Some of these website best practices I find myself curious about. Are they able to translate effectively to the culture of members and their nonprofits in Arkansas?

I am working on a review of Arkansas region nonprofits websites and assessing their visual strength and easy of use. In the mean time there is another opportunity to hear this same webinar coming up below is the calendar from Firespring the webinar provider. They have some good FREE stuff going on.

Career Development

But we will say that, for over a decade, we’ve provided free educational seminars teaching nonprofits like yours how to get the most from your website and marketing communications.” -Firespring

To register go here!

We love exposure, so feel free to re-post. All we ask is that you credit the author by offering a link back to the article on our site. Feel free to contact us at rachelanntownsend@gmail.com for any reason at all.

Now go volunteer!

Three Sharing Options

There is also Adobe  where you can share PDF documents. It is a limited free service, where you can share PDF documents for free. You must register to create a shared document. The registration is easy it takes about 5 minutes. For me the limited functions of the free version make this a less practical tool for you.

Drop Box  syncs all your electronic information from all of your electronic devices like a phone and computer. It updates in real-time all docs or files in every device you have. You can also share folders with other Drop Box users. This is great for people who are looking for that type of service. In a world of unlimited funds for all, I would probably say to use this.

Therefore a Google-ing we go. Google Docs  is easy to learn to use, is available to view with or WITHOUT a Gmail account. You can post documents to share, work privately until you are prepared to show others, you can collaborate in real-time or amend documents as individuals and share that with your team. I mean seriously! Incredible quality and flexibility for freeware!

The welcome email  I drafted for you is in Google docs. This is where you will be accessing the other documents we create for you to use or amend. So you will get some practice using it here and hopefully you can transition that into your collaboration!

 We love exposure, so feel free to re-post. All we ask is that you credit the author by offering a link back to the article on our site. Feel free to contact us at rachelanntownsend@gmail.com for any reason at all.

Now go volunteer!

To facilitate a meeting you have to prepare for it ahead of time. You walk into the room with your work done, your systems in place. This takes time! It is worth the effort! When you have your ducks in a row, the group is free to create an amazing event, take part in the strategic planning process or create something bigger and better than you set out to do.

Prepping for your meeting

Have your systems in place before you walk into the room.  Have those systems you need to connect already to go (don’t worry I’m going to help you set them up), and a ready explanation about how to access these systems. I’m going to walk you through set up as I introduce them to you through out this facilitator’s guide.

Send an email about 7days before a meeting you will send another one 2 days before. Ask people to make sure they understand how to access the information you’ve given them. Let them know that there will “be very little time for questions at the meeting but you are available now and will also be staying after the meeting to help for __ minutes.” Which is very nice of you! Thanks.

Here is an example of what a welcome letter should contain. Please feel free to use this letter and adapt it for your own uses.

So yes I gave you a morsel to do but it will require some time on your part to get everything in place to send this email. You will have to find a meeting site and to choose a date and time. The next post will have more guidance and examples of  attachments referred to in the “Welcome Email.”

 We love exposure, so feel free to re-post. All we ask is that you credit the author by offering a link back to the article on our site. Feel free to contact us at rachelanntownsend@gmail.com for any reason at all.

Now go volunteer!

Congratulations! Someone trusted you enough to be a leader. That means that other people’s time and the projects that are very important to them and your community are ultimately your responsibility.

What do I want, when I go to a meeting with a group I’ve never worked with before? To not leave aggravated!

I am suggesting that you, the group facilitator, become an autocrat, about group systems. I don’t mean, you rule with an iron fist over a whole project you are facilitating, after all we want to avoid a coup d’etat.

Have you noticed how everyone is excited at the first meeting? Then about half way through, the energy slows, because the group is still stuck on some very boring matter of business. What isn’t happening is moving forward on a project and people are getting grumpy. Trust me, they want to leave and never come back!

Don’t worry we won’t let that happen to you, this series will offer you a tool box of systems, forms & how to guides. I’m going to walk you step by step through a meeting and make sure you have created,  a productive environment before the meeting starts a productive environment.

 We love exposure, so feel free to re-post. All we ask is that you credit the author by offering a link back to the article on our site. Feel free to contact us at rachelanntownsend@gmail.com for any reason at all.

Now go volunteer!