Program and Materials

On May 7, 2015 HCF hosted over 300 nonprofit executive directors and board members for the Advancing Nonprofit Excellence - Board and Executive Leadership Conference. This conference was an opportunity to share resources and tools to help nonprofit executive directors and board members better understand how they can help their organizations become and remain high-performing.

Opening Plenary
Kelvin Taketa, president and CEO, Hawaii Community Foundation
We will kick off this exciting day focusing on what high-performing nonprofits look like and how the Hawaii Community Foundation is strengthening its support of the sector with the Nonprofit Excellence Initiative. Conference participants will have the opportunity to share their leadership experiences and challenges and prioritize their learning agenda for the day. We will spend a few minutes helping conference participants optimize their time at the conference and identify the most relevant and informative sessions to attend. View the session on youtube.
Power point presentation.
HCF's Nonprofit Excellence Inititiative Handout

Lunch Plenary
Leadership that Changes the World
Jennifer Henderson, board director, Ben and Jerry’s
We understand the importance of board and executive leaders in maintaining and sustaining the financial and operational health of organizations. But leadership is especially crucial to ensuring an organization’s success in achieving the mission—making sure that our efforts are contributing to social change and positive results for people and communities. How are you leading the social change mission of your organization? After the vision and mission statements are defined what are you doing to ensure that you are making the world a better place? And what are the important roles that nonprofit board members and executives play in making sure their social change mission is successful?
View the session on youtube.

SESSIONS

Recruit the Board You Need
Board recruitment is one of the board’s most important governance functions yet recruitment for many boards is episodically managed (at best) or generally ignored (at worst). Careless recruitment can fill seats but it does little to align the board to the organization’s strategies, goals, and needs. And it’s not just about recruiting one great individual; it’s about having the right blend of skill sets, expertise, community connections, and diverse perspectives and spheres of influence across the board as a whole — which takes some discipline and planning to determine. In this session, we will discuss how to start with the most pressing issues facing your organization, and then create a set of qualities and characteristics for your ideal board make-up. You’ll receive a set of tools and techniques that you can put into practice right away to begin identifying candidates. View the session on youtube.
Presenter:
Marla Cornelius, senior project director, CompassPoint Nonprofit Service
Powerpoint from the session

Executive Director Evaluations and Board Assessment: Governance Practices for Organizational Learning
It’s important for boards to establish a culture of performance and learning so that they can support an organizations’ drive for improvement and excellence. Two critical governance practices that help to establish and foster this culture are the executive director performance evaluation and the board self-assessment. This session will explore how reviews can be done meaningfully, how to avoid common obstacles, and techniques to ensure they are a value‐add process to the organization as a whole. You’ll receive a set of templates to customize for your unique needs.
Presenter:
Marla Cornelius, senior project director, CompassPoint Nonprofit Service

FRESH OFF THE PRESS: New data on nonprofits and philanthropy in Hawai‘i
Two important studies for the sector will be completed at the end of April 2015. The Hawaii Community Foundation’s Center on Philanthropy and Nonprofit Excellence commissioned an updated 2015 Hawai‘i Giving Study examining current data and trends in charitable giving of Hawai‘i’s households. In addition, the Nonprofit Finance Fund’s national State of the Sector survey was implemented at the beginning of the year and included more than 300 Hawai‘i nonprofits in the data. We will review some key highlights and findings of these studies and ask Hawai‘i nonprofit executives to respond and comment on what these data mean for their organizations and how they are planning to address issues of individual giving and their own organizational strengthening. Participants will receive summaries of these studies and their findings, learn how to access and use the data, and also have the opportunity to review and discuss the implications of changes in both Hawai‘i household giving and nonprofit capacity.
Morning Moderator: Kelvin H. Taketa, president & CEO, Hawaii Community Foundation
Afternoon Moderator: Thomas Kelly, vice president of knowledge, evaluation and learning, Hawaii Community Foundation
Giving Study (pdf)

Panel Members:
Dawn Dunbar, executive director, After-School All-Stars
Stephan Jost, director, Honolulu Museum of Art
Lori Miller, executive director, Kauai Hospice, Inc.
Michael Titterton, president & general manager of Hawaii Public Radio

Turn Your Board from Bored to Blazing: Seven Steps to Fire Up Your Board
Wish you could ignite your board's passion, get your members excited about possibilities for your organization and hard at work making it happen? Join Gail Perry to discover her “Fired-Up” system for changing your board's culture, creating new enthusiasm, and setting your board up to win. This practical session approaches board governance from a motivational, psychological, and leadership angle. You'll learn exercises and discussion formats to use with your board members that will spark their energy and engage them deeply. You'll learn:

• how to use a secret board motivational tool
• how to liven up board meetings to create new energy
• how to get your board members in touch with why they care
• strategies for maintaining your board's momentum and commitment
  
  View the session on youtube.
  
  

Presenter:
Gail Perry, president, Gail Perry Associates/Firedupfundraising.com
Power point presentation

Fundraising and Friendmaking Made Easy for Board Members
Easy fundraising for people who hate asking for money? Yes! It’s time for attitude adjustment. Board members are scared of fundraising because they don’t want to solicit. Learn how to change your mindset about fundraising and start to make friends for your organization rather than focus on asking for money. It’s NOT about money!

Gail Perry will share her secrets for reframing fundraising for board members in a way that will fire them up and inspire them to action. Discover how to activate their enthusiasm for all aspects of fundraising — finding friends and donors and spreading the good word about their vision for a better community. This session is also for board members who want to inspire their fellow board members to pitch in, happily and productively. We’ll look at the tools every board member needs — personal testimonials, the elevator speech, and most importantly, how to be a great board member. You'll leave with easy, no-ask fundraising activities for board members that will directly impact your bottom line.

View the session on youtube.

Presenter:
Gail Perry, president, Gail Perry Associates/Firedupfundraising.com
Power point presentation

Leadership that Unites Passion and Purpose

We will continue the keynote conversation with Jennifer Henderson around the critical role that nonprofit boards and executives have in exerting effective leadership in their organizations and community. What brought you to this position of leadership? What are the passion and purpose that keeps you in this work? How are you applying your leadership in ways that strengthens your organization’s ability to be relevant, sustainable and mission-focused. This session will help leaders identify and focus on the influential behaviors and mindsets that nonprofit board and executive leaders need to have to help their organizations be successful and achieve their mission of social change. The session will use some individual reflection and group activities and discussion to underscore the importance of leading people and organizations in the long-term and complex challenge of achieving social change.
Presenter: Jennifer Henderson, board director, Ben & Jerry’s

Executive Transition
Executive Transition
All nonprofits will eventually face an executive transition. Selecting a new executive and helping to successfully on-board them are two of the most important responsibilities of the board of directors. If you’re an executive director, how you exit your position as well as the issues you consider and questions you ask before accepting a new executive position are some of the most important decisions you can make. Listen to a panel of executive directors and their board chairs discuss their lessons learned from their own executive transitions.

Moderator: Kelvin H. Taketa, president & CEO, Hawaii Community Foundation

Panel Members:
Ruth Bolan, president, Hawaii Theatre Center
Ted Clement, executive director, Hawaiian Islands Land Trust
Neil Hannahs, board director, Hawaiian Islands Land Trust
Karen Huffman, president of QSR-Pacific

A framework for nonprofit succession planning.

Catchafire
All nonprofits need to do a better job of leveraging human capital in service of their mission. Given the size of Hawaii’s population and the needs of our nonprofits sector, we have some very real human resource constraints. Solution: Catchafire. Catchafire is a platform that makes it easy for nonprofits to connect with skilled volunteers across the country. Come and learn how Catchafire can help your organization build its capacity to serve the community, and hear from local nonprofit leaders whose organizations have already benefitted from their services.
Presenter: Rachael Chong, CEO & founder, Catchafire
Learn more at Hawaii.catchafire.org

Conference Schedule at a Glance