Berkeley County Parks & Recreation Executive Director Steve Catlett, Phil Martin of Bedington, Parks & Rec President Jim Welton, and Eastern West Virginia Community Foundation Executive Director Michael Whalton (L to R) recently met in Bedington to hang a banner announcing plans for the new Goldie Gibbons Park.  A ceremony celebrating Virginia Gibbons’ life will be held at the Bedington Fire Hall on Saturday, October 8th beginning at 11:30 am. Family members, classmates and friends of Virginia’s will be on hand to honor her memory. The public is invited to attend.

Virginia Gibbons (Martinsburg High School Class of 1964) wanted to donate the family property across from the fire hall in Bedington to Martinsburg-Berkeley County Parks and Recreation to be used as a park for several years. Thanks to the efforts of longtime Bedington resident Phil Martin, Steve Catlett of Parks & Recreation, and attorney David DeJarnett of Bowles Rice LLP, the plans came together early this year and Virginia Gibbons transferred ownership of the land to Berkeley County.

At the same time, Ms. Gibbons also established the Goldie Gibbons Park Fund at the Eastern West Virginia Community Foundation to honor her mother and help cover some of the costs of converting the vacant 1.7-acre lot into a park that will provide a safe and fun place for dogs, kids, and families. We are delighted to have been chosen by Ms. Gibbons to provide stewardship for this lasting legacy in her mother’s memory, and we are grateful to David DeJarnett and everyone involved for helping move the project forward.

Virginia Gibbons passed away on June 15, 2016 and we are now working with her brother Tim, and other family members and friends, to make certain that her dream of creating the Goldie Gibbons Park in Bedington, West Virginia becomes a reality. A ceremony celebrating Virginia’s life will be held at the Bedington Fire Hall on Saturday, October 8th beginning at 11:30 am. Family members, classmates and friends of Virginia’s will be on hand to honor her memory. The public is invited to attend.

The Northern Shenandoah Valley Nonprofit Alliance for Excellence is hosting a one-day symposium at Shenandoah University on Tuesday, October 11th. This very affordable program ($25 per person) includes five seminar sessions, two keynote addresses, breakfast and lunch. Registration is from 8 – 8:30 am and the symposium wraps up at 2 pm. The five seminars run concurrent, but are repeated, so you will have the opportunity to choose the two that seem most relevant to your nonprofit organization. The schedule and seminar descriptions are below. Click here to register, and you can download a pdf version of the program flyer here.

Schedule for Tuesday, October 11, 2016 

8:00 – 8:30 Registration, Continental Breakfast, and Visiting

8:30 – 8:45 Mini Workshop: Tools for Engaged Communication – Tammy Bjelland, Language In Bloom

8:45 – 9:00 Welcome and Introductions – Kim Herbstritt, Chair

Northern Shenandoah Valley Nonprofit Alliance for Excellence – Dennis Kellison, Ed.D., Director School of Education and Human Development, Shenandoah University

9:00 -10:00 Keynote Speaker – Dan Pallotta (live video feed)  – Uncharitable: How Restraints on Nonprofits Undermine Their Potential

10:00 – 10:15 Break

10:15 – 11:00 Concurrent Seminars:

More War Paint – Louder Drums:  Challenges of a Nonprofit Organization in a For-profit World; Osborne Abbey, Ed.D., Interim CEO, Top of Virginia Regional Chamber

Measuring Impact in the Non-Profit Sector:  Bogdan Daraban, Ph.D., Associate Dean Harry F. Byrd, Jr. School of Business, Shenandoah University

Financial Management for Not-for-Profit:  Olivia Hutton, CPA, Young Hyde & Barbour

Advocacy as Strategy:  Kate Wofford, Director, Shenandoah Valley Network

Legal & HR Issues:  John Winn, J.D., LL.M, Professor of Business Law Harry F. Byrd, Jr. School of Business, Shenandoah University

11:15 – 12:00 Concurrent Seminars repeat

12:00 – 12:15 Break

12:15 – 1:30 Lunch and Keynote Speaker – Jeff Brooks, Creative Director, TrueSense Marketing

1:30 – 2:00 Closing Remarks – Ron Kaplan, Chairman of the Board Trex Company

SEMINARS 

Seminars are 45 minutes long and will be offered twice during the day.

1. Mini Workshop: Tools for Engaged Communication 

Maximize your engagement with symposium content by using social media and other communication tools, including: Twitter | Facebook | Pocket | Google Drive

Tammy Bjelland, Language In Bloom 

2. More War Paint – Louder Drums | Room 106 – Challenges of A Non-Profit Organization in a For Profit World 

In the non-profit sector, financial sustainability is the most critical of factors in defining organizational success. Cause or purpose, although very important, is a distant second. This is why non-profit organizations need to function with a for profit mindset. Sustainability depends on several factors, the most important of which is relevance. This is particularly so for local or regional non-profits that do not have a large, deep rooted geographic presence or high levels of political or star power to spotlight their efforts. In the simplest, and perhaps the cruelest of terms, if a non-profit organization is not relevant, it simply has no future. Following close on the heels of relevance as key definers of success are the tenets of entrepreneurial visioning, risk taking, internal investment, and forceful marketing. There also needs to be strong management of both internal and external influences as they, if not held in balance, can quickly recalibrate a non-profit’s gyroscope in a negative way. Dr. Abbey’s session will focus on these challenges and provide insight into options to overcome obstacles and create a clear path to success.

Osborne Abbey, Ed.D., Top of Virginia Regional Chamber 

3. Measuring Impact in the Non-profit Sector | Room 107 

Non-profit organizations operate under constant pressure from their stakeholders to measure and document performance and impact. However, identifying meaningful, useful measures for the return on investment in the non-profit sector is often challenging and resource intensive. This presentation will provide an overview of some of the latest academic and practice based research that examines tools and methods that can be used to develop and implement quantifiable metrics that capture the impact of non-profit organizations.

Bogdan Daraban, Ph.D., Shenandoah University, Harry F. Byrd School of Business 

4. Financial Management for Not-for-Profit | Room 146 

This overview course will provide you with a more thorough understanding of not-for-profit basic accounting principles. We will explore areas such as the recommended chart of accounts structure, statement of financial position (balance sheet), statement of activities (income statement), cash vs. accrual basis of accounting, and IRS Form 990.

Olivia Hutton, CPA, Young Hyde & Barbour 

5. Advocacy as Strategy | Room 222 

What does advocacy have to do with nonprofits? There are so many things we see that we want to change to support the health and wellness of individuals, families, and communities, but how and where do we begin? This seminar will cover the basic rules for nonprofit 501(c)3 advocacy, the importance of engaging in strategic advocacy to achieve mission, and examples of successful advocacy campaigns.

Kate Wofford, Director, Shenandoah Valley Network 

6. Legal & HR Issues | Room 147 

Professor Winn will discuss current trends and laws affecting the not-for-profit workplace. This includes hiring, evaluation, compensation, and discipline. Emphasis will be placed upon practical and ethical management principles that promote best practices.

John Winn, J.D., LL.M, Shenandoah University, Harry F. Byrd School of Business