Fundraising is a top priority for any nonprofit organization, yet many boards are not structured to emphasize its importance. It’s time to think about your board’s composition, each individual’s purpose, and then how to strategize your development needs. Here you will learn to leverage your current board and to attract the right future talent.

There are misconceptions around expanding a nonprofit board to include individuals who traditionally have not had access to serve. Despite increasing discussions of diversifying boards and proven benefits for expanding membership on both an organization’s mission and bottom line, the membership, and in particular the leadership, of nonprofit boards today is still largely white and primarily male. Organizations are getting stuck on how to diversify, as opposed to identifying reasons why access to board service is traditionally homogeneous and changing their search strategy. Boards should recognize their roles in making change, learn why it’s critical to your organization’s success, and how to begin the process.

The review process can seem opaque, but behind every award is a real person (who may actually pick up the phone). What are the ways to best engage decision-makers to get advice or secure a meeting? How can you develop and leverage the human connection that may unconsciously affect grants?

Find out what sponsors are really looking for and how they are making decisions in today’s ever-changing environment.

In this fast-paced, must-attend session, you will hear from three industry experts on what’s working now in direct marketing fundraising. You’ll head back to the office with valuable tips that you can put to work to improve revenue, boost retention, and reduce costs for your program.

Do you know what GDPR stands for and why it’s important? What the BBB requires for the use of its seal? Or what recent tariffs mean for production costs?  Don’t despair! This session will go in-depth on urgent data privacy issues, on-the-horizon production and postage developments, and the real scoop on charity watchdog groups.

The enthusiastic volunteer who takes up all your time, committee member who hasn’t raised any money in three years, trustee who says she can’t introduce you to her best friend who’s a significant philanthropist – we all have been challenged by well-meaning yet difficult volunteers.   Our panel will share tactics and true life stories for thoughtfully managing these volunteers and for managing up so that a volunteer is never your problem alone.

Join us to hear from an all-star data-driven stewardship team who will pull back the curtain to show you exactly how donor data can improve your stewardship program.  You’ll have the opportunity to practice putting that data to work in this highly interactive session.  You’ll also role play stewardship conversations with “mystery” donors.

Beginner to mid-level – you have or are starting a planned giving program and want to make sure you are focusing your time and resources to get the best possible results. We explore 10 common marketing mistakes; avoiding them will move your program in the right direction.

This session will assist beginners in understanding how various planned gifts work. It will focus on the primary elements of each gift type. We’ll discuss how to determine which types are appropriate for various donors, and we’ll discuss how a creative and personalized approach to donors will result in more and larger planned gifts.

You close the gift, finalize the agreement, and acknowledge. Do all major gift donors need a stewardship plan? Yes! Small and large shops, formal and informal teams will benefit from this dynamic discussion on how to sustain your donor relationships through thoughtful and fun stewardship – annually, monthly, or anytime! Stewardship is so much more than a piece of the donor cycle. Strategic stewardship brings major gift donors into the culture of the organization and builds sustainable philanthropy.

At FRDNY 2018, Delzotti and Schumacher presented this popular session and now they’re bringing it back – this time on a 2.0 level! Building a successful major gifts program is equal parts art and science. The art of major gifts is individually tailored relationship building. The science is the methodology used to build those relationships. Thus, the better your science, the freer you are to practice the art. That method involves creating portfolios, building donor and prospect pipelines, and moving donor relationships forward using a methodical moves management system.

Creating meaningful campaigns that inform and engage isn’t easy in a world where we are bombarded with promotions from all sides. Learn strategies to develop lasting campaigns that rise above the clutter to drive awareness, inspire action, and raise funds. Perfect for beginners and mid-career professionals.

This session will explore how communications teams can advance programs, development, and advocacy goals by growing a pipeline of connections, building top-of-mind awareness, and more. We’ll talk about silos, collaboration, and how to put your mission front-and-center in all communications. It will marry theory with real-world nonprofit examples.

You know your donors have deeply personal reasons for giving. They also watch and learn from others. Drawing on verbatim statements from 150+ high-profile donors, we see five inspiring Major Donor Archetypes—five distinct approaches to making an impact—that are influencing all donors today.

Join our renowned speakers as they perform a deep dive into giving data from thousands of nonprofits and millions of donors both nationwide and in the New York metro area.

You want to give your donors a personalized digital experience, but making it happen can be daunting. Join us for a jargon-free look at combining your supporter data with best practices in online engagement and tactics. If creating donor journeys has been on your list, this session is for you!

Join nonprofit leaders who will discuss how they developed fundraising plans commensurate with immediate and long term visions. Learn from their insights on the planning process, donor engagement, and how they can be best utilized as the face of your organization.

Many donors embrace giving to nonprofits through events and prefer contributing to a cause this way.  Learn why donors say yes to event giving.  Gain insights from our panel of donors and leaders who will explore what makes group fundraising powerful and how you can use it to raise more funds for your event.

You’ve been running your gala, golf outing, walk, etc. for many years and returns seem to be diminishing. Fatigue has set in with your staff and your board, and new honorees are hard to find. Don’t despair! This session’s seasoned fundraisers will share their experiences on how to assess, reimagine and reenergize your event to attract more attendees and bring in more revenue.

Virtual reality represents the next generation in immersive storytelling. Come see how Best Friends Animal Society, Make-A-Wish, and other leading nonprofits have used VR to create compelling cases for support that have resulted in fundraising gains of more than 25% over traditional methods.

In this fast-paced session on all things digital, tech, and social media, a panel of experts will provide bite-size tips, allowing the audience to come away with practical and applicable ideas for improving their email, social media, digital acquisition, and online renewal campaigns. This session will show you snapshots of both proven and fresh techniques and tools that are successful for other organizations. You will also have a chance to ask the experts for advice on your specific issues.

This workshop is designed to provide a roadmap to launching a consulting practice for those who are experts in relationship and fund development. While embarking on an independent enterprise may be a new endeavor for some, most of the time individuals with a minimum of 15-20 years of work experience in a managerial position are most primed to establish a consulting practice and would benefit most from these insights.