DONOR RELATIONS GURU

Learn how you can apply strategy to your donor relations efforts that will positively affect donor retention rates as well as steward some of our more “at risk” donor populations. This is more important than ever as our industry sees declines in overall giving, staff and resources may be limited, and we must tie our donor relations efforts directly to the fundraising bottom line. We will explore strategies to explore retention in key populations, segmentation and messaging best practices, and shifting the organizational culture to a donor-centered retention mindset.

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Learning Outcomes:

• Identify 1-2 high-risk donor populations in your organization

• Explore communication and engagement best practices to retain these donors

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You have less than 10 seconds to capture your readers’ attention – are you using this brief opportunity effectively and efficiently? Join Lynne as she explores the challenging art of writing content for web, email, and social media outlets. She will provide you with a framework for effectively communicating on these platforms by focusing on purpose, content, and key audiences. Grab hold of this opportunity and don’t let your 10 seconds slip away.

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Learning Outcomes:

• Learn the difference between writing for digital and print

• Gather tips for conveying emotion efficiently

• Collect examples of effective digital communications

We spend endless hours trying to create magical moments where donors meet their beneficiaries and (hopefully) all are moved to emotion. This has always been challenging, and now in this current landscape it’s downright impossible. Join us as we explore what these interactions look like in the future and how staffs of all sizes can effectively allocate their resources in student, faculty, and staff interactions. We will explore in-person, digital, and event based beneficiary interactions that are meaningful and efficiently deployed. We will cover content/impact collection methods, considerations of beneficiary time and experience, and balancing donor expectations. Join us for this important discussion and come away with new ideas to implement in your shop to enhance both the beneficiary and donor experience.

Learning Outcomes:

• Learn tools and tactics for gathering content from your beneficiaries 

• Explore benefits of repurposing and upscaling content

• Create a win-win proposition for you and the beneficiary

The role of your Donor Relations team on the success of your organization’s capital campaign cannot be overstated. Donor Relations is a key player at all stages of campaign life and our teams must be prepared to strategically contribute to planning, executing, and wrapping up campaign success. Join Sarah and Angie as they explore the development of a campaign strategic plan tailored to your organization, deployment of staff and budget during this time, and how to best align your Donor Relations team with Development and organizational leadership during this critical time. 

Learning Outcomes:

• Learn how to develop and write a comprehensive campaign plan for your DR shop

• Identify DR campaign priorities

• Learn how to base your plan on metrics and fundraising priorities 

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Data storytelling is one of the best ways to empower your organization’s donors to understand the impact of their philanthropy. Join Lynne as she explores effective writing and communication techniques that artfully blend storytelling and data that resonates with your readers and moves them to action. She will cover fundamentals and samples of data storytelling and visualization so that you too can deliver key messages that matter to your donors in a clear, concise, and meaningful manner. Learn how to turn your data into stories and modernize your communications.

Learning Outcomes:

• Learn what data matters most to your donors

• Explore data formatting that allows your story to be told

• Align data with donor interests for maximum impact

Saying thank you is both an art and a science. We must balance the need to display genuine gratitude with operational and broad-scale efficiency. These two things don’t naturally go hand in hand. Join us as we explore best practices and trends in acknowledgement writing, digital vs. mail delivery, and personalization vs. customization of content. We will assist you in building a program that is meaningful for your donors and still efficient for your team.

Learning Outcomes:

• Learn how to evaluate your current process 

• See best practices for mail vs. digital acknowledgements 

• Tips for streamlining and scaling your efforts

• Determine where and when to spend time customizing content 

Impact reporting is a core function of any Donor Relations and Stewardship team. These days impact reports take the form of traditional mail pieces, social media platforms, personalized web pages, customized video, and broad-based emails. They have to be timely, nimble, meaningful, and cost efficient – no small task! Join us as we discuss both the strategy (planning, timing, audience, budget) and the tactics (technology platforms, tips & tricks, solid content) that you need to know for your impact reporting endeavors! (P.S. come and see the amazing array of samples from across the country!)

Learning Outcomes:

• Online tools to help you self- design reports and make them work for you

• Learn strategic techniques to report to multiple donors with one effort

• Explore audience segmentation for maximum impact

Events look very different these days – change is the name of the game! But no matter your delivery method, size, or complexity, having a rock-solid game plan to take you from concept to execution is critical to your success. Join Matthew as he walks you through the key elements of a successful event as well as key metrics you need to evaluate your event’s effectiveness and return on investment. From sweeping galas to intimate luncheons, Matthew will provide you a roadmap to success. 

Learning Outcomes:

• Understand how strategy and measurable outcomes drive event success

• Develop your organization’s evaluation tools to measure performance

• Enhance your knowledge of how to apply event strategy to a virtual world

Worksheets, arrays, formulas, pivot tables, sorting, filtering….oh my. We all have our data woes, but much of our day-to-day work revolves around data and our ability to manipulate it to meet our needs. Join Lynne and special guest Clay Buck as they walk you through an array of excel tips and tricks, explore helpful shortcuts, and generally make your life easier! Whether you are an excel novice or a seasoned pro, you will find something in this hour that reduces your time and stress!  

Learning Outcomes:

• Find ways to aggregate and manipulate data in excel to have it work for you

• Tips and tricks for formulas and other advanced techniques

• Formatting and layout designs with little effort but big impact

Is your recognition society in dire need of a makeover? Does it need an infusion of life, energy, and meaning? Join Matthew as he explores everything you need to know in order to take your tired society into the modern era. From levels, benefits, consolidation, events, and communications – Matthew will explore it all.  This webinar will explore how organizations are shifting away from membership models and reshaping their recognition framework to create meaningful experiences that drive affinity and communicate impact.

Learning Outcomes:

• Enhance understanding of which aspects of recognition matters to donors – and which don’t

• Learn how other organizations are managing the reinvention process

Our first Excel webinar was our highest attended session of the year—and you wanted more! This session is complimentary for anyone who purchased the first Excel webinar. If you didn't purchase the first but want to attend this session, you will receive a link to the recording of the first webinar with your purchase. 

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Excel often requires you to perform complex analysis on large sets of data. In this session we'll take a deeper dive into more challenging concepts, like pivot tables, filtering, V lookups, and more.  We'll also cover formulas and more macros in this webinar. Bring your questions and your expertise and join us.

It’s almost the end of the year and it’s time for you to retool your technical communications! As we flip the page on the calendar, let’s explore best practices in end of year tax statements and the pledge reminder processes. While they aren’t quite as fun as some of our other work, they are critical to execute and execute well. These pieces have the ability to make or break a donor’s relationship with your organization – when done well, you are paving the way for future gifts! In this webinar we explore how to streamline and simplify these process as well as how to make them donor-centric and inspiring. 

Learning Outcomes:

• Learn how to craft an effective pledge reminder

• Explore effective uses of year-end tax statements

• Enhance timing and efficacy

There’s comes a time when we all need to reach out….we’re stuck in rut, need an idea, or have been asked to compare ourselves to other shops. So we benchmark! We send emails, post to listservs, network, and attend professional development. We gather all this information, call in our favors, and sit on a pile of data and samples, but how to we take it from conceptual ideating to tangible plans and deliverables? Join the entire DRG team as we discuss how to move from benchmarking and ideating to implementation. With over 100 combined years of experience in the fundraising business, we have asked, and been asked, every question in the book! We will share some of our best ideas, implementation tricks, and industry insight (the do’s and don’ts of our business)! Join us for a good dose of honesty, humor, and no holds barred lessons learned.

Learning Outcomes:

• Explore the do’s and don’ts of benchmarking in the industry

• Learn how to move projects from concept to execution

• Explore lessons learned from industry peers