Concurrent Sessions 2

2A: Moving from Donor Relations 101 to Strategic Engagement 505

What would it look like to go from basic donor relations to advanced donor engagement -- from 101 to 505? Join this panel discussion as seasoned practitioners talk about how our profession has evolved -- moving from administrative helper to strategic partner. Learn how they have set their sights on moving to 505 and beyond in preparation for their upcoming campaigns. Get some inspiration!

All Audiences  ⬧  All Levels  ⬧  Any size shop

Kathleen Diemer has worked in fundraising for almost three decades. During her tenure at two universities, she has led every behind the scenes fundraising unit - from Donor Relations to Strategic Advancement Services. From 2013 to 2018 she served on the board of ADRP, including time as both Secretary-Treasurer and President. A proud University of Maryland Terrapin, Kathleen holds a B.A. in Journalism and a Graduate Certificate in Nonprofit Management and Leadership from the university. While pursuing her graduate certificate through the Maryland's Do Good Institute, she was honored to receive multiple fellowship awards and be named a Do Good Nonprofit Leadership Fellow.

Having worked in advancement for more than 30 years, Debbie Meyers honed her editorial skills by writing countless acknowledgments, talking points, proposals, gift agreements, and impact reports. During that time, she created or enhanced operations, communications, donor relations, and stewardship programs at Chautauqua Institution, the University of Maryland, Carnegie Mellon University, and the University of Florida. She also built communications and development programs for a Catholic high school, an art museum, and a health center development office. An ADRP founding board member, she chaired the international conference in 2011 and has presented at every other one. Debbie is a part-time writer/editor for Rutgers University Foundation and chief inspiration officer for her consulting business. Living in Mayville, NY, with her high school drum major, Paul, she has four grown children and three grandchildren, along with three rescue mutts: a pit-lab mix named Bo, Boo the Aussie, and Marco Polo, a chihuahua.

2B: Exploring the Power Dynamics Between Donors and Recipients

A recent pilot study at the University of West Florida delved into the dynamics of donor-recipient relationships among scholarship recipients. Through interviews with ten recipients, the study illuminated the impact of donor-funded scholarships and the relational nuances involved. This research not only sheds light on the experiences of scholarship recipients but also offers profound insights for professionals in fundraising and donor relations across diverse nonprofit sectors. Understanding how recipients perceive and engage with donor support is pivotal for cultivating meaningful relationships and fostering trust. This session bridges academia with practice, offering actionable strategies for effectively communicating with both recipients and donors. Attendees will gain invaluable insights into relationship-building, ethical considerations, and the potential for mutual benefit. Join us to uncover the keys to fostering impactful donor-recipient relationships, applicable across various nonprofit domains.

All Audiences  ⬧  All Levels  ⬧  Any size shop

Elizabeth Gray is a Donor Relations professional at the University of Louisville with a passion for connecting people for a common purpose. With six years of experience in higher education development, she has established herself as a dynamic and innovative professional. Elizabeth holds a Master of Arts in Strategic Communication and Leadership from the University of West Florida. As someone who understands the importance of philanthropy at a deeper level, Elizabeth brings a unique perspective to her work. She is a scholarship recipient who wouldn't be where she is today without the support of others, Elizabeth knows how critical stewardship is to the donor lifecycle. Outside of her professional endeavors, Elizabeth enjoys spending time with her husband, Nick, and dog, Olivia. She also enjoys spending time at the beach, in the garden, or traveling to different national parks and botanical gardens.

2C: “Everything You Need Is Already Inside of You (And That Makes You a Great Donor Relations Professional!)”

You were a donor relations professional long before you knew it was a career path. You cultivated your craft through your favorite subjects in school, your after-school activities, and your post-secondary education studies. These collective experiences have made you the stellar donor relations professional you are today. You will rediscover the experiences that brought you to where you are in your career today, and how to leverage them to strengthen healthy relationships with your organization's donors, your colleagues, and yourself. Stories are at the heart of strong and sustainable donor relations, and all-powerful stories start within ourselves. By rediscovering and recapturing our favorite stories, we can empower donors to own their stories on why they give to our respective organizations. Session attendees will walk away with applicable tools to take back to their teams, including frameworks of questions to ask donors to help them rediscover their relationships with a nonprofit organization, and discovery questions and exercises for themselves to reconnect with the stories that led them to today, and how to keep building those positive experiences for years to come!

All Audiences  ⬧  All Levels  ⬧  Any size shop

Adrianne DeWeese, MPA, CFRE, is Assistant Director of Philanthropy at Rockhurst High School in Kansas City, Missouri. Prior to joining Rockhurst High School in March 2023, Adrianne led annual giving and donor relations efforts at Kansas City University, a private osteopathic medical school; and the Linda Hall Library, one of the world's foremost science, engineering, and technology libraries. She is passionate about philanthropic efforts involving education, science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine. Adrianne began her career in community journalism at two daily newspapers. Her reporting earned accolades from the Kansas and Missouri State Press associations, as well as the Society of Professional Journalists and Heart of America Awards. Adrianne gives back to the community as a volunteer at Girls on the Run Kansas City, Lead to Read KC, and Saint Luke's South Hospital. She is an active member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals Greater Kansas City Chapter and the Association of Donor Relations Professionals.

2D: Strategic Trends and Shifts in Donor Advised Funds: A Conversation with an Advisor and Researcher

Donor Advised Funds (DAFs) have become increasingly popular vehicles for philanthropy, offering donors flexibility, tax benefits, and strategic impact. However, the landscape of DAFs is continuously evolving, driven by changing trends, regulations, and donor preferences. This session will facilitate a dynamic conversation with DAF advisors to explore strategic trends, emerging shifts, and best practices philanthropists are leveraging to make philanthropic investments and how nonprofits can better steward donors and their fund advisors.

All Audiences  ⬧  All Levels  ⬧  Any size shop 

	Deborah “Deb” Garcia is the Chief Development Officer for Doctors Without Borders (Médecins sans Frontières). She leads a team responsible for all individual (mass, mid-level, major and legacy giving) and institutional (corporations and foundations) donor engagement generating over $700M in revenue. Prior to Doctors without Borders, Deb has advised and led numerous public and private sector organizations focused on resourcing to drive health access and equity globally. Deb holds a Master's in Business Administration from New York University Stern School of Business and a Bachelor of Applied Science in Engineering from University of Waterloo.
	Genivieve Shaker, Ph.D., is Professor of Philanthropic Studies and the Donald A. Campbell Chair in Fundraising Leadership at the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. Professor Shaker’s research focuses on fundraising practice, the fundraising profession, higher education philanthropy, and philanthropy education. Two decades of fundraising experience inform her approach as an award-winning teacher, researcher, writer, and community member. She is the lead editor of "Achieving Excellence in Fundraising" (5th edition, 2022), a best-selling text for fundraising education, and an instructor for The Fund Raising School. Her work helps fundraisers from around the country and world build their fundraising acumen, enabling nonprofits to expand their resources and do more for their causes and communities.
	Allison Shean is a director of Philanthropic Strategies at Fidelity Charitable®, an independent public charity working to grow the American tradition of philanthropy and make charitable giving accessible, simple, and effective. Allison joined Fidelity Charitable in 2021 and advises the generous donors in the Private Donor Group on how they can use their charitable resources to meaningfully advance the causes they care about. She has been both a grant maker and a grant seeker, giving her unique insight into the opportunities and challenges that exist in the philanthropic sector. Prior to Fidelity Charitable, Allison was a director at Arabella Advisors where she provided philanthropic consulting services to families, foundations, and corporate clients. Before her time at Arabella, Allison spent a decade managing and supporting complex global projects with Mercy Corps and the Institute for Inclusive Security, a program of Hunt Alternatives Fund. She holds a master’s degree in public policy from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and a Bachelor of Arts in public policy and law from Trinity College.

2E: In "Old" News: Repackaging Content to Engage New Donors

Donor newsletters are great ways to share stories and learn about your donors - but what do you do if you don't have a communications team pumping out new content, a writer on staff, or a videographer on call? How can you build a donor newsletter and share impactful stories with these limitations? By repurposing content! The Air Force Museum Foundation built an email series, now called "Airmail" in 2020, built entirely from repurposed content - some more than 20 years old! What started as a simple twice-monthly email grew into a strategic revenue stream, with four different versions and an automated welcome series. Join Megan Rehberg, now with Knox College, as she shows you how you can create and execute emails that drive engagement and revenue, without adding extra staff and taking advantage of existing content.

All Audiences  ⬧  Newcomer, Early-career  ⬧  Small Shop, Medium Shop

Megan Rehberg has 20 years of experience in Development, working in higher education, arts and culture nonprofits, and religious institutions. She is the Associate Director of Leadership Annual Giving at Knox College. While at the Air Force Museum Foundation, she led the Annual Giving and Donor Relations teams, building a culture of appreciation and engagement for Foundation donors. This work was recognized by ADRP; her email series was the recipient of the 2020 International Stewardship Award in the Digital Communication category. A lawyer by training, when she's not working, you can find her on stage performing as a classically trained soprano.

2F: From Roadblocks to Building Blocks: How Brown University Overcame Obstacles to Build a Sustainable Stewardship Program

Have you and your team faced overwhelming challenges? Have you had to overcome staff departures and/or an overall lack of purpose, direction, and vision? Join this session to learn about how we seized the opportunity to reimagine stewardship, embarking on a journey to create a sustainable and scalable program responsive to the needs of donors, colleagues, and other key partners. We will outline our strategic approach by focusing on three key themes: Guardrails: Discover how we established and enforced policies and procedures, developed a sustainable annual reporting process, and launched the Individual Stewardship Program for top donors. Partnerships: Learn about our efforts to build trust through proactive relationship-building and strategic partnerships that benefited fundraisers and stakeholders. Reflection: Explore how we transitioned from being task managers to strategic partners, providing clear leadership along the way.

All Audiences  ⬧  All Levels  ⬧  Medium Shop, Large Shop

Katie LeClair is the Director of Stewardship on the Brown University Donor Relations team. In her role, she coordinates the efforts of the annual, standard stewardship reporting process, strategic stewardship programs, and donor recognition, while setting the goals and vision for the entire team. Previously, Katie worked in donor relations at Brandeis University for over eight years, where she served in progressively advanced roles, culminating in her time as Director of Donor Relations.

Jaclyn Glover is the senior associate director of strategic stewardship in Brown University’s Division of Advancement. In her role, Jaclyn oversees the Individual Stewardship Program, implementing processes and policies to effectively streamline the team’s efforts in support of enhanced stewardship for Brown’s highest-level donors and donors in certain strategic audiences. Prior to Brown, Jaclyn worked in gift administration and stewardship at Children’s National Hospital and Georgetown University, respectively. Jaclyn holds a bachelor’s degree in history from Worcester State University, a master’s degree in American studies from The George Washington University, and a master’s degree in public relations and corporate communications from Georgetown University.

2G: Metrics for Success: Measuring Donor Engagement for Maximum Impact

Measuring the success of donor engagement initiatives – whether it be our impact and fund reporting, events, retention and recognition programs, communications and more – is a daunting challenge in our industry. Always asked to do more with less, justify our budgets, and demonstrate how donor relations and stewardship affects the fundraising bottom line, we must approach our work with both a heartfelt relational perspective as well as an operational and efficient mindset. This is where the art and science of our work truly collide! Join this session to explore what key metrics we can (and should) be tracking, tips and tricks on how to get this data, idea sharing on tracking and reporting, and to explore many samples of how schools across the country are employing highly successful metric-based, but still donor-centric, engagement programs. It’s a power hour of samples, case studies, and more!

All Audiences  ⬧  Mid-career (8-12 years), Seasoned (13-17 years), Experienced (18+ years)  ⬧  Any size shop

Sarah Sims, CFRE, brings 20+ years of experience in fundraising, donor relations, communications, and higher education leadership to her role as Associate Vice President of Donor Engagement at Texas State University. Known for being a “builder”, Sarah has been responsible for designing and implementing comprehensive donor engagement, recognition, and communications programs from the ground up at several higher education and non-profit organizations. With an eye for strategy and metrics, Sarah has implemented initiatives that have raised significant philanthropic dollars, increased donor retention rates, and effectively stewarded thousands of donors. Holding her Certified Fundraising Executive (CFRE) accreditation and serving in several professional volunteer roles including CASE, AASP, and the Association of Donor Relations Professionals, Sarah is a frequent industry presenter and consults with clients across the country.