We have a wide array of educational sessions waiting for you at AFP ICON 2024. Whether you want to master leadership, relationship building, securing the gift, trends and innovation, or all of the above, AFP has the latest and greatest information to unlock your fundraising potential.
2022 Stewardship Survey Results: Sharing Best Practices
After this session you will:
Understand the strategies used to ensure the success of donor stewardship programs in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
You’ll also be aware of the challenges faced by stewardship programs and what hasn't worked.
And the most effective strategies and approaches by sector of activity.
Frustrated that your board isn't diverse like your community? Aware that this lack of diversity is directly impeding your fundraising? This session will tell you exactly what a fundraiser can do to make change happen!
Show Me the Money, Securing Lucrative Sponsorships
This session will help you identify what it takes to secure lucrative sponsorships through relationships and prospecting. Therefore, they can show you the money.
How to Communicate your Cause using the 3 Vs of Communication
Communicating your organization’s story effectively is vital to meeting fundraising goals. Authentic communication can be challenging in person and in the virtual world. Be confident in your next Ask. Attendees will leave knowing how to communicate their cause using the 3Vs of communication.
Strategies for Indigenous Engagement in Fundraising: Lessons Learned and Shared (Sponsored by Veritus Group)
Learn how to collaborate effectively with Indigenous peoples, communities, and donors by exploring the largest fundraising campaign for First Nations Peoples in Canada. Discover strategies for aligning donor and indigenous objectives through building relationships based on trust, centering Indigenous voices, and mindful messaging to make a positive impact together.
When the Going Gets Tough, The Generous Get Going: How Market Shifts Affect Charitable Giving
Fundraisers are challenged in both bull and bear markets. In this session you will learn practical ways to engage donors during economic downturn and upturn, including the psychological and sociological factors that prompt transformational gifts to your organization.
Empowering Communication Strategies Within The Disability Sector
People with disabilities constitute the nation's largest minority group, and the only group any of us can become a member of at any time. Learn perspective and communication techniques to be the best ally possible, and to enroll and inspire 10% of the world's population into your mission.
Hacking Human Wetware - The Art and Science of Neurophilanthropy
wet·ware (n): the brain, especially respecting computational capabilities and decision-making processes.
Eric and Eryn-Faye will leverage their combined 40 years of work, education, and hundreds of millions of dollars raised to help you explore the emerging field of neurophilanthropy, the confluence of neuroscience, psychology, and sociology within fundraising.
Philanthropy is Black History: The Untold Stories of Black Philanthropists
Just as with American history, Black philanthropists have largely been forgotten throughout history.
Philanthropy is Black History: The Untold Stories of Black Philanthropists, this enlightening session explores the impact of Black donors, past and present, on society and inspires attendees to embrace a more inclusive approach to philanthropy.
Treat Stewardship as the Year-Long Celebration of the Gift- and Here's How to do it!
After working hard to secure a gift donors deserve more than just a thank you letter! We'll take a journey on how to stay in touch with donors, sharing the impact of their gift through powerful messaging and engaging others, all leading to stronger relationships, happier donors and bigger gifts.
Faith, Fundraising, & Death - 3 traditions, unlimited questions
A trio of Jewish, Muslim and Christian fundraisers explain what you need to know about legacies giving plus customs about death and giving. Bring your questions, there are no dumb ones! A safe space to talk about death, faith and money is a gift we offer to the fundraising community.
Get Q’d In! Advance Your Mission by Engaging LGBTQIA+ Donors
1 in every 6 Gen Z-ers, 1 in every 10 Millennials identify as LGBTQIA+. As a professional gay fundraiser for LGBTQIA+ nonprofits on opposite coasts, Matt will guide participants through LGBTQIA+ cultural competency, queer donor motivations, and best practices to find, engage, and cultivate these donors in your community.
How to Convert Fans to Donors - A Fundraisers Guide to Social Media
The increase in digital programming and social media use has changed the way nonprofits raise money, build communities, and advocate for their causes. In this session, we'll discuss how to take people from passive fans to passionate supporters and create social media content that actually converts.
Culture Shock: Understanding Death Rituals and Superstitions in a Diverse World
In today’s culturally aware society, having rich legacy conversations with donors requires understanding their customs and superstitions surrounding death and dying. This session will cover some of the main diaspora cultures in North America so you can feel better prepared to engage with donors in a culturally-sensitive way about legacies.
Transform Your Relationships: How to Turn Volunteers and Donors Into Super Supporters (Presented by Bloomerang)
Volunteers play a vital role in the success of nonprofits. They generously offer their time and expertise and can even become dedicated donors. Research reveals that volunteers are 80% more likely to make larger donations than non-volunteers. Additionally, those who volunteer and donate have a significantly higher retention rate. This panel discussion will utilize data and live examples to explore the correlation between volunteers and financial donors.
If you're hesitant to ask your volunteers to become donors or vice versa, this session is tailored to address your concerns. Join us and unlock the full potential of your volunteers and donors without leaving any untapped opportunities behind.
Join an engaging conversation about being a Black Man in fundraising. This will be a safe space to talk about real situations and outcomes. Are you open-minded and want to learn how to be more aware of situations? Be ready to listen, learn, and share!
Get to know your donors to increase engagement. Legal Aid and their LGBTQ+ audience
You need to know who your audiences are so that you can engage them. Learn how Legal Aid Society targets new donors to continue an important initiative defending the rights of LGBTQ+ people. We will show you how to target new donors and present content in a brisk fundraising pitch.
Stewardship: Why We Need to Say Thank You" So Many Times
Saying thank you to donors should be easy yet many fundraisers are left wondering why they didn't get the next gift, a bigger gift, or any response from their loyal donors. What are we doing wrong? This session will discuss different ideas to meet the donors needs.
The Future of Fundraising is Female: Fundraisers & Donors Explore
Philanthropy has long been dominated by men filling the role of bard chair, advancement leaders, and donors but recent years have seen a shift towards greater representation of women, gender non-binary, and gender non-conforming individuals.
Just Do It!: Kickstarting Your Inclusive Fundraising & Communications Practice
1 in 4 Americans are disabled. 20% of Generation Z are LGBTQ+. The BIPOC-identifying population grows yearly. Inclusion cannot be an aspiration; it has to happen now. Informed by lived experience, Queer fundraiser Ali Kane and Hard-of-Hearing social media expert Katie Norton offer proven practices, prioritizing accessibility, representation, and intersectionality.
Creating a Community-Driven Fundraising Strategy - (Learning Lab) Presented by Classy
Giving happens where community thrives. The best fundraising comes as a result of deep, informed relationships when beneficiaries, fundraisers, and donors are part of a connected system surrounded by a cause. But in recent years, as the sector has moved to scale fundraising, that declaration of support has become transactional. The way people interact with and participate in community is changing and even peer-to-peer fundraising has become isolated rather than a cultivator of deep sustaining relationships. Join this discussion around how organizations can radically change their perception of community building and build the future of mobilized communities in service of empowered and invigorated fundraising.
Building Healthy Relationships Inside Your Organization to Best Serve Donors
When it comes to relationship management, fundraisers often focus on prospects and donors. Equally as important is building relationships with colleagues inside your organization to best serve your donors. In this session, we’ll explore how best to manage relationships with supervisors, program staff, and board members to maximize mission impact.
How to Implement Strategies for Increasing Engagement and Philanthropy among Donors of Color
This presentation will allow participants to assess their organization’s diverse constituency landscape and establish a diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) action plan to embed into their current fundraising initiatives. The session will introduce DEI strategies that align with their fundraising plans and priorities. Participants will work in small groups to assess their organization’s DEI goals, shortfalls, and opportunities; and will leave with the building blocks to create an action plan to improve the donor engagement and giving within their organization.
Less Attrition, More Funds Recipes to Improve Stewardship and Philanthropic Culture From Donors and Boards
Dynamic, Intercultural, and Practical Session, Presented by speakers from Brazil and Mexico. Less Attrition, More Funds Recipes to Improve Stewardship and Philanthropic Culture From Donors and Boards will be the essential message. The importance of the key concepts of leadership, philanthropic culture, and stewardship will also be reviewed to overcome burnout and be successful in the fundraising plan.
From Talk to Walk: Building a Diverse Donor Base through Authentic Partnerships (Presented by the Alford Group)
Forget "donor engagement" myths. The time has come to build authentic partnerships with donors of color, whose passion and dedication can transform your organization. This session isn't just about buzzwords - it's about actionable strategies from experts and donors themselves.
Learn how to:
Go beyond tokenism: Discover effective ways to identify and connect with diverse donors on their terms and values.
Break down the barriers: Create an inclusive environment that fosters genuine engagement and is rooted in trust and mutual respect.
Spark lasting commitment: Hear firsthand from donors on what ignites their passion and fuels their giving.
Come join us in creating a movement, not just a moment by discovering how to create a sustainable relationship model that embraces the power of diverse voices in driving meaningful change for your organization’s mission and making the world a better place for ALL people.
Outcomes Based Grants Reporting Made Simple: Utilizing Salesforce’s Nonprofit Cloud to Manage Impact Reporting (Learning Lab) Presented by RSM US
Does your grants team struggle to get accurate and accessible grants reporting in a timely fashion? Do your stewardship and marketing teams struggle with impact reporting for donors? This session will demonstrate how you can set up outcomes management in Salesforce’s new Nonprofit Cloud to then feed easily accessible reports and dashboards for grants and stewardship staff. We'll use the real life example of Catholic Social Service in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada to demonstrate how an outcomes based organization is creating more accurate and timely reporting.
Corporate Partnership: Handling the Hard Questions
Exclusivity, removing company logos and saying no to employee volunteerism are just a few challenging conversations that charities have with their corporate partners regularly. Learn the mindset and approach you need to tackle these conversations and using real-world examples, we will define a clear approach to respond.
Raising Money Where You Don’t Live: Funding in Secondary Markets
Sometimes our organizations are so good at what they do, they decide to grow. And our network has too, also.
In our time together, we'll be breaking down that stigma that we’re an “outsider” in the community, orienting funders in a new area, and how to steward relationships over time.
In this panel discussion, Rachel D’Souza will facilitate a spirited and informative discussion with members of the CCF Global Council to explore learnings from and experiences in the movement, and how including CCF’s core principles in your organization’s fundraising strategy can lead to larger contributions and more committed donors/funders.
Engaging Diverse Donors and Cultivating an Inclusive Donor Base
Are you looking to develop a more inclusive donor program? Join to learn about the strategies and insights gained from high-profile inclusive fundraising campaigns that launched the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture and the Obama 2008 presidential campaign.
Post Give Day Tips to Amplify Donor Loyalty (Presented by Fundraising Academy)
Give Day Campaigns provide an opportunity to demonstrate donor loyalty and identify new supporters. Does your organization have measures in place to nurture new relationships or will your new prospects be lost in your database until next year? Your organization’s response to these questions are vital for long-term sustainability. This session will explore qualitative and quantitative measures to sustain and upgrade annual donors to major gift donors.
Thinking Big Around Legacy Giving for Growth & Long-term Connection
Legacy marketing is about a values connection and understanding donor needs/motivations. This session will provide new insights into how to make these valuable connections, what is working to inspire people to take action and how you can harness the power of legacy to grow your programs and deepen relationships.
Using the Power of Connections and Influence in Global Corporate Fundraising
Social initiatives are increasing within corporations due to the ESG agenda. Learn how to define the best strategies of relationship building and maintenance to connect your cause with businesses and make your nonprofit part of the impact companies want to generate. Corporate fundraising is waiting for you!
Empowering Change: Engaging Black Communities and Donors in Fundraising
In today's dynamic philanthropic landscape, the importance of engaging and empowering Black, Indigenous and people of color ( BIPOC) communities and donors cannot be overstated. Many nonprofit organizations have faced challenges in actively engaging Black donors in the United States for various reasons — historical context, lack of diverse representation, limited awareness and outreach, and cultural sensitivity, to name a few. Habitat has recognized these challenges and is actively working to address them.
In this session, you will gain insight into housing disparities affecting Black communities, discover innovative philanthropic strategies, and leverage cultural competency to amplify Black voices. Join us as we delve into the important and timely topic of engaging Black donors in fundraising at HFHI, which can empower Black donors as agents of change and create a more equitable future for all.
You Can Be More Than Remotely Successful Fundraising Remotely
While meeting prospects face-to-face is the preferred method, raising money while video-conferencing is becoming increasingly common. In this session, we will provide strategies for fundraisers stewarding donors and cultivating gifts without a single in-person meeting. You will learn best practices for successfully working remotely while developing deep connections with colleagues.
Interactive Listening Workshop: AI for Fundraisers (Presented by Microsoft)
Interested in AI for your nonprofit, but not sure where to start? Join our interactive workshop where you’ll discuss best practices for AI with your fellow fundraising practitioners and connect with technology providers who making a global impact in the AI space. In this hands-on session, you’ll also have the chance to share your thoughts on AI with teams that are building the technology, and leave with valuable connections and ideas you can implement in 2024.