Building Community through Storytelling: Nonprofits and the Evolving Media Landscape

Support Kansas City is excited to host our 7th Excellence in Nonprofit Leadership award event on Monday, April 25th from 4:00 – 6:00PM at the Kauffman Foundation.  This year, we will be launching the celebration by partnering with LISC KC, the Mid-America Regional Council, and the Midwest Center for Nonprofit Leadership to convene a panel of local experts and leaders for a topic discussion relevant to our community.  This year’s topic will be:

“Building Community through Storytelling:  Nonprofits and the Evolving Media Landscape”

Research demonstrates that one of the best ways a community can build capacity is by understanding and leveraging their storytelling networks.  Meta Connects, an online space for knowledge sharing hosted by USC Annenberg School for Communications and Journalism, describes the neighborhood storytelling network as consisting of three key elements – community residents and their interpersonal networks of friends and family, geo-ethnic media, and community-based organizations. Research by Meta Connects indicates that understanding and leveraging the “storytelling network” of a community is one of the best ways to strengthen a community’s capacity.  Their article encourages communities to go beyond a single focus and reach out to more than just community members, or media connections, or peer organizations.  By expanding their outreach to all three, communities can better manage a variety of issues and generate more powerful conversations. You can read the full article at http://www.metaconnects.org/capacity-building.

We hope you’ll join us for this provocative discussion as the experts share their insights on storytelling as a tool for community building in our evolving media landscape!


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Support KC


For the benefit of the nonprofit sector everywhere, we wanted to provide resources for ways we can continue to operate and grow within this era. And once social distancing begins to fade, what lessons can we take from this to improve our operations permanently. Come back often for more updates.

Accounting & Fiscal Management

  • Structure general ledger, chart of accounts, setup assistance
  • Monthly accounting support: accounts payable, accounts receivable, deposits and receipts, bank reconciliation
  • Payroll preparation
  • Preparation of management reports
  • Financial report preparation for board meetings
  • Grant tracking and reporting
  • Preparation of IRS Form 990
  • Preparation of annual 1099’s
  • Preparation of schedules for independent audit, assistance with audit completion
  • Cleanup of past accounting records
  • Budget preparation assistance, reporting and analysis
  • QuickBooks training

Governance & Strategy Development

  • Governance training
  • Executive mentoring and coaching
  • Board retreat facilitation
  • Strategic planning documents
  • Outcomes and impact measurement and reporting
  • Survey assistance

Database Management

  • Database design and development
  • Gift and demographic data entry
  • Donor acknowledgement letters
  • Import and export of data; mail merges; exports to mail house
  • Data and donor analysis
  • Integration with accounting systems, fund development and social media activities
  • Database training
  • Ongoing support and technical assistance

Fund Development

  • Create annual fund development plan
  • Fund development plan audits
  • Board Training
  • Capital campaigns
  • Grant management: research, writing and reporting
  • Major gifts and planned giving
  • Special event planning and support
  • Annual fund drives
  • Annual appeal mailings