Leadership Development on a Shoe String Budget: Building the Future-Ready

Learn how to develop strong leaders at every level of your org, even on a tight budget, so execs can focus on strategy, not the weeds.

In most purpose-driven organizations, leadership is “accidental.” High-performing employees get promoted to manager without the training to actually lead people. The result? CEO’s and Executive Directors are stuck in the weeds instead of focusing on strategy. This interactive discussion will provide the tools and framework to develop leaders at all levels, even on the tightest budgets.

An AI & Cybersecurity Survival Guide for Nonprofits in 2026

Discover top AI tools to save time and accelerate your mission — from automating grant writing to streamlining donor engagement.

Artificial intelligence offers incredible opportunities for nonprofits to amplify their impact, from automating grant writing to streamlining donor engagement. In this interactive workshop, we’ll explore the top AI tools to save time and accelerate your mission.
However, cybercriminals are also using AI to launch sophisticated scams. We will break down modern security risks without confusing jargon.

The good news is that building resilience starts with smart governance, not a massive budget. Together, we’ll draft an organizational AI policy during this session, and you’ll leave with actionable security tips and a concrete framework to safely navigate the future of AI.

Mental Fitness for Leaders: Quieting the Inner Critic That Gets in the Way

Brian Vogel introduces mental fitness: meeting challenges with clarity and calm instead of stress or self-judgment.

Leaders are asked to make clear decisions, manage pressure, support their teams, and stay steady in moments that are often anything but steady. The challenge is that the biggest source of friction is not always the budget, the board, the staff, or the strategy. Sometimes, the biggest source of friction is the soundtrack in our own head.

In this practical session, Brian Vogel will introduce the concept of mental fitness: the ability to respond to challenges with more clarity, calm, and purpose instead of reacting from stress, fear, frustration, or self-judgment. Participants will learn how common internal patterns can quietly affect decision-making, communication, resilience, and leadership presence.

The session will offer a simple way to notice these patterns in real time, interrupt them, and shift toward a more constructive response. No prior knowledge of mental fitness is needed. This will be an accessible, useful conversation for nonprofit leaders who want to better understand what gets in the way of their best leadership and how to begin changing those patterns in everyday moments.

Navigating Disaster Resources: Connecting Survivors to Recovery Assistance

Introduction to the disaster assistance system and the resources that may become available following an emergency or disaster.

ABOUT THE SERIES
Join Resilient Futures for a free virtual disaster preparedness training series designed to strengthen individual and community preparedness.

These interactive sessions feature subject matter experts sharing practical strategies and resources to help individuals and communities prepare for and respond to disasters.

Open to the public. Attend one session or join us for the full series!

Toothpaste Chronicles: What To Do When You’re Ethically Squeezed

Has your CEO ever wanted you to bring in donors from a previous job? Have you ever been asked on a date by a donor? What do you do when you’re ethically squeezed?

Join Paul A. Dunn, CFRE (Principal, The NonProfit Group), to get answers to these questions and learn how to navigate “sticky situations.”

Virtual attendance available
This event has been approved for CFRE credit

Safe & Supported Texas Schools – A New Blueprint for Increasing Safety Through Student Supports

Texas schools must navigate expectations around safety, student wellbeing, and academic performance. While state and federal funding streams allow for investments in psychological safety, many districts struggle to align resources strategically, protect prevention funding, and make the case for sustained investment.

Join Texas Rural Funders to learn about a practical, new tool for school districts from the H. E. Butt Foundation and Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute. The Blueprint is designed as a practical planning tool, regardless of a district’s size, location, or budget. Attendees will receive an overview of the Blueprint, including:

  • Case studies that align student supports with gains in average daily attendance, academic performance, college and career readiness, threat reduction and teacher retention.
  • Tools to help navigate funding through needs assessments and a funding landscape analysis.
  • Strengthening partnerships through a framework and asset mapping.
  • Galvanizing community messengers with templates and tools.

Who should attend? 

Superintendents, CFOs, school board members, and other education leaders who help shape budget, policy, or student support strategies. Funders, nonprofits, and other community education stakeholders are encouraged to join.

Fundraising Analytics: Leveraging the Power of Data

Leaders of all industry sectors achieve success through the thoughtful and creative use of data. This two-day course provides a comprehensive introduction to fundraising analytics, equipping participants with the knowledge and skills to interpret data effectively and apply insights to their work. Topics include introduction to data science, governance and ethics; application of analytics; predictive modeling; and engagement scoring.

The Continuity Playbook: Succession Planning for Nonprofits

What would happen if your founder, executive director, or program manager won the lottery tomorrow and walked out the door for good? Unlikely, sure — but not impossible. The organizations that survive a sudden departure aren’t the lucky ones; they’re the ones that planned ahead. Don’t wait to be caught off guard. Your nonprofit’s future depends on the continuity you build today.

We are excited to welcome Rebecca White, founder of The Content Cove, for a free in-person workshop on sustainable leadership and succession planning. In her day job, Rebecca helps with the overloaded nonprofit executive move into the strategic lane and out of the crisis lane. And for our workshop, she’ll provide wisdom, tips and tactics to help executives and boards clarify what successful transition looks like: engaging early and effectively, building internal capacity, shaping a role that others want to step into rather than a cautionary tale of burnout, creating space for reflection and regeneration as the next phase for both executive director and organization.

Creating and Managing a Compliance Calendar for Your Organization

Join the Center for Economics Enterprise & Innovation, in partnership with Bastrop County Cares, for a Nonprofit Capacity Building Training focused on creating and managing an effective compliance calendar. This session will provide practical guidance to help nonprofit organizations plan ahead, track important deadlines, stay compliant, and strengthen their operations.
The training will be presented by Norma Hinojos, Director of Administration.

Get a GRIP (Grant Readiness and Introduction to Process)

This introduction seminar provides the basics of nonprofit grant writing including parts of grants, tips and tricks, and online resources.

Topics

  • Types of Grants
  • Grant Readiness
  • Grant Components
  • Grant Writing Tips
  • Intro to Research

Finding Grants
Hands-on training to discover how to traverse through foundations and government grants to find the right ones for your organization. This seminar helps identify keywords for your agency to streamline searches in databases like GrantStation and Grants.gov.

2026 Volunteer Management Hybrid Conference

The Volunteer Management Hybrid Conference is a one-day LIVE Broadcast event for volunteer management professionals happening on October 20th, 2026.

The conference is broadcast virtually to in-person Host Site locations & individuals across North America.

Embracing the Future of Volunteer Engagement: Building for Resilience and Sustainability

Volunteer professionals are being asked to do more than ever before.

Organization leaders want clear outcomes. Communities expect flexibility. Technology is no longer optional, while resources are stretched thin.

Connect with peers who are navigating these same realities at the annual Volunteer Management Hybrid Conference.

Together, you will explore practical approaches to building more resilient, sustainable volunteer engagement strategies, and walk away with clearer direction, stronger frameworks, and the confidence to lead through change.

What you’ll experience:

  • Four expert-led sessions on leadership, AI, data, and future-ready volunteer programs
  • Live panel discussions on wellbeing, DEI, accessibility, and sustainability
  • Opportunities to network with volunteer engagement professionals locally + globally
  • Exclusive resources from VMHC speakers and panelists

Service United Fund: Philanthropy’s Role in the New Service Movement

Philanthropy has an opportunity right now to help expand paid service programs that connect people with their communities and with one another.

The Service United Fund, a philanthropic collaboration launched alongside a new National Governors Association initiative, offers foundations and other funders a new way to support the expansion of state-led service programs.

Join us to explore the role philanthropy can play in expanding paid service opportunities for young adults and what this initiative could mean for their education, careers, and communities. They will also share what states should know about the current grant application process and lessons from Maryland’s experience.

Intersection of Opportunity: Aligning Housing, Childcare, & Early Learning

How can policies and programs focused on advancing affordable housing, early childhood education, and childcare can be integrated?

Throughout the United States, for households with young children, housing and child care are the top two largest expenses, and Central Texas is no different. Even as housing costs have dropped from extreme highs in 2022, more than one-third of Central Texas households are housing and child care cost-burdened, meaning they spend more than 30 percent of their income on housing and 7 percent of their income on child care costs, respectively. At the same time, 57 percent of children from low-income families in Central Texas were not considered Kindergarten-ready compared to 35% of their peers from higher-earning households. Communities cannot deliver strong early learning outcomes without stable, affordable homes—and families cannot maintain stable housing without access to high quality early childhood education and child care opportunities that support work, wellbeing, and long term economic mobility.

While challenges remain, Austinites remain committed to addressing the twin issues of housing and childcare affordability, approving $350 million for building affordable housing in 2022 and $75 million to expand access to child care and out-of-school time programs in 2024. Throughout Central Texas, place-based investments can integrate child care and early learning into affordable housing opportunities through cross-sector models, such as co-locating centers in affordable housing developments and expanding affordable child care opportunities in low and moderate-income communities. At the same time, home-based child care providers play a vital role in the care ecosystem, and need affordable and stable housing opportunities to deliver such care. To ensure their success, policies and investments must be aligned to increase available housing opportunities, expand accessibility for home-based care, and stabilize housing for existing providers.

This forum will bring together partners from across Austin and the Central Texas region to explore how policies and programs focused on advancing affordable housing, early childhood education, and childcare can be integrated and advanced collectively to strengthen outcomes for children and families.

Turning Faith-Based Land into Housing Opportunities

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) invites housing and community development professionals, local governments, nonprofit and faith-based organizations, lenders, developers, and other partners to join us in San Antonio for the next Blueprints to Buildings Symposium.

This free, two-day event will provide practical tools, connections, and expertise to help participants move affordable housing projects from concept to construction, with a special focus on turning faith-based land into housing opportunities.

Faith-based organizations interested in understanding how their land could support housing development are especially encouraged to attend.

VIEW THE AGENDA AND REGISTER FOR FREE!

Register and view the agenda

What to Expect

Day 1 will walk participants through the affordable housing development lifecycle, including:

  • Development Lifecycle Overview
  • How Deals Come Together
  • Capital Stack Fundamentals
  • Compliance, Construction, and Risk

Through hands-on workshops, peer learning, and expert-led discussions, participants will explore practical strategies, resources, and partnerships that can help move housing ideas toward implementation.

Day 2 will feature a site tour and roundtable discussions with housing and faith-based leaders and industry experts. Attendees will have opportunities to engage directly with affordable housing practitioners, community development organizations, local and national experts, and peers from across the region.

Registration

Registration is open to individuals and organizations interested in expanding their housing development knowledge, strengthening community development capacity, and advancing affordable housing production, preservation, and finance.

After registering, you will receive an email confirming that your registration has been received. Please wait to make non-refundable travel arrangements until you receive your official event confirmation.

Hotel and Travel Information

The symposium will be held at the Grand Hyatt San Antonio River Walk.

Intro to Bookkeeping for Nonprofits

This class covers the basics of bookkeeping and implementing workflows and systems to help you organize your nonprofit financials.

This is a virtual class and eligible for a Nonprofit Skills Certificate.

Strong bookkeeping gives nonprofit leaders the clarity they need to make informed decisions, build trust, and stay focused on their mission. In this 3-hour class, participants will learn the basics of nonprofit bookkeeping and why these concepts matter even if they are not handling the books themselves.

Participants will learn:

  • The difference between a bookkeeper and a CPA, and the role each one plays in your organization
  • Key nonprofit accounting concepts, including fund accounting, accrual accounting, and functional expenses
  • What strong bookkeeping looks like and how it supports better leadership, board confidence, and donor trust

By the end of class, participants will have a stronger understanding of nonprofit finances, greater confidence in reviewing financial information, and a clearer sense of how bookkeeping supports the health of the organization.

All participants will receive a digital Toolkit at the end of class and have opportunity for Q&A with instructor.

What’s in the Toolkit?

Every class has a uniquely designed Toolkit. In it you will find a copy of the class slides along with a curated collection of templates, forms, worksheets, and software options to best support you in your journey.

This fundamental series class is interactive and will have Q&A time with the instructor. We will also take short breaks to give you a chance to refresh, check email, grab a water, or network in the chat with other participants. Our classes are best taken with a live, attentive focus – recordings are not offered.

Pro Tip: Earn A Nonprofit Skills Certificate!
This class is eligible for the City of Austin Nonprofit Skills Certificate program. Complete six eligible classes and notify us to participate in the next Small Business and Nonprofit Skills recognition event. View eligible classes at: bit.ly/AustinSkillsCertificate

AI-Powered Impact: Your Roadmap to the Future

Harness the power of AI. Amplify the human impact.

AI is changing how organizations work, but adopting it effectively isn’t about replacing people. It’s about giving your team better tools to work smarter, increase capacity, and focus more time and energy on your mission.

In this practical webinar, Darian Rodriguez Heyman, bestselling author of AI for Nonprofits, will help nonprofit leaders move beyond the hype and uncertainty surrounding AI.

You’ll explore where AI can make the greatest difference, how to avoid common implementation mistakes, and how to get dramatically better results from the tools already available to you.

Whether you’re just beginning to experiment with AI or looking for ways to use it more effectively across your organization, you’ll leave with a clearer roadmap for adopting AI responsibly and putting it to work for your mission.

National Philanthropy Day

National Philanthropy Day® is a special day set aside each November to recognize and celebrate the incredible impact philanthropy has in our communities. It’s a time to honor the generosity of individuals, businesses, and organizations whose contributions—whether through time, talent, or treasure—help make the world a better place.

Each year, the AFP East Texas Chapter hosts a local celebration to shine a spotlight on the people and partners who uplift our region through their selfless giving and dedication to causes that matter.

We have the honor of presenting the Outstanding Philanthropic Corporation award to BMW of Tyler. Come show them your support during our National Philanthropy Day ceremony on Nov. 11th.

Beyond the Rating: Building Trust & Transparency with Charity Navigator

Your nonprofit’s charity rating is more than a score. It is a public reflection of trust, transparency, and financial stewardship.

Join Jennifer Alleva of YPTC and Michael Thatcher, President & CEO of Charity Navigator, for a conversation about how nonprofit ratings work, how donors and stakeholders use them, and what organizations can do to strengthen their ratings readiness. Learn how accurate data, clear financial reporting, and proactive management contribute to a stronger public profile and greater stakeholder confidence ahead of Charity Navigator’s November ratings release.

Who Should Attend: Nonprofit leaders, finance professionals, and board members seeking to better understand Charity Navigator ratings and strengthen their organization’s ratings readiness.

Learning Objectives:

  1. Explain how Charity Navigator evaluates nonprofit organizations and communicates ratings information to the public.
  2. Identify practical steps organizations can take to strengthen ratings readiness, transparency, and stakeholder confidence.

Participants will earn 1.0 CPE credit in Specialized Knowledge.

To receive credit, attendees must respond to three out of the four poll questions asked during the program. Once registered, you will automatically receive access to the webcast recording, slides, and, if you qualified for CPE, have the ability to download your certificate.

Additional Information

Prerequisites: There are no prerequisites for this program.

Advanced Preparation: None

Program Level: Overview

Delivery Method: Group Internet Based

Field of Study: Specialized Knowledge

Legislative Strategy Workshop

Join us for a Legislative Strategy Workshop to help us lift up Panhandle voices during the next legislative session.

Our partners with Texas 2036, Every Texan, and Philanthropy Advocates will help us understand where we stand after the 89th Legislative Session, what to expect and what opportunities to look out for in the 90th Legislative Session, and how we as individuals and non-profits can join them to advocate for the priorities of the Texas Panhandle.

Local providers and experts in the area of quality childcare accessibility, food security, and education will share their experiences and challenges to give us insight into the practical ways what happens in Austin impacts our community.

When:  Wednesday, October 7, 2026 from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. (Doors open at 9:30 a.m.)

Where:  Amarillo Area Foundation, 919 S Polk, Amarillo, Texas 79101

Your $20.00 registration fee includes lunch.

Rewriting the Rules of Engagement

In an ever-changing world, the expectations of both volunteers and nonprofit leaders have changed dramatically. How does one balance the foundations of engagement against emerging trends and strategies? There is no better time than now to rewrite the “rules of engagement.” In this session, discover how you can lead your organization in leveraging volunteer time and talent to sustain or increase impact while getting a taste of an upcoming training opportunity on the foundations of engagement offered by OneStar in 2027.

About presenter Beth Steinhorn, President, VQ Volunteer Strategies
Beth partners with organizations and their leadership to increase impact through strategic and innovative engagement. As a thought leader, Beth regularly participates in the national dialogue about volunteerism and engagement and is co-editor of the book, Transforming Disruption to Impact: Rethinking Volunteer Engagement for a Rapidly Changing World. She provides consulting and training to organizations across the U.S. and Canada, including supporting dozens of organizations to become accredited Service Enterprises. Prior to becoming a consultant, Beth worked as an executive director and marketing director with education and faith-based organizations and spent years working with museums as an educator, manager, and anthropologist.