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NBCC Symposium on Development and Fundraising
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"The spirit is willing, but the budget is weak." That, in a nutshell, is the response the National Black Catholic Congress (NBCC) heard many times during the five years after Congress IX, when we surveyed diocesan staff around the country about progress on the NBCC's pastoral plan of action.

We found many people doing amazing work with limited budgets, but we also heard requests for financial help. The NBCC is not a grant-making organization and has no resources for financing local projects or offices. Some survey respondents, however, wondered if NBCC couldn't do something to help identify funding sources and teach the art of grant-writing.

About a year ago, NBCC staff began exploring how to respond to this expressed need. Our national headquarters operates with generous donations from the Lilly Endowment and others, so we know something about grantsmanship and the philanthropy world. We sent an electronic survey to people who had attended Congress X soliciting input on their needs and interests and got an enthusiastic and detailed response, which has guided our planning.

We are pleased to announce the first NBCC Symposium on Development and Fundraising will be held in Indianapolis this spring, May 28-30, at the University Place Conference Center and Hotel on the campus of Indiana University/Purdue University at Indianapolis (IUPUI).

Distinguished Black Catholic philanthropists and fundraisers, plus specialists from the nationally renowned Fund Raising School at Indiana University, will provide beginners and experienced fundraisers with an approach, skills, and knowledge needed to be smarter, bolder, and more effective in the art of funding your work. (Click here for schedule.)

Our seminar will have lots of practical, nuts-and-bolts training: Grant Writing, Fund Raising Planning, Budgeting, Internet Fundraising, Endowments, and Internal Marketing, and more. But unlike other seminars, NBCC is offering a chance to learn and discuss these skills in the company of other Black Catholics who share your concerns and challenges.

Moreover, the symposium is a chance to change how you think about fundraising itself. Our instructors will help us find practical ways to put into practice the words of Henri J.M. Nouwen, that "When we seek to raise funds we are not saying, 'Please, could you help us out because lately it's been hard.' Rather, we are declaring, 'We have a vision that is amazing and exciting. We are inviting you to invest…in this work to which God has called us.'

So come to Indianapolis this spring! Learn why good fundraisers are evangelizers, not beggars!

Registration costs (which include breakfasts, lunches, breaks, and materials) are $195/person-an investment in your ministry and a bargain for seminars of this quality. By comparison, a one-day introductory course on fundraising through the Foundation Center, not targeted to faith-based work, costs $125-$195. IUPUI's Faith and Fundraising seminars are usually three and a half days-one day longer than ours-but cost $1,200/person. Our survey showed few people involved in Black Catholic ministries or schools could afford that time or financial commitment.

The NBCC has negotiated with a variety of experts to create an affordable event that provides top-tier instruction targeted to the needs of people working to fund African American Catholic schools, parishes, diocesan ministries, and congregations.

The beautiful hotel at University Place offers a single room rate for up to four people, so if you and a colleague or two share a room, you can divide the room cost in half (or thirds or quarters).

Indianapolis, with its completely new airport, has non-stop flights to most major cities on twelve airlines. Alternatively, Indy is an easy drive from Chicago, Columbus, Lexington, Detroit, Cleveland, St. Louis, and many other Midwest locations. The symposium starts mid-morning on a Thursday to enable drivers to come in that morning and save on Wednesday night's hotel.

Click here for the symposium schedule and download the registration form to register now, as spaces are limited.

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