TCCL Foundation Center Blog

Join us for "Market Like You Mean It,"  9:30-11:30 a.m., October 22, at Hardesty Regional Library.  Pre-registration is required.  Please email foundationcenter@tulsalibrary.org or call 596-7940 to sign up. 

The Foundation Center at TCCL provides workshops on grant seeking for nonprofits (next class, August 7, 1:30-3:30), which often leads to questions about grant writing. Though we don’t have any grant writing workshops planned at this time, there several other organizations in our community that offer such classes.

Following are a few upcoming opportunities. These are not presented in partnership with the Tulsa City County Library (therefore, please view this post as information, not an endorsement).

FREE Grant Writing workshops through HUD in Oklahoma
http://www.hud.gov/local/index.cfm?state=ok

“Faith-based and community organizations: Learn how to become more competitive for federal grant funds at these free workshops.” (Note: As of 7/14/08, the Tulsa workshop registration is closed, but the Oklahoma City class is still open.)

Grant Writing Class hosted by Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences
http://grantwritingusa.com/events/write/tuok0908.html?h

This two day workshop is offered September 11-12, 2008. Please note, there is a fee for this workshop.

Do you know of other grant writing classes in our community? Let me know at mkash@tulsalibrary.org.

Does your nonprofit need new grant prospects?

Join us for the next Grant Seeking Basics for Nonprofits class and learn how to use library (i.e. free!) resources to find funding your nonprofit’s important projects. The workshop will be offered July 22, 1:30-3:30 p.m., in the Computer Training Room of the Central Library. Pre-registration is required.

This hands-on workshop provides nonprofit managers, employees and volunteers with the basic knowledge needed to seek grants. We will explore the Foundation Directory Online, the library’s database of foundations. The Foundation Directory allows you to save grant-maker profiles, so bring a USB drive or disc (you can purchase blank CDs at the library for $1).

Space is limited to 24 participants, so please register in advance! Call 596-7940 or email jgreb@tulsalibrary.org to sign up.

I want to highlight two new resources that are being added to the Foundation Center Collection.

The first book is Sarbanes-Oxley for Nonprofit Boards, by Peggy M. Jackson. Did you think that Sarbanes-Oxley only affects major corporations, not local nonprofits like yours? Or, perhaps you’ve never even heard of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, passed in 2002 in the wake of the Enron scandal. This book can help you learn more about the act, as well as help you to incorporate best practices for accountability into your organization.

Once you feel fully accountable, you may need a little inspiration. Check out Momentum: Igniting Social Change in the Connected Age, by Allison H. Fine. From the book jacket:

How can we move from serving soup until our elbows ache to actually solving social ills like hunger or homelessness? How can we break the disastrous cycle of low expectations that leads to chronic social failures?

The answers to these questions lie within Momentum, a book that offers a fresh, dynamic way of thinking about and organizing social change work.

These books are both available for check out from the Tulsa City-County Library. Reserve one or both of them for yourself, today, using the library’s online catalog.

Our June 18 No Nonsense Nonprofit: Planning for Nonprofits workshop is now full! We cannot fit any more people in the room, but I have started a waiting list in case we have cancellations. To be added to the waiting list, please email me, Jennifer Greb, at jgreb@tulsalibrary.org, or call 918-596-7940.

If you are signed up for the workshop but cannot attend, please let me know so that someone else can have your space!