Nonprofit conferences offer transformative experiences where knowledge, innovation, and inspiration collide. They provide an opportunity to elevate your skills, network with peers, and learn practical strategies that you can take back to your own nonprofit. These events are a nonprofit professional’s key to success. To help you find the right conference for you and your organization, we've curated a list of the best nonprofit in-person conferences below!
1. Nonprofit Technology Conference | NTen
This conference offers a chance to connect with nonprofit professionals who use technology to create social change. There are a variety of workshops, discussions, cohorts, and certificates to help professionals advance the skillful and equitable use of technology.
2. Content Marketing World Conference | Content Marketing Institute
This conference provides a platform for marketing and communication professionals to network and swap ideas with peers, event speakers, content solution providers, and more!
3. Cause Camp Nonprofit Conference | Nonprofit Hub
Cause Camp is a marketing conference designed to support nonprofit thought leaders. Attendees get the opportunity to chat with industry experts and problem solvers, participate in pre-and post-show networking events, attend workshops, and take in the sights at destination attractions.
4. Nonprofit Storytelling Conference | Nonprofit Storytelling Conference
Interested in exploring the art and impact of storytelling? Through engaging workshops, case studies, and networking, this conference empowers attendees with the skills to craft compelling narratives, effectively communicate their missions and inspire meaningful connections that drive positive change within their organizations and communities.
5. Good Tech Fest | Good Tech Community
If you are interested in leveraging technology for social and ethical progress Good Tech Fest is for you! This festival fosters a community of individuals striving to harness technology's power for the greater good while addressing its challenges and ensuring a more equitable and sustainable technological landscape.
6. ARNOVA Annual Conference | The Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action
Set to a different theme each year, the ARNOVA conference is designed to create a public conversation on pressing issues and vital opportunities facing the voluntary or nonprofit sector. This conference also provides opportunities to present related research.
7. Points of Light Conference | Points of Light
This conference offers opportunities to connect with and learn from industry experts and engage in compelling discussions with other nonprofit professionals. Registration to this conference can also be applied towards a CVA certification.
8. Leadership Summit | The Nonprofit Alliance
The Leadership Summit is a great networking opportunity for nonprofit leaders. During the conference, participants learn how to apply various facilitation tools and skills within their organizations to promote inclusive dialogue, foster heightened leadership and drive innovation.
9. Colorado Conference on Volunteerism | Directors of Volunteers in Agencies Colorado (DOVIA)
This annual conference is a great opportunity for nonprofit professionals responsible for managing, training, and engaging volunteers for their organization. This conference is also an excellent opportunity to network with like-minded professionals.
10. Culture Summit | Culture Summit
Culture Summit brings professionals together to share insights and best practices for transforming workplace culture. The speakers and workshops will empower you with the data, strategies, and frameworks you need to re-engage your workforce and rebuild your culture.
11. DEI National Training Week and Conference | National Diversity & Leadership Conference
The National Diversity and Leadership Conference provides extraordinary networking opportunities and diverse speakers facilitating a range of workshops. This conference offers great insight into topics such as effective leadership, workplace improvement, multiculturalism, and diversity.
12. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Conference | The Conference Board
The 26th Annual Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Conference from The Conference Board serves as a platform for DEI leaders to share their work and discuss topics around race, social justice, neurodiversity, women’s health, disability, allyship, and more.
13. Pride Summit | Lesbians Who Tech
Hosted by Lesbians Who Tech, the Pride Summit is a dynamic and inclusive event that celebrates and empowers LGBTQ+ women and non-binary individuals in the tech and STEM fields. This summit offers networking and knowledge-sharing opportunities, all while fostering a supportive community through championing diversity and inclusion in the tech world.
14. Leadership Convention | National Association of Asian American Professionals (NAAAP)
This convention provides educational and social networking opportunities for professionals of all backgrounds, ethnicities, and ages. The convention features informational and inspirational workshops to cultivate leadership excellence and promote cultural awareness.
15. SHRM Annual Conference & Expo | Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM)
If you want to build a more positive, inclusive, and innovative culture in your workplace, then Inclusion is for you. This event equips HR professionals and leaders with tools, best practices, and actionable solutions to foster a more inclusive and equitable work environment, with the ultimate goal of driving organizational success and innovation.
16. Double the Donation’s Matching Gift Summit | Double the Donation
If you are looking to better leverage your matching gifts, check out Double the Donation’s Matching Gift Summit. Hosted by Double the Donation, this conference focuses on practical steps you can implement in your organization to create and market a matching gift strategy, improve your CSR and connect with other nonprofit professionals.
17. Raise | OneCause
Hosted by OneCause, this event fundraising conference provides opportunities to learn from fundraising experts, share ideas with peers, and get CFRE credits. The conference will focus on a variety of topics, including DEI fundraising principles, strategic event design, and storytelling to improve donor engagement.
18. GrantSummit | Grant Professionals Association
Do you need help with grant management? Look no further than the Grant Professionals Association’s GrantSummit. Whether you are a beginner-level professional or a seasoned veteran, you will leave this conference with expert advice on grant writing, grant management, general best practices, and more.
19. The Association of African American Museums Conference | The Association of African American Museums
Hosted by the Association of African American Museums, this conference serves as a platform for networking, knowledge sharing, and collaborative discussions aimed at advancing the preservation and presentation of African American history and contributions.
20. Art Curators Conference | The Association of Art Museum Curators
Want to celebrate, advance, and advocate for the curatorial narrative? This conference is an essential gathering for curators and museum professionals dedicated to enhancing the understanding and practice of art curation in diverse cultural contexts.
21. AAM Annual Meeting & MuseumExpo Hub | American Alliance of Museums
The American Alliance of Museums brings together professionals from the museum and cultural sectors to learn about and showcase innovative museum practices. There is a rich program of sessions, workshops, and exhibits to help advance the field of museum management and engagement.
22. IFC 2024 | The Resource Alliance
Four days of rich and innovation-led learning and sharing, a group of leading fundraisers from across the globe. IFC 2024 will give you the opportunity to connect with more than 1,200 fundraisers and social impact leaders from over 70 countries, both in person and online.
23. NIO Summit | NIO Summit
The NIO Summit is for those who want to grow their online fundraising and marketing skills. Attendees can discuss the realities of working as a fundraiser or marketer at a nonprofit. Marquee speakers from for-profit and nonprofit organizations will offer actionable insights and steps to improve fundraising results in various TED Talk-style presentations.
24. Bridge Conference | Direct Marketing Association of Washington & AFP DC
“Bridge Conference” is actually short for “the Bridge to Integrated Marketing & Fundraising Conference.” The purpose of this three-day conference is to bridge the gap between marketing and fundraising and help nonprofit organizations thrive. The conference will feature over 90 breakout sessions with expert speakers designed to give attendees the top cutting-edge strategies in marketing and fundraising.
25. P2PPF Conference | Peer to Peer Professional Forum
The P2P Professional Forum Conference gives leaders a chance to focus on the intricacies of peer-to-peer fundraising, like managing staff, volunteers, and fundraisers. The event offered breakout tracks curated for marketing, corporate relations, and human resources professionals.
We hope you get a chance to attend some of these incredible nonprofit conferences! Have other suggestions of conferences you want added to this list? You can submit your suggestions through this form!
Are you looking for virtual learning opportunities? Check out some of these live virtual series based training offered by the Nonprofit Learning Lab.
This workshop will cover how to use trauma informed facilitation practices to plan, create and design. Using trauma informed principles of facilitation, we will cover the structure and format of facilitated experience, review how to create an agenda, design a facilitated experience, and how to handle disclosures, disruptions, and other facilitation challenges. This workshop is for facilitators and trainers who lead community-based conversations with adults where difficult topics may arise or in-depth discussions may occur.
Effective staff management is essential to completing work and employee satisfaction and retention. Managing staff isn’t easy with employees that work hybrid or virtual, off site at programs or are transitioning back to the office. Whether you are new to the role or are a supervisor with extensive knowledge, our new working world requires supervisors to communicate regularly and have clarity around expectations, tasks and job performance. As a supervisor, there is a balance between micromanaging and believing in the skills of your employees for why you hired them in their roles.
Managing nonprofit programs requires planning and flexibility. Simultaneously launching new nonprofit programs while managing an existing program takes even more creativity, time and effort. Creating and expanding programs and services in a nonprofit helps lead to growth, innovation and delivery of services. Are you looking to expand or scale a program in your organization, agency or nonprofit? Need some guidance before dedicating a lot of resources, capacity and staff time? Program development, expansion and scaling is a process and takes time for staff, board members and volunteers.
Through our train the trainers workshop, we will guide you on how to be a better online or in-person trainer and gain practical skills you can use right away. In this workshop, we discuss how to lead engaging small group exercises and practice methods for managing participants. We cover adult learning theory and practices, ways to make mandatory trainings fun, how to design for equity, ways to address curriculum bias, methods for online and in-person instructional design and strategies to incorporate equity and inclusion into a training, workshop or orientation.