On Demand Program
You and your team spend countless hours:
- crafting, visioning, debating, setting goals, and crystalizing plans and outcomes.
- getting the perspective and buy-in of important organizational and board leaders.
- Inspiring, recruiting, and onboarding critical volunteers.
- meeting with major donors and inviting a generous gift.
- planning an inspirational and motivational campaign launch.
And then it happens. For a myriad of possible reasons, word comes that your President/CEO/Executive Director will be departing your institution…in the middle of your campaign!
So, how do you respond? Come to a screeching halt, stop everything, push pause – the temptation most of us feel at this point – may not be the best for your institution or its vision for helping those you serve because of a successful campaign.
In this virtual conversation, Suzanne Allison Davis, President of Greenville University, and Gonser Gerber Partner Charlie Shepard will help you better understand how to navigate these complex and nuanced situations, and chart a path forward for your institution. With observations from her own experience, President Davis will share insightful reflections, among other things, on how to:
- establish trust with major donors in a time of transition.
- Build confidence with the Board that hope remains in a successful campaign.
- decide if a campaign should proceed, pause, or be ended.
- embrace the former President’s campaign vision or craft a new one.
- decide if the current priorities and projects of the campaign still align with a new strategic direction for the campaign.
- juggle the internal responsibilities incumbent upon a new president with external demands of a campaign in motion.
- Recruit or retain a new set of campaign leaders to help move campaign efforts forward.
Who Should Attend:
This program is designed for advancement, fundraising and campaign leaders of all non-profits that are currently in a campaign and have either recently lost or recently hired their President, CEO or Executive Director.
Program Information:
The fee is $295 per institution, which allows your entire team the opportunity to participate in this professional development at the same time. If you are a current client of Gonser Gerber Advancement Consulting, that fee is just $145. You will also receive a copy of the presentation and a recording of the webinar with your registration.
On Demand Details: After your registration, you will receive a copy of the power point presentation as well as a copy of the recording. (Please allow at least 48 business hours to receive your materials.) You will be able to share these materials with your entire team, including volunteers, and review the recording as many times as you need.
About Greenville University
Greenville University is a place that empowers students for lives of character and service through a transforming Christ-centered education. This innovative culture consists of caring mentors who create immersive experiences and interconnected opportunities for students to leave college with a degree, a resume, and a network of connections to start their careers. Most importantly, though, they leave with tough minds, soft hearts, and ready to be salt and light in the world.
Our 50-acre campus in Greenville is a hub of activity that provides experiential learning in everything from sciences to worship arts, business to digital media, marketing to education, Spanish to History, to English to nursing and engineering. Students learn as they do and reflect on what they have learned.
About President Davis
Suzanne Davis is the 13th president of Greenville University and assumed her presidency in January 2021. President Suzanne Allison Davis previously served GU in various capacities, including management professor, founding dean of the Briner School of Business, vice president for university relations, executive vice president, and acting president.
President Suzanne Allison Davis brings a wealth of experience in higher education, management, and law to leadership at GU. President Davis knows the power of a liberal arts degree combined with practical work experience. She graduated from Greenville University (then College) in 2000 with a bachelor of arts in history and political science, and a bachelor of arts in philosophy and religion. She earned her MBA from the University of Illinois College of Business and her juris doctorate from University of Illinois College of Law.
She practiced civil and criminal law and taught at Eastern Illinois University’s School of Business before returning to GU in 2012 to teach.
Greenville University’s hallmark emphasis on strong character, faith, broad learning, and service resonates with Suzanne. She values opportunities GU afforded her to grow academically, as an athlete, personally, and in her faith.
“GU’s history is full of stories like mine from alumni of every era. I want generations more to tell such stories,” she says.
In addition to her leadership duties at GU, President Suzanne serves on several boards, including Brotherhood Mutual Insurance Company of Fort Wayne, Indiana, and HSHS Holy Family Hospital in Greenville, Illinois. She and husband Phil (GU Class of 1996) are the parents of two daughters, Tiffany and Brittany.
Hosted by Charlie Shepard
Charlie Shepard, Partner at Gonser Gerber, provides development consulting services to non-profit organizations in all aspects of institutional advancement. Prior to joining Gonser Gerber, Charlie served the Advancement field for more than 18 years, with his most recent position as Vice President for Institutional Advancement at Asbury University in Kentucky and The University of Findlay in Ohio.