Up in the Air: Shifting Power, Opening Doors

The Collaborative Conference: where Pennsylvania’s nonprofit professionals go each year to connect, network, learn from each other, learn from experts, and together leverage our collective power to create change – within ourselves, our organizations, our sector, and our communities. For the first time since 2019, we’re excited to take this experience fully off-screen, back at our old haunt in State College. That’s right, this year’s conference will feature two days of in-person fun, learning, connection, and maybe even some shenanigans, at the good ol’ Penn Stater Hotel & Conference Center. For more details about this year's event, visit www.collaborativeconference.org and return here to register!

With this year’s theme of Up in the Air: Shifting Power, Opening Doors, we are taking some time out of the hustle and bustle of our everyday work to figure out what it will take to leverage the continued uncertainty we are all facing – from hiring challenges and staff burnout to funding insecurity and the upcoming election – to shift power and open new doors. Rather than feel lost and untethered by all the unknowns, floating without purpose, what opportunities might we discover as we lean on each other to find our way forward?

On the first of two days together (Monday, September 30), we’ll focus on the “shifting power” half of the theme. Ann Mei Chang, CEO of Candid, will get us thinking about the following with her keynote Shifting Power, Strengthening Nonprofits.

• Where does power need to shift?
• Where is power already shifting?
• What does this look like in nonprofit governance, advocacy and voter registration support, fundraising and other resource development, our JEDI efforts, leadership and operations, and more?

On the second day (Tuesday, October 1), we’ll focus on opening doors.

• What might shifts in power make possible – in nonprofit governance, fundraising and other resource development, JEDI efforts, leadership and operations, and more?
• What do we need to fuel our own creativity and not burn out but burn brighter?

In the spirit of new ways opening new doors, we are trying something a little different with the format of this year’s conference, starting with community-building first and then developing content around those connections (rather than the other way around). We have heard from those coming to post-pandemic events the value of face time with peers as its own learning outcome, in addition to the value of the takeaways we get from speakers. Rather than spend most of our two days together in workshops, this year’s agenda includes ample time for us to be together, in conversation about the things that are top of mind for us, right here and right now.

So, what will that look like in practice? Each day will feature both a 75-minute workshop and an extended facilitated discussion on a topic within the following broad categories:

• Board Governance
• Fundraising/Resource Development
• Justice, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion (JEDI)
• Leadership
• Operations
• Choose Your Own Adventure - If you've got something in mind that doesn't quite fit into one of the above-listed categories, there will be a place in registration for you to let us know what would be most valuable for you to discuss with your peers. If we get enough requests for the same topic, we just might add it to the agenda!

Speaking of the agenda, you can find that here.

TICKET OPTIONS

Here, you’ll find pricing for individual attendees as well as entire teams, for just one day as well as the whole she-bang. We’ve even got student rates for those among us who aren’t “officially” in the field – yet. Individual tickets are for those who will be "flying solo" from their organization, or attending with 1-2 others from their org. Team tickets are designed for those interested in bringing 4+ colleagues (being up in the air is a little less scary, and, dare we say, even fun, when you've got company - why not experience the 2024 Collaborative Conference with your whole team!). In an effort to offer equitable options for organizations of different sizes, we’ve created tiered pricing based on your organization’s budget size. We are relying on the honor system here so please select the right option for your organization, according to your own budgetary needs at this time.

As noted here, members of PANO & GPNP receive special pricing - 43% off regular rates!

*With the generous support of our many sponsors, we continue to be able to offer much lower pricing than would’ve been possible for an in-person event like this in the past. Even still, we recognize that COVID continues to impact individuals, organizations, and our budgets differently, and we don’t want fees to be a barrier to attendance. Contact us for information about scholarships, made possible by our fabulous Scholarship Sponsors.

Learn more here and sign up today. See you in State College!