In preparation for the 8th annual Omaha Gives day presented by American National Bank, the Omaha Community Foundation hosts a series of in-person training sessions to equip participating nonprofits with the most up-to-date information and resources. These trainings are historically held 6-8 weeks prior to the giving day, allowing nonprofits to implement news skills into their fundraising strategies.
This year, OCF communications staff decided to change the structure of these trainings to increase engagement and overall participation by nonprofits. As a result, three specialized training sessions were added to to the general training schedule for a deeper dive into Cheer Pages, Challenge Funds, and social media campaigns. Each of these sessions were free to attend, open to all participating nonprofits, and featured a panel of nonprofit representatives to share unique strategies that worked best for their respective organizations.
Panelists represented organizations of all sizes (operating budgets) and number of years participated in Omaha Gives, ranging from 2-8 years. For a review of these specialized trainings, access the training slides below.
Despite all planning efforts, after the second training session in Mid-March OCF staff had to quickly adjust training formats to prioritize the health and safety of the community amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
On average, Omaha Gives training sessions have more than 50 attendees per session.
Though pre-recorded training sessions were utilized in previous years, OCF staff wanted to replicate the in-person experience as much as they possibly could.
Utilizing the online platform, UberConference, the Foundation was able to host five interactive training sessions for participating nonprofits, including the remaining two specialized trainings. Attendees were able to view training slides, ask questions of OCF, Pottawattamie Community Foundation staff, and panel members in real time, click links to access PDFs from the Toolkits page, and engage with fellow nonprofits via chatbox.
At the conclusion of the five online training opportunities there were a total of 329 participants. This figure coupled with participants who were able to attend the two in-person training sessions meant that more than 400 were able garner new skills to implement on for the 2020 giving day.