In this election year, when candidates and the economy vying for attention, it's more important than ever that you translate your major donors' interests into increased revenues for your organization. And whether you want to perfect your listening skills, ramp up a capital campaign, enlist "major" volunteers, or encourage more donors to step up to the plate, this year's Major Donor Track sessions can help you be more effective at building commitments and income for your organization. - All Sessions Eligible for CFRE Points
THURSDAY (THOROUGHBRED ROOM)
Breakout 1: 10:30am – 12:00pm
Active Listening: What Your Major Donors are REALLY Saying
Description: This session will delve into the art of actively listening to what your donors are saying, and understanding what exactly it is that interests them about your organization and its mission. The result will be to develop more meaningful and lasting relationships that will translate into larger and longer term gifts to your organization. A handout with 7 Active Listening Tips will be provided and we will spend part of the session on an active listening role playing exercise.
Speaker: Martha Schumacher, President, Hazen Inc.
Breakout 2: 1:30pm – 3:00pm
Holistic Approach to Major Giving
Description: Major gift fundraising can be part of any organization - large or small. Major Gifts is as much a mindset as it is a set of strategies and techniques. This session will explore ways through which your organization can easily establish major gift fundraising as an integral part of your resource development program. It will highlight donor and prospect engagement strategies that are both effective and cost-efficient. You will learn specific ways to implement small changes in your fundraising program and at your organization that will have a big payoff in the future, and you will leave the session with tips and tools you can put to work right away. While this session will spend some time on solicitation techniques, it will focus equally on the steps organizations can take before and after the gift comes in that will make their fundraising program a big success. This session will be designed for beginner to intermediate level professionals, as well as for those who are looking for the opportunity to take their fundraising program to the next level.
Speaker: Marshall Ginn, Principle and Founder, Capital Development Strategies
Breakout 3: 4:00pm – 5:50pm
From Good to Great: Capital Campaigns
Description: "Greatness is not a function of circumstance. Greatness, it turns out is largely a matter of conscious choice, and discipline", Jim Collins. This session is designed to provide the participants with an overview of capital campaigns. We will focus on the strategy, structure, process and methodology of conducting capital campaigns. We will explain and examine the rigor and discipline of capital campaigning and explore how campaigns affect institutional growth and capacity.
Speakers: Michael Brodie, Managing Partner, Brodie, Collins, Cherel & Associates; Christine K. Owens, Director of Development, The Potomac School
FRIDAY (LINCOLN EAST ROOM)
Breakout 4: 9:00am – 10:30am
Moving Donors Up the Pyramid for Maximum Results
Description: Explore the multitude of ways that donors can be successfully cultivated and upgraded, including monthly donor programs, high dollar donor programs, naming opportunities and planned giving. Specific case studies and results will be shared. The session will include techniques that have worked organizations both large and small, so that all attendees will take away information they can use. This panel discussion will include speakers from several nonprofits, including Physician's Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) and Mercy Corps (both large, national mailers), and the Hebrew Home of Greater Washington (a regional mailer with a smaller file).
Speakers: Tiffany Neil, Partner, Lautman Maska Neill & Company; Lisa Maska, Partner, Lautman Maska Neill & Company
Breakout 5: 1:30pm – 3:00pm
Untapped Potential for Major Giving: Online Marketing for Tools for Cultivation & Stewardship
Description: While many nonprofits are using the Internet for direct response and special events fundraising, few fundraising professionals realize its potential for major giving. Case studies and new research with more than 4,000 high dollar donors across 20 nonprofit organizations and survey data from nonprofits across the country show that online engagement supports high dollar donor identification, cultivation, and stewardship.
Speakers: Vinay Bhagat, Founder and Chief Strategy Officer, Convio; Mark Rovner, President, Sea Change Strategies; Colleen McCulloch-Learch, Senior Research Analyst, Edge Research
Breakout 6: 3:30pm – 4:45pm
Build Local Capacity to Increase Major Giving: Two Models to Enhance Fundraising Cost-Effectiveness in Affiliate Organizations
Description: Whether you work for a national organization that has local affiliates/chapters or for a community-based organization, this session will spark your interest! Major and planned gifts are the most cost-effective fundraising programs, yet thousands of organizations still depend heavily on government grants or direct marketing techniques to the exclusion of major gifts. Learn about two projects that have begun to diversify affiliates’ funding bases and increase their capacity to raise major gifts at the local level. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) and American Red Cross have taken steps to develop major giving programs at the local level that engage and enlist volunteers to help raise bigger bucks. See how the CPB Major Giving Initiative empowered independent public television stations to identify, cultivate, and solicit major donors, generating more than $35 million in additional gifts nationwide. American Red Cross has engaged in multiple efforts over the past 15 years to increase engagement and support on the part of its volunteer leaders and build local major gifts programs. As a bonus, you’ll come away with web addresses that can get you started now on building a major giving program for your organization.
Speakers: Susan Dankoff, Managing Partner, Skystone Ryan, Inc.; R. Scott Lyons, Program Officer, CPB Major Giving Initiative; Lauri Rhinehart, VP Development Operations, American Red Cross; Kay Tuttle, Managing Director of Leadership Giving, Maryland Public Television
-Back to Track Descriptions-
