximately 800 PVO leaders annually.
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| U.S Department of Education Technical Assistance Workshops |
Since 2001, the U.S. Department of Education’s Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives has trained nearly 10,000 individuals from education-related faith-based and community organizations (FBCOs) through 89 intensive workshops in 34 states. These workshops primarily focus on ways FBCOs can provide tutoring services through the No Child Left Behind Act’s Supplemental Educational Services (SES) provisions. In addition, they highlight education funding opportunities at the State and local levels. Other Federal agencies, State and local governments, parent and child advocacy groups, and education foundations participate in the workshops. Additionally, the Department has provided training to several thousand individuals at workshops sponsored by outside organizations.
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