Training at the Workshop
policies | success stories | subscribe to the media guide | tips | resources | contact us | all events
WORKSHOPS
Social Media to Build Awareness
Thursday, Sept. 16 9AM to Noon
With: Tim Frick
Are you using social media to build an audience or market your services? If you haven’t you’re probably missing out on connecting with new audiences. This workshop will take an advanced look at social media optimization. You will learn best practices for engagement and digital marketing to steer traffic to your website. REGISTER TODAY!
Do-It-Yourself Video for Nonprofits
Monday, September 27 9 AM to Noon
With: Stacy Laiderman, See3 Communications
Video is the latest online tool that’s driving traffic to organizations websites and attracting attention from diverse audiences. Learn how to determine which story to tell, the best equipment to use for any size organization, and how to set up a shot and get good sound. In this hands-on class, an expert video producer from See3 Communications will teach you the basics of video production. WORKSHOP FULL, REGISTRATION CLOSED.
Already Registered? Click Here for Further Information about this Worshop.
Effective Newsletter Writing
Thursday, Oct. 7 9AM to Noon
Does your newsletter have your readers snoring? Give your newsletter a jolt in this crash-course. Learn to produce an attractive, effective newsletter that captivates your readers. Join award-winning newsletter writer Patrice Tuohy and learn the right questions to ask as you plan or revise your organization’s print or online newsletter using eight essential elements for effective newsletters. REGISTER TODAY!
Weekend Media Boot Camp
Saturday, Oct. 16 9AM to 3PM
With: Thom Clark
How can you better tell your organization’s story? Despite challenged budgets and the shifting media landscape, nonprofits should be at the center of the Great Recession news frame. How can you engage donors and policy makers, customers and neighbors in your work? Discover effective communications strategies that use your values to build strong messages in an intensive interactive training workshop. (Breakfast & Lunch Included) REGISTER TODAY!
Branding For Nonprofits
Thursday, Oct. 21 9AM to Noon
If you can’t answer who you are and what makes you different, your marketing strategy and campaigns won’t be as successful. Being more effective with branding can convert your ongoing efforts to support and advance your work.
The time is now to know exactly who you are and what makes you different. You’ll get more exposure, raise more funds and provide more programs and services.
REGISTER TODAY!
Social Media Basics
Monday, Nov. 1 9AM to Noon
With: Emily Culbertson
Blogs, YouTube and social networks like Facebook and Twitter are just some of the new tools allowing people to share knowledge and organize into groups online. This session will cover basic information about how social media tools such as blogs, wikis, YouTube, Facebook and Twitter are being used. You will also gain pointers and tips to consider about using social media in your organization’s communications and review how social media tools have changed and continues to change the landscape of nonprofit communications.REGISTER TODAY!
Professional Media Relations
This workshop will take place from 9 AM to 12 PM over five Fridays: (1/21, 1/28, 2/4, 2/11, 2/18)
With: Thom Clark & Nora Ferrell
For 20 years, Professional Media Relations has been the Workshop’s cornerstone training. This intensive training session is designed specifically for nonprofit communicators to plan media campaigns around one of their own stories, while learning basic public relations skills. Participants in the course also get the opportunity to develop a story and pitch it to journalists. The course includes one copy per organization of Getting on the Air, Online & Into Print 2011, our indispensable directory of Chicago-area media contacts, plus many valuable handouts. REGISTER TODAY!
SUMMER/FALL BROWN BAG SERIES
Experts share insights on the latest communication trends in traditional and social media. Brown bag workshops are free but registration is required. Space limited register today!
More In Common Than You Think
Thursday, Oct. 5 12:30 to 2:30 PM
Foundation communicators need to raise awareness of their organization and the issues their foundation is addressing in much the same ways as their counterparts at 501c3 organizations (some are working on fundraising, too). In this session for nonprofit communicators, public affairs leaders from some of our most prominent local philanthropies will discuss their experiences on branding and identity,
media relations, and coordinating diverse stakeholders in and out of their organization. Join us to learn more about our sector and communications as these four share their insights on philanthropy, communications, and Chicago.
Panelists: Charles Boesel, Director of Communications, The Joyce Foundation; Pattie Overstreet-Miller, Senior Director, Communications and Marketing, McCormick Foundation; Elizabeth D. “Libbet” Richter, Vice President of Marketing and Communications, The Chicago Community Trust, and Andrew Solomon, Vice President, Public Affairs, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. Moderator: Thom Clark, Community Media Workshop.
REGISTER TODAY!
FAQ
What will I get from attending a communications training at the Workshop?
Who should attend?
How do you set the prices for your workshops?
What if my organization wants a custom workshop — to have Workshop trainers come out to us, to do a session on an evening or weekend day?
Where are the workshops held?
What will I get from attending a communications training at the Workshop?
Learn to tell your stories better, using all the tools of communications, advocacy, outreach, and marketing, such as: media relations, using new media/technology, developing print materials, planning strategy, holding events, and other types of public relations. We are known for:
- Hands-on, practical training
- Emphasis on how to create compelling stories to increase visibility among media,funders and other audiences
- Providing tools to integrate Web 2.0 and social media into your communications and fundraising efforts
- Leading workshops that honor the ways adults learn, are interactive, and engaging
- Providing handouts you can use, not put on a shelf
Learn more about real people’s successes using what they learned from us by viewing some recent success stories
Who Should Attend?
Our workshops are for nonprofit communicators–staff and volunteers responsible for telling their organizations’ stories. They come from grassroots and community organizations, arts groups, hospitals and universities, social-service agencies, philanthopry, and other types of nonprofit.
While we do not turn for-profit communicators away, for popular workshops we may wait-list them to make sure there are seats for all the nonprofit communicators who wish to attend. If you are in corporate communications or at a for-profit PR firm, we encourage you to visit the sites of our colleagues in PR, such as Ragan Communications, the Publicity Club of Chicago, PRNewswire, or the Public Relations Society of America.
To learn more about our participants, you can download a list of groups who accessed our services last year.
How do you set the prices for your workshops?
We are half grant-funded and the rest of our revenue comes from selling workshops, trainings, and our Chicago-market media guide, Getting On Air, On-line, & Into Print to other nonprofits.
This allows us to keep the costs of our workshops at a fraction of the price of equivalent sessions in the private sector. Workshop prices take into account fees for our trainers (typically much-reduced from what they typically charge as a service to the nonprofit community), other fixed costs such as serving coffee, water, and meals during workshops.
Scholarships are always available to organizations with budgets under $100,000—please view our Scholarship Policy. You may also want to check the details of our Cancellation Policy.
What if my organization wants a custom workshop — to have Workshop trainers come out to us, to do a session on an evening or weekend day?
We are happy to provide custom sessions that respond to specific needs or to reinforce core messages at your organization.
Organizations we have worked with recently include ACCESS, Axelson Center for Nonprofit Management at North Park University, Chicagoland Bicycle Federation, Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, Latinos Progresando, Local Initiatives Support Corp., Michigan Nonprofit Association, National Association of Charter School Authorizers, Progressive Technology Project, and Rockefeller Brothers Fund.
To learn more, download a one-page backgrounder on our custom training, and contact Nora Ferrell, Nora@newstips.org or Diana Pando, Diana@newstips.org, or call us, 312-369-6400.
Where are the Workshops Held?
Unless noted elsewhere, our trainings take place in our classroom at our walk-in location at:
Community Media Workshop
at Columbia College
218 S Wabash
Chicago, IL 60605
Tel: 312-369-6400
Fax: 312-369-6404
Email: cmw@newstips.org
