FPN Webinar: Communicating About Community Leadership

April 1, 2010
10:00 - 11:00 am ET

Who Should Attend: Staff and board members of community foundations. This webinar is open to FPN members only.
Cost: No charge.
To Register: Register Online
Presenters: Kristen Grimm, President, Spitfire Strategies.

Growing numbers of community foundations of all sizes across the country are taking new steps to examine and increase their role in community leadership, developing and using their knowledge, networks, reputation, ability to contribute and leverage resources, and growing political acumen to rally local partners to build thriving communities. Communication plays a key role in community leadership work in such key activities as building relationships with new community partners, stimulating community dialogue and building consensus. Community foundations are also challenged to determine the most effective ways to communicate about their community leadership. How are they communicating the impact of their leadership? How do you talk about it? What does it look like?

In this FPN webinar, Kristen Grimm from Spitfire Strategies will provide community foundations with some practical guidance on how to communicate about their community leadership work, and will include plenty of examples of how different community foundations are tackling this communications challenge. The webinar will be a follow-up to a session at the Community Foundations of Florida's winter meeting on February 10 that also addressed this issue.

About the Presenter

Kristen Grimm has extensive experience conceiving, implementing and managing strategic communications efforts. As the founder and president of Spitfire Strategies, Grimm has helped hundreds of nonprofits find communications solutions to support their efforts to create positive social change. Since starting Spitfire in 2002, Kristen has led the firm's work with such clients as the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the Open Society Institute, AARP, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Audubon Society, Catalog Choice, Florida’s Department of Education, ClimateWorks, the Pew Charitable Trusts, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Ford Foundation, Human Rights First, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Monterey Bay Aquarium, the National Women’s Law Center and the National Environmental Education Foundation.

Grimm has written numerous publications for the field including the "Smart Chart 3.0, Discovering the Activation Point," "Breaking Through to Great" and the "Just Enough Planning Guide." In 2002, Grimm founded the Communications Leadership Institute, a nonprofit that aims to increase the effectiveness of nonprofit leaders' communications skills and capacity.