Finding Individual Funders: the art of successful research

Are you looking to establish a major gifts component to your capital, annual, or planned giving campaign but wondering where to begin? Prospect research is an integral part of any well-rounded fund development plan and can make all the difference in boosting your average gift size, but it can be a daunting task for the uninitiated. Too often, there’s a lack of direction and more importantly, a lack of information. Learning how to describe your ideal donor, developing data mining skills, and devising a plan to cultivate donor relationships is the key to getting to “Yes.”

In this session, learn the basic prospect research building blocks:

- Project planning: what are you trying to find funding for?
- Profile your funders: what (and who) is a prospect?
- Prospect research tools: using web-based tools to identify eligible funders
- Building a pool of potential prospects
- Prospect tracking: planning and recording significant interactions with potential funders

Attendees will leave this session convinced of the importance of prospect research and equipped with the fundamental tools needed to develop a successful plan for getting started.

Speakers for this session:

John Kim

Executive Director

Northwest Hospital Foundation

John is responsible for development and fundraising operations benefiting Northwest Hospital & Medical Center. John came to the organization in October 2007 after a nearly complete turnover of staff. Since then, the Foundation has produced a string of record-setting performances in fundraising through its annual golf tournament and its employee giving and annual fund campaigns. John is developing the grateful patient fundraising program, through which the Foundation uses a variety of techniques to identify and develop relationships with individuals to whom Northwest Hospital is most relevant. Prior to healthcare philanthropy, John enjoyed a number of successful careers – healthcare transactional attorney, hospital executive, business operations officer, international strategic business consultant, and community leader. John received his B.A. in Government from Dartmouth College and his J.D. from New York University School of Law.

Kevin Lynch

Founder/Principal

Lynch Resources

As the founder and principal of Lynch Resources, Kevin Lynch runs a management and consulting business that conducts efficient and effective non-profit telefunding and telemarketing campaigns. Kevin has worked for more than 20 non-profits in the Puget Sound area and managed more than 140 phone campaigns that have generated more than $40 million in revenue. He works with many different lead pools to develop donors, including inside affiliations such as ticket buyers and students and non-affiliated outside dempgraphic lead lists. Kevin earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in theatre arts from the University of California/Santa Barbara.

G.Robin Smith

COO

Five Rivers Fundraising

G.Robin brings 30+ years as a presenter, performer, educator and student of relationship building to his work. Personal involvement with Non-profits, the Donors and the Communities they inhabit are key. Smith believes in listening to what these stakeholders say - then acting on it. His most recent efforts have been to benefit The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Hardwick & Sons, Inc. and The Society for Creative Anachronism. Smith believes in challenging the barriers that keep people from what they are passionate about. He follows the teachings of Ken Burnett (www.kenburnett.com) and his ideas on Relationship Fundraising. Creativity, respect for the `Investor` (the Donor) as a partner and efficient use of the power of community are hallmarks of Smith`s approach. Smith graduated from Eastern Washington University in Theatre Arts and has been working in the non-profit world ever since. www.FiveRiversFundraising.org www.Ben-Franklin.org

Seattle Fundraising Summit

A relationship approach to fundraising
Nonprofit fundraising has become highly specialized, and each segment of your donor market requires a different set of relationship management skills. Whether you are reaching out to private foundations, wealthy individuals or your own members, you need to understand who they give to, and why. The Seattle Summit focuses on the relationship aspects of fundraising, and offers you several ways to enhance your relationship management skills:

Day One:
In the morning, listen to a panel of private, corporate and community grantmakers who will openly discuss their philosophy on grantmaking, how they operate, and most important, how you can build a more successful relationship with the grantmaking community. In the afternoon, participate in seminars led by experienced grant seekers who have successfully secured many foundation grants, and have built successful relationships with the grantmaking community.

Day Two:
Attend a series of fundraising seminars covering the hottest areas of fundraising (capital campaigns, major gifts, annual giving campaigns, and many more). Panels of experts will discuss the latest developments in these fields, and then enter into a dialogue with the participants that addresses their most pressing questions.

WHY ATTEND THE FUNDRAISING SUMMIT?
Fundraising is primarily a relationship business, and with increasing pressures facing all nonprofit professionals to build key relationships, it is becoming more important, though much more difficult to meet people face-to-face. Our innovative Summit format provides the most efficient and cost effective use of time away from the office by enabling attendees to interact with experts in the field, as well as other nonprofit leaders.

CAN ONE ATTEND SPECIFIC SESSIONS ONLY?
We understand the demands that are placed on you and on your time. That’s why you can attend only the seminars that are of interest to you. Come for the day or stop by for a couple of hours. You pay for only the seminars you wish to attend and only for the information relevant to you. It’s a novel approach to learning that allows you to get exactly what you’re looking for in a short amount of time. In 2009, we are also introducing a two-day pass so that attendees can attend all sessions at a reduced price.

WHAT IS THE FORMAT OF THE SEMINARS?
Each seminar features a panel of 3-4 experts who will give a short overview of the key developments in that field. After that , we will move into a moderated discussion to explore what these developments mean for nonprofit organizations. During the seminar, panelists will engage with the audience in an interactive manner to ensure the real-world implications of these developments emerge, and the session will end with a summary of practical next steps.

ONE-ON-ONE MENTORING SESSIONS
In 2009, we are adding an exciting new component to our Summits: one on mentoring sessions. In these 30 minute sessions, you can sit down with an experienced nonprofit fundraiser to discuss specific questions not addressed by the seminars. Mentoring sessions will cover the same topics as the seminar topics.

HOW IS THE SUMMIT DIFFERENT FROM OTHER EDUCATIONAL EVENTS?
The Summit offers a unique format to help you accomplish the following:

Build relationships: to ensure maximum exposure to the experts and other nonprofit leaders, each seminar offers structured networking before the session starts
Hear different perspectives: the experts are drawn from different sectors of the nonprofit community to ensure cross-pollination of ideas and practices
Provide a global view: speakers give an overview of key issues so that you can eliminate any gaps in your understanding of the subject
Drill down to the specifics: speakers will also focus on providing specific answers to real-world questions that are common to most attendees
Obtain information you can use: the emphasis in all sessions is on avoiding theoretical discussions in favor of practical tools and techniques that nonprofit leaders can actually use

WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE SUMMIT?
The Summit is organized by the Center for Nonprofit Success, a nonprofit organization that specializes in bringing highly relevant information that nonprofit leaders need to run their organizations successfully. We developed the Fundraising Summit series as a follow-on to the Nonprofit Success Forum, a highly successful educational series on grantmaking that has been taking place around the country for the past two years. The Fundraising Summit drills down into specific areas of fundraising to give nonproft leaders cutting edge tools and techniques.

HOW DO I REGISTER FOR THE SUMMIT?
Simply click on the seminars listed below to learn more about the topics that will be covered in each seminar. Then select only those seminars that you wish to attend.

Location/Directions

Location

The Summit will take place on the University of Washington Campus, in the Husky Union Building (HUB). The full address is:

University of Washington
Husky Union Building (HUB), 2nd floor

113 Husky Union Building

Seattle, WA 98195

Driving Directions

Traveling from South of the UW (including Sea-Tac Airport)

From I-5 north
Drive northbound on I-5 (do not use the express lanes)
Take the NE 45th Street exit (#169).
Turn right onto NE 45th Street.
Continue east about one quarter mile to 15th Avenue NE and turn right.
Head south on 15th Avenue three blocks to NE 41st Street.
Turn left at Gate #1 into the Central Plaza Garage.
Stop at the gatehouse inside the garage. The Traffic Guide will assign the parking area within the Central Plaza Garage depending on the space availability. Purchase a parking permit. Cost is $15.00

Traveling from North of the UW
From I-5 southbound
Drive southbound on I-5.
Take the NE 45th Street exit (#169).
Turn left onto NE 45th Street.
Continue east about one quarter mile to 15th Avenue NE and turn right.
Head south on 15th Avenue three blocks to NE 41st Street. Turn left at Gate #1 into the Central Plaza Garage.
Stop at the gatehouse inside the garage. The Traffic Guide will assign the parking area within the Central Plaza Garage depending on the space availability. Purchase a parking permit. Cost is $15.00

Traveling from East of the UW
From SR-520 westbound
Take the Montlake Blvd NE exit and turn right.
Continue north on Montlake Blvd. and cross the drawbridge.
At the first traffic light after the bridge, turn left onto NE Pacific Street.
Pass under 2 bridges.
Turn right on 15th Ave NE.
At NE 41st Street, turn right at Gate #1 into the Central Plaza Garage.
Stop at the gatehouse inside the garage. The Traffic Guide will assign the parking area within the Central Plaza Garage depending on the space availability. Purchase a parking permit. Cost is $15.00

Parking near the Husky Union Building (10 minute walk)
Visitor parking is available at the Central Plaza Garage located off 15th Ave NE and NE 41st Street. It is behind the Allen Center for the Visual Arts and the Odegaard Library. The Traffic Guide will assign the parking area within the Central Plaza Garage depending on the space availability. Take the Elevator by Kane Hall (NE corner of garage) down to ground level. Once you exit the garage, follow the pathways past the Suzzalo Library and Allen Library Building across the HUB yard to the Student Union Building (HUB) which will be straight ahead past the Libraries. Give yourselves an extra 30 minutes to find parking and walk to the HUB.

All visitors must stop at Gate #1 to purchase a parking permit. They have a pay as you enter system. The cost is $15 and there is a sliding refund scale.
Stop at the gate on your way out, and they will refund you back part of the $15 depending on the length of time that you parked.
They accept cash, Visa, and Mastercard.
The Central Plaza Garage has 1000 parking spaces.

Disability Parking near the Husky Union Building
Disability parking is available in the N22 parking lot next to the HUB/Student Activities Building on Stevens Way. You need a parking pass designated N22 to park in this lot.

Directions to the N22 Disability parking lot:

From I-5 North or South
From I-5, take the NE 45th Street exit and head east on NE 45th Street.
Continue east about one quarter mile to 15th Avenue NE and turn right.
Head south on 15th Avenue five blocks to NE 40st Street. Turn left at Gate #5.
Stop at the gatehouse and please say the following to the Traffic Guide at the Gate, “I need a Disability/mobility accommodation in the N22 lot.”
Purchase a parking permit. Cost is $15.00
You need a parking pass designated N22 to park in this lot.
Continue on Stevens Way which curves around. You will see the Husky Stadium off to the right.
The Student Union Building (HUB) will be on your left.
N22 lot is just past the HUB on your left.

From SR-520
From SR-520, Take the Montlake Blvd NE exit and turn right.
Continue north on Montlake Blvd. and cross the drawbridge.
Pass under 3 bridges.
Turn right on 15th Ave NE.
Turn left at NE 44th Place. It becomes Pend Oreille Road.
Stop at the Gatehouse #3 and please say the following to the Traffic Guide at the Gate, “I need a Disability/mobility accommodation in the N22 lot.”
Purchase a parking permit. Cost is $15.00
You need a parking pass designated N22 to park in this lot.
Turn left at Stevens Way.
N22 lot will be on your right before the Student Union Building (HUB)

Public Transportation

The following bus routes have stops at the HUB:

Metro All Day Routes: 31, 65, 67, 68, 75, 372
Metro Peak Hour Routes: 205, 272, 277, 373
Community Transit Routes: 810, 812, 821, 851, 855, 860, 870, 871, 880, 885

Additional Bus Route Resources

Metro Bus Services - 206-553-3000
Metro Trip Planner to the HUB
Metro Bus Tracker (specific to the HUB)
Metro Transit website

Community Transit - 425-353-7433
Community Transit Trip Planner to the UW
Community Transit Bus Tracker (specific to the UW)
Community Transit website

Hotels
Most hotels near the Summit venue are within the $144 - $209 per night range. The following hotels are within a three-mile radius of the venue:

Residence Inn by Marriott Seattle Downtown                    BOOK NOW         2.3 miles from venue
Courtyard by Marriott Seattle Downtown Lake Union        BOOK NOW         2.3 miles from venue
Comfort Suites Seattle                                                       BOOK NOW         2.6 miles from venue
SpringHill Suites by Marriott Seattle Downtown                 BOOK NOW         2.7 miles from venue
Holiday Inn Express Seattle-City Center                            BOOK NOW         2.8 miles from venue

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Additional Bus Route Resources

The event sponsors include:

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One-on-one mentoring

Click on any seminar title or the arrow on the right side to learn more about that seminar

Full Summit Pass - What is this?

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