Bay Path to Host Conference for Nonprofits on June 9

LONGMEADOW — Bay Path University, partnering with the Human Service Forum, will host a free conference and workshop, “Hot Topics: Meeting Your Mission Through Integrated Communications Strategies,” for area nonprofit management and leadership on
Friday, June 9.

The session is being presented by Bay Path’s MS in Nonprofit Management and Philanthropy and MS in Strategic Fundraising programs and will begin at 7:30 a.m. at the Blake Student Center, where Amy Sample Ward, CEO of the Oregon-based Nonprofit Technology Network (NTEN), will present to attendees.

The morning session and presentation by Ward will be followed by a hands-on workshop at Wright Hall that will provide building blocks for area nonprofit professionals. The program, “Community-Driven Communications,” will outline community-driven communication strategies, including the use of social media, and provide templates and plans attendees can complete and implement with their organizations.

According to Sylvia de Haas-Phillips, director and assistant professor of the MS in Nonprofit Management and Philanthropy and MS in Strategic Fundraising programs, the event will help nonprofits more effectively use digital, social, and mobile technologies in engaging supporters and in collaborating with other community organizations.

Full participation in the breakfast presentation and afternoon workshop earns CFRE points towards certification or recertification. Those interested can register by clicking here.

Ward is a speaker and author; her latest book is Social Change Anytime Everywhere: How to Implement Online Multichannel Strategies to Spark Advocacy, Raise Money, and Engage Your Community. In addition to serving as CEO of NTEN, she is dedicated to educating and supporting organizations nationwide in using integrated communications strategies to create meaningful engagement, helping nonprofits make lasting change in their communities.

The Human Service Forum is an association of nonprofit and public agencies in the Pioneer Valley providing trainings, roundtable networking opportunities, and advocacy for its members.
An economic-impact report published by the Human Service Forum indicated that more than 50,000 people are employed at more than 1,000 nonprofits in the Pioneer Valley.

According to de Haas-Phillips, “nonprofits in the region represent a significant sector both economically and in terms of the services they provide to improve the quality of living in the Pioneer Valley. Providing a no-cost forum to nonprofits to help their managers better utilize traditional, social, and other communication strategies in realizing their missions is an important community service for Bay Path.”

Bay Path inaugurated the Nonprofit Management program in 2007 in response to the growth of the nonprofit sector in the local economy.

“The pace of change in the digital world and in the nonprofit sector today has created an environment where many nonprofit staff are overwhelmed with options and often choose not to adopt new tools or test new strategies,” Ward said. “This conference is designed to help nonprofit professionals understand better the role technology already does play in their work and identify opportunities that are right for their organization.”