A summer training series for nonprofit organizations will be offered beginning May 3 by UNC Pembroke's Office of Engaged Outreach at the Regional Center for Economic, Community and Professional Development at COMtech.

The Southeast North Carolina Nonprofit Training Summer Series features eight essential training sessions for nonprofit organizations' staff and board members. The sessions will be led by UNC Pembroke faculty members.

The sessions will take place on four Thursday evenings from May 3 to Aug. 2. The series will conclude with a three-day conference Aug. 2 - 4, where additional seminars will be presented and guest speakers will address participants.

Sarah Weissberg, director of member relations at the N.C. Center for Nonprofits and editor of Common Ground, will speak at lunch on Friday, Aug. 3.

Dr. Cammie Hunt, UNCP's associate vice chancellor for Engaged Outreach, will address participants at lunch on Saturday, Aug. 4.

Series co-coordinator Dr. James Robinson explained why the university planned this program.

"We heard of the need for professional and affordable nonprofit staff and board training in this part of North Carolina from a variety of sources, but became energized when it surfaced as an important regional issue at one of Chancellor Carter's Listening Tour events in late 2010," said Robinson, who teaches in UNCP's department of sociology and criminal justice.

Thursday evening sessions from 6 to 9 p.m. include:

May 3 - The Day-to-Day and Beyond: Successful Nonprofit Planning Strategies

June 7 - Effective Nonprofit Management Practices

July 12 - Managing and Assessing Boards of Directors

Aug. 2 - Effective Nonprofit Funding Strategies

Conference sessions, Aug. 2 - 4, include:

Aug. 2 - Effective Nonprofit Funding Strategies (evening session)

Aug. 3-4 - 1. Successful Nonprofit Planning Strategies; 2. Effective Marketing Practices for a Nonprofit Agency or Program; 3. Effective Nonprofit Funding Strategies, Leadership in Nonprofit Agencies and Programs; 4. Effective Nonprofit Management Practices; 5. Ethical Issues within Nonprofits; 6 Managing and Assessing Boards of Directors; 7. Diversity and Inclusion in Nonprofit Management

The series is designed to provide a variety of options for participants:

n attend eight training sessions - four Thursday evening sessions and four daytime sessions during the conference - and four evening meals, two lunches and a handbook for nonprofit organizations for $500;

n attend the conference - one evening session and four daytime sessions - with one evening meal, two lunches and a handbook on nonprofit organizations for $375;

n attend a single evening session (training only) for $50; or

n attend a single conference session (training only) for $100.

A registration form and brochure with detailed information on the Southeastern North Carolina Nonprofit Training Summer Series can be found at www.uncp. edu/rc/.

For more information, contact Robinson at (910) 521-6472 or james.robinson@ uncp.edu.