It is too expensive to allow lapsed donors to happen in our organizations. The end of the year provides a time of urgency for the organization and donor to make this a very good time to focus on our LYBUNTS and SYBUNTS. This video walks through cultivating and stimulating gifts from lapsed donors.

Cultures don’t change overnight. Taking small, patient steps can lead to new (and helpful) patterns of behavior. This four part series builds on the learning of the previous roundtables.

Board members and employees are prohibited from receiving gifts, fees, loans, or favors from suppliers, contractors, consultants, or financial agencies, which obligate or induce the board member or employee to compromise responsibilities to negotiate, inspect or audit, purchase, or award contracts with the best interest of __[org]__ in mind.

I particularly recognize the sensitivity of information regarding capital decisions, real estate purchases, decisions regarding closures, mergers, personnel issues, and other strategic plans that may have an impact on __[org]__'s competitive position relative to other organizations.

When people are uncomfortable enough for long enough, they become open to change long held traditions. This can directly impact your fundraising. This four part series builds on the learning of the previous roundtables.

While it’s easy to act and react, stepping back and gaining perspective will allow for deep reflection that can lead to helpful action. This four part series builds on the learning of the previous roundtables.

This is a great evaluation tool to use with your staff, key volunteers, and board members. Have each of them, or a select group of them complete the evaluation and then discuss the results together. You will each see things a little differently and that knowledge will be helpful in making real changes and improve in giving to your organization.

When fundraising best practices lead to conflict and anxiety, something in your organization’s culture around money is the cause. The Adaptive Leadership framework can provide a lens that leads to lasting change. This series builds through four sessions.

Some leaders want nothing to do with conversations about generosity. The reality is key staff and board members are positioned to have tremendous relationships alongside passion and knowledge of the organization making them tremendously important in the fundraising function. This roundtable will focus on being equipped to be a leader for generosity. We will also discuss ways to empower the board/council to take on this role and thrive in it. Because of the MLK holiday, this session was pre-recorded and is posted in the videos section of the Center website.

Most executives of non-profits know the generosity of their supporters and freely discuss that generosity. Churches sometimes want to keep this information secret from the pastor and some pastors don’t want to know. In this roundtable we will explore whether or not a pastor should know what people give and how to handle that information. Agency/institution executives are invited to this session to help share their perspectives with pastors about this topic.

Development councils are a wonderful way to engage generous donors. But what do development councils do? Join us as we discuss establishing development councils, their role and how we use them to audition potential governance board members.

Giving societies are useful tools in renewing and upgrading your donors. Join us as we discuss establishing and marketing giving societies, as well as using giving societies to share our gratitude to our donors.

One of the most successful methods to invite gifts in person is to ask a respected board member or other volunteer to join you during the donor visit. Proper preparation is essential for a motivational meeting, however. We will look at how to prepare your volunteer for the visit, and what that visit looks like.

This week we will review how to assess your website for your internal and external audience. When someone visits your website, you have 7 seconds to convince them to keep scrolling. Many organizations and churches built a website and then checked that box. But website interaction is constantly changing and if we don’t keep up, it sends a message that we aren’t current or organized. In this week's round table we will learn how to audit our websites for our different audiences and where content should be included and where it is sending damaging messages.

Social media platforms can be an excellent tool to raise awareness about your organization with potential clients, employees, or donors. But with so many messages fighting for attention in our newsfeeds, how can you create traction with your posts – especially if you have a limited or nonexistent digital media budget? Establishing a team of social media ambassadors could be the right solution to help your organization build its social media footprint and reach a bigger audience. Join us to learn more about: The difference between an influencer and an ambassador Identifying and approaching potential partners Levels of formality and setting expectations of ambassadors Quality vs. quantity of social media content

This week we will walk through how to conduct a self-evaluation communications audit to determine what your current messaging is really saying and doing for the level of engagement you receive from your stakeholders. If you wish more people knew, if you feel like people aren’t responding to the content you are sharing, this is for you. How we message and where we message is critical to building engagement as volunteers and donors. These tools can show you where you have room to improve and where you can lean into what you are doing well more deeply. Mitzie will walk you through the tool so you can do the audit yourself.

Different audiences care about different things and need different messages. Improved segmentation of communication will improve engagement and response. This session will focus on the basics of segmentation, and strategies your organization can employ today to improve your communications.

No letter or email should begin, "Dear Friend of Our Organization". If we know someone well enough to ask them for a gift, we know them well enough to call them by name. We can also improve their sense of connection by specifically referencing their previous support, passion issues, or other critical factors. But how do you personalize 1,000 letters? In this session, aimed at those who have not done this before, we will teach participants how to do a mail merge, start to finish.

In this session we'll share the best practices for asking for a gift. Whether you've never asked, or just want a refresher, participants will leave this session with new and renewed confidence to invite others to generosity.

Annual Funds give life to the ongoing work of non-profit organizations. From a very basic framework to a comprehensive annual strategy, developing a robust and effective annual fund makes more mission possible. During this Roundtable session, we’ll talk about annual fundraising strategies that can work for fundraising departments of all sizes. Learn to track important data and develop strategies around donor retention, segmentation, and recurring gifts to boost support to your organization.