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Transparency and Fall Calendar (Must GO!)

  • Transparency, Key Best Practice
  • CAMEO Fills Your Fall Calendar
  • The Goodies – This week’s highlights includes a forum hosted by The Federal Reserve of San Francisco – Collective Action for a Vibrant Local Economy on Tuesday, August 26 from 12:00 – 4:30 pm at the Federal Reserve conference center in San Francisco.

Transparency, Key Best Practice

Many companies have committed to being more transparent in their operations and communications. Doing so is clearly in their best interest…. the most powerful impact is when a company is confident enough in its process or operations to bring viewers in to see exactly how things are done. It is the ultimate in show and tell.


As nonprofits, we have our own transparency outlet. If you haven’t heard of Guidestar, it provides “information that advances transparency, enables users to make better decisions, and encourages charitable giving.”

Here’s a note from Claudia on the use of Guidestar.

CAMEO encourages our members to register with Guidestar, an important source of information on nonprofits, including finances, governance, programs and impacts. For example, filing your organization’s 990 form on Guidestar demonstrates a level of professionalism and increasingly is required by funders. We understand that many of you face financial pressures due to shrinking grants and government support. However, reporting that you are actively engaged in proactive management of your finances demonstrates that you are responsible and committed to delivering quality services. If you had a year or two of financial deficits, you can append an explanation to your 990 before you upload the PDF. If you need advice on how to frame this issue, feel free to contact me or Shufina at the CAMEO office.

CAMEO Fills Your Fall Calendar

CAMEO has a great fall line-up. More details and sign up information will be forthcoming soon, but mark your calendars for the following events, today.

Selling to Major Retail, Webinar: We’re bringing Karen Waxman back after a few years to host a webinar on how to get your product into major retail outlets on September 24 from 2:00-3:00 pm PT. We want you to come and bring your clients.

Loan Readiness Training Webinar: Susan Brown, our trainer extraordinaire, will host a three-part webinar series aimed at non-lenders, but all CAMEO members are welcome to attend.

  • October 2 – Profit and Loss
  • October 16 – Cash Flow
  • October 30 – Credit Report

WOVEN – Women Veterans Networking Event: CAMEO is excited to co-host a day-long training for women veterans with the U.S. SBA on November 6 at Patriotic Hall in Los Angeles. Download a WOVEN Save The Date flyer and help spread the word.

The Goodies

New opportunities for training, conference information, funding, scholarships, and other information that have crossed our desks since the last Must Know. I have posted a running tab of current Industry Goodies on the CAMEO website that lists items that were in past emails. Check it out to make sure you’re not missing anything, like grants whose deadlines are still alive!

Free Forum: The Federal Reserve of San Francisco is hosting Collective Action for a Vibrant Local Economy on Tuesday, August 26 from 12:00 – 4:30 pm at the Federal Reserve conference center in San Francisco. This forum will explore approaches that are being used in under resourced neighborhoods to attract new businesses and customers, eliminate blight and vacant storefronts, promote local spending and in general increase value. Attendees will engage in an interactive discussion about applying a collective action approach, the role of municipalities in supporting commercial revitalization, the advantages of a business improvement district (BID), how to conduct market analysis, and other topics intended to build capacity.

Sweet Hangout: SBA Administrator Maria Contreras-Sweet will answer your questions live during a Hangout on Air in the Google Small Business Community on Wednesday, August 27, 2014 at 1:30 pm PT // 4:30 pm ET.

Healthcare Webinars: The Small Business Administration and Small Business Majority are helping businesses navigate health care through the webinar series What the Healthcare Law Means For Your California Small Business . It’s every two weeks in English and monthly in Spanish. The next ones are on August 27, 2014 at 10:00am and September 17, 2014 at 1:00pm respectively. Note the Small Business Health Option Program’s online enrollment function is on hold and will be back online in the fall. Businesses can still purchase insurance through the traditional paper process, working with your Certified agent or the SHOP Service Center. Also Small Business California helped create a new Spanish-language website to help Latino business owners and employees learn how to comply with the health care law.

Community Capital Conference (CoCap): Cutting Edge Capital will hold their second Community Capital Conference (CoCap) at Impact Hub Oakland on September 2, 2014, from 10:00 am – 5:00 pm. The event is dedicated to empowering people to invest in their own communities. The conference will be a venue for learning how we can re-make our financial system to promote local wealth creation, shared ownership, and prosperity for all.

For Your Clients: Booming interest in entrepreneurship has led many people to think that entrepreneurship is synonymous with Silicon Valley. The Rural Entrepreneurship Challenge instead highlights entrepreneurship and innovation from the heartland of Rural America. The Challenge is an opportunity to highlight and reward rural entrepreneurs and a chance to WIN $15,000. The deadline is Monday, September 15, 2014.

California Nonprofit Technology Festival: This two-day gathering of over 100 folks from California and abroad who are passionate about leveraging technology and creative media for social justice will take place in Richmond, California on September 25 and 26. The CA Tech Fest will include topics ranging from social media strategy, constituent engagement, privacy and security, media advocacy, and self-care for organizers. We also expect a few sessions in español. The conference is $50 for organizations with budgets under $5 million.

CAMEO White Paper: Read the CAMEO White Paper: Do-It-Yourself Economic Growth: How Communities Can Cultivate Their Talent and Thrive.