Webinars & Workshops

Board members hold a unique and critical position within nonprofit organizations, serving as ambassadors, strategists, and connectors in advancing the institution’s goals. Their ability to foster relationships and inspire trust is a cornerstone of effective fundraising strategies. Yet, many board members remain hesitant to fully embrace this role, often constrained by misconceptions about what fundraising entails.

It is essential to redefine their involvement, moving away from outdated notions of solicitation and towards a broader, collaborative framework. This requires equipping board members with practical tools, training, and ongoing support to navigate the complexities of donor engagement, while also cultivating their confidence in leveraging personal connections for the benefit of the organization.

By creating a culture that values stewardship and prioritizes authentic relationships, nonprofits can ensure that their board members act not only as financial advocates but as passionate champions of the mission. Whether through initiating warm introductions, sharing compelling stories about the nonprofit’s impact, or simply expressing heartfelt gratitude, their efforts can profoundly shape the trajectory of fundraising success.

What You’ll Learn:

• Common misconceptions: Fundraising isn’t just about cold calls or asking strangers for donations — it should be fulfilling and fun!
• Collaborative approaches: Develop elevator speeches and personal stories that lead to warm introductions.
• Identifying the “right” donors: Focus on finding donors whose values align with your mission.
  The role of stewardship: Engage your board in showing appreciation and building lasting relationships.

Host Provider: Candid
Date: Wednesday, September 24, 2025
Time: 8:30-10:00 am
Location: Hybrid (In-Person or Virtual Option)
Cost: Members $40; Nonmembers $80

Learn More & Register

In this presentation, nonprofit leaders will learn to identify and overcome key fundraising bottlenecks. Based on Bottleneck Breakers: The Eight Degrees of Fundraising, this session explores challenges at each stage, offering strategies to diversify revenue, strengthen donor relationships, and optimize performance.

Host Provider: Nonprofit Learning Lab
Date: Monday, August 25, 2025
Time: 11:00 am
Location: Virtual
Cost: Free

Learn More & Register

How can an organization ensure their employees are more engaged? Gallup has done the research and shares that the key is in the manager.

"...More highly engaged managers have more engaged teams. This is crucial because highly engaged teams produce higher quality and quantity of output, have more positive daily emotions, fewer negative daily experiences, and have much higher rates of thriving in their overall lives." Source: Gallup

This research from Gallup shows supportive managers as the most important predictor of well-being in employees, which leads directly to increased employee engagement, retention, and productivity.

Join the Center for Immersive Leadership in partnership with the Greater Akron Chamber, for a full-day (9:00 am – 3:00 pm) program aimed at providing managers the tools and resources to promote workplace well-being and enhance the productivity and culture of your workplace.

Host Provider: Center for Immersive Leadership & Greater Akron Chamber
Date: Tuesday, August 26, 2025
Time: 9:00 am - 3:00 pm
Location: 388 S Main St., Ste. 205, Akron, OH 44311 (Greater Akron Chamber)
Cost: $399*
*Members of the Greater Akron Chamber, use code MEMBER25 for $75 off
*Members of the Greater Akron Chamber's Chair’s Circle, use code CIRCLE25 for $150 off

Learn More & Register

Nonprofits have long been engines of lean innovation driving social good. But while AI is rapidly reshaping how work gets done, the sector’s response has been uneven. Some organizations are forging ahead. Others are cautiously testing the waters. Many are overwhelmed or under-resourced, lacking the infrastructure, funding, or expertise to meaningfully engage with AI.

The barriers are real, but not insurmountable. And readiness is no longer optional. Nonprofits that delay risk falling behind at a time when technology is becoming central to mission delivery and scale.

So where should nonprofits begin?

Closing technology gaps requires more than chasing the latest tools—it demands a clear, strategic approach. With the right investments, partnerships, and commitment to building internal capacity, nonprofits can shift from reactive to strategic in how they use AI and technology.

Join this webinar to explore six practical ways that nonprofits can begin building the capacity needed to engage with AI and technology more meaningfully.

Host Provider: The Bridgespan Group
Date: Tuesday, August 26, 2025
Time: 12:00 pm
Location: Virtual
Cost: Free

Learn More & Register

Effective marketing goes beyond promotion and fundraising. It’s about building meaningful connections, creating lasting awareness, and inspiring action. So how do you craft a content strategy that truly resonates with your audience? Join our free, one-hour virtual event to discover how to:

• Develop a deep understanding of your audience and their content preferences.
• Craft a brand personality and tone of voice that speaks to your audience.
• Build a content plan that drives engagement and fuels growth.

Host Provider: Constant Contact
Date: Thursday, August 28, 2025
Time: 2:00 pm
Location: Virtual
Cost: Free

Learn More & Register

Does your nonprofit need help developing more organized, intentional fundraising efforts? Planning focuses your organization by setting specific fundraising priorities and helps give staff and board members a roadmap to success. 

Reasons to take this course

This introductory class will provide you with the basic steps for developing a fundraising plan, including tips on:

• Making your case for support.
• Diversifying your organization's fundraising base.
• Creating a plan connecting your goals to the funding required to get there.

Host Provider: Candid
Date: Thursday, September 4, 2025
Time: 2:00-3:30 pm
Location: Virtual
Cost: Free

Learn More & Register

The Enneagram is a tool that aids individuals in learning more about themselves and others. The program will help answer questions such as:

• What are my best opportunities for growth?
• What motivates me?
• How can I better relate to others?
• How can I promote improved relationships and mutual understanding for those on my team?

Through this program, you will gain better understanding of the way you and others relate, communicate, resolve conflict, manage change, and lead. Join the growing number of local organizations as well as area leaders who have unlocked the wisdom of the Enneagram for their personal, professional, and organizational development. We invite individuals and teams to join us for this unique opportunity.

Host Provider: Center for Immersive Leadership
Date: Tuesday, September 9, 2025
Time: 8:30 am - 12:30 pm
Location: 37 N. High St. (United Way of Summit & Medina Building)
Cost: $149 (Includes an Enneagram assessment, coffee, light snacks, drinks, and participant materials)

Learn More & Register

This two-part series helps experienced fundraisers find new revenue sources and rethink strategies to strengthen their funding model. Participants will:

• Diversifying funding helps nonprofits maintain critical services during challenging times, especially when facing funding loss.
• Learn how to assess your funding risk and reframe your funding model.
• Explore key differences between federal, foundation, corporate, and individual donors.
• Discover how to craft a compelling case for support.
• Gain strategies for using your case to approach individual donors.

This program is offered through a partnership between Akron Community Foundation, the Akron-Summit County Public Library, and Candid. Contact the library's Business, Government & Science Division for questions at 330-643-9020 or [email protected].

Host Provider: Akron Community Foundation, Candid, and the Akron-Summit County Public Library
Date: Wednesday, September 10, 2025
Time: 10:30 am - 12:00 pm
Location: 60 S. High St. (Akron-Summit County Public Library - Main Branch)
Cost: Free

Learn More & Register

Your nonprofit does great work, but what is most important is the impact of that work. How do you demonstrate that your programs get results? An outcome-centric approach will lead to stronger program design and increased funding opportunities for your organization. In this introductory course for beginners, learn the basics of shifting focus from your nonprofit’s activities to its outcomes. We will demystify the language of outcomes measurement and guide you through the process of creating logic models for programs. 

This course will prepare you to:

• Draft SMART objectives for a program
• Identify the parts of a logic model
• Report the impact on your Candid profile

Host Provider: Candid
Date: Thursday, September 11, 2025
Time: 2:00-3:30 pm
Location: Virtual
Cost: Free

Learn More & Register

Are you looking for an opportunity to develop as an Emerging Leader in your organization and community? Emerging Leaders is an in-depth and practical guide that goes beyond competencies and skill-building. It is an interactive journey that gives leaders a road map to navigate the challenges of personal and professional growth. This is done by providing an environment that promotes the exchange of ideas and shared experiences among leaders.

Within this group, you will have access to individuals with whom you can exchange ideas and share strategies to achieve personal and professional growth and success. You will learn with and from others how you can integrate ethics, spirituality and integrity into your day-to-day work life while balancing work, family, service, and self from a values-based perspective.

Host Provider: Center for Immersive Leadership
Date: Begins September 16, 2025 and continues every 3rd Tuesday for 12 sessions
Time: 8:00-10:00 am
Location: 37 N. High St. (United Way of Summit & Medina Building)
Cost: $750 per participant; Need-based scholarships are available (up to 50%). Please call or email to discuss options.

Learn More & Register

AI isn't coming, it's here. Are you ready?

AI is already embedded in your organization, whether you realize it or not. It’s shaping how emails are written, meetings are scheduled, reports are drafted and decisions are made. And while your team may be exploring AI tools like ChatGPT, Grammarly, or Copilot, they may not be doing it with an understanding of how, when and IF they should.

That’s where leadership matters. Even if you’re not using advanced AI tools yet, your team likely is. But without clear expectations, your organization could face unintended risks around privacy, compliance and consistency.

This 90-minute session is built for nonprofit and small business leaders who want to better understand how AI is showing up in the workplace and how to respond with clarity and intention.

You'll get:

• A plain-language overview of key AI terms and tools. (Yes, even the new ones.)
• Insight into how AI may already be affecting your team’s workflows.
• Guidance on what to allow, restrict and monitor in AI use.
• Questions every leader should be asking about ethics, privacy and compliance.
• Best practices for creating consistency across teams.
• A downloadable workbook to help you reflect, assess and prepare.
• You’ll also explore AI tools that leaders can use to be more productive—like meeting assistants, writing aids, task managers and content summarizers—so you can lead by example and make informed decisions about what tools make sense for your organization.

Host Provider: Dot Org Solutions
Date: Tuesday, September 16, 2025
Time: 1:00-2:30 pm
Location: Virtual
Cost: $124 / $149

Learn More & Register

This two-part series helps experienced fundraisers find new revenue sources and rethink strategies to strengthen their funding model. Participants will:

• Examine recent changes in foundation and corporate giving.
• Receive step-by-step guidance on relationship-building.
• Learn practical strategies for strategic outreach to foundations and corporations.

This program is offered through a partnership between Akron Community Foundation, the Akron-Summit County Public Library, and Candid. Contact the library's Business, Government & Science Division for questions at 330-643-9020 or [email protected].

Host Provider: Akron Community Foundation, Candid, and the Akron-Summit County Public Library
Date: Wednesday, September 17, 2025
Time: 10:30 am - 12:00 pm
Location: 60 S. High St. (Akron-Summit County Public Library - Main Branch)
Cost: Free

Learn More & Register

Too many times we allow others to shape our stories. Too many times our stories have become simplified and singular. But the beauty of living is a country full of diverse cultures and peoples is that no one narrative exists to define us. The beauty of this country are the varied stories of the citizens, stories that bridges difference and unite us through understanding and empathy.

Host Provider: ArtsNow
Date: Wednesday, September 17, 2025
Time: 6:00-7:30 pm
Location: 647 Coffee
Cost: Free

Learn More & Register

For years now, nonprofits have been worried about the decline in the number of Americans who give. The drop is especially sharp among small-dollar donors. Experts point to many explanations, including a fundraising playbook that neglects relationship-building and can treat supporters like ATMs rather than people. Join us to learn how nonprofits are turning the tide and get proven ways to inspire and connect with a broad pool of donors.

Host Provider: The Chronicle of Philanthropy
Date: Thursday, September 18, 2025
Time: 2:00-3:15 pm
Location: Virtual
Cost: $69/$89

Learn More & Register

Save the date! Information coming soon

Host Provider: Dot Org Solutions
Date: Tuesday, October 7, 2025
Time: 1:00-2:30 pm
Location: Virtual
Cost: $124 / $149

Registration Info. Coming Soon

The nonprofit sector today is under deep strain — the work feels more urgent than ever, but the way forward is anything but simple. Nonprofit leaders are expected to stay calm, communicate clearly, and keep things moving … even when they’re not sure what’s coming next. Some days, the strain shows up loud — pushback on a decision, clashing priorities, a tense conversation you didn’t see coming. Other days, it’s quieter: a team stretched thin, a community on edge, a funder or partner asking for certainty you can’t honestly give.

This workshop offers a chance to step out of survival mode and rethink what leadership looks like in moments like this. We’ll explore why even well-intended efforts to create change can backfire, how everyday tension can slide into unproductive conflict, and how to lead others more intentionally when complexity becomes the norm. You’ll leave with practical tools, fresh perspective, and a bit more space to breathe.

In this workshop, you’ll learn:

• Understand the distinction between healthy conflict (which drives growth) and high conflict (which derails progress).
• Explore the Conflict Foresight Model to anticipate others’ reactions before tensions escalate.
• Identify the common “elephants in the room” that prevent genuine buy-in, even when everyone verbally agrees.
• Gain tools to develop responses that address both logical objections and emotional reactions to change.
• Engage in creative reflection exercises that unlock new perspectives on persistent challenges.

Host Provider: The Chronicle of Philanthropy
Date: Wednesday, October 8, 2025
Time: 1:00-3:00 pm
Location: Virtual
Cost: $129/$159

Learn More & Register

How can an organization ensure their employees are more engaged? Gallup has done the research and shares that the key is in the manager.

"...More highly engaged managers have more engaged teams. This is crucial because highly engaged teams produce higher quality and quantity of output, have more positive daily emotions, fewer negative daily experiences, and have much higher rates of thriving in their overall lives." Source: Gallup

This research from Gallup shows supportive managers as the most important predictor of well-being in employees, which leads directly to increased employee engagement, retention, and productivity.

Join the Center for Immersive Leadership in partnership with the Greater Akron Chamber, for a full-day (9:00 am – 3:00 pm) program aimed at providing managers the tools and resources to promote workplace well-being and enhance the productivity and culture of your workplace.

Host Provider: Center for Immersive Leadership & Greater Akron Chamber
Date: Tuesday, October 21, 2025
Time: 9:00 am - 3:00 pm
Location: 388 S Main St., Ste. 205, Akron, OH 44311 (Greater Akron Chamber)
Cost: $399*
*Members of the Greater Akron Chamber, use code MEMBER25 for $75 off
*Members of the Greater Akron Chamber's Chair’s Circle, use code CIRCLE25 for $150 off

Learn More & Register

Save the date! Information coming soon

Host Provider: Dot Org Solutions
Date: Wednesday, October 22, 2025
Time: 1:00-2:30 pm
Location: Virtual
Cost: $124 / $149

Registration Info. Coming Soon

Save the date! Information coming soon

Host Provider: Dot Org Solutions
Date: Tuesday, November 11, 2025
Time: 1:00-2:30 pm
Location: Virtual
Cost: $124 / $149

Registration Info. Coming Soon

When fundraising teams consist of professionals dedicated to major gifts and to annual gifts, donors who fall in the middle can be overlooked. Yet these supporters are often committed and loyal, with the potential to become big donors someday. Join us to learn smart ways to strengthen ties with midlevel supporters, whether you have fundraisers dedicated to this level of giving or not.

Host Provider: The Chronicle of Philanthropy
Date: Thursday, October 13, 2025
Time: 2:00-3:15 pm
Location: Virtual
Cost: $69/$89

Learn More & Register

Save the date! Information coming soon

Host Provider: Dot Org Solutions
Date: Wednesday, November 19, 2025
Time: 1:00-2:30 pm
Location: Virtual
Cost: $124 / $149

Registration Info. Coming Soon