MEET THE EXPERTS: DonorPerfect CommUNITY Conference Speakers

As 2021 comes to a close, many of us are still left feeling like we haven’t quite caught our breath after 2020 – and that’s okay. Unexpected roadblocks may hold us back, but they are a great opportunity to hit refresh.

In this session, Meredith will examine the interaction between relational fundraising techniques, donor cultivation and stewardship, and the foundational skills and tools needed for small to mid-size nonprofits to reach increased fundraising results. The past may be filled with the stress of “too little time” to accomplish goals, but this session will strip away those barriers by providing real-life advice gained from repeated work with nonprofits that changes mindset, habits and leads to successful transformational development work.

What you’ll take away from this session:

• Tips for integrating development into each day to achieve better results
• Tools for integrated marketing, fundraising, and stewardship of relationships
• Secrets to turn prospects into a growing support network for volunteerism, funding, and growth

About Meredith

Meredith Sossman is an accomplished development professional and attorney, who has helped non-profits achieve better results through insight and experience in all aspects of giving and non-profit management. In her fifteen years of nonprofit work, she has led teams in university, healthcare, arts, food insecurity, and small nonprofits to increase teamwork resulting in better fundraising results and effective relationship-building techniques. She has served as a campaign director, associate executive director, in-house counsel, and chief development officer. She successfully led a $50 million capital campaign that exceeded goal eighteen-month ahead of schedule. Meredith serves as a Senior Consultant with plannedgiving.com, where she is engaged to help non-profits exceed their goals and expectations through inspired philanthropy and best practices in non-profit management.

Meet Mallory Erickson, fundraising consultant, Founder of the Power Partners Formula, and the leader behind the buzzed-about session, From Transaction to Transformational: 5 Steps to Human-Focused Fundraising.

You hear it all the time: “Fundraising shouldn’t be transactional.” But what does this actually mean, and how do we show up as transformational fundraisers instead? Transformational relationships help nonprofits raise more without all the cringe-y, sales-y, uncomfortable fundraising strategies.

In this session, Mallory will break down the behaviors, habits, strategies, emotions, and language that make a relationship move from transactional to transformational. You will never fundraise the same way again.

About Mallory

As Forbes noted in naming Mallory as the #1 female disruptor in the nonprofit sector, “Erickson helps nonprofits understand how to avoid overbaked donor stewardship….Her technique helps reduce burnout among nonprofit employees and adds the human touch back into what should be a human-focused industry.”

The Giving Tuesday Data Commons analyzed social conversations, survey research, and millions of donation transactions to glean insights from the most unpredictable time in our lives.

This session will examine the donation trends and giving behavior from 2020 and so far this year, to share what these trends mean for engaging your community in 2021 to increase giving, retain donors, and unlock more participation.

About Woodrow

As Chief Data Officer for GivingTuesday, Woodrow has been instrumental in shaping the Giving Tuesday movement globally and has led groundbreaking research and analysis of individual giving behaviors. Woodrow’s experience in the for-purpose sector elevating giving behaviors has greatly impacted the way he approaches consumer strategies. He’s learned how to move markets from passive participants to active and vocal ambassadors – a lens he brings to all his strategic work. Woodrow is also the Founder and CEO of With Intent, an international consumer marketing agency. He has a long history of leading significant growth for top consumer brands by defining strategies, developing innovative business routes, and expanding markets.