Keynote | Relationship Fundraising 2.0

Wednesday, Sept. 27
9:00 AM - 10:00 AM

We will explore the results of a major new research project on relationship fundraising. In it we examined the science underpinning how human beings form relationships with friends and family to see what might be learned for how nonprofits might build more meaningful relationships with their supporters. The session will begin by outlining the circumstances where a relationship based approach might be optimal and where a more transactional perspective (just focusing on providing a base quality of service) might be more appropriate. We'll also talk about the metrics that are relevant to each approach and then examine the psychology of each stage of a relationship, from exploration through growth and commitment. We'll demonstrate the critical role of emotion and dispositional mindfulness in the early stages of a relationship. We'll then explore the fundamental human needs met by relationships and how these develop over time. We'll also outline the critical concept of identity and how by priming that in communications giving can be increased by over 30% while enhancing how good the donor feels about the experience.

Dr. Adrian Sargeant

Professor Adrian Sargeant is the world’s foremost fundraising academic, holding a Chair in Fundraising at Plymouth University and directing the Centre for Sustainable Philanthropy. He was formerly the first Hartsook Chair in Fundraising at the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy at Indiana University. He also holds visiting appointments at Avila University and the Australian Centre for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Studies, Queensland University of Technology. He has received many awards for his services to the profession, notably being named to the prestigious Nonprofit Times Power and Influence List in the United States in 2010. In the UK he received a Civil Society Award for his Outstanding Contribution to Fundraising.

Professor Sargeant is one of the world’s leading authorities on how to achieve growth in philanthropy. In 2011 he ran Growing Philanthropy summits in Washington DC and London drawing together leaders from the nonprofit communities in both countries to discuss the role that the sector itself might play in growing philanthropy. He also helped facilitate a philanthropy summit for the Rockefeller Foundation and the Resource Alliance in Bellagio, Italy, the primary goal of which was to improve the flow of philanthropy in the development system.

He is a prolific author and educator. He has published over ten books and around 150 peer reviewed academic publications in the domain of individual giving, fundraising and nonprofit marketing. Most recently he has designed new qualification frameworks for fundraising professional bodies across the world. In the UK, for example, he designed the new Certificate/Diploma in Fundraising courses that are now offered by the Institute of Fundraising. He is doing similar work in the United States working with the Association of Fundraising Professions and has recently been commissioned to design a new higher level qualification that will be shared internationally.

Professor Sargeant is considered a world class and motivational speaker, regularly delivering plenary presentations in a variety of different international venues. Topics include donor retention/loyalty, philanthropic psychology, bequest giving and digital fundraising. He works now on both sides of the Atlantic having become a naturalized American citizen in November 2013.