2008 Webinars
High-quality, monthly training delivered right to your desktop
The series of 12 topics is ideal for in-service training, risk-management skills polishing and orienting senior management and board members to individual aspects of managing risks in nonprofit organizations.
The Center is grateful to the Public Entity Risk Institute for providing a generous grant to support the Web Seminar series.
Pricing
- Purchase 9 or more programs and realize a terrific savings of 40%.
Purchase all 12 programs (or 9–11 of them) for $399 — a savings of $309 off the cost of buying topics separately.$399.00
- Purchase two or more topics and save almost 25%.
Any combination from 2-8 Webinars costs $45 each. - Purchase a single topic for less than a $1 per minute.
Single Webinar costs $59 for one hour of information.
2008 Webinars
Managing Domestic Violence in the Workplace: Protecting Your Staff and Your Nonprofit
January 16
Employers who address domestic violence can provide real help to victims and reduce the associated risks to the nonprofit. Domestic violence can affect the workplace in many ways from lost productivity, to the failure to accommodate a worker that may be mandated by federal or state law. Learn about new laws in a growing number of states that extend leaves of absences to victims of domestic violence and how to craft policies for your own nonprofit that protect both victims and the nonprofit.
Purchase this Webinar for your decision-makers to:
- Identify and recognize the signs of abuse in an employee/volunteer.
- Learn why training the staff about domestic violence is important.
- How domestic violence affects all staff.
- Why domestic violence is a productivity, safety and health concern.
- Understand the liability risks facing the nonprofit employer who has not properly addressed domestic violence at work.
- Plan ahead so that when domestic violence impacts your nonprofit, you’ll be ready
$59.00
The New 990: Friend or Foe? What You Need to Know to Prepare Your Organization and the Board for the Road Ahead
February 6
The IRS released the new Form 990 on December 20th, 2007. The new form will be required beginning in 2009. This Webinar will give your organization’s staff and board members a head start in preparing for the significant reporting changes required by the new IRS Form 990, and provide background on policy and procedural changes helpful in ensuring compliance with the new requirements. Attend this Webinar and you’ll also learn how to turn your organization’s annual financial reporting process into a significant risk management tool.
Purchase this Webinar for your decision-makers to:
- Learn how to comply with the requirements on the new core form.
- Evaluate your financial review and data gathering procedures against the information requested by the new form.
- Become familiar with the new IRS reporting requirements on governance policies, program evaluation and board member activities/compensation.
- Learn how to use the IRS Form 990 as a significant tool to protect the reputation of your nonprofit.
$59.00
Managing Technology Risks: Employee and Volunteer Blogs, e-Commerce, and Internet Piracy
March 5
Organizations are finding that technology is both a blessing and a curse: easy access to information on the outside can also mean easy access by the public to the nonprofit’s proprietary information and to employees’ use (and abuse) of the Internet. Blogs, employees’/volunteers’ Web sites and e-mail, as well as e-commerce activities of nonprofits themselves each result in constantly emerging risks. Attend this Webinar to learn how to address these risks through policies and practices at your nonprofit.
Purchase this Webinar for your decision-makers to:
- Learn how Weblogs can bring opportunity and risk to your nonprofit, including: defamation, discrimination and harassment claims.
- Learn how policies and procedures can help nonprofits control access to the nonprofit’s assets of reputation and resources.
- Become aware of the legal and practice risks of e-commerce from a nonprofit’s Web site.
- Get questions answered about the legal regulation of fund raising over the Internet.
$59.00
Risks of Generating Revenue: Charities Doing Good or Doing Business?
April 2
Today’s charities are partnering with for-profits, selling goods and services and adopting commercial business models. Diversification of revenue sources are all the vogue, but such activity can either compliment or sabotage your mission. What risks will your nonprofit take in exchange for that extra revenue? Attend this Webinar if your nonprofit is thinking about diversifying its income streams and you want to be prepared for the challenges along the way.
Purchase this Webinar for your decision-makers to:
- Brush up on the restrictions and tax implications of engaging in commercial enterprises.
- Manage the risks involved in partnering with for-profit ventures.
- Prepare your staff and board for challenges related to launching “business,” as opposed to “charitable,” activities.
- Review the insurance implications of commercial activities.
$59.00
Developing and Managing Conflict of Interest Policies
May 7
The best way to manage conflicts of interest is before they land your nonprofit on the front page of the local newspaper. A well constructed, clearly written conflict of interest policy, familiar to board and staff, can protect the organization and the volunteers who provide leadership. Attend this Webinar if your organization is in the process of drafting or re-visiting its conflict of interest policy, or you are curious about how other organizations manage conflict issues that typically arise, and want to learn how to manage conflicts more effectively in your organization.
Purchase this Webinar for your decision-makers to:
- Underscore why it is important to have a written conflict of interest policy.
- Explore dualities of interest and how they fall under conflict policies.
- Identify the elements your organization should include in its conflict of interest policy and how to effectively raise awareness with board and staff about conflict policies.
- Learn ways to protect your organization from conflicts that arise both inside and outside the board room.
$59.00
Whistleblower and Retaliation Claims: Policies that Protect Your Nonprofit
June 4
A nonprofit organization has responsibility to the public, the clients, its employees, volunteers and donors to conduct its affairs ethically and in compliance with laws and regulations. When a volunteer or employee challenges a nonprofit’s conduct by “blowing the whistle,” legal protections apply that all nonprofits need to be prepared to handle expertly. Failure to respect the workplace laws and whistleblower protections can result in retaliation claims and even criminal liability. Attend this Webinar to learn what your nonprofit can do to avoid and defend against such claims.
Purchase this Webinar for your decision-makers to:
- What are the whistleblower protections applicable to your nonprofit’s operations
- What is the proper conduct for dealing with a whistleblower.
- How allegations of illegal conduct or claimed irregularities in a nonprofit’s operations should be investigated.
- What internal procedures can help avoid retaliation charges.
- How confidentiality concerns should be addressed during investigations.
- What the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires of nonprofits.
$59.00
Reviewing Financial Transactions: Board and Staff Roles in Internal Controls and Audit Functions
July 2
New accounting standards underscore the board’s overarching fiduciary duty to be familiar with and ensure the protection of, financial resources. This Webinar reviews basic internal control procedures that divide responsibilities clearly between the board and the staff to create a series of checks and balances that reduces the possibility of fraud, theft and other mismanagement of funds. Audit committees also play a role in protecting a nonprofit’s financial health. Attend this Webinar if you have questions whether or not your organization really needs an audit committee and how to cultivate “financially literate” board members to serve on the finance and audit committees.
Purchase this Webinar for your CFO, CPA, board treasurer, bookkeeper to answer such questions as:
- Does our nonprofit need an audit committee and what would its role be?
- Who should be on the audit committee?
- How can we increase the financial literacy of our board?
- What roles do fiscal policies/accounting procedures play in a board meeting?
- Where do the staff’s role end and the board’s role begin in overseeing financial transactions?
- What should staff and board members know about SAS 112, the new accounting standard?
$59.00
Benefits in the Nonprofit Workplace: Balancing Risk and Reward
August 6
Employee benefits can include employee insurance coverage (medical, life, dental, disability, unemployment and worker’s compensation), paid leave and holidays, and contributions to retirement plans, as well as a host of other “fringe benefits” that are valuable to attract and retain staff in a competitive hiring environment. Offering too many or too few, benefits can throw a nonprofit’s budget, programs—and ultimately its mission—off course. Attend this Webinar to hear from a benefits expert about emerging trends in nonprofit benefits and how to reduce risks related to your employees’ participation in your nonprofit’s benefits package.
Purchase this Webinar for your decision-makers to:
- Analyze the competition’s benefit menus.
- Determine what aspects of your nonprofit’s benefits are required by law.
- Weigh market position with and without certain benefits.
- Assess the risks to the organization if the benefit menu is too sparse or too generous.
$59.00
Selecting the Most Suitable Employees for the Job: The Screening Process in a Nutshell
September 3
Screening is critical to the selection process, but too often shortcuts are taken or basic steps overlooked that can make the difference between a great hire and a future lawsuit. This Webinar will review the basics and delve into the details of effective screening procedures to help your nonprofit be confident that you are doing your best to hire super staff.
Purchase this Webinar for your decision-makers to:
- Determine whether your organization’s current selection methods for staff and volunteer positions take advantage of available methods of screening and background checking.
- Identify which paid and volunteer positions responsibly require which types of screening methods.
- Identify which federal and state laws impact the use of various types of background checks.
- Learn about available tools to help your organization with its selection and screening process.
$59.00
Managing the Risks of Deploying Youthful Volunteers
October 1
Did you know that two-thirds of adults who volunteer began volunteering when they were young? It is popular today for schools and court systems to require graduates and juvenile offenders to engage in community service. As a result, your nonprofit may be asked to accept youth volunteers who may not otherwise be part of your program. What is your obligation to accept those volunteers? And, if you incorporate youth volunteers in your programs anyway, what special protections should your nonprofit have in place both to encourage and protect youth volunteers, as well as to protect your nonprofit?
Purchase this Webinar for your decision-makers to:
- The do’s and don’ts of selection and screening procedures for youth volunteers.
- Special orientation considerations for programs that involve youth volunteers.
- Insurance protections useful to address typical exposures involving youth volunteers.
- Your nonprofit’s right to decline, or obligation to accept, certain youth volunteers referred from probation or school community service programs.
$59.00
Managing Fundraising Risks
November 5
Raising money for your organization is a noble affair, right? Are their potholes along the path to riches? You bet! Attend this Webinar to refresh yourself about regulatory requirements that govern registration, solicitation language and disclosure in various states as well as fundraising on the Internet, and learn more about specific challenges that emerge when nonprofits hired professional fund raisers, partner with other organizations to raise funds, and solicit gifts for annual, capital and endowment campaigns.
Purchase this Webinar for your decision-makers, especially board members and development officers, to:
- Identify risk management safeguards for the fundraising activities of the organization.
- Get a refresher course on charitable registration and learn about emerging trends in the regulatory landscape.
- Learn about gift agreements and other ways to clarify restricted gifts and donor intent.
- Learn about safeguards in hiring professional outside fundraisers.
- Recognize commercial co ventures and cause-related marketing and learn the warning signs that may require your organization to register special fundraising activities with the state.
$59.00
Managing Special Event Risks
December 3
Special events are multifaceted opportunities for surprise. When your nonprofit is planning a special event is the time to consider what can go wrong and what harm can come to your critical assets—the people, income, reputation and goodwill of the organization. Is your nonprofit ready to deal with: unexpected large crowds, guests that out-stay their welcome, unpredictable weather, alcohol and food service, onsite volunteers, permits, contracts with vendors, certificates of insurance, security details, and parking? Attend this Webinar to be prepared!
Purchase this Webinar for your decision-makers, including volunteer board members on special event committees, to:
- Identify and assess the specific risks that could derail your special event.
- Determine what insurance coverage may be needed for the nonprofit and volunteers.
- Be prepared to accommodate volunteers’ and guests’ requirements at special events.
- Learn the Center’s 10 steps to help your nonprofit plan, prepare for, and run a safe event.
$59.00
About the Faculty
Melanie Herman is executive director of the Nonprofit Risk Management Center and a frequent speaker at conferences sponsored by various nonprofit organizations. Melanie advises nonprofits of all sizes on issues ranging from managing legal risks to employment practices to insurance buying. She has authored and co-authored 20 books during her career at the Center.