A Great Board is Like a Great Irish Stew
You can’t raise money with a plain “corned beef and cabbage” board. In this session, you’ll learn how to assemble all the right ingredients for a board that is as spicy, hearty and full of steam as a great Irish stew. We will discuss how the best boards work, including the best size and volunteer structure for truly effective boards, and you will learn the recipe for finding great volunteers, keeping them involved and energized, and turning them into great fund raisers. (Bonnie O’Neill)

Who’s Afraid of the Big, Bad Ask?
This session is aimed at relieving the “terror” some volunteers have about asking for money. Participants will gain confidence as they learn how to make successful calls without sweat, tears and anguish. There is a lot of role playing, with emphasis on how to prepare for a call, use the most persuasive approach, avoid the most common errors in asking and handle the toughest questions and objections. (Bonnie O’Neill)

Details, Details, Details: How to Manage a Fund-Raising Campaign
Organization and planning are essential to success in fund raising, and the smartest development staffs know that attention to the smallest details makes all the difference in major gifts campaigns. In this session we’ll review key management how to’s: how to create and follow a campaign plan, research prospects, make evaluations and assignments, get the most out of marketing materials, write strategy memos and grant proposals, manage volunteers, and keep current campaign budgets, status reports, and gift acknowledgments. (Victoria Wood)

How to Get and Keep the Sizzle in Your Annual Fund
You’ve got to fan the flames to keep your annual fund sizzling year after year. This interactive session will show you how by reviewing the essentials of annual fund raising that are like kindling for the fire: developing a campaign plan and implementing it. Together, we’ll examine strategies that add spark to annual fund-raising efforts and review the basics, including setting a realistic budget, defining constituencies, developing marketing tools, the role of the organization’s staff, appropriate donor recognition and specialized training to enliven volunteers. We’ll also discuss the most common fund-raising pitfalls that can cause an annual fund to fizzle out. (Bonnie O’Neill)

Now Nice Girls Do It Too! Women Used To Make
Cookies…Now They’re Making Major Gifts
In the old days, when women raised money, they typically put on parties or bake sales. Today, they are putting their own money—and lots of it—into causes they care about. This session explores the impact women are having on philanthropy, and its potential for radically changing the face of fund raising. Do women’s giving patterns really differ from men’s? How do women make decisions on major gifts? How should they be approached? What role does emotion play in the ‘ask’? Using these questions and many others to spark discussion, Ms. O’Neill will explore how and why women give, and how to approach and acknowledge them. She will share key strategies for involving, informing and successfully soliciting women, using specific case studies of women giving and getting major gifts. (Bonnie O’Neill)

Design for Success: The Campaign Planning Study
Even the best builders need blueprints. Learn how sound planning can set the stage for campaign success. We’ll discuss the development resources you need to support your campaign, the importance of strategic planning and the feasibility study, which evaluates external funding sources, volunteer leadership and the case for support, and helps you plan effectively for a campaign. (Bonnie O’Neill)

Speak Up…But Talk To Donors In Words They Understand
An organization’s fund-raising mission may be compelling but it will go unheard if it is not properly communicated to donors. This session will cover the key elements required to produce a winning case on any size budget. We’ll review different communication styles, how people hear, what kind of information they require, how to get a donor’s attention, how to define an organization’s special niche and build on its special strengths, the importance of including facts and figures in a case, and how visual design can maximize the emotional impact of the text. (Bonnie O’Neill, Vice President)