Nonprofit & social change calendar: April 2012

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NPR’s Moira Gunn and Rep. Donna Edwards, D-Md., at last year’s Nonprofit Technology Conference. (Photo by J.D. Lasica)

Planning for the month’s top conferences & events

April bring us ones of the biggest nonprofit technology conferences of the year: NTC, kicking off this evening in San Francisco. Four Socialbrite partners are speaking here (my talk is Thursday). Other events on tap this month include the Global Philanthropy Forum, Sustainatopia, Connections and the Global Engagement Summit.

For the full year, see our Calendar of 2012 nonprofit and social change conferences. If you’re interested in social media, tech and marketing conferences, see this month’s calendar on our sister site, Socialmedia.biz.

If you know of other events, please share by adding the info in the comments below. Hope to see you at one of these!

March
AFP International Conference on Fundraising	April 1-3	Vancouver, BC
Join your fellow fundraisers for a three-day immersion to learn best practices and strategies that work. It’s a place to gain insight from industry and world leaders, a chance to learn breakthrough fundraising tactics and an opportunity to share your own successes and challenges while meeting colleagues from across town and around the globe.
Innovative Giving Conference	April 2	San Francisco
Innogive returns for its 3rd annual conference at the Union Square Hilton the day before NTEN. Mobile giving is still among one of the most talked about solutions to surface in recent memory. After a sold-out 2011 show, it is clear nonprofits are hungry to learn about how to make mobile successful, given that it’s not going away.
Nonprofit Technology Conference	April 3-5	San Francisco
This three-day gathering brings together nonprofit professionals from around the world to collaborate, innovate and maximize effectiveness. With a wide mix of social events, seminars, trainings and resources, NTC will help you put technology to work to further your cause.
Global Engagement Summit	April 8-15	Evanston, Ill.
The Global Engagement Summit is an empowerment platform for students to make the change they wish to see in the world. GES provides the opportunity for delegates to engage in critical discussion and think about how to do good well, to network with passionate individuals and innovative thought leaders and to build capacity and develop skills to implement change-based projects.
Global Philanthropy Forum	April 16-18	Washington, DC
A project of the World Affairs Council of Northern California, the Global Philanthropy Forum aims to build a community of donors and social investors committed to international causes, and to inform, enable and enhance the strategic nature of their work. GPF connects donors to issues, to effective strategies, to potential co-funding partners and to emblematic agents of change from around the world.
Global CSR Summit	April 19-20	Cebu, Philippines
This gathering will examine the issues of sustainability for businesses in Asia for the 21st century amid weaknesses in the global economy, environmental disasters, political instability in the Middle East and the global food crisis. The theme of the event, “Beyond Sustainability,” highlights the future directions of CSR. It involves going beyond narrow concepts of sustainability that aim at minimizing environmental harm and maintaining the status quo toward a new paradigm of embracing innovative and cutting-edge solutions that benefit profits, societies and the environment.
Social Venture Network Annual Member Gathering	April 19-22	Stevenson, Wash.
Social Venture Network connects, supports and inspires business leaders and social entrepreneurs in expanding practices that build a just and sustainable economy. A second conference this year, the SVN Hall of Fame Celebration, will be held Nov. 13 in New York.
Sustainatopia	April 19-25	Miami
With 60 individual events in film, art, music, eco-fashion, food, design, parties and two major impact investing conferences, Sustainatopia is one of the biggest sustainability and impact investing events in the hemisphere.
Innovate / Activate	April 20-21	Berkeley, CA
Innovate / Activate is an event on intellectual property and activism. It’s about spurring change through the thoughtful consideration of IP. It’s about reexamining our approaches to improving global welfare by diagnosing new and existing IP-related challenges to activism, developing strategies for overcoming IP obstacles and delivering practical solutions. It’s about identifying additional tools for a more effective activism that is capable of challenging our accepted notions of freedom and equality.
Connections	April 25-26	Alberta, Canada
The 2012 conference will bring together leaders from the nonprofit sector, the corporate community, government and other funders, and community leaders to dialogue about the significant changes that will impact the sector and its ability to meet community needs in the future. A goal of the conference is to foster enhanced understanding across the three sectors through focused dialogue on timely and relevant issues.

JD Lasica works with nonprofits, social change organizations and businesses on social media strategies. See his profile, visit his business blog, contact JD or follow him on Twitter or Google Plus.