Annual gathering (virtually) for fundraising professionals in Upstate New York. This one-day virtual event will feature workshops, lectures, seminars, and professional networking.
Keynote speakers are Chandra Montgomery of the University of Southern California presenting The Future of Philanthropy is Inclusive, Andrew Schultz of Benz Whaley Flessner is presenting The World Turned Upside Down: Risk and Opportunity in 2020, and Dawn Galasso of iWave is presenting Lean In: How The Last Worldwide Crisis Prepared Me for 2020. Other presentations given by peer professionals :
Writing and Analyzing Contact Reports – Joe Stabb
Customizing Your Stellar Fundraising Stories to Succeed in Grant Applications – Dianne H. Leonard
An Introduction to Visualizing Spatial Data and Answering Questions with GIS – Nicholas Hepler
Young Professionals Program – Lisa LaTrovato
Tips and Tricks to Search the SEC.gov Website for the Prospect Researcher – Roger Magnus
To Affinity and Beyond – Dawn Glasso
Analyzing Email Data to Identify Donors – Joe Stabb
Let the Bird Fly: Working Remotely in a Caged Environment – Bill Powers
Engaging Millennials to Raise Big Money – Alyssa Wright
Go Beyond Google, How to Use Library Resources For Your Fundraising Research – Juan Denzer
Analytics Throughout Your Campaign, An Overview – Marianne Pelletier
Prospect Management. Everyone loves the idea of having a prospect management system in place at their organization, but it is not always easy to move from an idea to an actual implemented system. There are many pieces involved in creating a prospect management system and simply knowing where to begin and how to proceed can be a daunting task. There may be internal obstacles that you need to navigate, such as: lack of time to work on creating a system, lack of staff (you may be a solo shop, or on a small team), lack of buy-in from the top, and/or a lack of understanding as to why a system is needed by your fund raising team.
There is no “one size fits all” prospect management system. Each system needs to be tailored to the needs, nuances, and existing processes of your organization. Ruthie and Amitha have both created prospect management systems from the ground up, both with and without initial buy-in from leadership. They will help guide you through the process of how to create a system for your organization. Attendees will leave with the following:
Ability to make a convincing case for creating a prospect management system
Strategies for where to begin, whether or not there is initial buy-in from top leadership
Templates for various pieces of a prospect management system
A list of resources that will aid with building their own prospect management system
PRESENTERS
Ruthie Giles is the Associate Director of Advancement Services at Westfield State University. Ruthie is considered to be a thought leader in the field of prospect management, having created prospect management systems for a number of organizations and spoken at a number of conferences on the topic. Previously she has worked at Amherst College, Mount Holyoke College, Harold Grinspoon Foundation, The Loomis Chaffee School, and the Williston Northampton School.
Amitha Vasanth has been the Director of Prospect Management, Research and Analytics at Babson College since September 2018, where she is particularly responsible for enhancing the existing prospect management process. Prior to joining Babson, she was a Senior Advancement Researcher at University of Massachusetts Medical School and UMass Memorial Medical Center where she managed all prospect research and data requirements of the development staff and senior leadership, and played a key role in establishing the prospect management process. Her prior experiences include working as a journalist and as program officer for a community-based organization in India. She has Master’s and Bachelor’s degree in Politics and International Relations.
