Saturday, November 8

Welcome and Introductions

Election 2008: The View from the States
This year’s elections will also influence the shape of state legislatures, determine 11 governorships, and answer hundreds of questions posed to voters through state ballot initiatives. Bill Pound, executive director of the National Conference of State Legislatures, will guide participants through the results of state elections and outline the critical issues facing state governments in 2009 and 2010.

Lunch and Learn: A Policy Smorgasbord
Choose from a broad selection of tabletop discussions to share lessons and learn from experts on such topics as new online advocacy tools, funding advocacy activities, getting your members involved in advocacy, and the future of advocacy and lobbying rules.

Making the Most of Your Washington Meetings
Too often meetings with staff and members of Congress end with a good feeling but no real commitment to action. Diana Aviv, president and CEO of Independent Sector, and a team of senior lobbyists and Capitol Hill veterans will help participants hone their lobbying skills and learn how to “close the deal” with federal lawmakers.

Working with Political Caucuses at the Federal and State Level
Congressional caucuses have long served as a tool for raising awareness of and advancing a wide range of issues, but their level of activity and impact varies widely. How can nonprofit organizations best utilize caucuses to work more effectively with lawmakers? This session will examine an influential Congressional caucus built on partnerships with nonprofit organizations, and the potential of the new Philanthropy Caucus launched by the Council on Foundations and the Pennsylvania Charitable Nonprofit Caucus in that state’s legislature.

Speakers:

• Joseph Geiger, executive director, Pennsylvania Association of Nonprofit Organizations
• Rodney Emery, vice president, public policy and research, Council on Foundations
• Nina Ozlu, chief counsel, government and policy affairs, Americans for the Arts

Building an Effective Advocacy Campaign in 2009 and Beyond
What will it take to move your policy priorities forward in the new political environment? Four experts describe the lessons they have learned from major policy initiatives in the current Congress and what they plan to do differently in the years ahead.

Speakers:

• Bruce Lesley, president, First Focus
  Candy Hill, senior vice president, social policy and government affairs, Catholic Charities U.S.A.
• Russ Shay, director, public policy, Land Trust Alliance, Inc.
• Steven Taylor, vice president and counsel, public policy, United Way of America

5:30 p.m.

Networking Reception

Continental Breakfast

Welcome and Day One Recap

Strengthening your Policy Communications to Advance your Advocacy Goals
Learn communications strategies that will help you convey more effectively your organization’s policy positions and contributions to lawmakers, the media, and the public. Leading this workshop will be Rich Neimand and Dave Clayton, president and vice president of Neimand Collaborative, both of whom have been instrumental in the development of Independent Sector’s Communications Initiative. The session will be based on a new communications handbook IS is creating that draws from its groundbreaking research on attitudes about charities and foundations. Participants will work through small group and individual exercises to understand how they can utilize the initiative’s message framework and handbook to create more powerful talking points, issue papers, press materials, speeches, and other communications vehicles.

Wrap-up

Adjourn

Note: Sessions and times are subject to change.