2020 Nonprofit OpCon

Networking & Registration

Welcome and Opening Remarks

Streamlining Organizational Processes Within Budget

Successful organizations use many different tracks of strategy in developing their mission, from organizational to programmatic. Key to this process is developing a focused, purposeful strategy that incorporates systems, resource allocation, data management, finances, and more. This panel will explain how efficient operations and processes can enhance your nonprofit’s administrative efficiency, streamline monetary functions, and create operational stability so you can focus more of your energy on your mission. 

• President and CEO, Harlem Educational Activities Fund, Inc. (moderator)
• Chief of Operations & Organizational Sustainability, Community Change 
• CFO, America Needs You

What Nonprofits Need to Know About Nonprofit Accounting and Finance

Maintaining the financial health of any nonprofit is a challenge before you factor in the specific aspects of your organization. Keeping up with regulatory changes, managing all sources of funding, tracking organizational costs, and more is demanding, especially for nonprofits that are already stretched thin. Our panelists will highlight strategies and resources to help you increase your financial fluency and create systems for efficient financial management.

• VP & Chief Financial Officer, Family and Children’s Association (moderator)
• CFO, POV & America ReFramed | American Documentary
• Executive Director, 82nd Street Academics
• Director, Your Part Time Controller
• Partner, PKF O'Connor Davies, LLP

Special Presentation

Executive Managing Director, Co-Chair, Not-for-Profit Advisory Group, Cushman & Wakefield

Networking/Break

Optimizing and Developing a Sustainable Board of Directors

Creating a strategic and effective board takes vision, focus, and determination. This session will address the steps of building and assessing your board of directors. Our panelists will discuss best practices for starting up a board, techniques for re-inventing a board, creating buy-in from all members of the board, and ultimately delivering a board that is continuously growing and self-sustaining.

• Executive Director, Cents Ability, Inc. (moderator)
• Deputy Bureau Chief, Charities Bureau, NYS Department of Law
• CEO, Family Promise
• Partner and Not-For-Profit Practice Leader, Citrin Cooperman

Integrating the Right Technology Needed to Take your Operations to the Next Level

Given the rapid advancements in this space, your organization is likely in need of technological upgrades. However, it can be impossible to know what solutions are right for your organization, especially on a tight budget. Perhaps even more difficult is assisting employees in the transition to a new technological system. This panel of experts will walk through the process for deciding what technology is right for you, and provide best practices for integrating new technologies into existing organizations.

• Executive Director of Information Technology, Lutheran Social Services of NY (moderator)
• Chief Technology Officer, Downtown Alliance
• Associate Director of Evaluation & Organizational Learning, Pencil
• Partner, Dega Systems
• VP & Co-founder, Nonprofit Sector Strategies

Networking Luncheon

Building Strong Operations and Finance Departments that Align with your Mission

Even high-performing nonprofit organizations have serious gaps and inefficiencies in their operational and financial management systems.  In an effort to maximize the resources that go to serving clients, funders have traditionally set very low limits on administrative, management and other “overhead” expenses not directly related to programming.  This panel will discuss the importance of building an operations and finance team, the policies, procedures & internal controls to mitigate the risk of fraud, developing billing process workflows and capabilities, how best-of-breed technology integrations can assist in increasing efficiencies and provide far better results for your agency and more.

• CEO, Multiplying Good (moderator)
• Director of Finance & Operations, DoSomething.org
• Associate Director, Policy and Partnerships, NYC Mayor's Office of Contract Services
• Nonprofit Finance Consultant, Roberta Katz Consulting
• Executive Director of Operations, Millin Associates

Assessing the real estate process – what are the current trends?

There are a multitude of factors that inform a nonprofit’s selection of real estate for their office: cost, accessibility to public transportation, the customizability of the space, security, the size of the space, and so much more. Navigating these choices and making an informed decision can be a daunting task, especially for organizations that do not regularly work in the real estate sector. Our panelists will give an overview of the real estate search process and provide strategies for successfully finding a home for your nonprofit.

• Director, Business & Industry Workforce Training Center, New York City College of Technology (moderator)
• Executive Director, United Neighborhood Housing
• Chief Operating Officer, Latino Justice
• Co-President, Denham Wolf Real Estate Services

Networking/Break

Nonprofit Efficiency: Managing Risk, Overhead and Failure

Risk management is a critical tool to help nonprofits deal with uncertainty, with the key component being proactivity. Organizations need to review their potential areas of weakness before an unexpected event occurs and develop strategies to prevent or contain damages. This process should also factor in overhead ratios and what they indicate for an organization’s financial efficiency. Our panelists will walk through all the aforementioned areas and more, including facilities management, security best practices and how to limit the chance of fraud impacting your organization.

• President, nfpadvisorsLLC.com (moderator)

• Executive Director, Jeremiah Program Brooklyn
• Executive Director/CEO, VISIONS/Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired
• Regional Sales Director, First Nonprofit
• Vice President, Sales, Briscoe Protective

Leadership and Culture: The (Not So) Hidden Secrets of Human Resources

Leadership is one of the top factors that determines the success of your organization, and not just for handling traditional executive responsibilities. Leaders are single-handedly responsible for building an organizational culture that permeates every aspect of your nonprofit, for better or for worse. Hear from our expert panelists as they discuss tips and tricks for effective nonprofit leadership, as well as best practices for building a positive and productive office culture

• Executive Director, National Dance Institute (moderator)
• Founder and CEO, RealHR Solutions
• MIS Director, NYC Independent Budget Office
• Executive Director, Youth Communication
• Vice President, Communications and External Relations and Professor, Marketing, Berkeley College