Friday, May 30, 2003 
Social Venture Partners--Boston 
(Facilitated by Thomas Siegel)

Friday, April 25, 2003 
Mergers and Collaborations, Part 2: A look at a few that have been successful 
(Facilitated by Ruth McCambridge)

Friday, March 28, 2003 
The Process of Executive Search: How a Nonprofit Gets to Know Itself (Facilitated by Susan Egmont)

Friday, February 28, 2003 
Pot-Luck Dinner: What is Everyone Doing? 

Friday, January 31, 2003 
The Issue of Faith-based Organizations 
(Facilitated by Dr. George Thorn)

Friday, January 10, 2003: 
Planning for Public Meeting 

Friday, December 13, 2002: 
Benefits for Consultants (Taxes, Insurance, Business Structures)  (Facilitated by Bonnie Newman and Feza Oktay)

Friday, October 25, 2002: 
Nonprofit Capacity Building (experiences with various models of organizations that provide capacity building services and support to an identified organizational constituency) 
(Facilitated by Alan Brickman)

Friday, September 27, 2002:
Nonprofits and Accounting Practices 
(Facilitated by Karen Burns)

Friday, June 28, 2002:
Marketing for Consultants

Friday, May 31, 2002:
Public Meeting: Who is Driving the Nonprofit Agenda?

Friday, April 26, 2002:
Collaborations and mergers

Friday, March 22, 2002:
Cultural Identity

Friday, February 23, 2002:
Public Meeting planning

Friday, January 25, 2002:
Report on MASSNET - systemic approaches to technology support for non-profits

Friday, January 4, 2002:
The Effect of September 11th on Boston area nonprofits

Friday, November 30, 2001: 
Irrational processes or the joys of organizational group dynamics in nonprofits

Friday, October 26, 2001: 
Pricing, Billing, Collecting, Time Management, Contracts

Friday, September 29, 2001: 
Board stewardship
 

Friday, May 25, 2001:
What makes Boston Different? 

Friday, April 27, 2001:
Working with Foundations to give away their funds (2nd meeting) 

Friday, March 30, 2001:
Being There Tomorrow: Strategies to Build “Follow-Up” into Client Services

Facilitated by Barbara Gilvar. 

Friday, February 23, 2001:
Outcomes Measurement: Understanding What the United Way and Others Really Mean

Facilitated by Laura Perile

Wednesday, January 24, 2001:
PUBLIC MEETING: Tax and Insurance Issues

Friday, January 5, 2001:
How to Deliver Bad News to a Nonprofit and Turn it into a Positive Experience for them

Friday, December 1, 2000: 
Consultant issues—taxes, paperwork, and insurance.

Friday, October 27, 2000: 
Time Management 

Cathy Moritz will facilitate a discussion concerning how to use your time wisely. 

Friday, September 29, 2000: 
Supporting funders and nonprofits in the new economic environment
 

Friday, June 30, 2000:
Making Contracts

A  roundtable discussion concerning the fundamentals of establishing professional relationships with nonprofit clients: contracts, letters of agreement, onsite meetings, etc.

Wednesday, May 24, 2000:
PUBLIC MEETING: Measuring Outcomes for Consultancy

A panel discussion consisting of representatives from those groups that support nonprofits that hire consultants. The goal of the discussion would be to help consultants learn how these groups would measure the success (outcomes, outputs, etc.) that a nonprofit may have working with a consultant. The guest panelists were Melinda Marble, The Paul & Phyllis Fireman Charitable Foundation, and Cindy Rizzo, The Boston Foundation.

Friday, April 28, 2000:
Time and Money

A roundtable discussion concerning issues faced by all consultants: pricing, billing, collecting, time management.

Friday, March 31, 2000
Consulting Collaborations

A roundtable discussion concerning the issues faced by consultants who collaborate with each other on projects or by consultants who work together in a contractor/sub-contractor relationship.

Friday, February 25, 2000
Marketing the Field

A panel discussion led by Susan Egmont and Peg Kelley. Members were encouraged to bring in a “marketing problem” they have had.

Friday, January 28, 2000
Planning for Spring 2000

Plans were developed for each of the members' meetings this Spring as well as the Public meeting. Also a workshop Technical Assistance Conference was proposed and assigned to a planning committee.

Friday, January 7, 2000
Best Practices

Roundtable discussion about issues that concern all consultants.

Friday, October 29, 1999
Organizational Development

Planned how to implement the decisions made last spring about membership; identifying further decisions; delegating operational tasks.

Also CNEN’s Web Page--www.consultantsnetwork.org.

Friday, June 25, 1999
Membership—What Does It Mean?

Discussion and decision-making on a proposal for new benefits of membership.

May 27, 1999
Back from the Brink

Location:  The Boston Foundation, One Boston Place, 24th Floor, Boston

Agenda:  Executive Directors from two nonprofits (Lena Park and La Alianza) discussed how they transitioned their organizations to success.

Friday, April 30, 1999
Practice Issues –Back by Popular Demand

Continued a facilitated discussion of issues that arise in consulting with community based organizations.

Planning for our major May Meeting

Friday, March 26, 1999
Practice Issues

Facilitated discussion of issues that arise in consulting with community based organizations.

Developing CNEN--Continued
New process for listing on AGM Technical Assistance list.

Friday, February 26, 1999
Developing CNEN, Part III

Discussion continued concerning how members wanted CNEN to grow and develop.  Suggestions were set out before meeting.

Friday, January 22, 1999
Developing CNEN, Part II

Discussion continued concerning how members wanted CNEN to grow and develop.  Alan Brickman continued to facilitate discussion.  Building on the priorities identified in December, the group turned to structural issues -- how to implement.

Friday, December 11, 1998
Developing CNEN, Part I

Both the marketing and administrative issues generated by the AGM-housed web-site database generated a need to consider how members wanted CNEN to grow and develop.  Alan Brickman facilitated a discussion to kick off strategic planning.

Meeting also included a follow-up: Listening to our Clients: A Case Study. Jane Bowers led a discussion on the responses of 26 nonprofit clients asked for feedback about their experience using consultants.

Thursday, October 1, 1998
Building a Database of Consultants

CNEN had been invited to develop and manage a list of consultants to be part of Associated Grantmakers of Massachusetts’ (AGM) well-used website.
Tom Siegel of AGM reported that nonprofits frequently request referrals to consultants.   Being part of the AGM website potentially offers high visibility for each person or firm listed, at no cost to the consultant. The group discussed the pros (low cost marketing for members, promotion of CNEN, for example) and the cons (time and effort to manage the database). Tom Siegel was present for part of the meeting to discuss the parameters and answer questions.

Tuesday, April 28, 1998
Evaluation

Alan Brickman facilitated a discussion on Evaluation: How to help agencies understand it; How to encourage funders to understand and fund it; The difference between formative and summative evaluation; and The difference between evaluation and research.

Friday, February 13, 1998
Marketing:   How effective are you?

Laurie Carter Noble of Carter Noble Strategic Marketing facilitated a discussion on how we as consultants market to our clients. Members brought  promotional materials that they currently use.