In a tense election year, divisions feel sharp across the country. Nonprofit leaders are grappling with the question: How can we use our influence to bring people back together? What role can we as fundraisers play as we build relationships across the community?

This conversation will convene a panel of experienced leaders to discuss:

• How nonprofits can step up as community leadership to bridge divisions

• The special role that fundraisers play in that work

• Storytelling strategies that build understand, empathy, and connections

• Techniques for navigating difficult conversations

Moderator:

Bianca Derouene – President & CEO - Aperio Philanthropy

Panelists:

Jamie Dillon - Director of Advancement - Issue One   

 David Chaney - Capital Campaign Director - Houston Food Bank

John Donahue - Managing Director, Development - Brennan Center for Justice 

Michael Guerra  - Chief Sustainability Officer - San Antonio Food Bank 

This event is offered in collaboration with the George H. Heyman, Jr. Program for Philanthropy and Fundraising within the NYU SPS Center for Global Affairs.

by Radha Friedman

Fundraising for your nonprofit can feel never-ending and stressful, causing many fundraisers to burn out and quit.

You believe in the mission, and you do whatever it takes to reach your fundraising goals. However, somewhere along the way, you’ve inadvertently run over your boundaries and confused your priorities. You are overworked, overstressed, and starting to understand how Sisyphus must have felt pushing that boulder up the hill in vain.

In Fundraising Without Burnout, Radha Friedman, a philanthropic advisor with decades of experience funding nonprofits around the world, offers a frank and witty critique of how the “best practices” we’ve been taught are actually sabotaging our fundraising efforts. By debunking the myths that keep inequitable practices in place, Radha provides solutions that help nonprofit leaders redefine their purpose, prevent burnout, and meet their fundraising goals while reclaiming their peace.

Join us at this month’s book club for a lively conversation with nonprofit leaders and fundraisers. We'll discuss what we've learned from the book and how we're applying it to our day-to-day lives.

[Learn more about the book and order your copy at Goodreads]

Note: This will be an interactive, small-group event. Don't have time to read the book? No worries! Join us anyway to share your experiences and learn from others.

Elections affect us all—including all our fundraising programs. Some donors shift resources to campaigns; others invest more deeply in issue areas. As fundraisers, we face more noise in telling our stories and sparking conversations. We also have an opportunity to spotlight the relevancy of our missions and develop meaningful partnerships with donors.

This conversation will convene a panel of experienced leaders to discuss how to approach fundraising in this election season:

• What can we learn from past elections?

• How could the upcoming election affect the year-end giving season that follows?

• What strategies and tactics can fundraising teams use to elevate their work in a noisy environment?

• What should every organization be doing right now to prepare?

Moderator

Channon Lucas - Chief Administrative Officer - Mother Cabrini Health Foundation

Panelists

Anna Zawisza – Vice President of Development - Conservation Lands Foundation  
Shobana Gubbi - Chief Philanthropy Officer - Second Harvest of Silicon Valley 
Marissa Todd - Deputy Director – Midwest Innocence Project 
Jennifer Goforth - Senior Director of Individual Giving - Third Way

This event is offered in collaboration with the George H. Heyman, Jr. Program for Philanthropy and Fundraising within the NYU SPS Center for Global Affairs.

Fundraising success depends on creating a plan that is both strategically visionary and rigorously practical—simplifying the path to achieving your goal.

Through creating a roadmap, you will be able to drive pace, productivity, and results—all while making sure you are cultivating and building relationships authentically and with intention. 

In this session you’ll learn:

• How to create a donor pyramid

• How to plan for your specific number of asks

• How to identify what gaps exist and how to close them

Do you need customized, hands-on support to kickstart your relationship-based fundraising program? At Aperio, our experts work alongside your team to produce results quickly—and set you up for future success. We are offering a free 30-minute consultation to Summer Session attendees. Just sign up, attend, and you’ll receive an email invitation to schedule your consultation.

About the series

In nonprofit fundraising, summer is the season to regroup and plan for the coming year. This year, Aperio is going back to the basics with a three-part series, The relationship-based fundraising toolbox. In these free, online lunchtime discussions, you’ll learn to organize your donor lists, create your donor engagement plan, and develop a roadmap to your goal.

When your team strategically invests in cultivating donor relationships, the result is increased donor loyalty, increased engagement, and increased revenue for your mission.

A donor engagement plan ensures that every donor has a meaningful experience that grows their relationship, engagement, and giving over time—and creates a roadmap for your team to make the best use of their time.  

Combined with organized donor lists—the focus of the first event in this series—creating a donor engagement plan builds donors’ confidence that their gifts are making the intended impact, their partnership makes a difference, and they play a crucial role in the future of your mission.

In this session you’ll learn:

• What a donor engagement plan is   

• How to create a donor engagement plan   

• How to use a donor engagement plan  

Do you need customized, hands-on support to kickstart your relationship-based fundraising program? At Aperio, our experts work alongside your team to produce results quickly—and set you up for future success. We are offering a free 30-minute consultation to Summer Session attendees. Just sign up, attend, and you’ll receive an email invitation to schedule your consultation.

About the series

In nonprofit fundraising, summer is the season to regroup and plan for the coming year. This year, Aperio is going back to the basics with a three-part series, The relationship-based fundraising toolbox. In these free, online lunchtime discussions, you’ll learn to organize your donor lists, create your donor engagement plan, and develop a roadmap to your goal.

When your team strategically invests in cultivating donor relationships, the result is increased donor loyalty, increased engagement, and increased revenue for your mission.

Organizing your lists is the first step to cultivating donor relationships to their highest potential—and for everyone on your team understanding their part in the process.

How well do you know your donor lists? When was the last time you studied their potential? How confident are you that you are interacting with the right donors in the right way at the right time?

Combined with an engagement plan—which we’ll discuss next in this series—list organization builds donors’ confidence that their gifts are making the intended impact, their partnership makes a difference, and they play a crucial role in the future of your mission.

In this session you’ll learn:

• How to get a basic understanding of the donors in your database 

• How to create basic donor segments 

• How to narrow down a shortlist of highest-potential donor

Do you need customized, hands-on support to kickstart your relationship-based fundraising program? At Aperio, our experts work alongside your team to produce results quickly—and set you up for future success. We are offering a free 30-minute consultation to Summer Session attendees. Just sign up, attend, and you’ll receive an email invitation to schedule your consultation.

About the series

In nonprofit fundraising, summer is the season to regroup and plan for the coming year. This year, Aperio is going back to the basics with a three-part series, The relationship-based fundraising toolbox. In these free, online lunchtime discussions, you’ll learn to organize your donor lists, create your donor engagement plan, and develop a roadmap to your goal.

When your team strategically invests in cultivating donor relationships, the result is increased donor loyalty, increased engagement, and increased revenue for your mission.