OUT is conducting a training session on grassroots organizing and fundraising as a part of OUT Univermsity’s Fall Semester.

OUT's goal at this training is to increase the capacity of local organizations and local leaders to do their local work and to contribute to the statewide movement. We will need strong local organizations if our state is to pass a statewide anti-discrimination law and defeat any future effort to add the adoption ban into the Florida Constitution. The Caucus and the Dolphins are OUT members.

This training session is for Florida's LGBT & allied organization leaders, and individuals in our community that want to learn critical skills for helping us end discrimination in Florida.

The training is Saturday November 7th and Sunday November 8, both days 9am to 5pm, and will be held here in Fort Lauderdale at the ArtServe Auditorium. The cost is $40 for OUT member organizations and $45 for non-members. The fee will help cover a small portion of the cost of flying in the out-of-state trainers, providing lunch and refreshments, supplies for the participants and rental of our meeting location. Need-based scholarships are available upon request.

Please note that registration fees will increase after October 25^th, and that registration will close November 1^st. If you know someone from out of town who wants to attend we have a discounted group rate at the Embassy Suites Hotel on 17^th St. Causeway.

Trainers include national, state and local subject matter experts, who will provide training on the very best practices and practical applications for these essential skills:

• David Caldwell, National LGBT Mentoring Project (Cleveland, OH)
• Dan Hawes - Director of Organizing & Training, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (Washington, D.C.)
• Moof Mayeda - Senior Field Organizer, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (Los Angeles)
• Todd Ruopp - Co-Founder of Unleashing Performance, Inc. (Orlando)
• Deborah Tannenbaum - Finance Consultant for Fair Districts Florida
• Juan del Hierro - Community Outreach Chair, SAVE Dade
• Pamela Sweeney - Co-Chair, Grassroots Action Committee, SAVE Dade

Saturday, November 7th, will provide in-depth training on volunteer recruitment and volunteer leadership development and some of the basic tools for grassroots organizing such as leadership development, volunteer phone banking and volunteer support.

Sunday, November 8th, will provide in-depth training on major donor fundraising and how to raise money through fundraising phone banks, including a hands-on training where participants will raise money for their own local organizations or any cause or organization of their choosing.

These OUT University Capacity Building Trainings are part of OUT's larger public education project, the End Discrimination Project, that will include OUT University trainings, a semi-annual statewide leadership conference hosted by OUT, a speaker's bureau, and web-based education and trainings by member organizations and state and national partner organizations.

Organizations will be offered trainings designed to build their capacity to more effectively achieve their respective missions, while individuals will be trained on powerful and effective communication skills to discuss the need for basic nondiscrimination protections for LGBT people in the state of Florida.

OUT Federation's End Discrimination Project is supported by the Tides Foundation's State Equality Fund, a philanthropic partnership that includes the Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund, the Gill Foundation, and anonymous donors.

If you have any questions, please email OUT at: OUTuniversity@OUTFL.org, or call 813-817-6095.