As LACGP Conference Nears, Enter to Win FREE Virtual Access

It’s almost here! From May 25 to 27, you have an opportunity to learn about planned giving from a diverse group of leading experts. Even better, I’m giving you the chance to become one of three lucky people to win FREE virtual access to:

Los Angeles Council of Gift Planners — Western Regional Planned Giving Conference

“Meeting the Moment: Philanthropy’s Role in Healing”

May 25-27, 2021 (Pacific Time)

Presenting Sponsor: The Stelter Company

Click here to see the list of expert presenters.

Click here to see the conference schedule.

Click here to register ($375 for members, $425 for non-members).

To enter for a chance to win FREE online access to the conference, simply comment below or subscribe to my blog site. (Note: Residents of California are not eligible.) I will notify winners by email by the close of Wednesday, May 19.

I’m honored to be among the conference speakers. Here is information about my session:

Get ready to celebrate. You could win FREE conference access.

PLANNED GIFT DONORS ARE NOT WHO YOU THINK THEY ARE

Thursday, May 27, 2021, 9:15 – 10:30 AM (PDT)

DESCRIPTION: If you look at a typical nonprofit website, flip through a charity newsletter, or read newspaper reports, you might come away thinking that it is wealthy white men who make planned gifts. You would not be wrong, but you would be missing the full picture. So, who does engage in planned giving? Researchers have begun to address the question. Together, we will explore the true diversity that exists among planned gift donors. We will also review the images and words that inspire people to make planned gift commitments. Following this session, you will have a better understanding of who gives as well as immediately actionable, easy to implement, low-cost steps you can take to enhance the results of your planned giving program.

I hope you will join me and my fellow presenters for what will be a meaningful conference to help nonprofit organizations secure the resources they need now more than ever. As LACGP says:

3 Insights that will Change the Way You Do #Nonprofit Work

[Publisher’s Note: This is the first of a number of posts kindly contributed by guest authors who attended the 2016 AFP International Fundraising Conference. These posts share valuable insights from the Conference. This week, I thank Nancy Racette, CFRE, Principal and Chief Operating Officer at DRi, for highlighting the “Rebels, Renegades & Pioneers” education track.]

 

What if you could hear from some of the nonprofit world’s leading provocateurs, innovators, and big thinkers about the glories, the failures, and the future of the charity sector?

If you had attended the recent Association of Fundraising Professionals International Fundraising Conference, you could have. If you were unable to attend the program, don’t worry. I’m about to share some highlights with you.

Development Resources Inc. (DRi) sponsored the new education track called “Rebels, Renegades & Pioneers.” The track was designed to engage attendees in thought-provoking conversations about the nature and ultimate purpose of the nonprofit sector, in addition to providing tactical guidance. Business leaders, fundraisers, researchers, and activists who have spent their lives fostering these conversations shared their thoughts at the Conference.

Nancy Racette, CFRE, DRi Principal and Chief Operating Officer, attended the program. DRi is an executive search and consulting firm that builds nonprofit capacity through Board and leadership recruitment, strategic planning, and resource development both across the country and around the world. Here are some of the important insights Racette found:

 

What if social justice were a form of donor cultivation?

What if fundraisers used studies testing such propositions when they designed philanthropic programs?

How would the lessons of this research change participation in the nonprofit world?

The experts gathered for the “Rebels, Renegades & Pioneers” education track addressed these and other provocative questions. Here are three of the most significant ideas we heard:

1.  You’re not a fundraiser. You’re a catalyst for change.

The Rebels track opened with an inspiring call for fundraisers of all stripes to see themselves as agents of large-scale social change.

The fundraising vision of Roger Craver,  Jennie Thompson,  and Daryl Upsall created a new model of social movement in the 20^th century, one in which membership-based nonprofits made themselves central actors in some of the world’s greatest social transformations, from AIDS to apartheid, from voting rights to human rights.

Today, though, the challenge is to recognize that you don’t have to be a c(4) organization with a national membership to be an agent of social change. Fundraising is an inevitably activist enterprise, one that calls on people to remake the world — and that’s as true of art museums and homeless shelters as it is of Planned Parenthood and the Sierra Club.

Art isn’t a luxury for the leisured; it’s a revolutionary prism through which humans re-imagine themselves and bring their new visions to life. That’s why the Urban Institute released a 2008 report on making the case for the arts as a space of collective community action. What’s more activist than that?

And we know that engaging people in social action ultimately creates new donors. People who see themselves as actors in a movement want to invest in that movement.

We got a live demonstration at AFP, when a woman who identified herself as a South American refugee stood up to say that the help she had received from Planned Parenthood had brought her to the Conference to learn how to raise money for the causes she believes in. If we see all the fundraising we do as a movement for social change, how would it help us engage people like that?

Do Old Dogs Really Have What It Takes?

I recently heard from an old friend, Bob Crandall the Founder/Consultant at Crandall, Croft & Associates. In addition to being a terrific fundraising professional, Bob is the kind of guy who instinctively knows how to weave humor and wisdom together. The latest story he shared with me is a great example of this:

 

The Old Dog

An old German Shepherd starts chasing rabbits and before long, discovers that he’s lost. Wandering about, he notices a panther heading rapidly in his direction with the intention of having lunch.

The old German Shepherd thinks, “Oh, oh! I’m in deep s… now!”

Noticing some bones on the ground close by, he immediately settles down to chew on the bones with his back to the approaching cat. Just as the panther is about to leap, the old German Shepherd exclaims loudly, “Boy, that was one delicious panther! I wonder if there are any more around here?”

Hearing this, the young panther halts his attack in mid-strike, a look of terror comes over him and he slinks away into the trees.

“Whew!” says the panther, “That was close! That old German Shepherd nearly had me!”

Meanwhile, a squirrel who had been watching the whole scene from a nearby tree figures he can put this knowledge to good use and trade it for protection from the panther. So, off he goes.

The squirrel soon catches up with the panther, spills the beans and strikes a deal for himself with the panther.

The young panther is furious at being made a fool of and says, “Here, squirrel, hop on my back and see what’s going to happen to that conniving canine!”

Now, the old German Shepherd sees the panther coming with the squirrel on his back and thinks, “What am I going to do now?” But, instead of running, the dog sits down with his back to his attackers, pretending he hasn’t seen them yet, and just when they get close enough to hear, the old German Shepherd says…