Community Development Works, a program of The Rapides Foundation, announces its free skill-building training schedule for Cenla residents and nonprofits. Classes run from September 6 through November 17.

CDW training topics are geared toward nonprofit staff, board members, community volunteers and people interested in starting a nonprofit to improve their communities.

The schedule consists of workshops held in The Rapides Foundation Building in downtown Alexandria and webinars offered online at BigMarker.com/cdworks. Participants do not need to download software to attend the online courses.

Fall trainings cover four topic areas: starting a nonprofit, grant writing, organizational effectiveness and leadership.

Fall class titles are as follows:

• Start-Up Series for Nonprofits: To Be or Not To Be a 501(c)(3); Introduction to Finding Funders; State of the Nonprofit Sector in Central Louisiana; Vision, Mission and Action Plans.

• Grant Writing Series: Grant Writing Power Hour; Before You Start Grant Writing; Where to Find the Money: 3 Tools to Find Grant Opportunities; Basic Grant Writing; Demystifying Federal Grant Writing; What Funders Want to See.

• Organizational Effectiveness Series: Planning Profitable Events; Measuring Impact Part I: Crunching the Numbers; Measuring Impact Part II: Show Me the Data.

• Leadership Series: 11 Skills Needed for Nonprofit Managers; Emotional Intelligence for Leaders Part I: Learn to Trust Your Gut; Emotional Intelligence for Leaders Part II: Reducing Stress and Anxiety for Greater Creativity; Leading When You Don’t Know Where You Are Going; Emotional Intelligence for Leaders Part III: Resiliency Techniques.

Participants have the option of attending all trainings in a series or choosing only the ones that interest them. Residents who register for a webinar but are unable to attend at the designated time will be given a link to watch at a later date.

Visit www.communitydevelopmentworks.org/attend-training to find a list of the classes and to register. Call CDW at 318-443-7880 or 800-803-8075 for more information.

CDW trainings are part of The Rapides Foundation’s Social Environment Initiative and have the goal of building the capacity of nonprofit staff and volunteers in Central Louisiana. Trainings are offered in the spring and the fall.