Nonprofits and those in the nonprofit sector will be gathering in Madison again this year as Madison Nonprofit Day is back again after its first in-person conference last year since COVID-19 sent it online. The day of professional development, organizational development, and networking will be held at the Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center on Tuesday, Oct. 31.
Alnisa Allgood, founder of Madison Nonprofit Day, was happy to confirm that the conference is continuing to grow in size and scope as ways to include virtual elements are also being considered as interest increases. Although the conference will be slightly shorter than past conferences due to the Halloween holiday, Allgood was positive that attendees will be satisfied with all the benefits that past years have provided as well.
“It’s going to be a shorter schedule, because we normally go to about 6 p.m., and it’s a marathon day when we do that,” Allgood told Madison365. “It’ll be a little bit less of a marathon, but most of the time slots have sometimes five sessions per slot, so people do have to make decisions. Of course, it’s always just a great place to meet people and to do some networking. We try to put in a few different opportunities where people can network, because people definitely come for the professional development and to learn, but they also come to meet people that they haven’t met.”
Allgood discussed the importance of keeping up on issues such as hiring practices, evaluating employees and organizations, as well as structure and goals in the nonprofit sector. Madison Nonprofit Day looks to provide a variety of spaces where individuals and organizations will be able to fulfill their want to develop in these areas and connect with other organizations and people around collaboration and shared goals.
“I started the Madison Nonprofit Day Conference for a couple of different reasons,” said Allgood. “I saw emerging issues in the world and especially the nonprofit sector. [The lack of] networking and then just the general lack of professional development that was happening here in Madison and the entire state of Wisconsin for the nonprofit sector. That was me coming from San Francisco where there were multiple nonprofit hubs or nonprofit centers. People could get professional development and grow their ability to become the next generation of nonprofit leaders, or starting social enterprises and things like that as well.”
Allgood found that the biggest impact Madison Nonprofit Day had upon its creation was in fact the space it provided to connect and mutually build paths forward between entities in the nonprofit sector. Dr. Sagashus Levingston, the founder of the Infamous Mothers brand and an author, speaker, and influencer who holds a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, will be the keynote speaker at this year’s conference with what will surely be a motivating and inspiring talk in connection with elements of the nonprofit sector and beyond.
Allgood expanded on how topics at the conference will also look to go beyond the nonprofit sector as she discussed how both building opportunity and structure outside of Nonprofit Day, as well as imagining how the nonprofit sector can consider its impact on other sectors, will be important aspects to carry forward.
“Right now, it’s not just all nonprofits that are doing this type of investing in making society a better place, and the types of actions and issues that get resolved in that,” Allgood said in closing. “It’s broader than just the nonprofit sector, and I think people are starting to recognize that. You could see a hybrid organization, or you could see a corporate organization that really wants to tackle issues.
“It’s not just up to the nonprofit sector to carry the weight of disparities and all of those other types of issues on their shoulders,” Allgood continued. “It’s getting spread out a little bit more, and we need to acknowledge that and focus in on creating the spread of that change the way we want it to be as opposed to growing into something that exists but nobody likes.”
To learn more about Madison Nonprofit Day, visit the website here.
