Formerly the NPC Resource Fair
The NPC Commons Exchange
A day for Berkshire nonprofits to learn, connect, and find the help they need, wherever they are in their journey.
Formerly the NPC Resource Fair
The NPC Commons Exchange
A day for Berkshire nonprofits to learn, connect, and find the help they need, wherever they are in their journey.
Event details:
- Tuesday, December 1, 2026 · Giving Tuesday
- 1:00 to 5:00 p.m.
- Berkshire Innovation Center, 45 Woodlawn Avenue, Pittsfield, MA
The Resource Fair is now the NPC Commons Exchange
For years, NPC’s Resource Fair has brought Berkshire nonprofits together with the people, businesses, and services that help them do their work. This year it has a new name: the NPC Commons Exchange.
The new name reflects what we’ll experience: nonprofit staff, board members, volunteers, funders, and local businesses come to trade ideas and resources, meet people, and find out who can help with what. It’s Berkshire County’s shared table, and you’re invited.
We picked Giving Tuesday on purpose. It’s a day about generosity, and we think that includes generosity between organizations: sharing what we know, connecting with each other, and building the support that keeps our communities strong.
Built around the nonprofit lifecycle.
Wherever you are in your nonprofit’s life
Every nonprofit goes through stages. Some are just starting out. Some are growing faster than their systems can keep up. Some are strong and established. Some are facing a leadership change, a hard financial year, or a question about what comes next.
The coming months will push many organizations into a new stage, whether they planned for it or not. So this year’s NPC Commons Exchange is built around the lifecycle of a nonprofit. Wherever your organization is right now, you’ll find people who have been there and practical help for your next step.
What to expect
The big picture
OPENING
The State of Berkshire County Nonprofits
NPC Executive Director Samantha Anderson will open the day with a look at where our sector stands right now: what organizations across the county are seeing in funding, staffing, demand for services, and capacity, and what that means for the year ahead.
PANEL
What’s Coming, and What We’ll Need
Funding cuts and policy changes are on the way, and they’ll be felt across the county. Leaders from nonprofits, government, business, and the community will talk openly about what these changes could mean here six months from now and two years from now. Then they’ll turn to the more important question: what will it take to get through? The panel closes with time for questions from the audience.
Practical help
PANEL
Financial Health: Reading the Signs
Financial health is the most important measure of an organization’s strength, and one of the least talked about. Local bankers, accountants, and nonprofit finance leaders will cover how to read your own numbers, how much to keep in reserve, what an audit, financial review, and tax return really tell you, and what to do when a grant is delayed or cut.
PANEL
Taking Care of Your People: Leading Staff Through Hard Times
Nonprofits run on people, and right now those people are being asked to do more with less. Local executive directors who have led their organizations through cuts will share what they learned: how to talk honestly with staff about money, how to handle hard decisions with care, and how to keep trust and morale when the pressure is on. We’ll also look at burnout and what it takes to keep staff and leaders from running on empty, so your team can keep going for the long haul.
One-on-one help.
Ask the Experts, by lifecycle stage
After the panels, sit down one-on-one with local consultants, attorneys, accountants, and advisors at tables organized by where your organization is right now:
- Starting up: incorporation, early governance, and fiscal sponsorship
- Growing: fundraising, board development, and building capacity
- Strong governance: board roles, self-assessment, and strategic planning
- Financial health: budgets, reserves, cash flow, and audits
- Risk and benefits: insurance, risk assessment, and staff coverage
- Supporting your staff: burnout prevention, staff communication, and HR basics
- Measuring impact: program evaluation and using data
- Transition or partnership: leadership change, turnaround, mergers, and shared services
Bring your questions. You’ll leave with answers, or the right person to call.
Exhibitor tables
Exhibitor tables will be set up on the main floor and open all afternoon, with room to walk from table to table. Before, between, and after the sessions, stop by each exhibitor to meet the nonprofits, service providers, and local businesses that work alongside our sector, ask your questions, and leave with practical insight and resources you can use right away.
Time to connect
Some of the most useful conversations happen between sessions. We’ve left room for them.
Tickets and tables options
- Attendee ticket (anyone attending without a table) $25
- Nonprofit exhibitor table (includes 1 attendee ticket) $75
- Business exhibitor table (includes 1 attendee ticket) $150
No payment is due now. We’ll send you an invoice once your registration or reservation is confirmed.
Save your seat
Whether you lead an organization, sit on a board, volunteer, or simply care about the Berkshires’ nonprofit community, the NPC Commons Exchange is for you. Space at the Berkshire Innovation Center is limited. Register today so you’ll be in the room on Giving Tuesday when we all come together in the NPC Commons Exchange.
Contact
Questions about the NPC Commons Exchange? Contact Samantha Anderson, Executive Director, at samantha@npcberkshires.org or 413.200.8670.
Nonprofit Center of the Berkshires · 34 Depot Street, #209, Pittsfield, MA 01201 · NPCBerkshires.org