NCIL’s 2018 Annual Conference on Independent Living will be held July 23-26 in Washington, DC. Generous support from sponsors, exhibitors, and advertisers last year resulted in a Conference of nearly 1,500 participants! We seek your partnership as we begin to prepare for our 2018 Annual Conference celebration.

Due to last year’s attendance, NCIL’s tremendous successes in 2017, and excitement surrounding the theme, the buzz has already started for this year’s Annual Conference on Independent Living, Mobilize: Resistance through Action.

Our Sponsorship Opportunities Booklet outlines opportunities for your consideration. We hope that you thoughtfully consider this opportunity to be part of our celebration and growth, and invite you to invest in our efforts to ensure equality for people with disabilities throughout the United States.

• Open the Sponsorship Opportunities Booklet (PDF).
• Then, complete the commitment form online or by using the printable commitment form (PDF)

The National Council on Independent Living (NCIL) is the longest-running national cross-disability and cross-age grassroots organization run by and for people with disabilities.

• Find out the details and latest updates on the 2018 Annual Conference.
• The Sponsorship Opportunities Booklet and commitment for are also available in Word and plain text.

Again, we appreciate your review of our exciting sponsorship, exhibiting, and advertising opportunities. Contact Cara Liebowitz at [email protected] for further information.

Sincerely,

Kelly Buckland, Executive Director

Cara Liebowitz, Development Coordinator

July 23–26, 2018; Grand Hyatt, Washington, DC

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NCIL’s Annual Conference is the largest Independent Living event of the year. NCIL regularly hosts over 1,000 people, including grassroots advocates, CIL and SILC leadership, members of Congress, government officials, and representatives from other major organizations that work for justice and equity for people with disabilities.

NCIL’s 2018 Annual Conference theme is Mobilize: Resistance through Action. For over a year now, members of Congress and aggressive ideologues have tried their hardest to strip people with disabilities of their health and liberty. We have met these challenges head-on and will continue to do so. Some battles have been won, others lost. The goal of this year’s Annual Conference is to improve our strategy and cohesion. We are powerful, but we must share our resources, strategize, and train new advocates if we want to succeed in our efforts to protect our programs and secure the independence of people with disabilities.  [Read more…]

This holiday season, you can support NCIL while you shop! Shop for everyone on your list using NCIL’s custom link at smile.amazon.com.

NCIL sincerely appreciates your continued support and commitment to the Independent Living Movement.

It’s the end of October, the smell of pumpkin spice is in the air, and we’re gearing up for Giving Tuesday! Giving Tuesday is focused on giving back after the consumer driven days of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, and takes place on November 28th, 2017.

Here are some exciting updates from our Giving Tuesday preparations:

1. We’ve been approved for Facebook fundraising! Now it’s even easier to raise funds for NCIL or donate directly through Facebook. And on Giving Tuesday ONLY, all fees from Facebook fundraising will be waived, so 100% of your donation goes to NCIL. In addition, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is partnering with Facebook to match up to $1,000 per fundraiser or $50,000 per organization on Giving Tuesday until the match funds run out – so start your giving early!
2. We’ve got an all-star matching team! Most organizations have one company or corporation that matches donations on Giving Tuesday. But since NCIL’s power is grassroots, so is our fundraising. We have a dedicated team of NCIL fans who have agreed to match $250 each on Giving Tuesday, for a total match of up to $1,750. That means your impact can be DOUBLED for one day only!

In the coming weeks, you’ll get to meet our matching team, learn about different ways to give to NCIL, and show off your NCIL pride on your social media! Let’s kick off the giving season right!

NCIL has partnered with Portlight Inclusive Disaster Strategies, Inc to determine what challenges and problems people with disabilities faced in shelters, with transportation and evacuation, with housing options after the storm, in applying for benefits, and problems with any other interactions with emergency services. (Note: we are also interested in Hurricane Maria’s impact, but due to lack of communication abilities with the affected territories and ongoing response work, in which NCIL is currently engaged, we do not anticipate being able to complete a report at this time.)

Were you in a shelter and experienced problems or mistreatment? Have you had difficulty finding housing options after the storm or applying for FEMA or other benefits? Did you experience difficulties in arranging transportation, services during and after the storm, or arranging evacuation? We want to hear from you. These stories will be scrubbed of identifying information and be used as data in reports on what problems people with disabilities experienced, and to determine what can be done to mitigate these problems so that they do not arise in future disasters.

If you are interested in sharing your stories or have any questions about this initiative, please send them to Sarah Blahovec at [email protected] by October 31st, 2017.

NCIL is joining thousands of other organizations in participating in Giving Tuesday, “a global day of giving fueled by the power of social media and collaboration.” Giving Tuesday is focused on giving back after the consumer driven days of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, and takes place on November 28th, 2017.

In the coming months, we’ll be sending you emails with more information about how to support NCIL on Giving Tuesday. In the meantime, make sure to mark your calendars for Giving Tuesday, November 28th, 2017. Let’s make this the best Giving Tuesday yet!

• September 27, 2017; 12:30 – 1:30 p.m. Eastern
• Register online

Business Acumen describes an organization’s ability to quickly and keenly understand and address a business situation in a manner that will likely to lead to a good outcome. Many Community Based Organizations (CBO)* seeking to diversify their payer portfolios – specifically those seeking to sell or deliver services to health plans and other payers or providers of health services – find that they must learn or strengthen existing skill sets. Organizations effective in engaging stakeholders, developing relationships, negotiating and contracting, understanding and maximizing the financial position, articulating the business case for services and navigating change while maintaining the organization’s mission are positioned for success in a changing environment.  [Read more…]