Preview of Coming Webinars

By Sue Wilder, Joan Patterson, and Cheryl Hart, CORFA Board

Here’s a glimpse of the webinar topics we are working on for the rest of the summer. Be sure to check the CORFA Facebook Group and the announcements on the front page of the CORFA website for topics, dates, and times.

For July, we are putting together another “kaffeeklatsch” type webinar where we can all share our ideas and ask questions of each other. You know, like you do during coffee breaks at Friends gatherings. The topic for July will be Getting Your Members of Congress to Visit Your Refuge or Hatchery. We will kick the webinar off with a panel of folks including Joann Van Aken, Executive Director of International Wildlife Refuge Alliance, and Libby Marking, Director of Government Affairs & Public Policy for National Wildlife Refuge Association. Has your Friends group had some success at getting your Members of Congress to your refuge or do you have some “inside information” on how best to approach this task? Please join this webinar and share your tips with others. A recording of this webinar is available at https://youtu.be/VVL_yr5i_mU.

In August, we will be providing information about the Friends Partnership Mentoring Program: How to apply, why you might want to, and some eye-witness reports on how mentoring has helped strengthen Friends and their partnership with their refuge or hatchery.

September will bring a legislative update—what’s new on the Hill and how can Friends help ensure that refuges and hatcheries receive the support they need.

We are also preparing webinars on community engagement: How can you build partnerships with other community organizations that further your goals as well as theirs? Seasonal fundraising—end of the year is always a prime time to tell your story to potential donors. And speaking of stories, do you know how to tell your story in a way that encourages support for your Friends and refuge or hatchery partners? We hope to have an interactive webinar to help you develop that poignant story that will make your potential volunteers, board members, and donors pay attention.

As always, we try to present webinars that meet your needs. If you have a suggestion or are seeking answers that you think might also benefit other Friends groups, send your suggestions to CORFA. We want our webinars to be valuable and targeted to your needs.

Remember, we want to include you in these webinars. One of the best things about Friends is their willingness to share their ideas and help other groups succeed, and we’d like to take advantage of that characteristic. So, if you are willing to help with a webinar on a particular topic that may be of interest to other Friends, let us know.