Strengthen the voice and consistency of your communications to donors and alumni.
Many of us don’t come into the world of donor communications with a strong background in writing. This interactive conference will help you create messaging that focuses on the donor and improve the consistency of written communications from your shop. Throughout this event, we will examine:
- Regular correspondence with donors, including acknowledgements, solicitations, and reporting
- Streamlining messages for clarity in your communications
- Digital messaging
Our expert faculty will be workshopping and offering advice on your writing samples. You will be asked to send us samples from your shop.
Are you looking for a comprehensive course on how you can design and strategize your donor communication plan? Take a look at our conference, Donor-Centric Communications that Inspire and Motivate, to learn more.
Who Should Attend
This conference is designed for anyone who communicates directly with donors. We particularly encourage teams of donor relations and communications professionals, frontline fundraisers, and annual giving staff to attend together. This conference is not designed for full-time copywriters.
Break-out sessions by job function will enable you to focus on communications pieces specific to donor relations, annual giving, and frontline fundraisers.
Discounted pricing is available for teams - see the registration row below for more details!
Agenda
Your registration fee includes full access to all conference sessions and materials, breakfast, lunch, and access to the networking reception on Thursday, breakfast on Friday, as well as refreshments and snacks throughout the conference.
8:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.
The conference will begin with a brief overview of how donor communications are transforming. In this foundational session, we will establish the importance of remaining agile to create relevant and impactful acknowledgements, solicitations, and reports.
In this interactive session, we will outline best practices while we workshop samples of advancement writing. The faculty and group will review samples attendees have submitted and offer feedback intended to transform your shop’s communications. You will learn how to emulate the strengths of each piece in your own work and recognize common errors.
The best writing is concise. However, our messages to donors are often clouded by unnecessary words. We will help you clarify your communications by trimming down words and getting to the point quickly and effectively. You’ll have the opportunity to review your own samples in this session.
How can you make your writing stand out in the constant stream of messages our donors receive? During this time, we will demonstrate how to uncover and polish your unique style and voice.
8:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Our communications with our donors have moved off the page and into digital spaces. We will start the morning exploring new and interactive approaches for reaching donors.
While the previous sessions covered a wide range of advancement writing examples and best practices, this time will allow you to separate by job function and work through communication pieces that most align with your pressing needs. We will plan to break apart into:
- Donor relations
- Annual giving
- Frontline Fundraising
Final Conference Wrap-Up and Q&A
Speakers
Debbie Meyers
Assistant Vice President for Advancement Operations
Chautauqua Foundation
Debbie has worked in advancement for more than 30 years, much of that time in higher education. Recently, she began her new role at the Chautauqua Institution, heading their foundation's advancement operations. Prior to her current role, she was creating or enhancing donor relations and stewardship programs at the University of Maryland, Carnegie Mellon University, and the University of Florida.
Mary Solomons
Executive Director, Donor Relations and Campaign Events
Skidmore College
Mary has been in the advancement field for more than 25 years, initially in the alumnae office of her alma mater, Wellesley College. For the past 20 years, she has been at Skidmore College, first as director of alumni affairs, and since 2000, overseeing the Office of Donor Relations.
November 7 - 8, 2019
Savannah, GA
$1,395 through Oct. 18$1,495
Strengthen the voice and consistency of your communications to donors and alumni.
Tiered pricing available!
- 1-2 registrations: full price
- 3-4 registrations: 15% off each conference registration
- 5-7 registrations: 20% off each conference registration
- 8 + registrations: 25% off each conference registration
Can't Attend? Buy the Conference Binder
$295Purchase the conference binder, which includes all presentation slides, worksheets, action plans, and additional resources.
Note: Conference attendees do not need to purchase materials separately.
Questions About the Event?
Brittany Iwaszkiw
Program Manager, Academic Impressions