July Newsletter

Wednesday, September 2, 2009
9:30 a.m - 4:30 p.m.
Location: UNCG Campus, Elliot University Center, Cone Ballroom A&B
1400 Spring Garden Street, Greensboro, NC

Zen and the Art of Solicitation: Enhancing Your Skills During These Difficult Times

Presenter: John Brown, President and Founder, John Brown Limited, Inc., Peterborough, NH

Have you ever attended a development seminar that promises to address the intersection of major and planned gifts with the highest of expectations only to lose interest when it turns out to be just a dry recitation all of planned gift vehicles and their definitions? Yawn... This extended session with John Brown promises to be truly different. You will learn dynamic strategies you can take back and begin implementing immediately.

Key Goals of the sessions include increasing your comfort level when meeting with your planned and major gifts prospects by providing ideas for conversations with donors and redefining the pool of prospects.

Morning Session: Fund Raising in a Tough Economic Climate

This session will focus on donor opportunities for major and planned gifts in the current economic climate and how institutions are responding to the challenge. Are your donors backing away from making large commitments? John will provide the tools and strategies to help you plan an approach that makes sense for your donors and your institution.

Working Lunch: Preparing for a Donor Visit - A Case Study

The Luncheon Session will provide a Case Study to prepare you and a key volunteer-such as a board member-for a donor visit. No more just simply handing your volunteer a profile to read! You will learn a specific style of preparation to get the work done, complete the gift, and thoroughly engage your volunteer in the process.

First Afternoon Session: Know Your Prospect - Interviewing Techniques

In the afternoon, the focus will be on instrumentation and implementation. Learn practical techniques to interview prospective donors to probe for information you can use to help them achieve their philanthropic goals. (It is more than admiring the office and asking about the people in the photo.)

Second Afternoon Session: Donor Expectations

What are the expectations of donors/prospects today? What are you and your institution doing regarding stewardship? These are interesting times we are facing but there are opportunities that we haven't had before. John will give us ideas about what we can do to adapt in this new donor and non-profit environment.

John Brown founded John Brown Limited in 1978 on the philosophy that development professionals are most effective when their strategies include respect for donors' interests; relationship building; rehearsed, but JohnBrown

comfortable solicitation; and planned giving integrated into all major gift endeavors. The hallmark of John's counsel is to motivate organizational leaders in building ownership among their constituents, and consistently achieving a greater level of success in fundraising.

Under John's leadership, JBL has served thousands of clients. By fostering donor ownership and respect, his clients run capital and endowment campaigns, effective major/planned gift programs and, most importantly, long-term financial and membership growth.
Prior to opening his own firm, John served in several major gifts and planned giving positions at Syracuse University. He later created and directed the planned giving program at Harvard University, and was a founding member of the Planned Giving Group of New England. John volunteers his time lecturing at professional nonprofit conferences each year, including CASE and AFP.

Schedule of the Day:

9:15 - 9:45 AM           Coffee, Registration, Networking
9:45 - 10:00 AM         Introductions and Business
10:00 - 12:00             Session I
12:00 - 12:30 PM        Buffet Lunch
12:30 - 1:30 PM          Session II, Working Lunch
1:45 - 3:00 PM            Session III

3:15 - 4:30 PM Session IV

Cost: NCPGC Members $45.00 - Guests $90.00