Please join us at Coastal Carolina University on March 14 and 15, 2019 for our spring conference! We'll begin with a happy hour and welcome reception at the Grumpy Monk at 4:30 on Thursday the 14th, then launch into an exciting day of conference sessions on Friday the 15th.
The event will take place at the Alford Ballroom in Atheneum Hall, marked as Building 13 on the campus parking map. Parking will be available in Lot J (the gate will be open). Please refer to the campus parking map for help on locating the building and parking lots.
Sessions include:
Bentz Whaley Flessner's Bond Lammey will talk about career paths for prospect development professionals in Advancing in Advancement: Advocating for Yourself and the Prospect Development Profession:
We see our colleagues in frontline fundraising positions advance in their careers in what looks to be a stable and predictable path. For prospect development professionals, there isn’t a set career path. We could go in any number of directions, and we are more likely to remain in our current positions longer than our frontline counterparts. Bond will walk through different career advancement options for prospect development professionals. She will also discuss how we can demonstrate value at our own organizations, both for ourselves, our teams, and our industry and will share some examples of successful advocacy efforts.
From JDRF, Apra Carolinas past president Beth Inman will talk about lead generation in Finding New Leads: You May Not Have to Start from Scratch:
We need new prospects! is a common refrain in many of our organizations and finding new leads for your fundraisers to qualify can be a daunting task. Sometimes, reviewing reports or resources already in place is a good place to start. Join me to learn how JDRF took an existing giving and prospect engagement report and changed the process of how it’s used so we could strategically identify potential new leads. And, how we reported on the progress of those leads to the field and to leadership…without a report writer.
Kristin Richardson from Virginia Commonwealth University will demystify campaign planning in The $750,000,000 Pyramid: The Mystery Behind the Gift Table:
Virginia Commonwealth University was entering the final two years of its largest, most comprehensive capital campaign ever when the VP of development asked Kristin to build gift pyramids for all the units not already at goal. Much of the information Kristin found was about building a gift pyramid at the beginning of a campaign--when prospects and potential gift amounts are originally identified and a campaign goal is built around these figures. In this presentation, Kristin will review how she worked backwards from the remaining amount to goal. This included analysis of base dollars, opportunities already in play, and utilized existing portfolios and capacity information. Finally, examples of the final analysis--individualized gift tables--will be reviewed.
Sarah Tedesco from DonorSearch will present Going Beyond the Wealth Capacity Rating:
The nature of prospect research is changing. With technological advances such as artificial intelligence, social media, and digital centralization, the prospect research industry is facing new challenges and opportunities.
We will discuss how to fully understand your top tier donors through a more holistic view of your donor profile through the use of new databases and technology. With social media avenues such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Instagram we are able to find new ways to connect and learn about alumni and the next generation potential donors. Along with social media, specialized philanthropic sites such as GoFundMe reveal the nuances of peer to peer giving and potential philanthropic interests. Combining these new databases with the building blocks of philanthropy, wealth data, and ultra-high net worth flags, we are able to create the 360 degree view of your donor prospects and how to understand them more fully.
This presentation will highlight how to identify leadership-giving prospects using easily obtainable data, and it will highlight the latest findings in major giving activity. Attendees will learn the six factors that best predict future philanthropy, and they will also understand how social media plays into their research and how to identify the best major giving prospects on their prospect/donor lists.
We'll wrap up with a networking extravaganza!
This interactive session will separate conference participants into small groups to explore answers to questions regarding common issues in the development world. This will be an opportunity to share your knowledge and learn how others are addressing similar issues. “If you have an apple and I have an apple and we exchange these apples then you and I will still each have one apple. But if you have an idea and I have an idea and we exchange these ideas, then each of us will have two ideas.” – George Bernard Shaw
And we heard your feedback - this year, we're serving a hearty, hot breakfast - bacon and eggs included!
Early bird registration is Tuesday, January 22 - Sunday, February 17:
Member fee - $45
Non-member fee - $55 (includes a chapter membership for 2019!)
After February 17th, regular registration will be $60 for members and $75 for non-members.
Registration fee includes all conference sessions, a hearty breakfast, lunch, and parking.
We encourage you to book lodging early! It is Spring Break time and CCU's proximity to Myrtle Beach means that rooms will fill up quickly.
Hotel options in the area include:
Comfort Suites at the University (1 mile from CCU)
Hampton Inn & Suites (4 miles from CCU)
Sleep Inn & Suites (5 miles from CCU)
Country Inn & Suites (7 miles from CCU)
Courtyard by Marriott (10 miles from CCU)
Sheraton Convention Center Hotel (11 miles from CCU)
We also encourage you to check out AirBNB and VRBO in the area.
Cancellation policy: Registrations cancelled up to 2 days before the conference (March 13th) will be refunded 50% of the registration fee. After that date, there will be no refund for a cancelled registration. You can transfer your registration to another person at any time.
Apra Carolinas would like to thank our sponsors:
LexisNexis
DonorSearch
Bentz Whaley Flessner
