Holly Hamilton, Managing Director — Strategic Initiatives, Marquette University
Colleen Fitzgerald, President, Coaching Creates
Charles P. Ries, Senior Director of Development Design and Innovation, Marquette University

Collaborate and innovate for change! Do you want to remove obstacles to culture change and create conditions that foster innovation and creative problem solving? Hear how to meld innovation and collaboration and discover amazing new fundraising and engagement opportunities through the process. Learn how a collaborative innovation team approach is being used at Marquette University to build a sustainable and flexible culture while breaking down silos, speeding up decision-making, improving accountability, and enhancing communication across the organization. You will walk away with practical and actionable ideas of how to implement this approach in your organization.

Holly Hamilton, Managing Director — Strategic Initiatives, Marquette University
Colleen Fitzgerald, President, Coaching Creates
Charles P. Ries, Senior Director of Development Design and Innovation, Marquette University

Forward-thinking, talented people can make a difference, but innovation can distinguish a great fundraising organization from a good one. The innovation team from Marquette University Advancement will share how they've made it happen, as a group of people who constantly reaffirm the importance of trust and collaboration when moving toward a common goal. Innovation happens when it is given permission to grow and when risk taking is embraced, taught, and nurtured while we remain fully focused on raising money for our institutions. Innovation is not a distraction from the work at hand, it the fuel to ignite your fundraising efforts.

Mollye Rhea, President, For Momentum

The Cause Alliances Insights session will cover a variety of recent research and case studies about cause alliances and corporate social responsibility in the context of today’s challenging environment. This information-packed session will put the latest industry news into a context you can utilize for your business today to leverage corporate dollars and expand your resources.

June Bradham, President and Founder, Corporate DevelopMint
Tucker Branham, Consultant, Corporate DevelopMint
Rachel Hutchisson, Director of Corporate Relations and Philanthropy, Blackbaud, Inc.

While philanthropy truly stands at the precipice of a Golden Age, today’s climate feels anything but optimistic. And, with three generations of donors in play — Baby Boomers, Generation Xers, and Millennials — only one thing will ensure that our most dependable sources of giving won’t waver: customization. In this session, attendees will learn who these groups are, what they hope to achieve through giving, and what approach would work best in soliciting gifts from them. They will also learn how these groups differ in giving style, capacity, and motivation but also in what ways these seemingly disparate groups overlap.

George Stevens, CEO and President, Coastal Community Foundation

Nonprofits face increasing challenges in hearing the softer voices of their local community members amid the roar of the Internet, broadcast news, and traditional big media. This is especially true when it comes to large national trends such as economic downturns, donor responses to national or global disasters, or shifting national demographics. Learn how to build a network of local advisors who can help you to sift fact from fiction and find “news you can use.”

Paul K. D’Alessandro, Founder and CEO, D’Alessandro, Inc.

This session will look at the current environment in which we are living and the impact on nonprofits in the coming years. What are the dangers, opportunities, and strengths of your organization and how should you lead given the current political, economic, and technological environment? We will look at how to best navigate and anticipate those things that you cannot control so you can maximize the financial success of your organization. Additionally, we will show you the resources and tools you should be using today.

Jake Marcinko, Manager, Information Security, Blackbaud, Inc.
Jon Olsen, Vice President and General Counsel, Blackbaud, Inc.

Is your organization secure? If not, what can you do about it? This session will start with a quick assessment of where your organization stands in terms of security. Participants will leave with a prescriptive plan for beefing up their current security methods and details on how to create viable security plans.

Chuck Longfield, Chief Scientist, Blackbaud, Inc.

After delivering this popular session at past Blackbaud Conferences, Chuck Longfield, chief scientist, is happy to present again on the topic of the importance of donor information. After all, donors are your organization's most valuable asset. Without loyal supporters, your mission will be compromised at best, or unachievable at worst. One surefire way to diminish the value of this asset is to take your donors’ money for granted without making efforts to show you care about who they are. In this session, you’ll learn how to make the most of your donor relationships by valuing their information.

Andrew Mosawi, Vice President of International Development, Blackbaud, Inc.

The world is changing, and just like any other industry, we must learn to adapt. In this entertaining and informative session, you’ll learn how our fundraising colleagues from around the world are taking advantage of the most innovative techniques to raise money. You’ll also understand the changing behavior of donors and learn how to take advantage of this trend, engage your supporters, and raise more money.

Dean Feener, Salvation Army

If your current mind-set echoes with thoughts of how difficult it will be to plan ahead for what’s to come this afternoon, let alone next week, next quarter, or next year, then this session will show you techniques and tools that will make planning in uncertainty not only possible, but viable.

Aram Aghapour, Blackbaud, Inc.
Paul Bamert, Manager, Blackbaud Inc.

So you are PCI compliant. Now what? This interactive session is designed to cover the Blackbaud PCI-compliant products and the impacts on your processes. In this session, the speakers will highlight the PCI-compliant products and answer your product-specific questions.

David Hessekiel, President and Founder, Cause Marketing Forum

In the eight years since he founded the Cause Marketing Forum, David Hessekiel has emerged as one of the world's leading authorities on building sustainable, mutually-beneficial company/cause alliances. This will be an interactive session that will explore how organizations of any size can benefit and maximize their fundraising reach/dollars with cause-marketing alliances.

Gilman Sullivan, Practice Manager, Blackbaud, Inc.
Amy Adams, Consultant, Blackbaud, Inc

Session description coming soon.                                                                                                                          

Richard McPherson, President & Creative Director, McPherson Associates, Inc.

If the recession is over, why is the recovery so scary? Donors are cautious, competition is growing, and you are up to your neck in data. You need a viable plan in uncertain times; you need a makeover. Maybe your large organization needs to feel more grass roots; or your small organization needs to project much bigger. If this is the case, this is your session.                                  

Speakers: TBD

We are delighted to invite higher education organizations to join us in a networking session, where you will get the opportunity to interact personally with your peers at organizations that are similar to yours as well as Blackbaud representatives that focus on higher education organizations. This session will be a great way to meet people, collaborate on higher education issues, and make connections!                        

Jay Love, Founder, President, & CEO, eTapestry
Joy Simpson, CFRE, Fundraising Consultant
Paul Clolery, Vice President & Editorial Director, NPT Publishing Group

Ethics aren’t a straightforward, “black and white” issue — instead, there are many shades of grey. This lively interactive session will start with a point/counterpoint review of the most controversial ethics cases. The last decade has brought unflattering media attention as we watched the public trust erode with headlines of nonprofits’ moral breakdown. What is the ethical tone of your organization? Has ethical behavior been influenced by the tightened economic conditions? Ethics Under Fire is an interactive workshop that will challenge your moral barometer and detail prescriptive measures you can take avoid an ethical lapse. Come and challenge your ethical judgment.

After this session, you will be able to:

1. Develop an understanding of ethics so you can navigate the grey areas at your own organization
2. Use the policy and procedure kit that will be given to you during the session to develop an ethics plan for your nonprofit and ensure compliance
3. Create an action plan to protect your organization