2018 Los Angeles Regional Workshop Speakers and Topics

"Stewarding and Engaging Faculty and Emeriti Donors"
Loni Rocchio

About the Session

Faculty and emeriti are often among a university's most dedicated and generous donors. For example, UCLA faculty and emeriti within the College of Letters and Science has donated over $100,000,000 in endowment and current-use funding since the start of our Centennial Campaign in 2012. Despite this, development staff often find it difficult to engage with and steward faculty and emeriti donors in meaningful ways. 
This workshop will discuss UCLA's successful Faculty and Emeriti Recognition Project, which seeks to: 1) acknowledge individual faculty and emeriti donors 2) share faculty and emeriti reasons for giving with their academic colleagues and students 3) encourage other faculty and emeriti to support the Centennial Campaign and 4) spread the word about the Centennial Campaign in general.

I'll also propose tips for partnering with faculty and emeriti in achieving stewardship goals in a more general sense.


About the Speaker

Loni Coleman Rocchio has been the Senior Associate Director of Stewardship at the UCLA College of Letters and Science for the past five years, where she has grown the stewardship program from a team of one to its current team of four and has piloted new programs for stewarding loyal and repeat donors, first-time donors, and faculty and emeriti donors, among others. She was an active member of UCLA's Donor Experience Committee, which set a campus-wide agenda for stewardship best practices. She previously worked as Annual Giving Manager at the Autry National Center. Loni has bachelor's degrees in Anthropology and Political Science from Indiana University and a master's degree in Museum Studies from Newcastle University, England.

 

"Planning for the Long Haul: Maximizing Donor Retention with Your Annual Development Plan"
Cassie Carter

About the Session

It’s a well-known fact among development professionals: acquiring new donors is more expensive and time-consuming than retaining existing ones. But how can development shops effectively build donor loyalty while managing a full plate of priorities? In our hands-on workshop, we will tackle this elusive question, walking through strategies for annual development planning with donor retention in mind.

From events to annual, major, and planned giving, development teams have no shortage of programs to run each year. We'll unpack how you can leverage these activities to maximize retention and move supporters up the pyramid, transforming first-time givers into lifetime donors and major gift prospects. Throughout the session, participants will have the opportunity to weigh in, ask questions, and apply learnings to their own organizations, using customizable worksheets and templates to map out their course of action. Attendees will leave the workshop with a plan in hand and concrete strategies to boost donor retention.


About the Speaker

As a Senior Consultant, Cassie Carter brings 25 years of experience in the nonprofit and higher education sectors to her work at Campbell & Company. Cassie previously held leadership positions in several academic institutions and nonprofits as they grew their fundraising programs. Most recently, she served as the Associate Vice President for Development and Director of Campaigns at Hawaii Pacific University. Prior to that, she served as the Associate Vice President for Development Operations and Director of Advancement for the College of Science and Mathematics at Cal Poly. Cassie also served as Executive Director of the Montana Outdoor Science School.
She has served as the Director of Programs for Heal the Bay in Santa Monica and promoted science education at the California Science Center and the Los Angeles County Natural History Museum. Cassie shares her passion for nonprofits, serving as a board member and volunteer for several environmental and educational organizations throughout Montana, Hawaii, and California.
Cassie holds a doctoral degree in Teaching and Learning with an emphasis on science education and public administration from the University of Southern California, as well as a bachelor’s degree in biology from California State University-Northridge.

 

"Get a Seat at the Table: Using Donor Relations to Advance Principal Gift Cultivation"
Carol Wilkie and Joe Plante

About the Session

The University of St. Thomas is a private, Catholic university located in St. Paul, Minnesota. With a total enrollment of 10,000 students, it is Minnesota's largest private university. In 2012, the university successfully closed a $515M capital campaign, and the Donor Relations team was largely charged with stewardship for the middle and lower sections of the giving pyramid. New leadership in place now has a laser focus on principal gifts and has asked Donor Relations to play an important part of that strategy. Through the lens of both a donor relations professional and a seasoned fundraiser, this session will focus on ways to restructure a Donor Relations shop so it can support high-end, highly customized stewardship and help drive a cultivation strategy. 


About the Speakers

Carol Wilkie is director of donor relations for the University of St. Thomas. She has been at the University for 15 years and has operationalized Donor Relations during her tenure. Carol firmly believes that her Donor Relations team must be nimble in order to successfully support fundraising initiatives. She’ll show how she and her team have done that in the past and how they are poised to support new principal-gift strategies going forward.

Joe Plante is the associate vice president of principal and leadership gifts at the University of St. Thomas. Joe is a graduate of St. Thomas and has worked for the university for over 30 years – starting first in Alumni Relations, then Major Gifts and now Principal Gifts. An expert at both the science and the art of fundraising, Joe will present how the most successful principal-gift strategy is best supported by a strong donor relations partnership from the start.