5 bbcon Sessions Grantmakers Won’t Want to Miss

From natural disasters to economic uncertainty, sometimes it feels like today’s grantmaking organizations have to be ready for just about anything. This need for flexibility is reflected in the grantmaking track at this year’s virtual bbcon, Blackbaud’s Tech Conference for Good, happening October 17–20.

This year’s grantmaking session topics include helping grant writers get through the application process faster, reporting tools that make sense of your data with only a few clicks, and one funder’s experience with being responsive to their community.

The 2022 bbcon Grantmaking-track sessions will provide thought-provoking ideas and actionable takeaways to help your grantmaking organization drive greater impact for your communities. Here are a few you won’t want to miss.

Haven’t registered for bbcon 2022 yet? Sign up today!

Super Session: Maintaining Flexibility and Service Levels When Demand Spikes

MONDAY, OCTOBER 17, 1:30 P.M. ET

The past few years have thrown unprecedented challenges to your constituents, often rapidly increasing the demand for your services. If you’re not seeing a commensurate increase in funding, how do you ensure your organization has the financial flexibility to meet that demand? Join us for a super-session panel where we’ll discuss how to rise to the challenge of deploying a rapid response when demand for your services spikes.

SPEAKERS:

  • Julie Remmelts, Vice President of Finance at Operations, Headwaters Foundation for Justice
  • Curt De Greff, Sr. VP and Chief Financial Officer, Parkinson’s Foundation
  • Stephanie Skryzowski, Founder and CEO, 100 Degrees Consulting
  • Heather LeVan, Principal Demand Generation Marketing Manager Blackbaud
  • Elizabeth Marenakos, Director of Product Marketing, Blackbaud

Breakout Session: Focusing on the Grant Writing Experience

MONDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2:45 P.M. ET

Ensuring the applicant and grantee portal experience is intuitive means heading back to basics—talking directly with those responsible for writing grants on behalf of their organizations. Get an overview of what we learned about their needs and challenges and how we are applying that critical information into our applicant and grantee portal. We will also share ways for community members to take part in the discovery, design, and launch process.

SPEAKER:

Brenda Noiseux, Product Manager, Blackbaud

Breakout Session: 5 Ways to Simplify Your Grants Management Reporting

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 11:45 A.M. ET

Clear and accurate reporting is crucial for today’s grantmaking organization but creating reports and distributing them can be time-consuming. Here are five reporting features that often go underutilized in most grant management systems and how you can use them to make data-driven decisions in less time.

SPEAKER:

Jason Kelliher, Principal Consultant with Customer Success Services, Blackbaud

Breakout Session: Grantmaking When There Is Always a Crisis

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2:15 P.M. ET

From pandemics to war to climate-fueled natural disasters there is always a crisis affecting our communities in some way. How should grantmakers prepare for a constantly evolving need cycle? This session will help grantmakers think through how to stay true to their mission while also supporting their grantees effectively.

SPEAKER:

Lisa Tacker, Director of IT and CRM Systems Specialist, Two Ten Footwear Foundation

Breakout Session: Leveraging Technology to Create an Inclusive Grantmaking Process

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 3:30 P.M. ET

Over the years, the grant application process has gone from funders accepting paper applications, manually researching, and vetting every nonprofit applicant, to a streamlined and fully online process. This session will dive into how grantmaking organizations can continue to create an inclusive grantmaking process by using technology to remove red tape from the application process and support a diverse applicant pool.

SPEAKERS:

Alexandra Berrio, Account Executive and Grants Specialist, Blackbaud
Evan Forman, Senior Director of Grants, The Fortune Society

Other Sessions You Might Be Interested In:

Skills UP: Shoring up Tech Skills in your Organizations, October 18 at 12:30 P.M. ET..

Running a successful organization is largely dependent on two major resources— people and technology—and how they work together. In this session, nonprofit sector leaders will share how they have successfully staffed and upskilled their organizations, why focusing on hiring a more diverse workforce is important for innovation, and different ways to offer new opportunities to team members that support employee retention and organizational success.

KEYNOTE CONVERSATION WITH GLENNON DOYLE, MONDAY, OCTOBER 17 AT 4 P.M. ET

NYT Best Selling Author and founder of Together Rising, an all-women-led nonprofit organization supporting women, families, and children in crisis, Glennon Doyle will lead what will be sure to be an inspiring conversation about showing up for yourself.

KEYNOTE CONVERSATION WITH SIMU LIU, TUESDAY OCTOBER 18, 11 A.M. ET

Actor, author, and change agent Simu Liu will close out the main stage on Tuesday with a conversation about his career from accountant to stuntman to actor, as well as his passion for giving back.

The Product Update Briefings Are at bbcon

Join us for the last two days of bbcon for our semi-annual product update briefings, where you can see what new features have been launched and what we’re working on. During the Blackbaud Grantmaking Product Update Briefing, learn more about how we are working to help you manage your grants effectively, collaborate better with your stakeholders, and protect your data.

Here are the sessions for Blackbaud Grantmaking, and you can find the dates and times for the other Blackbaud products in the session agenda.

  • Blackbaud Grantmaking APAC , October 19 , 1 p.m. AEDT
  • Blackbaud Grantmaking Americas , October 20 , 2 p.m. ET
  • Blackbaud Grantmaking EMEA , October 20 , 1 p.m. BST

Get Ready With bbcon Bingo

With great speakers and plenty of networking opportunities, there is a lot to be excited about for this year’s bbcon event. Make sure you earn points with bbcon Bingo in Blackbaud Community as you create your schedule and start sharing the sessions you’re planning to attend.

 

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