Displaying items by tag: development

Want to  motivate and empower your board to get wholeheartedly involved in fundraising?  Not sure where to start?

Step 1: Click HERE and register for Fundraising Day, taking place Wednesday, April 11 at the Hilton Salt Lake City Center. 

Step 2: Attend the breakout session "Never Fear…Powerful Fundraising for your Board is Here!" 

             Hillary Hahn                                           Helen Cardon                                                                          Jennifer Nuttall                                                        Patricia Richards

Moderated by Hillary Hahn (Senior Director of Institutional Gifts at Utah Symphony | Utah Opera), this panel of Executive Directors and Board Members will leave you with insights to empower you to boost your board's fundraising activities.

Panelists Patricia Richards (Lifetime Trustee of Utah Symphony | Utah Opera), Helen Cardon (Capital Campaign Co-Chair of Neighborhood House), and Jennifer Nuttall (Executive Director of Neighborhood House) have experience with board fundraising for annual funds, capital campaigns, and special projects.

 We all know stewardship is important, but are you implementing development best practices for your agency’s long-term financial sustainability? Having helped family foundations, companies, and individuals to develop measurable social impact goals for more than a decade, Anna Smyth, Senior Associate at Cicero Group, has key insights to share with you. 

Catch her interactive session, "The Giving State: Future Trends in Donor Stewardship," at the 2018 Fundraising Day Conference on April 11 for a deep dive into The Giving State report published by Cicero Group in November 2017, of which Anna is a co-author. Discussion will focus on the leading trends in and key recommendations for Utah philanthropy, as presented in the report.

For more information on Anna's talk or to check out the full Fundraising Day schedule, click HERE.

Michael Nebeker isn't afraid to think big. 

After more than 20 years' experience creating mega-giving programs--and raising over $100 million--for schools and international humanitarian organizations, including Operation Smile, he now serves as President of Mobile Surgery International. Mobile Surgery International provides state-of-the-art mobile medical infrastructure for humanitarian organizations by providing a surgical facility in low income environments and for emergency disaster relief.

Wondering how to take your nonprofit to a whole new level of funding? Michael is ready to share what it takes to be successful at AFP Utah Chapter's 2018 Fundraising Day Conference on Wed, April 11 at The Hilton - Salt Lake City Center. The unstoppable energy he brings to his breakout session "Thinking Big" will leave you mega-inspired.  Don't miss it!  

Register for Fundraising Day HERE. 

If you are a "Department of One," you are not alone! Morgan Byrne, Development Director of Bennion Community Service Center, is ready to help you make a plan to only survive, but thrive. 

In her interactive workshop "Surviving and Thriving as a 'Department of One,'” she will share tips, tricks, and experiences learned working as her own “Department of One.” You'll lleave with a network of other colleagues who also act one-person development departments. Even if you work with a small team, this workshop is for you!  

Register HERE for AFP Utah's 2018 Fundraising Day Conference on Wed, April 11. 

As fundraisers, we know that crafting the right message for the right funder is a critical component of our success. A large part of crafting that message is written word--a challenging obstacle for many in the development world, regardless of experience.  

If writing compelling copy is not your strong suit, 1) you're not alone, and 2) have we got a conference session for you!

Lisa Arnette, Fundraising Consultant at Pathway Associates (and AFP Utah Chapter's very own Underwriting Co-Chair) is excited to team up with Dave Jones, Co-Founder of Pathway Associates, to bring you "Persuasive Writing for Effective Fundraising" at the 2018 Fundraising Day Conference on April 11. 

This session will give you tips for tuning up your messaging and polishing your writing skills to create clear, donor-centric communication pieces that build on the power of storytelling—whether you’re writing letters, case statements, grant applications, or more.  Click HERE to read more about Lisa's and Dave's extensive fundraising backgrounds, register for Fundraising Day, and check out other keynote and breakout sessions offered at this one-day-only conference. 

Our next AFP August Appreciation spotlight goes to Aimee Dunsmore, Development Director of the Utah Arts Festival!

As a fundraiser for 11 years, she has witnessed firsthand the ever-changing methods of donor communication. "It’s not just letters, lunches and phone calls anymore, though that’s still a really important part cultivation and retention," Aimee says. "There are so many ways to reach people now and the opportunities to develop and maintain relationships with donors, are vast and constantly evolving with technology and social media."

With this in mind, she says her greatest challenge is strategizing donor communications while integrating donor communication preferences. "It’s incredibly exciting, but can also be a little bit daunting," explains Aimee. "I think a challenge we face is how to balance staying in front of our donors and reaching new donors in ways that are meaningful to them in such a fast-paced, ever-changing environment without losing our focus or organizational voice."

When Aimee started her position at the Utah Arts Festival, the organization had very few individual donors, and individual giving represented a very small portion of their contributed income. She saw this as a huge area for growth, and after much thought, analysis, discussion, and planning, she helped launch an individual giving program now called  “Friends with Benefits." This, program, which has grown individual contributions by leaps and bounds over the past five years, is what Aimee cites as her greatest current accomplishment. "It has been really rewarding to see our whole team get behind this program (staff, board, and program coordinators) and to watch support steadily grow year after year," she adds.

Aimee says she's an AFP member because she believes being part of a community with varied experiences, information, and resources to draw from is essential to her ability to grow and succeed.

Our AFP Member Appreciation spotlight today goes to Amberlie Phillips, Chief Development Officer at YWCA!

Amberlie began her career in development in 1999, just out of college, and with the exception of two years, she has worked as a fundraiser her entire career--almost 16 years.

While she is currently navigating the obstacles of building infrastructure within the YWCA Utah development department to increase efficiency and maximize potential, she is also excited to see the continued growth of the YWCA’s major gifts program. "We made a conscious decision to focus on major gifts about four years ago, and we are seeing some amazing gifts as a result of this sustained effort," she says.

When asked why she became an AFP member, Amberlie says,"Very early in my career I attended the AFP International Conference in Seattle, thanks to a supervisor who recommended I attend. It was a great experience that opened my eyes to the diversity and depth that exists within the field. It is wonderful to belong to a professional association dedicated to fundraising-- it allows for idea sharing, networking, and that great feeling of being in a room where everyone feels your pain (or joy!)"