Step up to the plate!

Join us for our monthly breakfast meeting at 8:00 a.m. on June 20, 2103 at the Radisson RTP located at 150 Park Drive Durham, NC 27709.

Ten Self-Care Strategies to Achieve Fundraising Success

In this interactive session, participants will have opportunity to delve deep into their personal and professional goals, whether an Executive Director or Fundraising staff member, and how to create the work/life balance they crave. Participants will have the opportunity to evaluate their personal career goals; create a professional development plan; learn how to building healthy relationships with co-workers and volunteers;  explore stress, time and organizational management strategies; and how to become an effective and outstanding member of the staff learning best practices for fundraising, financial development planning, research and analysis, and much more. A guided workbook will be provided to participants so they can follow along through each topic, and then take with them to complete in detail on their own or with friends and colleagues.

Join us at the NC Bar Association at 1:00 p.m. on July 10, 2103 for an audio/web conference.

The Anatomy of Engaging Email Campaigns – Mike Sunz

Nonprofits are playing catch-up to the sophisticated email campaigns that retailers and social buying websites deliver to their constituents. These campaigns deliver compelling offers and customized content based on interests, preferences, past behaviors, and much more. Factor in social media alerts and old-fashioned emails from friends, and inboxes have become a cluttered, competitive place. Nonprofits are now challenged with delivering personalized email campaigns, despite often limited staff and resources. This session will cover how to efficiently plan, structure, and execute engaging email campaigns that deliver conversions. We’ll uncover missed opportunities to engage critical segments in every email you send. We’ll also examine lessons learned from nonprofits whose email campaigns have surpassed their goals and industry averages.

At the conclusion of this session, participants will know:

• What nonprofits can learn from sophisticated retail email programs
• How to deliver compelling, highly personalized email campaigns that engage constituents
• How to utilize email testing to improve conversion rates

Target Audience

• Beginner to intermediate.
• Communications, marketing, and development staff.

About the Presenter

Mike Sunz is a Sr. Internet Marketing Consultant at Blackbaud, where he advises nonprofits on email, online giving, SEO, web analytics and social media strategies. He previously managed the turnaround of the Ride For Roswell, including the event’s growth from $330,000 to $1.2 million over a three-year period. He contributes to ngEngage.com.

MONTHLY MEETING MEMBERS
If you are a Monthly Meeting Member this event is free to you. Please fill in this form to register.

NON-MEMBERS
Please register using our shopping cart below.

Join us for our monthly breakfast meeting at 8:00 a.m. on September 19, 2103 at the Radisson RTP located at 150 Park Drive Durham, NC 27709.

Tips for Giving a Knockout Speech

Did you know that speaking in public is the #1 fear of 43% of people in the world? The #2 fear is DEATH. The #3 fear is fear of flying.

Even if you aren’t afraid of presenting a speech, how do you know if you are tuned in to your audience?

Ask yourself these questions:

• Does the audience understand your objectives?
• Do you know how to recover from an “oops” moment (like drawing a blank while speaking)?
• What do you do if you see folks yawning in the audience?

Sharon A. Hill, Distinguished Toastmasters, will present a high energy, interactive session to answer those and many more questions.

Join us at the NC Bar Association at 1:00 p.m. on October 10, 2103 for an audio/web conference.

Annual Fund & Major Gifts Partnerships:  Pipeline Management & Donor Maximization, Michael Delzotti, CFRE, Chris Kasavich CFRE

When the span between fundraising campaigns is measured in hours, it can be difficult to think about anything but the next major gift. And while a focus on cultivating and soliciting these high-wealth prospects is key to a successful fundraising effort, where do those prospects come from? The most effective fundraising directors know an integrated approach which consistently acquires and upgrades annual giving donors is critical to populating major gift portfolios.

This course will examine the interchanges between annual giving and major gifts, with a careful eye on strategy and tactics to enhance both programs as well as the overall fundraising effort. In this case, 1 + 1 really do add up to more than 2!

Course participants will come away with a greater understanding of the roles of both programs when they work well together, and specific steps to maximize returns in or out of a campaign. While this is a great session for development directors, this is also a good session for Executive Directors and CEOs who are looking to enhance their existing development efforts.

At the conclusion of this session, participants will:

• Understand how a robust annual giving program works not only to generate current-use dollars, but future major gift prospects.
• Understand how major gift officers can work with their annual giving colleagues to advance the organization and build the donor pipeline.
• Have concrete next steps and tools for their annual giving and major gift programs to improve their current situation and advance a comprehensive pipeline management strategy.

Target Audience

Beginner to intermediate fundraisers, although senior fundraisers and management will also benefit from the systems and strategic principles presented.

About the Presenters

After several years in healthcare administration, Mike Delzotti, a Chicago native, began his nonprofit career as the program administrator for Washington workshops, in Washington DC. He then moved to a public foundation in Los Angeles and later spent time as an executive director of development at UCLE and as the VP of development & marketing at Special Olympics Southern California.

Since moving to Houston, Mike has been a director of development/team lead for Rice University, the chief development officer of the Houston food bank and is now a director of philanthropic resources at MD Anderson.

In addition to being past president of the association of fundraising professionals (Greater Houston Chapter), he is also a member of AFP international’s political action committee (PAC) board, a member of their committee on directorship (2012-2013) and chair of their US government relations committee. He is vice chair of the development committee for the space center Houston board of directors, a member of the Fall Creek Elementary PTO, an AFP certified master trainer and a fellow of the Paul Harris rotary international foundation. Mike and his very patient wife Yvette Money enjoy an above average eight year-old daughter Caroline Fiona.

Chris Kasavich has been a professional fundraiser for eleven years, serving in a variety of positions and nonprofit sectors.

He began his career in fundraising at Rice University as their first Leadership Giving officer for Annual Giving before joining their Major Gifts team. After four years he joined the Houston Symphony as Director of Corporate Relations, where he managed the Corporate Relations team in engaging and stewarding new and existing corporate partners.

Currently he is a Director of Development at Baylor College of Medicine, and is responsible for college direct response (annual fund, employee giving, and alumni scholarship giving), grateful patient programs, and major gift fundraising.

Chris earned his CFRE in 2009, and graduated with honors from the University of Houston Bauer College of Business with an MBA in 2010. He is a past Board Member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals-Greater Houston Chapter, and is a past chair of the AFP-Houston Ask the Experts professional development conference.

Through AFP and the Center for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Leadership at Rice University he has presented seminars on corporate giving, annual giving, donor pipeline management, and the employment of professional marketing strategy in fundraising and annual campaigns.

MONTHLY MEETING MEMBERS
If you are a Monthly Meeting Member this event is free to you. Please fill in this form to register.

NON-MEMBERS
Please register using our shopping cart below.

Join us for our monthly breakfast meeting at 8:00 a.m. on October 17, 2103 at the Radisson RTP located at 150 Park Drive Durham, NC 27709.

Jumpstart:  Social Media Best Practices for Nonprofits

Overwhelmed by social media?  Not convinced it really helps a cause?  Curious  about  the purpose of a hashtag?

Join Jen Newmeyer, Digital Media Manager at the Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina, for a jumpstart session of social media best practices for nonprofits.

As an “Accidental Techie,” Jen will share case studies of successful initiatives at the Food Bank and how these ideas and initiatives can be implemented immediately at small to large nonprofits alike.  You’ll gather exciting tips and tricks that will lift your social media efforts to new heights!