As 2024 comes to a close and we look forward to 2025, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on some of the important work NAO has done throughout the year in service to you – our nonprofit sector and supporters. January saw the release of our new brand and website during our annual Member Day, which includes the new member dashboard where you can save important links straight to your profile. In February, we held our first-ever Nonprofit Fundraising Summit; April saw a sold-out Oregon Nonprofit Leaders Conference in Ashland, and over the summer, we released the 2024 Nonprofit Compensation and Benefits Report. We also partnered with ECONorthwest to do a first-of-its-kind econometric analysis of wages within the nonprofit sector and released the report to the public. Throughout the year, we supported the work of the Task Force on Modernizing Grant Funding and Contracting which concluded in September identifying key solutions to improve government partnerships with nonprofits. Those recommendations have now been presented to multiple state and county governmental bodies including the Oregon legislature and the Governor’s office. Finally, in July we launched a new nonprofit job board, creating a central place for listing and promoting jobs throughout the state in the nonprofit sector.
We look forward to the first part of 2025 with several exciting ways for you to connect. We start with our Member Appreciation and Learning Day on January 8th. This virtual day of learning is free to all NAO members and is a member-specific event. One new addition to this event is the highlighting of our fellow nonprofit members in a member highlight session. We will also be launching a legislative campaign to pass the recommendations from the Task Force on modernizing Grants and Contracts. Also, in the first part of the year, February 27th, the Nonprofit Fundraising Summit will be held in Eugene. NAO will host several conferences throughout the year around the state. You can check the full list here. We hope you will be able to join us at one of these events, our Network Learning sessions, and our Policy Labs. Interested in joining us for Member Day but aren’t a member yet? Now is the time to sign up! Members get discounts on all our events and have exclusive access to some learning modules.
We hope that as you move through the next few weeks of holiday events, paired with end of year fundraising asks and donations, that you will find time to reflect on all you have accomplished. There is so much to celebrate and by reflecting on the year, it can give you inspiration as you move into 2025. We see the important work you do every day and are excited to visit more of you in 2025 to see firsthand how you are impacting your communities.
From all of us at NAO, we wish you a peaceful holiday season.
