Past Events

October Professional Development | Gift Planning Beyond Bequests: Three Big Opportunities The slides from this presentation are available for download HERE.   Ready to ask your donors for more than a bequest in their will? Or at least offer more options for significant planned gifts? Sheryl Aikman from Alenda Consulting will outline the planned gift opportunities that can help you move your donors (and your organization) beyond the simple bequest.   Sheryl Aikman is the principal of Alenda Consulting LLC. She serves a wide range of nonprofit, individual and professional advisor clients, with a focus on major, [...]

December Professional Development | The Joy of Fundraising from the Perspective of the Executive Director/CEO In this talk, Mark Weinstein will examine the differing roles and motivations of the Executive Director/CEO, the Chief Development Officer, the Board, Development staff and other key players in an organization where fundraising is a significant revenue need.  He will address issues involved in the development of fundraising design structure, the use of metrics to measure and motivate, as well as the importance of involving the entire organization in development efforts.  Mark will speak about the importance of managing expectations while simultaneously [...]

March Professional Development | Enhancing Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging This program will take place in-person at Lenoir Rhyne University, 36 Montford Ave, Asheville, NC 28801. We will meet in Classroom 314. There is free parking in the shared parking lot with the Visitor Center. Please bring yourself a bagged lunch to enjoy during the program!   The slides of this presentation are available for download HERE.   The focus of the presentation is to build a foundation of understanding terminology in which to move an organization forward in its DEIB Initiatives. Terms discussed include Diversity, Equity, [...]

April Professional Development | How to Raise Endowment Funding We all know we need to have a robust and growing endowment for our nonprofit.  But, even if we have an endowment fund right now, how can we work in more money for that when we need dollars for more pressing needs?  This session answers the following questions: What exactly is an endowment? How does it function? How much does it need to be? Should it produce income? What should we spend it on? Who is in charge of it? How do we raise it? Where does endowment [...]

June Professional Development | Lemons to Lemonade: Finding Opportunity in Uncertainty The slides for this program are available HERE. The lemons: Cost of living increases, rising interest rates, aging baby boomers. Believe or not, there are giving opportunities that can sweeten the mix. In the spirit of a summer lemonade stand, we’ll stir up a couple of recipes to offer your donors, with variations for bequests, IRA gifts, and charitable gift annuities. Sheryl Aikman is the principal of Alenda Consulting LLC. She serves a wide range of nonprofit, individual and professional advisor clients, with a focus on major, life [...]

September Professional Development | Navigating Sticky Situations As fundraising professionals we are committed to ethical practices and work to avoid questionable situations. But sometimes they find us! Join us this month for a lively group discussion about real world, sticky situations and how your peers have navigated them. Whether it’s really obvious (you want me to do WHAT?!?) or something you never considered an ethical dilemma  (I shouldn’t do THAT when I change jobs?), you need to be equipped with strategies and peers to support you. Bring your bag lunch and we’ll bring the strategies and peer support. [...]

October Professional Development | From the Donors: Insight into Motivations, Do's and Don'ts How do our donors think about giving? What motivates them? Do they do it for the benefits or for tax reasons? Come hear directly from a panel of local donors to find out what they look for in an organization to support, what they like and dislike about philanthropy and nonprofit relations, and how you can be a better donor-centric fundraiser. This is your chance for a candid conversation about what you can do better to earn their support! This event will be in person, [...]