Concurrent Session 6 | October 6 | 3:30 PM – 4:30 PM

Session 6D: Be Careful Where You Step: Navigating Authority and Permission While Driving Projects Forward

Jeannie Ingram

Ever found yourself in a situation with internal stakeholders or irate donors where you were expected to take action but felt you didn’t have the authority? Have you had an idea or improved donor experience but had a challenging time getting buy-in? Ever been pulled into a complex donor issue without direction around what you were expected to do? Whether you are a director or administrative assistant, you will navigate the question of authority at some point. This session explores challenges around authority and permission, providing practical suggestions on how to strengthen your communication style and ability to move projects forward with or without explicit authority.

Key takeaways

• Decisions are hard, and most people are happy to let others make them. What is decision-making like in your institution? Who do you need to influence to move your work forward?
• You are qualified to make decisions and offer recommendations—in fact, most executive teams wish you would. There are simple ways you can clarify authority in a project—consider RACI charts and other organizational change theory tools
• Shifting from a passive “How can I help you?” communications model to a proactive “I suggest” model can have a big impact on how managers and executive team members perceive you and the value you bring to a project

Jeannie Ingram, Senior Associate Director, Faculty of Arts and Sciences Donor Relations, Harvard University

 Jeannie Ingram began her fundraising and donor relations career at the Harvard Art Museums before leaving to begin a donor relations program at the New England Aquarium. In the aftermath of the pandemic, she left the Aquarium to manage the stewardship program at Babson College. She returned to Harvard in 2021 and is now managing principal gift stewardship and the narrative fund reporting team for the Faculty of Arts & Sciences. When she's not at work you will find her encouraging her daughter to get off her cell phone, taking the dog for a walk, or reading historical fiction.

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Session 6E: How to Streamline Your Reporting Efforts and Maximize Your Resources

Sara Moïse and Robb Hoffheins

Stewardship budgets are increasingly under pressure or at a minimum highly scrutinized. Maximizing your output requires efficiency. However many of us are still using disparate tools and processes. We need to embrace technology to multiply our output. In this session, Sara Moise, Director of Donor Relations at Tulane University, will showcase how she and her team are using the Mythos Platform to do just that.

You will learn how to

• Structure for success
• Streamline workflow for efficiency

Sara Moïse, Senior Director, Donor RelationsTulane University

 After graduating from the University of Southern California believing (incorrectly) that she was destined to become an attorney, Sara Moïse began her career in philanthropy as a jack-of-all-trades at the Bogart Pediatric Cancer Research Program in Los Angeles. She then specialized in stewardship at Keck Medicine of USC, running an acknowledgment and recognition program during a $6B campaign. After stretching her wings at cultural and advocacy organizations, she found that higher education is home and leads a best-in-class stewardship and donor relations program for Tulane University. She holds a bachelor’s degree in English and a certificate in fundraising and institutional development from UCLA.

 Robb Hoffheins, Head of Product, Mythos

Robb is Head of Product for Mythos. In this role, he ensures that Mythos delivers maximum value for customers. Robb has been with Mythos for over 10 years and has over 26 years of experience in product marketing, project management, sales, and marketing.

Healthcare
Foundation

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Session 6F: Saying No So You Can Say Yes: Boundary Setting for Strategic Outcomes

Jamie Dobbs and Adrianne DeWeese

Have you been inundated with event requests? Has your event shop been overwhelmed with a pandemic-induced, pent-up demand for events? Or do your fundraisers, board members, and donors simply come to you with more requests for events than you can handle? In this session, we’ll workshop how events staff can set boundaries on their capacity, determine which event requests to take on, and how to constructively say no to the rest.

You will learn how to

• Set boundaries to prevent burnout and maximize outcomes
• Uphold your boundaries through your work planning

Jamie Dobbs, Donor Engagement Manager, Earthjustice

 Jamie enjoys the innovation and creativity of donor engagement work, and finds satisfaction in helping donors become stronger ambassadors for environmental and social justice causes. In her 11+ year career at Earthjustice, she has worked in donor relations, helped re-start the donor events program, and built the donor travel program from scratch. In 2021, her team received two ADRP International Stewardship Awards (Events Category and Innovation Category) for their creative pivots during the pandemic to engage donors through at-home travel experiences. Outside of work, you’ll find Jamie hiking among wildflowers, gardening with her husband, or skiing in the mountains of Montana, where she lives.

Adrianne DeWeese, MPA, Assistant Director of Philanthropy, Rockhurst High School

 Adrianne DeWeese is a passionate nonprofit professional who believes donor relations best practices are equitable, holistic, and sustainable. While her career began in community journalism, Adrianne has enjoyed a career in donor relations and annual giving fundraising for 6 years, working at a private Catholic Jesuit all-boys high school, a private health sciences university, and privately endowed science library. Outside of work and volunteering, Adrianne enjoys cooking, reading, running, and writing. Adrianne and her software engineer husband,JohnLeacox, live in Overland Park, Kansas, with a Siamese named Miso and a Tabby named Sushi, whom they adopted earlier this year.

Private College or University
Private Secondary School
Healthcare
Environmental Organization

Medium Shop (6-10 staff)
Large Shop (11+ staff)

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Session 6G: Don't be Overwhelmed by Underutilization: Tackling the Issue of Unspent Funds

Kailyn Gramly

To report impact to benefactors and inspire their continued engagement in our organizations, their gift has to be spent! Sometimes that’s easier said than done. If you struggle with unspent or underutilized funds, this session is for you! We will share how we tackled this issue from start to finish and highlight our successes, opportunities for growth, and what we learned along the way. Learn how to evaluate underutilized funds and create a project plan, as well as train and work with business partners. We will also provide sample outreach and metrics to track successes, and tools to make the project sustainable.

You will learn

• Why targeting underutilized funds within your organization is important and how to identify these funds
• Tools to improve relationships and trust with business partners outside Advancement
• Sample metrics for tracking successes and how to make projects sustainable

Kailyn Gramly, Stewardship Manager, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus

 After starting as an office administrative assistant, Kailyn Gramly quickly found her passion in stewardship and benefactor relations. She has now been on the benefactor relations team for more than six years and has loved every second! Kailyn handles acknowledgment efforts for five schools and colleges across campus, fund management and gift agreements, scholarship stewardship, benefactor recognition, and much more. She enjoys celebrating and engaging benefactors through meaningful and consistent communication and reporting on the impact of their philanthropy.

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