Advanced Gift Officers: Enhancing Your Donor and Portfolio Strategy

THIS EVENT HAS BEEN CANCELLED

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Welcome Fundraisers!

We have designed this intensive online advancement-specific bootcamp to provide you with a comprehensive, robust, and practical training to fuel your fundraising strategy and engagement.  This bootcamp experience is specifically designed to support folks with tenure within fundraising and we look forward to being in community and to working through trends and best practices together. 

We look forward to meeting you all at the first of six sessions on Wednesday, November 3, 2021, from 2:30-4:00pm EST. 

If you have any questions you can email me, Britt Iwaszkiw, at any time. 

Mark Your Calendars 

Module 1: Current Fundraising Trends 

November 3, 2021 2:30 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. ET
In this session, we will use our “new normal” digital environment to give you the latest information on: 

• Donor-advised funds 
• Women as philanthropic decision makers 
• Interdisciplinary gifts 
• Transformational gifts 
• Looking at the current landscape face to face and virtual, as well as navigating consistent changes and perceptions 

Module 2: The Five-Meeting Model 

November 10, 2021 2:30 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. ET
Here, we will walk you through using the five-meeting model to fast track your ask and you will have the opportunity to apply it to a specific donor relationship. During this session, we will break down: 

• Qualification
• Making the match with your donor 
• Confirming that match 
• Doing a test ask
• Making the hard ask over the course of five meetings 

After this module, you will be able to meet with Kathy Drucquer Duff for an optional follow-up group session. In this time, you’ll be able to ask questions about the Five-Meeting Model with the founder of this approach. 

Module 3: Donor Upgrades 

November 17, 2021 2:30 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. ET
As you become a more seasoned gift officer, the strategy for current donors making second gifts and increasing their giving level becomes increasingly important. We will discuss considerations for advancing your portfolio and will practice ways to move these conversations forward, including: 

• Approaching your work from an interdisciplinary lens 
• How to look for these types of donors and gifts 
• Listening for key indicators 
• Identifying what makes these gifts different 
• Creating buy-in across the academic landscape 
• Continuing the conversation remotely when it was started in-person 

Module 4: Complex Gifts and Gift Planning 

December 1, 2021 2:30 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. ET
As you progress as a gift officer, it is important that you position yourself as the donor’s philanthropic advisor. The asks become more complex and must be framed in a way that inspires your donor and allows them to see how they can contribute and think long-term. We will discuss: 

• Comfort around large asks and the potential of those being virtual asks 
• Negotiating and stewarding large and complex gifts 
• Innovative strategies for complex gifts and gift planning 
• Blending various gift vehicles to achieve a net increase in philanthropy
• Navigating conversations when the stock market is facing challenges 

After this module, you will be able to meet with Zack Smith for an optional follow-up group session. During this time, you will have an opportunity to ask your burning questions about complex gifts and your strategic approach. 

Module 5: The Art of Storytelling for Donor Impact 

December 8, 2021 2:30 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. ET
Donors are looking for more real-time opportunities to see the impact of their gifts. In this session, we will show you how to share incremental updates for campus and faculty partners in order to create transparency and engagement. We will also explore telling stories that require specific research or subject matter expertise and how gift officers can be more effective by sharing complex stories. 

Module 6: Putting Your Learning to Action 

December 15, 2021 2:30 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. ET
This lab environment will anchor core principles learned throughout the bootcamp, while also providing a platform to explore any additional topics or questions that participants would like to discuss, tailored to participants’ unique needs. Please come with questions and scenarios to role play as a group. 

Ensure Your Technology is Ready

This workshop is intentionally designed to allow for maximum learning, connections, and engagement. We advise the following in order to participate fully:

Audio & Visual Needs