1. Game Changers: How to Disrupt the Status Quo in Your Organization

TRACK: REBELS, RENEGADES, AND PIONEERS

Discover where you find yourself saying or thinking, “That can’t be done,” “That will never work,” “Yes, but,” or “We’ve never done that because.” Let’s reframe, reclaim and regain our power to make change. This session will have you talking about change differently and provide you with the tools and strategies to start making it happen immediately!

Marcia Coné, Ph.D.
Marcia Coné Consulting, East Greenwich, RI

2. Is Your Business Model Broken? The Truth About Fundraising and Capitalization

TRACK: REBELS, RENEGADES, AND PIONEERS

For too long in the nonprofit sector, we have fooled ourselves into thinking that breaking even at the end of the year meant success. Or that we need an endowment as we struggle to pay the bills. We will step back and challenge these too-long-held assumptions, challenging how flawed planning, communications and funding norms perpetuate our broken business models. Proper capitalization not only allows us to operate day-to-day, but gives a chance to take a risk and seize opportunity. It allows us to weather change and recover from the storm. Capital supports acquisitions or upgrades and helps us meet future facility and equipment needs. Grantmakers in the Arts has researched how under-capitalization is causing the chronic weakness that undermines the vitality of our sector. They have convened 600 organizations in fourteen cities around the country to test their model and emphasize that capitalization is the means to nonprofit success.

Brian Bonde, ACFRE
Advanced Certified Fundraising, LLC, Sioux Falls, SD

Janet Brown, MPA
Grantmakers in the Arts, Seattle, WA

3. Amplifying Philanthropy and Disruption

TRACK: REBELS, RENEGADES, AND PIONEERS

What does it mean to amplify and disrupt philanthropy? We need more giving since we’re stagnant as a percentage of GDP. Do we care enough? The affluent and wealthy dominate. Why don’t we consider philanthropy a democratizing activity? Social justice doesn’t exist. Yet much of society fights social change. Where’s the leadership? How do we build a nonprofit, philanthropic sector that can distinguish between equality and equity, and recognizes unearned privilege? How can we build communities that welcome diversity and embrace inclusion, and strive for social justice? How can philanthropy disrupt the status quo? How do we encourage funding institutions to engage in public policy work themselves—and invest in change by supporting advocacy? How can we rethink collective impact-and respect the long-term investment required to make change? So many questions and lots to discuss. Together we must amplify and disrupt.

Emmett Carson, Ph.D.
Silicon Valley Community Foundation, Mountain View, CA

Aaron Dorfman
National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy, Washington, DC

4. Fundraising for Social Change, Fundraising as Social Change

TRACK: REBELS, RENEGADES, AND PIONEERS

Wonderful things happen through philanthropy. Fundraising brings together people who help build strong communities with good education, arts and cultural activities, parks, healthcare and much more. We are fortunate for all this good. But there’s more. Without social justice, the other good isn’t as good. What about the fight for fairness, an equitable society? What about donors who give to build just communities? We must fundraise for social change. There’s not enough of that. And fundraising itself must become a social change tool. Often, fundraising is seen as a “necessary evil,” an uncomfortable strategy to get money to do great stuff. How sad that is. So let’s shift the paradigm and leverage fundraising as a tool for social change. And let’s make the tool itself, our own fundraising, fair. Explore these themes through the eyes of three diverse women who’ve dedicated their lives to social change in the USA, Canada and Mexico.

Cathy Mann, CFRE, MA
Cathy Mann & Associates, Toronto, Canada

Kim Klein
Klein and Roth Consulting, Oakland, CA

Andréa Medina Rosas
Ciudad de Mexico

5. Age is Just a Number: Managing Intergenerational Teams

TRACK: REBELS, RENEGADES, AND PIONEERS

There’s a lot of talk and focus on how to communicate with and solicit gifts from donors in each generation: the Baby Boomers, Gen X and Millennials. But what about your teams? As the development field continues to expand, more and more young professionals are becoming fundraisers. They are excited to raise money for a great cause and want to do a great job. However, like the generational differences in our donors, our teams’ needs vary by generation. What makes the difference between the Baby Boomers, Gen X and Millennials when it comes to work ethic, attitudes about work and how each group views personal goals? This session will help participants understand the specific characteristics of each generation and how good intergenerational management can help a manager get the best out of the team.

Kishshana Palmer, CFRE
Kishshana & Company, West Hempstead, NY

6. Demolish This Fundraising Thing and Start Over

TRACK: REBELS, RENEGADES, AND PIONEERS

Welcome, rebels! Are you mired in best practices? Beware! Our so-called best practices are doing real and increasing damage. Blind reliance on myth and tribal wisdom harms results. Too often, our field—including our conferences—suffers from jargon-filled bull. Too many folks continue to mouth and repeat the same old, same old. If we’re so damn smart and talented, why are we losing donors, standing still, or in many cases, declining? Because too few of us challenge the status quo. What’s the greatest risk to the future of our beloved sector? We don’t challenge enough. We don’t demand, follow, and apply research. We don’t question past and current great fundraisers and authors. We seem to fear where no person has gone before. But not at this session! It’s past time to challenge. Bring your rebel mindset and let’s make change, now!

Cherian Koshy, CFRE
Des Moines Performing Arts, Des Moines, IA

Tycely Williams, CFRE
YWCA USA, Washington, DC

Ashley Belanger
Rhode Island Urban Debate League, Providence, RI

7. The Moment We’ve Been Preparing For: It’s Still All About Relationships

TRACK: REBELS, RENEGADES, AND PIONEERS

Just imagine the ACLU after the 2016 presidential election: A surge in online contributions. Thousands of folks want to volunteer. Increased interest from new philanthropic partners. Unprecedented and rapid growth. This belief in and need for the ACLU is both a privilege and responsibility. So how does an organization respond? How did the ACLU of Northern California recalibrate quickly and strategically? Respond to this volume of interest and support? Plan for long-term, sustainable engagement of supporters, new and stalwart alike? Use its own privilege and visibility to help other social justice organizations? Many of us have never experienced anything like this—the fight for justice fueled by unwavering engagement of people, heightened media attention, and countless opportunities for creative philanthropic partnership. Join the conversation with ACLU-NC leadership to hear what has changed and what hasn’t. Learn key takeaways and lessons learned thus far.

Farah Brelvi
ACLU of Northern California, San Francisco, CA

Abdi Soltani
ACLU of Northern California, San Francsco, CA

Cori Stell
ACLU of Northern California, San Francisco, CA

8. Pivoting: The Secret to Successfully Handling Difficult Donor Conversations

TRACK: RELATIONSHIP BUILDING

Every gift officer faces tough cultivation situations. Perhaps the charity makes a misstep or faces a scandal. Maybe the prospect feels strongly negative about a key aspect of the institution. Sometimes there is simply an emotional issue the donor can’t get past. All of these can bring a promising gift trajectory to a screaming halt. The successful officer has learned how to handle these tricky situations with grace (if not ease!) by pivoting and reframing the situation for the prospect. This session explores some of these tough situations, breaking down the secrets of effective pivoting into several easy-to-remember rules that can apply in most situations. We will also engage in two tough situation role-plays, allowing officers to explore using his or her newly-learned skills in real-life situations so they will be prepared the next time a prospect’s objections threaten to derail cultivation toward a major or annual gift.

Anne Melvin, JD
Harvard University, Cambridge, MA

9. Giving 3.0: Embracing the New Diversity in 21st Century Philanthropy

TRACK: SECURING THE GIFT

Changing demographics and a global economy demand that contemporary fundraisers understand how to be successful in increasingly multicultural communities. Over the past 30 years, the philanthropy field finally has recognized that all communities have some form of philanthropy. However, inclusion of donors of color still remains the elusive last frontier of American fundraising. Furthermore, there are new social identities that challenge conventional notions of diversity defined in broad ethnic or racial terms.

Catholic Charities of Santa Clara County, San Jose, CA
Sponsored by The Alford Group and the AFP Diversity & Inclusion Committee

10. Prospecting for New Major Gift Donors Within and Beyond Your Donor File

TRACK: SECURING THE GIFT

There are various options for screening your donor file, and many organizations are keen to avail themselves of this data. But what happens after you screen your file? How do you make sure that your agency is going to reap the benefits of the expense you incur, and how can you ensure that gift officers will prospect successfully within this pool of prospects? David Rubin, the senior director of major gifts at a leading INGO, used his systems and prospect management background to devise a process for identifying and assigning lower-level donors into gift officer portfolios. He will share the lessons he learned along the way, using stories and data reflecting results to-date.

David Rubin
Mercy Corps, Portland, OR

11. Fundraising Events and Major Gifts: How Do We Get from One to the Other?

TRACK: SECURING THE GIFT

“Help! My board just suggested we launch another special event!” Fundraising events can be successful—they raise money for your mission and help introduce people to your organization’s great work. They can also cost a lot of money to produce and consume significant staff/volunteer time. Participants will learn to: Define a successful event and measure its success. Decide whether to continue the tradition. Make events more impactful or choose alternatives. Discover how to analyze fundraising events to determine their TRUE costs. Learn how special events can fill your major donor pipeline. Make informed decisions about how events fit with your overall fundraising plan. Participants will receive analysis worksheets and tips for leveraging events into larger gifts.

Kent Stroman, CFRE, AFP Master Trainer
Stroman & Associates, Bartlesville, OK