2009 FALL CONFERENCE FOR COMMUNITY FOUNDATIONS
OCTOBER 5–7, 2009
SAN ANTONIO

Unleashing the Power and Potential of Community Foundations

CALL FOR CONCEPTS

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION: JANUARY 20, 2009

What is a Call for Concepts?

The Fall Conference Planning Committee seeks ideas and concepts (but not fully developed session proposals) for the 2009 Fall Conference for Community Foundations. Given our conference theme, “Unleashing the Power and Potential of Community Foundations,” and our vision described below, what do you see as relevant issues that are important for discussion and exploration during the San Antonio conference? Capture your ideas on the Call for Concepts form and send to the Council by January 9, 2009.


Call for Concepts Eligibility

In order for your session to be considered, the session designer(s) must be:

  1. A staff or board member of a foundation or other grantmaking organization that is either a Council member or a membership-eligible organization

  2. A consultant who is able to secure the sponsorship/collaboration of a foundation or other grantmaking organization that is either a Council member or a membership-eligible organization

  3. A member of a Council affinity group or of a regional association of grantmakers


What are the next steps following submission of the Call for Concepts?

The Fall Conference Planning Committee —a group of your peers—will review all submissions and select those ideas that best fit this conference. Once session concepts are chosen, the committee will initiate a second-round review, issue a formal Call for Sessions, and invite session designers to flesh out their concepts and design specific sessions for presentation at the conference (finalizing session titles and descriptions, recruiting and confirming speakers, crafting the overall session format, etc.).

The session proposals will undergo a final review to choose those sessions that will be presented during the 2009 Fall Conference for Community Foundations. Session designers will be notified by mail of whether their sessions have been accepted.

Accepted Session Proposals

The Council will work closely with session designers as they develop the session programs. We will hold a conference call with session designers to review necessary logistics and session design principals. A Session Designer Handbook will be distributed to each designer. The entire Council team will be available to assist session designers and their presenting teams.

CALL FOR CONCEPTS: CONFERENCE VISION


Unleashing the Power and Potential of Community Foundations

Community foundation board and staff members have many educational opportunities available to them throughout the year. Many of these opportunities include basic training on a wide variety of topics. Given this fact, the Community Foundations Leadership Team is challenging session designers to raise the level of discourse and encourage richer discussions of critical issues at the Council’s next Fall Conference for Community Foundations, to be held October 5–7, 2009, in San Antonio, Texas.

In order to provide more advanced sessions, the Fall Conference Planning Committee is inviting the field to submit session ideas that will emphasize critical issues and promote topical discussions. Our goal is to offer a rich and engaging set of discussions and experiences that will deepen participants’ knowledge. In addition, we want attendees to have concrete take-aways in the form of ideas, strategies, resources, and connections to make them more effective in their work. Please use the theme statement below as a guide in developing your concepts.


Challenging Times

In this uncertain world, we see how economic crisis and government cutbacks are weakening and, in some cases, closing nonprofits that have been providing important services in our communities. We know how national issues like record housing foreclosures, unmet healthcare needs, and a stressed education system are threatening to unravel our many years of effort in building strong, thriving communities. But we also know that community foundations are designed to take the lead in such circumstances.

By striving to become continuous learning organizations, community foundations will be better positioned to anticipate trends and respond quickly to opportunities and threats. Collectively, we must continue to coordinate and link our work, involve community residents in a dialogue that nurtures relationships and encourages innovative solutions, build assets, meet our high standards of practice, work toward a positive legislative environment, and engage our board members to help us achieve our goals.

The Fall Conference for Community Foundations, to be held October 5–7, 2009, in San Antonio, will focus on proactive and effective community foundation leadership and the power unleashed when community foundations work together to address common issues. The conference will offer attendees many opportunities for mutual learning and group discussions, with myriad session topics to choose from, including: sharing best practices, proposing creative solutions to challenges, conceptualizing new initiatives, and enhancing the excellence of the field. Gathering around this conference theme, we will build on our collective past accomplishments while offering genuine opportunities to advance community foundation impact in communities.

We are looking for sessions that address the following areas:

Call for Concepts Form