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.
Research Basics Bootcamp offers instruction in the essentials of prospect research. This training is a must for those new to research or those who have had research added to their roles. No experience in the field is necessary to begin learning how to apply professional research methodologies. The two half days will cover such subjects as:
The Strategic Role of Advancement Research
Prospect Research Fundamentals
The Ethical Researcher
Advancement Research Sources and Methodology
Assessing Gift Capacity
Presenting Research
FACULTY
Lisa Fosteris the Director of Prospect Development at Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, where she is also an alumna, past parent and current parent. Lisa recently completed her six-year term as member of the Board of Directors of NEDRA. Over the course of her term, she served as the Treasurer of the Board of Directors, Conference Co-Chair for two NEDRA Conferences, Secretary of the Board, and Co-Chair of various committees. Lisa continues to serve on the NEDRA Programming Committee. Lisa recently stepped down as a Director of the Haverhill Foundation for Excellence in Education after serving as a director for over twenty years and has also served as a director of the Discovery Club Program.
Tara McMullen-King is Assistant Director and Data Insight Lead at the Helen Brown Group, where she works with a team of researchers and data insight consultants to support nonprofit clients all across the United States. She began her career in development in 2002 supporting the Major Gifts department at Simmons College, and ultimately went on to serve as Assistant Director of Prospect Research. Since that time, she has also worked as a Senior Research Analyst at MIT, as Associate Director of Prospect Management and Research at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and as Director of Development Research at Combined Jewish Philanthropies (CJP). Tara originally joined the Helen Brown Group team in 2007 and served as a Research Associate and ShareTraining coordinator until 2008 – she rejoined the company in 2013. She has been an active volunteer with NEDRA for many years and served on the board of directors from 2010-2016. During her time on the board, she served in many different roles, including terms as Vice President, Secretary, Chair of the Website and Technology Committee, Chair of the Volunteer Committee, and as Chair and Editor of NEDRA News. In addition, Tara has also been involved as a volunteer with Apra, serving stints on the Membership Committee, Chapters Committee, and Bylaws Task Force. An alumna of Smith College, she lives in the Witch City of Salem, MA, where she also operates a boutique wedding planning and coordination consultancy.
