Focus INC, the Cameron Foundation initiative established to provide affordable, flexible, and pertinent educational sessions for nonprofit, community, and faith-based organizations in the Tri-Cities and Southside areas, offer the following May sessions:

Tuesday, May 6th - “Recruiting and Retaining Appropriate Board Members”
at Virginia State University, University Avenue, Foster Hall, Room 111,
Petersburg, 4:30-7:30pm, with Janie Walker. This session will cover the
Board Matrix, a model for identifying the makeup of a current board and
determining where particular knowledge, skills and abilities may be
missing. Methods of finding and recruiting the right board members using
a Board Development or Governance Committee will be discussed. $20 per
attendee.
 
Friday, May 9th - “Using the Southside Virginia Nonprofit Resource
Center and the Public Library” will be presented at the Hopewell Public
Library, 209 East Cawson Street, Community Meeting Room, 23860, 2pm-5pm,
by Chuck Koutnik, SVNRC Director. Learn to find resources on identifying
grantmakers, starting a nonprofit organization, managing personnel,
working with boards, legal questions, grant writing techniques, and much
more.  FREE!
 
Wednesday, May 14th - “Intro to Microsoft Access: Tables, Forms and
Reports” at the Hopewell Public Library, Quiet Computer Lab, 209 East
Cawson Street, Hopewell, 23860, 12:30-4:30pm, with Kathy Surles.
Microsoft Access can provide valuable assistance to operational
effectiveness, allowing efficient management of data collection.
Individuals new to databases or those wanting a professional refresher
will benefit from this lab session covering creating and editing tables,
forms and reports and quick movement and tools for maximizing
efficiency. $20 per attendee includes light refreshments and an
additional $25 fee covers the cost of a comprehensive Access instruction
manual that will be a valuable asset for all staff. Class size is
limited to 11 participants for this lab session.
 
Monday, May 19th - “Show Me the Money: Grant Writing Basics” at the
Wakefield Foundation, 100 Wilson Avenue, Wakefield, 23888, 12pm-3pm,
with Heath Lee. Whether your group is a grassroots or established
organization, pursuit of corporate and foundation grants can seem
overwhelming. This workshop will focus on finding the intersection
between an NPO’s mission and the mission of foundations with similar
goals, the role of program planning and evaluation for grant writing,
and how to use grant databases to identify foundations that are a good
“fit”. $20 per attendee.
 
For planning purposes, pre-registration is strongly encouraged; however, walk-in registrants are welcome.  To read course descriptions or to obtain registration forms, please go to The Cameron Foundation’s website, www.thecameronfoundation.org (under Nonprofit Resources / Focus INC), the Southside Virginia Nonprofit Resource Center website, www.svnrc-online.org (under Learning Opportunities), or contact Gail Merridew (804-795-9009 Richmond; 804-957-5913 Petersburg).