Date: October 19 – 20, 2023 · Time: 7:30 AM on October 19 through 12 PM on October 20 Location: Kansas City, MO
An effective major gift officer should be able to cultivate, solicit and steward prospects and donors. For individuals who are entering the fundraising profession as a second career, or those who have moved through the advancement office and now find themselves as a first-time major gift officer, it may be unclear the importance of the role or how to go about being effective and successful.
This workshop allows participants the opportunity to learn, from A to Z, the skills and thinking needed to be the most successful major gift officer they can be – the key to a successful comprehensive development program. Here are the topics we will cover during our two-day program:
- Major Gift Officer and the Advancement/Development Team
- Characteristics of Successful Major Gift Officer
- Prospect Development System
- How to Get Appointments with Your Prospects
- What to Do at Your Visit and After
- Making the Ask
- Planned Giving for the Major Gift Officer
- How to Organize Your Work for Success
- Measuring Your Success as a Major Gift Officer
Gonser Gerber Institute workshops allow you the opportunity to work with experienced faculty, learn from your peers, and offer you the tools you need to develop work plans that will help you do your job better. Join us for this program to refresh your skills, learn new techniques, explore what your peers are doing, and provide you with the time to enhance your program. This workshop includes a role-playing session designed to offer gift officers the opportunity to practice the art and science behind a solicitation in a friendly, instructive environment.
Who Should Attend
This workshop is designed for development and advancement staff members who are responsible for direct solicitations of prospects and donors. This could include major, planned, senior, leadership, and annual fund gift officers. We also invite team members who aspire to make direct solicitations, staff members who support or supervise the work of gift officers and want to know more about the role, or institutional leaders who have solicitations as part of their job description.
This program is offered concurrently with our Optimizing Your Annual Fund Program Workshop. The overlapping of these two workshops will include sharing meals, speakers, and staff. This will give participants of both programs the opportunity to hear from more Gonser Gerber consultants as well as allow for greater networking with peers, gift officers, and annual fund staff, something that is critical to the success of any advancement program.
Registration and Hotel Information:
Gonser Gerber Institute workshops cost $995 per registration, $895 for each additional registration from the same institution (for this workshop or the concurrent workshop “Optimizing Your Annual Fund Program”). Current clients of Gonser Gerber receive a discounted fee of $795 per registrant. This fee includes breakfast both days of the workshop and lunch on Thursday. The workshop will take place at the Westin Kansas City Crown Center. A limited number of rooms have been secured at the rate of $189 a night. Reservations must be made by September 20, 2023. Check out our hotel fact sheet for more information and details.
Faculty
M. Jane Eaves, Gonser Gerber partner, provides comprehensive consulting services to colleges, universities, independent and Catholic schools, religious orders, major university alumni associations, health care institutions, and cultural organizations. An active speaker and lecturer with more than 30 years of development experience, Ms. Eaves has spoken on topics such as major gifts, emerging trends in annual giving, development planning, and planned giving.
Dr. Chad Jolly, Gonser Gerber partner, has been serving the field of education and the nonprofit sector for more than 25 years. His consulting practice focuses on colleges, universities, schools, healthcare organizations, and other nonprofit organizations seeking to systematically strengthen their advancement efforts. Before joining Gonser Gerber, Dr. Jolly served as the Vice President for Institutional Advancement at William Jewell College in Kansas City. In addition to serving his clients, he is a frequent presenter at Advancement and related conferences and professional meetings throughout the U.S.
Kent Huyser, partner at Gonser Gerber, has more than 17 years of experience in non-profit and advancement leadership. Prior to joining Gonser Gerber, he worked in Advancement leadership positions in three different institutions of higher education in the Kansas City metropolitan area (William Jewell College, University of Missouri-Kansas City, and Metropolitan Community College, Kansas City).