Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) once said, “Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom.” Nonprofit organizations should not assume prior, current, or prospective donors understand and have faith in their major gift fundraising campaign plans. By setting aside the time of a knowledgeable staff member—preferably a seasoned development officer—and giving them the task of reviewing your nonprofit’s program and fundraising success stories (as well as the challenges) in an honest and objectively written fashion, nonprofits can propel themselves to new heights of fundraising success. Although some believe they must hire an expensive consulting firm to conduct a “feasibility study,” I have discovered nonprofits can take much of this work in-house, with very positive results.

Whether you are building a stewardship and donor relations team for the first time, preparing a team for a coming campaign, or seeking to improve an existing reporting structure, this presentation is for you. Join us as we take a look at how best to assess, structure, and build a team of donor relations professionals to meet the needs of your organization/institution so you can take away the tools you need to get the job done.

Strengthen your relationship with donors and your case for support with inspiring, clear communications. This webinar will help you consider how to build your organization’s public image with strategically targeted, engaging visual identity and messaging created to build brand awareness and support. This workshop will focus on best practices for building a strong brand purpose and personality, from critiquing your most essential positioning language to evaluating the images and stories you share with donors, clients, and other stakeholders. This session is designed for nonprofit staff and leadership members who want to develop clear, compelling, and consistent brand experience (visual identity and messages) across all of your communication channels and marketing materials.

Does your team desire to lead exciting, memorable programming for your donors that highlights the value of their philanthropy to the recipient? This webinar will feature Oklahoma State University’s strategy that incorporates student philanthropic volunteers to illustrate the impact of philanthropy at their institution. You will not want to miss this opportunity to learn how the Annual Giving and Donor Relations Teams collaborate to enhance engagement experiences through creating personal connections for donors by including students in all levels of OSU Foundation programming. Whether students are interacting at events alongside donors or leading stewardship projects on behalf of the institution, this partnership efficiently provides a win-win opportunity to educate students about philanthropy as well as providing authentic moments of gratitude for donors.

Join us for this exclusive event to see how you can ENGAGE donors online. Learn how colleges, universities, and foundations are providing donors with online access to fund financial data, scholarship recipient updates, and other fund communications online. This information also makes it seamless to produce donor reports at the click of a button!

Naming opportunities are a key component in major gifts fundraising for most organizations. Donor names are associated with campus-based spaces, programs, funds, and faculty positions. The science of using naming opportunities to motivate giving—and using strategy and policy to manage possible risks—is evolving. This session will highlight advances in cross-departmental coordination, recognition policy, design guidelines, and strategies for extending the excitement around naming opportunities. We’ll explore making naming opportunity outcomes more meaningful for all audiences and prepare attendees to negotiate challenging situations. With perspective gained, attendees will be better prepared to avoid possible conflict and maximize the impact of naming opportunities for their institutions and donors.

I know you plan, but is your plan comprehensive and in a shareable document with others on your team or within your organization? This webinar will help you start moving your ideas and calendar into manageable documents. We will discuss what should be included in a stewardship plan, how to implement the plan, and how to evaluate. Not only will it give you a sense of accomplishment to produce, others will be able to reference what needs to (and should) be done at the appropriate time.

What do you know about your donors? Do you know who they are? What they want from your organization after they make a donation? Why they donated in the first place? The donor experience is not about stewarding the donor after a one-time donation. It is about creating a positive donor-centered encounter at each touchpoint within your organization, leading to a much deeper relationship.

So what does donor-centered fundraising look like? Join us for an in-depth look at what donors want, and how your current donor experience measures up in meeting those needs. Learn how a great donor experience can equate to increased donations and improved donor-retention rates.

This webinar will provide a discussion on tracking and writing personalized acknowledgments at a decentralized organization. Processes will be addressed, with tips on how to track your letters, advice on addressing challenges such as data integrity, suggestions on how to avoid using templates, and strategies on partnering with colleagues to accomplish all of the above. We will also share four steps to writing a personalized acknowledgment letter, methods for editing to create clear and concise correspondence, and tips on how to build resources from within and without to ensure your department’s success.

Our profession is all about being donor-centric. But we can’t meet this obligation if our programmatic strategies are just carbon copies of perceived best practices in the field. To be truly successful, we must ensure that our programs are built from the ground up to support our ambition. Join Jeff Muller for an examination of several strategic approaches to designing a program that connects your donors’ needs with your institutional objectives. We will explore not only program design, but also how best to resource your strategy for maximum effect. The ideas explored in this webinar will be relevant to practitioners in any size shop and in any sector. And while the strategies and tactics will be of greatest interest to more senior practitioners, there should be something for all experience levels in this session.