In the late 1990’s, Marge Smith left her position heading the Princeton YWCA to focus on her true passion: training. Working with clients, she began to notice a certain gap in the way volunteer and non-profit organizations operated and interacted with each other.

Out of these observations came the idea for Community Works, an annual, one-evening gathering of like-minded individuals, with informative workshops and plenty of networking. Seventeen years later, Community Works has evolved into a popular event that attracts hundreds of staff members, board members, and volunteers from organizations throughout the area.

Ms. Smith is expecting some 400 to show up for this year’s gathering on Monday, January 26 from 5 to 9:15 p.m. at Princeton University’s Frist Campus Center. Panelists and facilitators will focus on such topics as effective fundraising, raising major gifts, building an all-volunteer organization, and recruiting board members, to name just a few.

Participants come from more than 200 organizations ranging from Anchor House, Inc. and Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Mercer County to the Princeton Girlchoir and the Princeton Battlefield Society.

“When I started this, I thought there really needed to be a way for people who were trying to do incredible things in the community to get training and learn to do things even more successfully,” said Ms. Smith. “It’s also important for us to know what each of us is trying to do. We don’t want to duplicate and do the same thing another organization is doing. We want to use each other as a resource, and this is a way to do that.”

Participants pay $35 (or nothing, if they can’t afford the fee) to attend. Included are a keynote address, two workshops, and a boxed dinner. “We wanted to make it really inexpensive when we started this,” said Ms. Smith. “We create workshops based on input from people on what they need. Because to impose what you think people need is very different from asking people what they need. Then we go out and find workshop leaders who are at the top of their field and have proven to be outstanding.”

Amy Klein, executive director of Volunteer Connect, is the facilitator for a panel on building a strong, all-volunteer organization. “Community Works is the go-to conference for anyone involved with or interested in nonprofit organizations,” she said in an email this week. “The wide-ranging workshops suit the needs of board members, nonprofit staff or volunteers, and have amazing networking opportunities. No one leaves without making a connection, learning something, and having a good time.”

The first Community Works was held at the Woodrow Wilson School on the University campus, but soon outgrew that facility and moved to the Frist Center. This year, Ms. Smith has divided the evening into categories. One is focused on fundraising. Another is on skills such as leadership, strategic planning, budget, legal issues, and managing finances. There are specific workshops for serving on boards, and for those at different levels of expertise in social media.

Carol Rogers, who chairs Trenton’s Landmarks Commission for Historic Preservation and serves on the board of National Junior Tennis and Learning of Trenton, has been attending Community Works since its inception. “I always try to consciously choose workshops that will make me a better volunteer or board member,” she said. “The fourth Monday in January is not a night that you usually feel like going out. But I find when I leave Community Works, I’m energized. The basic premise is networking, and making the world a little bit of a better place. Everybody walks out of there thinking, ‘This was pretty excellent.’”

Each participant will be given a key with questions attached. “In order to find out what resources are there, we try to encourage people to sit next to somebody they don’t know,” Ms. Smith said. “Because everybody is a key to something, and we all have a capacity to open doors for each other. There is the key to building community, the key to good public relations, the key to motivating people — all of these can be shared.”

Online registration continues through January 20 at www.princetoncommunityworks.org. Walk-ins will be admitted, but signing up in advance guarantees a first and second choice of workshops.

“Everyone leaves with a new contact,” said Ms. Smith. “And it really is exhilarating to be surrounded by people who are making a difference. When do you ever get to be among 400 people who are contributing to the community?”