Rice to host conference on nonprofit board leadership

CONTACT: Janelle
Dupont
PHONE: (713) 348-4771
EMAIL: janelle@rice.edu

RICE TO
HOST CONFERENCE ON NONPROFIT BOARD LEADERSHIP

A conference on
recruiting and retaining effective nonprofit board members will be held
Thursday, Jan. 10, at Rice University. “Best Boards: A Leadership Conference for
Nonprofits” will also address the responsibilities of board members, especially
their key role in fund raising.

Featured speakers are
Charles F. “Chic” Dambach, senior governance consultant, National Center for
Nonprofit Boards in Washington, D.C., and John Graham, executive director of The
Giraffe Project, based in Whidbey Island, Wash. The Giraffe Project encourages
individual volunteers to “stick their neck out” for the common good.

The conference, to be
held from 8 a.m. to 3:45 p.m., is designed for both board members and senior
staff of large and small nonprofit organizations. The event is co-sponsored by
the Rice School of Continuing Studies; the Association of Fundraising
Professionals (AFP), Houston Chapter; and the United Way of the Texas Gulf
Coast.

Prominent community
leaders will discuss what makes an effective nonprofit board member. Panelists
include Jackie Martin, president, United Way of the Texas Gulf Coast; James T.
Hackett, chairman, president, and chief executive officer, Ocean Energy, Inc;
Rodney Margolis of Margolis Interests; and community leader Lynn Wyatt. Panel
moderator will be Susan Bischoff, deputy managing editor, Houston
Chronicle.

Afternoon sessions will
offer strategies on board recruitment and retention, fund raising, planning,
defining a vision and “Making Meetings Meaningful.” The conference is funded in
part by a grant from the Greater Houston Community Foundation.

Pre-registration for the
conference is encouraged. The fee is $100 for AFP members and $145 for
non-members. The fee includes lunch and a text provided by The Dini Partners,
Inc. Additional registrants from the same organization can attend for $75. Call
the Rice School of Continuing Studies, 713-348-4803, ext. 615, or register
online at <www.scs.rice.edu/fundraising>.

The School of Continuing
Studies, together with the Houston AFP chapter, also offers professional
development programs on “The Art of Fund Raising,” proposal writing and
soliciting major gifts. Continuing Studies presents more than 200 other public
programs throughout the year for personal and professional development. For
information, call 713-348-4803, ext. 615.