Nominate YNPN San Diego!

YNPN San Diego needs your help! We are asking our members to take a few minutes to nominate us for the award, Most Innovative Use of Social Media, through the Stay Classy Awards. Share with Stay Classy how the online network and community YNPN San Diego provides helps you and makes a difference. The winner of this category will receive a $10,000 donation! YNPN San Diego could certainly use this to keep our services going.

While YNPN San Diego is run primarily by volunteers, we need funding to keep services and programming available for our membership. A lot goes into maintaining our online communications. Nominating us for a Stay Classy Award is a great way to support our efforts without spending a dime... although we would love that too!

All you need to do is complete a simple, short online form and let them know why YNPN San Diego should be nominated. Thanks in advance for taking the time to support your network of emerging nonprofit leaders!

Fall Meet and Greet with New Leaders Council on September 16th!

Please join YNPN San Diego for a special summer Meet and Greet with the New Leaders Council on September 16th at Bamboo Lounge! We will have guest speakers including Alberto Cortes, Executive Director of Mama’s Kitchen and our very own Megan Lim, Development Director at the San Diego Public Library Foundation.

The theme of this Meet and Greet is the importance of developing local leadership in San Diego’s civic and service communities. Bamboo Lounge has some great food, drinks, and a patio and should be a perfect venue for mixing and mingling with young professionals working throughout San Diego’s nonprofit and civic communities.

• When: September 16, 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. (Short talk to begin promptly at 6:45 p.m., followed by more mixing and mingling!)
• Where: Bamboo Lounge, 1475 University Avenue, 92103
• Cost: Free to attend! (Cash Bar).
• What: We'll hear from local nonprofit leaders on the importance of developing local leadership in San Diego's civic and service communities.

Register today!

YNPNSD Recruiting Board Members!

Calling all talented young nonprofit leaders! If you are looking for an amazing opportunity to build and maximize your skills within the San Diego nonprofit community, consider joining the YNPN San Diego Advisory Board! 

With more than 600 members, the Young Nonprofit Professionals Network of San Diego is growing quickly.

We continue to seek the expertise and commitment of our members to guide our organization through its next phase of development. 

Board membership is an unparalleled opportunity to be part of a welcoming and interesting group of colleagues at the regional and national level, and develop one’s own leadership in and knowledge of the nonprofit sector. Use your talent and develop new leadership skills as part of the YNPN San Diego Advisory Board.

Applicants should be YNPN San Diego members and currently engaged as a professional or volunteer in the nonprofit sector and should display: 


• Commitment to YNPN San Diego’s mission of strengthening the next generation of nonprofit leaders by making nonprofit careers more viable for young people;
  
• Outstanding leadership skills. We are particularly looking for those with skills in: accounting, resource development and fundraising and database management; and
  
• Willingness to act as an ambassador for YNPN San Diego’s in the nonprofit community and the ability to meet the responsibilities outlined here.
  

The deadline for applications and resumes is August 27th. You can find the application and process on our website. The Board Development Committee will review applications and follow up with interviews. Prospective candidates will be invited to a YNPN San Diego Board meeting to get an inside look into how YNPN San Diego operates. If you have any questions, email us at ynpnsandiego@gmail.com.

August Encores of the Month

IdeaEncore Resources of the Month
IdeaEncore Network (www.ideaencore.com), a knowledge sharing website.

• Net2 Think Tank Round-up: Writing an effective social media policy, Shared by NetSquared (Free)
• Nonprofit Operations Toolkit, Shared by Nonprofit Alternatives ($21.04)
• 20 Tips Every Strategic Grantseeker Should Know, Shared by Internaut & Assoc, Inc (Free)
• Field Guide to Nonprofit Program Design, Shared by IdeaEncore Network (Off-site price: $32)
• A Brief Guide to Understanding the Social Sector, Shared by Olzak Management Consulting (Free Link)

Looking to find and share with colleagues?
IdeaEncore provides an easy way for your organization to share what it knows, learn from others, and earn unrestricted income. www.ideaencore.com.

July Encores of the Month

IdeaEncore Resources of the Month
IdeaEncore Network (www.IdeaEncore.com), a knowledge sharing marketplace.

• Evaluation Capacity Diagnostic Tool, Free
• Volunteer Handbook and Employee Handbook on Volunteer Engagement, $25
• A Future of Leadership Development, Free
• Preparing the Path to Leadership, $10
• Mission, Message, and Damage Control, Free

Looking to find and share with colleagues?

IdeaEncore provides an easy way for your organization to share what it knows, learn from others, and earn unrestricted income. www.ideaencore.com

Have a job to share?

At YNPN San Diego we want to remind all of our members that sharing job openings through the YNPN San Diego network is a great way to bring interest to your organization along with lots of great candidates! You can use the YNPN San Diego network in many ways:

1. Post the YNPNSD listserv (nearly 600 individuals) by emailing the job posting to ynpnsd@lists.ynpn.org.
2. Post to our LinkedIn job board
3. Post the link on our Facebook Page

There are also plenty of resources locally and nationally where you can look for a job and post jobs. You'll find a nice list of these links on our website under the Career Resources page. Some of our favorite spots to look for and post jobs include:

• NPWorks.org (job board by Nonprofit Management Solutions)
• Idealist.org (national)
• Association of Fundraising Professionals (members only)

If you're looking for a job nothing beats networking and building personal relationships within the community - if people know you personally you have a better chance of getting that job you want. Of course, gaining experience where you might have gaps in skills always helps too! YNPN San Diego is always looking for board and committee members who are looking to develop their skills while helping to contribute to our organization - be part of the movement!

Has a job posting led with YNPN San Diego led to your finding a job or filling a position? Share the news hear and let us know!

A First Hand Look at the Self Care Workshop

Growing up with both parents working, I've experienced first hand the work / life balance and the decisions and choices people make to create this balance. When I first entered the work force (in Corporate America) I thought I understood the theory behind this balance - meaning I would dedicate time to work and then time to myself separately, creating a balanced life. However, when I transitioned to the nonprofit sector and discovered the passion I could have for work, that work / life balance theory wasn't as clear to me anymore.

What happens when you love what you do and the line between work and life isn't clearly defined? Working for Volunteer San Diego and living out the mission of meaningful service outside of work hours made me start rethinking the theory. When talking to my fellow young nonprofit professional peers, they were experiencing this too: the blur of balance. How can something balance when there aren't defined things to balance?

When the idea to partner with the Red Lotus Society for the Self Care YNPNSD Professional Development Workshop came up, I got really excited! Then I met Dave Macek (Executive Director of Red Lotus Society and Facilitator of upcoming Self Care Workshop) for the first time and the ideas between him and our Professional Development Committee just started flowing. It was obvious this was a hot topic and bringing our peers together to share and create a holistic approach to self care was guaranteed to be a workshop I would not want to miss.

At our upcoming workshop, we will engage in a unique dialogue on the importance of self care; break through any obstacles preventing you to creating a healthier and happier YOU; and identify small steps to take you in that direction while sharing resources and tips of successful self care practices.

I'm looking forward to sharing ideas with you all and continuing to build on my own personal self care and live a life I love in work, play, family, friends and more.

Many thanks to Jaci Feinstein for her contribution to this blog post!

Learn About YNPNSD's Meet and Greet Committee

After joining YNPN San Diego in early 2010, I wanted to discover more about the organization and meet some of its members. I decided to go to my first Meet & Greet (The YNPNSD Birthday Bash in April 2010) where I hoped to meet other nonprofit enthusiasts. As soon as I arrived, the members of the Meet & Greet Committee welcomed me and even introduced me to other YNPNSD members. Everyone was very warm, friendly, and I immediately felt part of the group. I found the La Jolla Karl Strauss to be a great venue because of the outdoor patio and the mellow, happy hour atmosphere. I felt really comfortable meeting other people who are passionate about nonprofits, and I found the networking experience to be very rewarding. I highly encourage all YNPNSD Members and Non-Members to take advantage of other Meet & Greet events in the future. Have thoughts or questions? Leave them here!

-Natacha Tullier