Annual Princeton Community Works conference for nonprofit leaders and volunteers goes virtual

Princeton Community Works, the conference for nonprofit leaders, board members, staff, and volunteers across the Central New Jersey region and beyond, will be virtual this month due to the pandemic. The theme for this year is “Stronger Together.”

The annual event will take place from Jan. 25 through Jan. 27. The cost of attending the conference this year has been reduced to $10. The fee includes all sessions and recordings.

“Nonprofits are truly the lifelines for so many people struggling this year through the pandemic. Nonprofits also were challenged significantly the past year. To honor and celebrate the people who have served all of us so well, we decided to have this year’s fee be only $10. That’s about $1 per workshop,” said Princeton Community Works founder Marge Smith.

“We see the Princeton Community Works conference as a way of serving a huge variety of people so that everyone can participate,” Smith said. “Everyone deserves the training and the top-quality presentations that this conference is going to offer. It’s our way of thanking everyone in the nonprofit world for all their valued and essential work.”

This year’s conference includes a keynote address, evening sessions, lunchtime sessions, and evening professional development workshops. Attendees can choose from one to eight workshops out of 32 options.

The Rev. Darrell LaRue Armstrong, pastor of Shiloh Baptist Church in Trenton, will give the keynote speech to kick off the conference. Armstrong, a Princeton Theological Seminary alumnus, is the founder of the Institute for Clergy Training, a research and training agency with a focus on leadership and child welfare.

Speakers will teach sessions that show nonprofit leaders and volunteers how to be resilient and resourceful and reimagine what they do in response to the pandemic and the challenges it has brought. Organizers hope participants will make connections at the virtual conference and learn new skills and strategies they can implement right away.

“During the pandemic, people have been isolated, we have all be invisible with what we are doing to help others. So people really need a place where every single person will get a voice and have a chance to be heard,” Smith said. “We also need to be able to celebrate and listen to the creative ways people have dealt with COVID-19 and continue to make their missions a reality.”

The 2021 workshop sessions cover a range of topics, including donor development, video basics, effective board governance, running virtual fundraising events, organizing for success and sustainability, dealing with legal challenges, building an engaged board, practicing self-care, volunteer management, virtual programs, using data, measurement and metrics, teamwork, communicating effectively, strategic planning, youth-initiated service projects, sponsorship and corporate partnerships, social media skills, budgeting basics, grant writing, tax matters, building audiences online, crowdsourcing, digital transformation, surveys, storytelling, and promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Visit princetoncommunityworks.org to register and read more about workshops and speakers.