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The Great Plains Literacy Council was selected to attend the Nonprofit Management Institute, held June 2-4 at The Cliffs Resort at Possum Kingdom Lake in Texas. Delegates included Coordinator Ida Fay Winters and GPLC Board members Kristen Balko from Altus and Mary Beth Williams of Hollis.

The intensive training provided at the Institute was sponsored by The Priddy Foundation and the Nonprofit Center, both of Wichita Falls, Texas. There were 16 nonprofit organizations from north Texas and Southern Oklahoma represented. The GPLC delegates left the Institute refreshed, renewed, re-energized and ready to implement measurable goals to effectively impact the people in Jackson and Harmon Counties.

One highlight of the training included each organization having a consultation session with professionals in the nonprofit sector. Independent Development Consultant Ragan Blackmon from Lawton analyzed organizational and financial reports of the GPLC prior to the 3-day meeting. She is a Certified Fund Raising Executive who has 30 years of service to nonprofit agencies by helping programs raise millions of charitable dollars for health care, higher education, and social services. She complimented the GPLC for years of volunteerism and education and discussed donor cultivation, planned giving, and identifying philanthropic support for literacy.

The purpose of the institute was to encourage ways to build a strong nonprofit board. Legal duties and responsibilities of board directors and staff were reviewed. The GPLC delegates were thankful for the training and will be sharing ideas with other board members and staff at the July 10^th Great Plains Literacy Council’s annual meeting at 4 pm in the Altus Public Library meeting room.