If you came to last month’s annual Nonprofit Board Retreat then you know it was a VIBE! It sold out in just a few weeks and had one of the highest attendance rates since we started this almost four years ago. It was an awesome two days of learning, networking, collaborating, and experiencing joy together. Read on for retreat theme, thrills, thanks, and thoughts!
Theme
This year’s theme was April Showers Bring…. We left this open as a "choose your own adventure." April showers can bring May flowers, growth (in self, organization, and nature), wet shoes; just fill in the blank and like we said, choose your own adventure!
April Showers also brought something extra special – a baby shower! We put out a call to retreat registrants to bring a new baby item to donate to Pinwheel Place, a nonprofit organization that supports parents of young children by reducing stress and decreasing childhood trauma. We were thrilled to have several board members from Pinwheel Place attend and speak about their mission. Pinwheel Place has a Welcome Basket Program that helps expectant families who are in need of baby supplies. Many families don’t have that “village” that can support them or throw them a baby shower where they get these much-needed items. Our board retreat attendees were that village. While a donation was not required to come to the retreat, everyone was so generous. Donations poured in over both days and this photo shows just a small portion of what was received within the first few minutes of the first day!
Thrills
Songs – At every retreat, we try to throw in a surprise or two to keep things engaging and add some joy. This time, we were surprised. While John and Ernie from Monmouth Stereo were doing the tech and sound system tests, Ernie started to sing as part of the microphone check. We were blown away by his voice, and we asked him to sing for everyone to close out the second day. What a reTREAT it was! Check out Ernie's website to learn more about him.
Games – you can’t have a baby shower (or a board retreat) without a game or two. Whether forming playdough into the shape of a baby or finding hidden baby bunnies around the retreat rooms, everyone had a blast and a chance to win prizes.
Mascot – We had a new member at our retreat this year. Meet Leonardo DiQuackio. He came fully prepared for the April Showers. He did such a great job welcoming attendees that he has been promoted to Annual Nonprofit Board Retreat Mascot. (Special thanks to Claas from Support Center for coming up with the name. Mr. DiQuackio is very happy about it.)
Happy hour – You could say the whole retreat felt like one long happy hour (just without the drinks), but we wrapped up each day with a true happy hour. Even after spending an entire day together learning, so many retreaters joined in the post-event festivities to continue the discussions and make deeper connections.
Thanks
Support Center - HUGE thank you to our incredible partners/friends from Support Center. From pre-event planning and curriculum building to event setup and facilitating – we could not do this without them. Keith, Gaby, Taiwo and our new friends Ellie and Claas – when you get to work with such awesome people, it really doesn’t feel like work.
The amazing Nonprofit Board Retreat facilitators - can we get a round of applause for our facilitators? 👏👏👏
The Keiths (Green and Timko), Vicki Clarke, Brigid Lang, and BJ Sung. They bring their knowledge, lived experiences, and humor to the retreat and each year they make it even more exciting.
Pinwheel Place – thank you for coming not only as participants, but to share your mission with us.
The nonprofit community – leadership, staff, board, volunteers – thank you for all you do for the community. You work to serve others each day and still find time to expand your knowledge, make connections, and experience joy with your nonprofit peers. We are so grateful for you and hope that you found this event valuable and had some fun.
And thank you to all who donated baby items for Pinwheel Place. As Coretta Scott King once said, “The greatness of a community is most accurately measured by the compassionate actions of its members.”
Thoughts
Did you attend? We'd love for you to give us YOUR thoughts! Tell us ALL the things.
We'll leave you with one last thought of our own. Each Nonprofit Board Retreat brings its own unique theme and vibe, and we can’t wait to see what’s next, but nothing will ever beat this photo…
