Back by popular demand, forum offers tips on running nonprofits

But this Saturday, about 300 Essex County nonprofit board members will get together in Hamilton to learn about topics like fiduciary responsibility and donor retention.

They say the Essex County Institute for Trustees helps them keep the area’s arts groups, food banks, and other nonprofit organizations running successfully in difficult financial times.

“It has been tough, and a lot of people come to these types of events to see if they can generate some ideas,’’ said Peter Konrad, a board member at Danvers-based Strongest Link AIDS Services Inc., who also attended last year. “It’s a good networking opportunity, it’s a good learning opportunity, it’s an energizing opportunity.’’

This, the second annual Institute, is organized by the Essex County Community Foundation to help the trustees of some 2,500 nonprofit groups in Essex County.

“As the staff of the foundation has gotten more and more engaged over the years with the leaders of nonprofits, one of their common themes has been that they need guidance on governance,’’ said Dave Welbourn, who heads the foundation.

Volunteer trustees often find that the job requires more than they ever expected. “When you sign up for something with the best intentions and the wonderful feeling that you’re finally going to make a difference in the world, you really do have to be aware that there’s liability with that and terrific responsibility,’’ said James Caviston, who is board president of the Gloucester-based Society for the Encouragement of the Arts and also a trustee of a local charter school.

The foundation’s mission is to support nonprofit groups in the county with both funding and services.

“We’ve been hearing from almost every organization we touch that the development of leadership was a concern to them,’’ Welbourn said. “We started the first Institute as an experiment . . . and with no warning, 300 trustees signed up. It became an event unto itself, and now, in its second year, we know we’re going to break the attendance record, and it has become part of people’s expectation of how to become better leaders.’’

The agenda for the event at the Pingree School in Hamilton covers the wide range of tasks and skills required of these volunteer trustees, in areas such as finances, mission statements, strategic planning, and even how to build a better board. But several trustees who attended the first Institute named fund-raising as the key topic, and said consultant Simone Joyaux’s talk was especially helpful.

“She explained that fund-raising should be a consensual act,’’ said Wenham Museum trustee Kristin Zampell. “While donors are giving something to you, you’re also giving something back to them by helping them fulfill some mission they have for their own lives in supporting a certain cause. I thought that was a really nice way of thinking about fund-raising, and I’ve tried to kind of keep that in mind over the last year of fund-raising.’’

Joyaux will return this year, but she’ll be speaking on building “the board of my dreams.’’ Other agenda items include a talk on legal matters by David Spackman, chief of the Non-Profit Organizations/Public Charities Division of the Massachusetts attorney general’s office,, and consultant Carolyn O’Brien talking about the benefits and pitfalls of collaborations between groups.

Caviston said a checklist on board-building from last year’s Institute helped seARTS strengthen itself by adding people with skills in finance, the law and guiding projects through city hall.

“This is a terrific way to get in touch with very, very important issues,’’ Caviston said. “This is not an academic exercise.’’

Executive directors from Essex County nonprofits can also attend the Institute, but only if accompanying one or more of their group’s trustees. The conference fee is $55 per person if registered by March 15, and $75 per person after March 15. To register, visit www.eccf.org.

Joel Brown can be reached at jbnbpt@gmail.com.